Week 70 Dec. 31 - Keechelus Ridge

Total Distance: Approximately 6.4 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2100 ft.
Time: 9:45 am - 2:45 pm
Weather: Cool with clear skies early turning to cloudy skies by the afternoon.

Well, my last hike was a terrific snowshoe up to a ridge line off I-90 in the Central Cascades.  The Cascades had just received a big dump of fresh snow the two evenings before, my friend from the Marmot hike was planning a snowshoe so I was just tagging along, and it was New Year's Eve day.  The whole day was set up for a perfect hike.  The day was phenomenal.  Here is a quick recounting almost half a week later.

We met early and were in North Bend around 8:15 am.  We exited on the off ramp, got a little off track, parked the car, geared up, and were walking on up a snowmobile highway to the top of Keechelus Ridge by 9:45 am.  My friend and I quickly got of the old road, and made our own route through the forest.  We had a topo map, a ton of fresh snow, and now tracks to follow.  We jumped across one creek early, and we both knew the day was going to rock.  Then it was a good long uphill climb, occasionally crossing the snowmobile routes with and without traffic.  We got to the summit were it was so cold.  Ice was forming in y water bottle, my sweaty base-layer that I changed out for the hike down froze while we took a lunch break.  I don't remember when we got there, but we walked down around 1:15 pm.  We bounded down much the way we came up and were back at the car a little past 2:30 pm.

We then rocked Seattle for New Year's Eve later that night.

Orchid: Breaking fresh tracks with a friend.

Onion: Not managing gear well.

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Google Map

Week 69 Dec. 24 - Beaver Creek and Lookout Mountain

Total Distance: Approximately 3 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 500 ft.
Time: 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Weather: Cool with cloudy skies.

My parents, my sister, her fiancé, and I are spending the Christmas holiday in a cabin near Broken Bow, OK.  It is a beautiful cabin, less than 10 minutes from Beaver Bend State Park, where there is a ton of trails to hike.  This afternoon my sister, her fiancé, my parents' dog, and I took off to do a little 3 mile loop that took us over the top of Lookout Mountain.

We left the cabin at 12:08 pm,  drove to the wrong visitor's center, found a map, turned around, got to the right trailhead, checked in without the rangers, and were walking by 12:32.  This was by far the shortest commute to a trailhead I have had in the last 69 weeks.

We took off on the Forest Heritage Tree Trail, and soon we were walking next to Beaver Creek.  The creek was flowing over these crazy fin like rock formations.  Abby, my parents' dog, was loving the creek and being outside.  The trail was easy enough to follow; the trees were marked with a small, red medal circle hammered into the trees.  After about 30 minutes, we hit a T intersection with a sign indicting we had walked a mile.  The sign read that the Lookout Mountain Trail started to the right.  It was 0.7 miles to the summit and the sign cautioned that it was a "very steep climb." 

We began the climb, and I felt like I was back in the great state of Washington.  A pine forest climb up a decent hill.  All of us began to feel the work that is climbing a steep hillside.  Within a few minutes I was sweating and was ready to take a layer off.  We took a little break near the summit.  We drank some water and de-layered.  The push to the top past the break was more gradual, and the summit was not treeless but had good views between the trees.  The decent was steep and quick, and soon we were at another creek.  The trail continued up another hill and skirted around the east side of the ridge until it finally hit the road we came in on.  The last half mile of the trail followed the road, and we were at the parking lot by 2 pm.

Orchid: Christmas eve hiking with my sister, soon-to be brother-in-law, and Abby, the wonder dog.

Onion: Hard to find one on a Christmas eve hike.

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Google Map

Week 68 Dec.17 - Lake Thunderbird

Total Distance: Approximately 7 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 500 ft.
Time: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Weather: Warm, mid-50's, mostly sunny with scattered clouds, beautiful day.

Back home for the holidays had this week's hike in my home state of Oklahoma.  I was looking for a hike somewhat close to my parent's house in Oklahoma City, but there were not many options in my Oklahoma Hiking Trails book that were less than an hour away.  I settled on a 7 mile hike about a hour away at a lake named Lake Thunderbird.

My sister and I were on the road by 9:40 am and at the trailhead by 10:55 am.  There were a few cars in the lot, but we did not see anyone there.  I geared up, and we began walking by 11.  We were walking in a trail system that the Bike League of Norman had helped establish and maintain.  The trails are shared with mountain bikers and hikers.  An extensive spider web network of trails covers the area known as Clear Bay in the southwest corner of Lake Thunderbird.

The weather was amazing.  The skies were a brilliant blue, and the sun was warm when we were out of the shade.  The trails meandered through a wooded area near the lake and after about 15 minutes the sound of the traffic was no longer audible.  The trees had lost all their leaves, and the landscape was familiar and made me feel at home.  The dirt in my home state is a red color similar to that of Arizona or New Mexico, a wonderful aspect of the American Southwest.  As we walked, I was so happy to see the beauty of my home state with fresh eyes.  Growing up in a place, it is easy to miss out on what is actually there.  This commitment of hiking every weekend has allowed me a second chance to appreciate the beauty of where I grew up.

The hike was great.  We got to the lake and took a little snack break.  We walked a nice lollipop loop, and we were back at the car by 2 pm.  We saw only 3 other people and had a glorious time.

Orchid: Snack break at the lake, and a wonderful hike with my sister.

Onion: I couldn't find one on this hike.

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Google Map

Week 67 Dec. 11 - Capitol Forest, again

Total Distance: Approximately 7 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 800 ft.
Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Weather: Cool, mostly cloudy skies.

A busy time of year has made it hard for me to find the time to blog.  And now I am left to try and remember a hike from a week ago.  The original plan for the weekend was to go snowshoeing with a friend I met this summer, a young woman who is from Tacoma and attends Savannah College of Art and Design.  She wanted to go hiking with me this summer when we met, but it just never worked out,  Now she is home for the holidays with a classmate who is originally from Florida, and she wanted to show her some of Washington's beauty.  I suggested that to see any peaks that we would need to get up to higher elevation which means we would be snowshoeing.

As we started planning the hike, it became clear that to pull off all the gear for two people in a few days was not going to work out.  We went with a backup plan of hiking in the lower elevations.  I wanted to go to a place that I knew would be snow free, would be close, and would hopefully give us a view or two.  I suggested the Capitol Forest outside Olympia.  We were on the road Sunday morning by 9 am.  We got to the forest by 9:50 and then we were cruising the dirt and gravel roads of a working forest.  I have no idea where the trailheads in this frost are.  This was my second visit here, and I did the same thing this time as I did last time, I drove around until I saw a trail, parked the car, and began walking the trail.

We started in an open area of a recent clear-cut.  The weather was great, cool and clear.  We began climbing and soon we were in a forest as lush as any second or third growth forest I have ever walked through.  We ended up getting to a nice opening at the top of a hill and had a pretty decent view to what I think was the west.  After a short break, we continued on and soon came to a dead end.  We turned around and walked back the way we had came.  Once we got back to the clear-cut where we began, we continued on the other direction past the car, and after about an hour came to the other end of the trail.  Here we had lunch and hot drinks and enjoyed the quiet solitude of the forest.  We packed up and were back at the car by 2 pm.

Orchid: View from the top of the hill.

Onion: Not know where I am whenever I visit the Capitol Forest.  I need a map…

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Google Map

Week 66 Dec. 3 - Hex Mountain

Total Distance: Approximately 7 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2500 ft.
Time: 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Weather: Cool, sunny, clear skies, beautiful day.

Sometimes I get this great feeling about a hike early in the week.  I know the weather is going to be amazing, I have an awesome hike picked out, or I am excited about those friends of mine who might join me.  On Monday morning, Creighton walked into my classroom, and we planned to hike on Saturday.  We had no idea where, but we knew we would go snowshoeing.  The forecast early in the week was for great weather, but in the PNW that can always change.  With each passing day, the forecast looked better and better.  I spent a lot of the week asking friends about any potential good snowshoe hikes, and I finally found one I have not done in my snowshoe book on Thursday.  Then I asked another good friend, my colleague who was on the Marmot trip with me in August of 2010, to come along and he was down.  This would be our first hike since that trip.  We planned on meeting at 6 am, to be walking by 8 and to be back in Tacoma before 6 pm.

We were on the road by 6:10 am, and we were at the trailhead by 7:55 am.  We were geared up and walking shortly thereafter.  The hike starts out in the winter snowshoeing the road up to the summer parking lot.  It is about 2 miles of road walking, but today the snow was so crunchy and solid we didn't even need our snowshoes on the road.  We walked along at a nice pace and at about 9:45 am, we saw a nice path up to the ridge through the forest.  We stopped, put on our snowshoes, and began walking up the ridge.

I am always glad to snowshoe with Creighton.  He is an animal in terms of pace and endurance, so he took off breaking trail ahead of my friend and I.  My other friend is the cross-country coach at my school, and he too is a mad man when it comes to pace and endurance.  It wasn't long after we started that I was in the back of the pack, following their tracks, and enjoying the forest by myself.  We came up on the ridge and dropped down the other side to a nice big landing.  We could see a nice saddle between some peaks a good distance up from the landing, and we saw what would be a path through the forest and out on the exposed ridge.  We took off together, but soon after I was again on my own.  It was a long steep climb.  I popped out of the forest after what felt like forever, and we were standing below the peaks we had seen below.  The trees had thinned out and the peaks looked so inviting.

We walked up to the first peak together.  When we reached the top, the view north was breath-taking.  We think we were looking at Mount Stuart.  While I may be mistaken with the name, there is no mistaking the beauty of the Cascades.  The gnarly, snaggletooth rock outcroppings covered in snow look so spectacular bathed in sunshine against a blue sky.  I will never get over how beautiful Washington State is.  We could see the other peak was higher elevation, so we walked the ridge over to the other peak.  When we got to the peak it was 11 am.  We took an hour long break.  I had brought two thermoses of hot water and fixed everyone a hot chocolate.  I had two.  We enjoyed some water, snacks, and each other's company.  We took some pictures, packed up, and began walking out at noon.

The way down was a lot of fun, especially getting down off the ridge.  All the elevation we had gained, we got to run down at nearly half the time it took to get up.  The sun was shinning so bright.  It was truly an amazing day.  We were back on the road where we finally put our snowshoes on at 1 pm.  We took our snowshoes off and walked out.  We were back at the car by 2 pm.

Orchid: Hot cocoa and good friends.

Onion: Broken buckle on my pack because I hung my snowshoes on a weak strap.

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Google Map

Week 65 Nov. 26 - Twin Lakes

Total Distance: Approximately 6 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 650 ft.
Time: 8:00 am - 12:30 pm
Weather: Cold, cloudy, sleet off and on turning to rain.

Today was the first hike of the season when I was intentionally looking for snow.  I had this crazy plan of backpacking this weekend.  I wanted to get a few friends to go out and cook a Thanksgiving feast in the backcountry, but it turns out most people want to spend the holiday with family.  I normally am with family, but this year I convinced my mom to let me stay here in Washington, but I did promise I would not go out into the woods alone on Thanksgiving.  I had a lovely holiday with a friend from work and his family, then I spent Friday resting and lounging around the house.  I also planned a snowshoe trip for Saturday.  The plan was to snowshoe to the top of Mount Catherine right off I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass.  I checked the weather, the sunrise/sunset information, and directions.  Sunrise was around 7:30 am, and according to Google Maps, it would take an hour and half.  I was up, packed, and out the door at 6:20 am.

I reached the trailhead at 7:50 am and was geared up and walking by 8 am.  At the end of the parking lot, the trail was covered with snow.  I was walking in a light freezing rain, but I was warm fast.  I stopped after about 15 minutes and delayered.  I was walking again soon.  I walked for about an hour, when I figured I had missed the turn of the road.  I walked back and shortly found the blue blazes leading up to the other road.  Soon after I got to the second road, I began seeing a lot of animal tracks. Mostly what I think was snowshoe hare, but it was still exciting.

Around 9:30 am, I hit the end of the cross-country ski tracks I had been following.  It was obvious the road continued on, but the going was a lot slower.  I was breaking fresh tracks in some deep snow.  I came up on a sign for the Twin Lakes trailhead 2 miles up.  I got to the trailhead at 10:30 am.  This is where I turn and follow the road up to Windy Pass to get to the top of Mount Catherine, but I was tired.  Breaking trail had me sweating like crazy.  I decided to hike to the Twin Lakes and then turn around.  As I moved off the road to the trail, I got caught in a deep snow drift.  And as I was moving around trying to get loose, I began slipping down to my left, but my left foot was stuck.  As I tried to move, I kept falling deeper in the snow to the left with my leg stuck.  I started getting a bit nervous as the pain in my ankle and knee was quite sufficient.  I actually screamed a little as I kept slipping.  Finally, I don't know how, but the snow holding my left leg in place broke free.  I slid down into a little creek but got up quickly.

I had to a work a bit, but I got back on to the trail and was moving to the lake.  Unfortunately, the path to the lake was deeper snow than I had to deal with on the road.  There were also creek crossings that were a little sketchy, like the one right by the road.  I crossed three other creeks and was really tired.  I looked around and I figured I had gone far enough for the first snowshoe outing of the winter.  I began walking out.

Walking out was a tad faster, since I had footprints to follow.  It was, however, colder.  I passed two people on the road moving up to Windy pass.  Once I got back to the main road, there were a ton of people playing in the snow near the parking lot.  I was back at the car at 12:30 pm.

Orchid: Breaking fresh tracks with no one nearby.

Onion: Twisted knee and ankle.

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Google Map

Week 64 Nov. 20 - Dungeness Spit

Total Distance: Approximately 11 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 150 ft.
Time: 11:30 am - 3:30 pm
Weather: Cold, mostly cloudy, brief sun break early on the hike.

Life never ceases to amaze me.  I have gone through the full spectrum of emotions in the last three weeks.  When I think back to 21 days ago, I was on trails in Mount Rainier, celebrating my birthday with friends, and joyous at the gift that would be more time on this planet with the people in my life.  The next two hikes with my friend Erin on the Olypmic peninsula, I must confess were more than a "hike with a friend," at least for me.  After two beautiful hikes with Erin, a few conversations, and a lot of daydreaming in my head over the last 14 days, the emotional roller coaster of life has been in full swing.  Late this last Friday night, it became obvious that my hikes with Erin will from now on just be hikes with a good friend.  That same day, there was a terrible plane crash involving two coaches at my alma mater, Oklahoma State.  While I did not know them, my sister who works for Oklahoma State, did.  Add to this that only minutes prior to my conversation with Erin Friday, Oklahoma State had its dream of an undefeated football season dashed on national television. 

When I woke up Saturday morning, I felt like a wreck, like a ton of emotional baggage.  I had a few things to do, since I was taking kids from my school this week on a hike.  Thank God for that!  I was close to canceling this hike during the week for a variety of reasons: the weather was supposed to be so cold Friday the roads were going to be icy in the morning, I didn't have a co-leader that could join me, I did not want to take kids with me so I could go "hike with a friend" in Port Angeles, etc.  On Friday, it was clear many kids wanted to go, so I scrambled and asked several people go with me.  Finally got a friend and co-wilderness instructor to agree to come, and I blasted out the details to the club in an email.  The plan was to meet at 9 am, by then the icy roads will hopefully be dry enough.  We were going to hike the Dungeness Spit, a 5 mile thin strip of beach that jets out into the Straight of Juan de Fuca formed by the Dungeness river depositing silt and runoff in the Pacific.  This hike would make the snow a non-issue.

I was at the meeting place early, and I waited.  As I waited, I got an email from one of the five kids who said he was going, and he couldn't make it.  Then three other kids got there, and at 9:15 am my co-leader and a student weren't there.  Now for those of you that don't live in the PNW, when I tell people we are meeting at 9, I mean we will meet at 9 and leave at 9:15.  People around here have a little bit different sense of what it means to be "on time."  I don't know why my friend or student did not make it.  I did not have my friend's cell number, so we waited until 9:20am then left.  I normally would not take kids on a hike without another adult, but I have hiked numerous times with 2 of the three, and the other is Gil's son, my colleague who I have been hiking with a lot in the last year.  I also knew the other kids parents really well, so I did not think there would be an issue.

We were at the trailhead by 11:15 am.  We geared up and were walking by 11:26 am.  When we got to the beach there was a huge crowd, and the beach was a thin, narrow strip.  It appeared that the tide was moving out.  I should have checked the tides before I picked this hike, but we were here now.  I hiked in silence most of the day.  The clouds were low, fluffy, and dark over the ocean, but there was no weather.  Looking back to the south, you could see parts of the Olympics through the shroud of the fog and cloud cover.  There were higher clouds moving north, down over the peaks.  Sunlight was streaming through the cloud layers.  The ocean in its rhythmic ebb and flow was slowly moving out as I walked along the coast.  In these moments, I realized how life never changes only our perceptions do.  No matter what I am dealing with, the sun will always break through dark clouds. No matter how my heart might ache, the tides will always go out and come back. And no matter who I am not with despite thinking I should be, life is still worthwhile.

We were at the lighthouse, 5.5 miles from the trailhead at 1:11 pm.  A lunch break on the beach and a tour of the lighthouse had us walking back to the car at 1:50 pm.  We were booking it on the sandy stretch of coast that had been hidden by the morning's high tide.  We were back at the car by 3:20 pm.  We were averaging 17 minute miles.

Orchid: Therapy session with Mother Nature.

Onion: Hard to put in words, but I know what it is.

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Google Map

Week 63 Nov. 12 - Royal Lake

Total Distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2600 ft.
Time: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Weather: Cool, foggy, mostly cloudy, light snow off and on as we walked to the lake. Fog cleared off and glimpses of blue sky around 4 pm on our way out.

This weekend was another weekend out on the Olympic Peninsula.  The more I go the Olympics, the more I love this park.  Another beautiful thing that happens when I am out in the Olympics is for every hike I do, I learn about two or three new hikes I want to return and do later.  It is the park that keeps on giving.  It only takes about 2 hours to drive from my house to hikes on the east side of the park.  It's an easy drive, especially if I can get an early start.  And with a few friends in Port Angeles, I usually can get someone to go hiking with me.  This week I was joined by Erin again.  This hike that we did today was a hike I found months ago on wta.org and have wanted to do for awhile.  With the weather forecast calling for rain all day in Port Angeles, we did not want to do a hike where we would find ourselves exposed at high elevation on a ridge.  So instead of trying to go up to the top of Jupiter, which was also closed because of fires this summer, we came back to the hike up the Royal creek to Royal Lake in the Royal Basin.  It would be safer and still provide distance and some elevation gain, a chance to stretch our legs.

I met Erin in Sequim around 9 am.  I threw my gear in her truck, and she drove to the trailhead.  The dirt road wasn't too bad, but it did have sections covered in a thin layer of snow.  We were up at the trailhead by 9:50 am, where we met the first hiker to get to the trailhead and his beautiful golden retriever, May.  He was going up the Dungeness River to Camp Handy, staying out of the national park and remaining in the national forest.  I always appreciate a responsible dog owner who follows the rules.  He was walking while Erin and I were still gearing up.  As we were about ready to hit the trail a third car showed up with three people also heading up to the basin.  We exchanged pleasantries, and Erin was able to describe the route and give a few of the cautionary details as well.  We were off and walking the trail by 10:15 am.  By 10:35 we were at the turnoff to the basin, and we had caught up to May and her owner.  We chatted a bit enjoyed  May's love and friendship.  We turned to go up the Royal Creek, and shortly after we were ran down by May.  We shooed her back and kept walking.  Five or ten minutes later, we were again ran down by May, but this time we heard her before she came up on us.  Erin stayed firm and kept her back, forcing her to run back.  We were a little worried afterwards, hoping she made it back to her owner.

We hit the national park boundary around 11 am.  The trail was in the woods  meandering along side the Royal Creek.  It climbed slowly and by 11:15, the surrounding plants were covered in a light layer of snow.  As we climbed, the snow was accumulating.  It was not bad enough to need the snowshoes we were carrying, but it made walking a little tougher as it was easy for my feet to slide around a bit.  It started snowing as we walked, and we were both happy to have missed the rain.  We took a break around 12:15 pm by a huge tree that was keeping the most of snow off of us.  I ate a snack and drank some water for what Erin said would be the final push to the lake.  The trail continued to climb and switchback gradually, and within about 40 minutes we hit the lower Royal Basin.  The weather had stopped, the opening of the basin was magnificent, the surrounding areas was covered in snow, and the walking was nice and flat to the lake.  Another 10 minutes and we were rounding a bend to the lake.  The lake was beautiful, but the wind was blowing hard in our face off the lake.  Little ice crystals were nailing us in the face, but we were able to walk along the right side of the lake, up to a little clearing on the far side of Royal Lake.

We stopped here for our lunch.  It was cold, so the first priority was to get warmer layers on.  After I layered up, Erin busted out a Thermos of hot chocolate.  This was the perfect addition to warmer clothes, and I instantly felt warm.  I drank some water and tried to eat a bit, but I wasn't too hungry.  We enjoyed standing and staring at the lake as the wind and snow pounded our backs.  We packed up after about 30 minutes and began our walk out.   When we got back to the south tip of the lake, our tracks had almost been covered by the wind blown snow.  We walked through the basin and down a few of the last switchbacks, when we hit the group of three we had met at the trailhead.  The were planning an overnight; I was a tad jealous.  We wished them safe travels and continued down the trail.

As we walked down in the twilight, the clouds were lifting off the ridges that form the Royal Creek Valley.  I even saw a sliver or two of blue sky.  It was a gorgeous afternoon, including the break for snow cones on the side of the trail.  We used flavored beverages to make a snow slushy, it was delicious.  We continued our walk and were down in the forest as it was getting dark.  We stopped around 5:30pm to find our headlamps.  As we were a few minutes from the trailhead, I heard a strange sound and got Erin's attention.  She did not know what it was either, and it was a little scary.  I thought it sounded like something breathing or snoring, after we got out Erin was worried it was a person.  I was convinced it it was a person they would have said something as we were there talking about the noise.  We will never know, and it ended the hike with a scary, sad note.  I hope I did not leave someone in the woods.

Orchid: The views that opened up on the way down and the snow cones.

Onion: The noise we heard near the end of the trail.

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Google Map

Week 62 Nov. 6 - Hurricane Hill up the Little River down to the Elwha

Total Distance: Approximately 15 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 5100 ft. (with 5300 ft down)
Time: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Weather: Cool, windy, mostly cloudy. A glorious sun-break in the meadows to the west of Hurricane Hill around 3:30 pm.

So I was back on Hurricane Hill this week (for avid blog readers, I have now been here 3 times in 2011). There is no particular reason for my affinity for this place, but I do have some important history here. Sixty-four weeks ago, two weeks before I started my 52 hikes, I was here for the first time. I was learning how to use a GPS and look for marmots. I was going into the backcountry to help the Olympic National Park collect data on the Olympic Marmot. I was dealing with some personal, emotional issues at the time (the same issues that sparked the hiking commitment a few weeks later). My friend who teaches biology needed a partner for a marmot study he had signed up for earlier that spring. A buddy of his couldn't make it, and we had talked about hiking together for a while. I knew the wilderness would help with what I was dealing with. I was not able to commit until last minute, so the park had planned to send us along with a park employee. After we met her in the front-country and gave her the chance to back out, she declined. Instead she wanted to go, since this was the last job she was going to do for the park. She was leaving for the east coast that next weekend. A friend of hers, who was free, worked in the park, and who was obviously going to miss her friend, also came along.

So there we were, a group of four, brought together by friendship, marmots, and a love of the woods. The four of us became good friends on our way to Dodger Point. And as cool people tend to meander in and out of your life, I knew these two women were the kind of people I wanted to keep in touch with. We have chatted via Facebook and met up as people have been passing through, but this last Thursday was the first time all four of us got together. Sitting around chatting, we tried to plan a reunion hike for this weekend. My friend and colleague was already busy with cross-country and previous plans, and the east coast park employee was heading back east on Sunday. So that left me and the other park employee, Erin. She lives in Port Angeles, and there was a hike up to Hurricane Hill I have been wanting to do since I saw it on the map in July. There is a trail that goes up 5300 ft over 6 miles from the Elwha river to the top of Hurricane Hill. One section gains 4900 ft in 4.5 miles. That hurts my thighs just thinking about it. She said she was down, and she had ideas for making the hike more interesting.

We knew we had to get an early start, since I had a two hour drive, and "falling back" was going to bring darkness in earlier. I was up and out the door at 6 am. I was in PA (Port Angeles) at 8:15. I needed groceries, and we had planned to meet at 9 am. Thankfully, my sister called and I was able to catch up with her and buy groceries. I was at my friends around 9:15am. She thought it might be a better hike to go up the Little River valley to Hurricane Hill and come down the trail to the Elwha. Excited to be out with my friend and to cover some big distance and elevation change, I was easily convinced. We stashed a car near the Elwha Ranger Station, off the Whiskey Bend Road. We then drove back to her place, where a friend of hers (and now mine) took us to the trailhead on the Little River.

We started walking at approximately 10:30 am. By 10:50, we were 1.1 miles along the trail, hitting the National Park boundary. The trail along the river was a nice stroll, gaining elevation slowly. The trail hugged the Little River and crossed over several times. We had to do a little trail finding and rock jumping, but it wasn't too difficult. After about an hour and a half, the trail started gaining elevation quickly. As we climbed, the treetops above started showing little dustings of snow. We kept moving up, and more snow was visible on the surrounding trees and the ferns near the trail. Soon even the trail was covered in snow, nothing that required snowshoes, but snow none-the-less. We took a little break on our way up. It was lightly snowing, and we were hitting deeper, more consistent snow.

We started walking up, and the animal tracks started to reveal themselves. I saw deer and possibly elk tracks then snowshoe hare tracks. And shortly after we came across a real treat, some big cat prints. It was either a cougar, or it was the biggest bobcat ever. The trail was snowed over and we were the only human prints, but we were following the cougar up the trail for about an hour. When the cougar tracks finally went off the trail we were only a few minutes from getting to Hurricane Ridge. As we got to the ridge, I recognized the hill to the south, the hill I first went to the top of during a whiteout on snowshoes in January, returned to on snowshoes in April, and now hiking to in snow in November. I love returning to a place I've been to before, especially with different friends and at different times of the year.

We had a nice, long break at the trail junction near the top of the hill. The wind was howling, and my hands were freezing by the time we left. We started hiking down at 3:15 pm. As we began walking west along a ridge, the clouds began lifting, and the sun came out. We hit the meadows to the west at the perfect time. The sunshine was a rich, warm color, and the valleys below were hidden with low clouds. The peaks were shining with fresh snow and the sky above was soft, brilliant blue. We disturbed a few deer grazing in the meadow, and we were greeted by a Clark's Nutcracker too. Apparently this is a rare bird in this area with an awful call. We were graced with his presence, and he kept his silence.

Soon we were in the forest, and it felt like we would be at the car shortly. We walked and walked as the sun faded to the west. It was dark around 5 pm, and by 5:30 pm I could no longer see. We took our last break to find our headlamps and to hydrate. We were at the car by 6.

Orchid: Big distance, big elevation gain, great pace, wonderful friend.

Onion: Cold hands.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 61 Oct. 30 - Spray Park, Seattle Park, Carbon River, and Ipsut Pass

Total Distance: Approximately 15 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 4600 ft. (with 5000 ft down)
Time: 8:15am - 4:30 pm
Weather: 90% of the time it rained, ranging from a light drizzle to a steady flow. The other 10% was perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, Creighton walked into my classroom and said I want to do a special hike with you around your birthday (Wednesday, I turned 30). Last weekend was too busy, so we settled on this weekend. It would be my first hike in my thirties. My friend and department chair, Gil, who I have mentioned several times in other blog entries, and I asked his permission to use his name on my blog, joined us as well.  He is section hiking the PCT and has been on several hikes with me in the last 60 weeks (San Juan Kayak trip, several snowshoe outings, the Sol Duc Loop, and most recently the Tunnel Falls hike in Oregon).  He asked me mid-week where we were going and if he could tag along. Since the trailhead was about 2 hours away, We met early, at about 6 am. We wanted to do the loop in about 7 hours. We hoped to get back to the car by 3 pm as to be home around 5 pm.

I fell asleep in the back of Creighton's car and when I awoke we were only minutes away. It was pouring rain as we pulled in to the parking lot. We all got our gear on in the car since it was so bad outside. We walked over to the bathroom, which had a nice covering and double checked that we had all we needed. We started walking around 8:15am.

Nothing seemed to be too out of the ordinary. It was a wet day, and we had some distance to cover. We hadn't been walking more than 2 minutes when we came to a person laying on the trail. I was in the back, and when I walked up I could her her moaning in pain. I asked if she needed help, and she pulled back her rain hood to reveal a familiar, friendly face.  It was the lower school head and a good friend from work. We laughed and hugged. She asked if she could join, and she told me happy birthday. A sweet treat for sure, she and I have led the school trip to Dark Canyon together with Creighton 3 times in the last 4 years. We have been on a lot of hikes in the last year, and she has met me in Rainier multiple times. She lives closer to Rainier than I do, so she will often just meet me at the trailhead.  I figured Creighton or Gil (who are both really good friends with her too) had just mentioned our hike, and she wanted to surprise me.

We kept walking, laughing about the set-up, and I was smiling with delight. In just a few more minutes, I walked by a huge tree and on the other side was one of the Upper School Outdoor Ed coordinators. She is responsible for getting me on backcountry trips 6 years ago. We led Outdoor Ed together in the Fall of 2010, it was week 3 of the 52. She and I were always friendly, but we became really great friends on that trip. As I planned hike after hike last year, I would always ask her to join me. She has a busy life being a wife and mother, raising 2 girls both under the age of 10.  This pretty much makes weekends family time. I don't know what that is like, but I understand. I was so happy to see her. I gave her a big hug, and now I knew something was up. I walked more briskly and at the front of the group. I was so excited as to who I might see next that I was missing how awesome the day already was.

A few minutes pass, and I see my good friend who teaches 5th grade. She and I were hired for full-time positions the same year. We were sent off to a "New Teacher" weekend in our first year, where we stayed up with the other young teachers and played games and told stories. She and I have been great friends ever since, and we led Outdoor Ed together this year (week 55). A big hug was exchanged, and I was on my way looking for who would be next.

The final morning addition was again behind a tree and was another huge surprise. She and I were hired the same year, both in the math department, and we shared an office for 4 years. She is an another incredible friend, and she is also an Outdoor Ed instructor. We have never led together, but I know (and have heard) that she is great. Now, I don't know if it is her favorite week of the year, but she does it with enthusiasm and grace. Last year, I think I asked her to join me on a hike at least 30 times. And every time she would smile and say, "oh, I'm busy" or " maybe next time." She too is a mother of two girls and a wife, but she always let me knew in a kind way that hiking is not what she wanted to do on the weekends. When I saw her on the trail this morning, I think I screamed, "no way!" I gave her a huge hug, as it continued to pour down rain. Our little group of 3 had reached its maximum of 7.

We hiked on to Spray falls. It took a little over an hour, and it rained the entire time. I hiked in the lead, which was probably for the best, since I was very emotional and moved by the whole morning. We stopped at the junction to turn off to the falls, and I let everyone go by. As Creighton brought up the rear, he was smiling and laughing as he approached me. I gave him a hug and started crying when I told him how much this meant to me. He knows already, but I told him how much I loved him. He shared with me that the idea was not his, but in fact my mom's. She contacted him through Facebook and had him organize it all. My mom is pretty awesome, and this was confirmed at yet another level today. I called her as soon as I had cell service after the hike.

Creighton and I continued on to Spray Falls. We took pictures, I got hit with snow balls, we laughed, and I basked in the company of many great friends. We walked back up to the trail junction where our 15 mile loop was to continue, but 3 of the hikers were turning back. I gave a little thank you speech, where I cried (of course) and had a chance to acknowledge how much their love and friendship meant to me.

My dark canyon co-leader was going to continue with Gil, Creighton, and I to Spray and Seattle Park. The trail was a lot steeper past the falls. We walked quietly and in the rain. We emerged from the forest and walked through water soaked trails. As we hit the highest point of the trail, 6400 ft in the saddle between Spray and Seattle parks, the rain stopped. The wind picked up and blew the clouds away. Several peaks revealed themselves, bathed in sunlight and shining against a brilliant blue sky. The four of us gawked and marveled at the beauty of the natural world. One commented, it was as if angels were out dancing on the mountain tops. This is when my other friend had to take off, and she gave me a little present of some sweet decadent cookies.

Gil, Creighton, and I went on. We passed a snowfield or two. Most of it was icy and was obviously from last winter. However, some of the field had a dusting of new snow. This was easier to walk across and made me excited for this upcoming winter. I do like snowshoeing, and I want to try some more winter camping. This was a fantastic part of the hike. We descended for hours, walking through Seattle Park, then dropping back down into the forest. We came out at the carbon river, just below the Carbon Glacier. It was 1 o'clock. Here is where we figured that the best case scenario was to finish at 4 pm. Creighton and Gil knew this area and had looked at the map. I had no real idea what the hike looked like, I was just filling it in on the limited information I know about the park.

We needed to book it, so we took off from the suspension bridge below the Carbon Glacier. This was the long slog section. It started raining again. I knew this trail and it is a gradual decent to the carbon river where you cross back again. The trail is washed out on the south side. So this was a bit of a detour, but it was the only way. We crossed the river again, and we were at the start of the climb to Ipsut Pass three and a half miles away, only five miles from our car, and it was 2 o'clock.

Now I have hiked 2.5 miles per hour before, and I was psyching myself up to do it too. But this was a new trail for me, and what I didn't know at the time is that this section gains 3000 feet over this 3.5 mile stretch. I was cold, wet, tired, sore, hungry, and thirsty. Creighton asked if i was ready, and I stupidly said yes. I made the classic mistake of thinking that to stop and eat and drink would slow me down. We began walking, up, and up, and up. I did alright for the first hour, but once you emerge from the forest, the switchbacks hug a ridge and destroy any normal person's pace. Of course it did not slow my friend, Creighton. Creighton is 57 year old ex-professional runner. He never slows down. He is very far from normal in many respects. The fact that he was undaunted in this stretch is another supporting argument to his lack of normalcy. (I hope to be able to say the same about me some day.)

After grinding through the 3.5 miles, Gil and I reached the pass at 3:40. The other side of the pass was more exposed to the wind, and the hike down had me cold and miserable. I was too hungry and thisty. I was not thinking straight, but I did not say anything out loud. We were back at the car by 4:30. There was a note from yet another friend who came to join our hike. He was meeting us at the pass, but he left the pass around 3:10 pm. He had plans and was expecting us sooner. Creighton said he had gotten to the pass around 3:20 and he must have judged missed him. I was obviously so touched he came out, but I was sad to have missed him. He is an icon at my school. He goes by his first name to everyone. He is the nicest guy you will ever meet, and when he shakes your hand, it's clear he could crush every bone if he wanted too. He is the kind of teacher at a school who has his hand in everything, because if he didn't nothing would get done. He hikes a lot less than he used to, but he gets out on the water in his kayak or out to his cabin in the Goat Rocks on weekends. He is another whom I have asked multiple time to hike with me and another who hasn't been able to yet. I was a little bummed I wasn't fast enough to catch him.

Once I was at the car, I finally stopped and drank some water. I ate a snack, put on dry clothes, and got into a warm car. I started feeling good again soon, and I realized how poor of a job I did managing my body today. I did feel pretty special though. People always ask me what my favorite hike was when they hear I have gone on 61 hikes in the last 61 weekends. I now have my answer.

Orchid: Surprise birthday hike!

Onion: The hike up to Ipsut and down to the lake.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 60 Oct. 23 - Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, and Mildred Point

Total Distance: Approximately 7.6 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2400 ft
Time: 10:45 am - 3:45 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with rare sun breaks, no rain :)

There are some weeks that just seem to be non-stop work, and this week was the third one of these kind of weeks in a row.  On Tuesday, the outdoor club at my school met, and I volunteered to take kids on a hike Sunday.  I don't know what I was thinking, Friday was the homecoming football game (I worked the chain gang), Saturday was the Homecoming dance (I chaperoned the early shift), and Sunday I was going to take kids on a hike?!?  I told the kids to meet me in the morning at 8 am, and we were going to leave at 8:15 am.  This morning I woke up, looked at my watch, and it was 8:06 am.  I ran into my outdoor gear room, threw on some hiking clothes, ran out to my car, cleaned out the mess while leaving my pack, rain gear, boots, poles, and gaiters, and drove as quickly as I could to the grocery store near my school.  I was relieved when I arrived at 8:27 am and saw two kids waiting and a dad with them.  Thankfully they were able to laugh it off, and I went to buy food and coffee for the hike.  We were on the road around 8:45 am.

We arrived at the trailhead by 10:30.  I was geared up and walking by 10:45.  I realized I forgot my camera, but one of the kids had his.  The original plan was to go see Comet Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.  I thought it was like an 8 mile hike round-trip, but it is only about 4.  We were up to the falls in about an hour.  They were spectacular.  It is a giant waterfall the hits rock below and sprays water everywhere.  We were feeling great, and we continued up to Van Trump Park.  The next mile was steep, but the pay off was sweet, a beautiful alpine meadow with the changing colors of fall and low hanging clouds lifting to reveal great views to the south of the Tatoosh Range and Mt. Adams, the flat top St. Helens was barely visible above the clouds.  A long lunch break at the Van Trump Park was great but chilly.  We left after about 40 minutes and continued a bit further up the trail to Mildred Point.

The last push up to the point was grueling.  These always seem to be the hardest parts of hikes for me lately.  I know the payoff is so great, but when I am walking up a slope at a steep-ish pitch I struggle with the conversation I have with myself in my own head.  Thankfully I had some trail company to keep my spirits up and to give me the strength to push through the discomfort.  And as it has been the case in the past, the top of Mildred Point was sweet and worth the effort.  I think since the steep hills have "too much" lately, I need to do more hike like this and push through this mental block.  We spent some time hanging in this magical place below Point Success.  The mountain was glorious right above us and we got to explore and climb up on some rocks.  We turned to walk out at around 1:45 pm. 

The hike down was great.  It went quickly and without any trouble.  We were passing people once we got below Comet Falls.  We were back at the car by 3:45.  It was an amazing day, and I was so glad I chose to bring kids.  For yet another week, my life was made better by walking in the woods.  I was super stressed before I began walking, but the mountain took all of that away.  I am ready for a new week, but already excited for my hike next weekend.  A big milestone will happen on next week's hike.  It will be the first hike in my thirties.

Orchid: The Van Trump Park and Mildred Point.

Onion: Hard to find one on a day like today, maybe being in my own head so much on the steep slopes.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 59 Oct. 15 - Tunnel Falls

Total Distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1000 ft
Time: 8:15 am - 2:00 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with small sun breaks, no rain :)

I woke up in Portland this morning at 6:15 am.  I had traveled down Thursday evening with the Mathematics Department from my school to attend the 50th Northwest Mathematics Conference on Friday.  My department chair and I planned a hike for the Saturday following the conference.  He is a good friend who is section hiking the PCT and has been on multiple hikes with me in the last year.  He had a perfect hike in mind.  The hike followed Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was only an hour from the hotel and was supposed to have beautiful waterfalls along the trail.  We were geared up and were ready to hike at 8:15 am.

The morning was overcast to start, but there were glimpses of sunshine to the east.  The trail starts off at a nice gradual slope and never gets too daunting.  The creek below provided a nice background to some great trail conversations with my friend.  We made it up to the Lower Punchbowl Falls but choose to walk on up the trail to the destination, Tunnel Falls, another 3.5 miles up the trail.  We walked at a quick pace, but we did not feel like we were racing.  At 10:10 am, the falls were coming into view.  The falls were quite awesome, and I was pleased with how quickly we got there.  We both felt like moving on up the trail aways, so we were moving after just a few minutes.  Another 10 minutes up the trail, we came around the wall of a cliff and were greeted by the best view of the whole day.  The creek was spread out over a wide expanse and was draining hundreds of feet below.

We kept walking another 10 minutes and saw a trail marker indicating we were 7 miles up the trail.  We thought it better to eat lunch by the falls, so we turned around and stopped for a 30 minute lunch break on the trail.  We saw two people before we were up and moving at Tunnel Falls.  We began walking out at 11:45.  The walk out was jam packed with us passing people on their way in, lots of people with their dogs and wearing jeans.  We got down to the Punchbowl Falls turn off, and we decided to go take a look.  Another spectacular falls awaited us when we got down to the end of the trail.  There was a nice little crowd gathered around the creek eating below Punchbowl.  We took off and were back at the car by 2:00 pm.

Orchid: Unexpected highlight view of the creek above Tunnel Falls.

Onion: Sore feet.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 58 Oct. 9 - Mt. Defiance

Total Distance: Approximately 12 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3400 feet
Time: 10:15 am - 4:00 pm
Weather: Light rain, foggy, and cloudy.

It is hard to write this entry almost a week late.  I remember it taking a while to get up to Mason Lake, but I remember enjoying the uphill and moving at a steady pace.  I got to the lake in about an hour and a half.  I met a ranger who busted me for not filling out a permit for the hike.  She was nice about it, but I was told that one reason they have people take permits even for day use is to have a paper record of use, therefore they can document the nessesity for more funding.  I was sold and will always fill out permits in the future.

I got a little side tracked trying to get up to the summit of Mt. Defiance.  Once I knew I was not on the main trail, I turned around, went back to Mason Lake, and found the correct path.  The hike up to the summit was a brutal climb.  It was steep, but I did not stop to take breaks.  It took about an hour and a half to make it up to the top.

I, unfortunately, could still hear the roar of I-90 below, which was only occassionally broken up by the louder roar of airplanes up above.  I did get a view glimpses of blue sky and the surrounding ridges as the clouds would lift occassionally.  I believe I saw the tip of Rainier above the clouds out to the south.  I had lunch on the summit.  Packed up and began walking down around 1:45 pm.  I was back at the car before 4 pm.  Overall, it was a great solo trip.

Orchid: The views of the lake on my decent.

Onion: My boots are no longer waterproof, and my feet were soaked most of the hike.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 57 Oct. 02 - Vesper Peak

Total Distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 4000 ft
Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, periods of light rain and periods of glorious sunshine.

If you are an avid reader of the blog, then you might remember I met two people while climbing Mt. Adams.  As we chatted near the summit, I shared information about my blog, and the woman I met later commented on my blog and included her blog address (http://rosiedee101.tumblr.com/).  I have been reading her blog ever since. Early last week, her blog entry about Vesper Peak popped up one of my many RSS feed readers, and her pictures had peaked my interest.  I followed her links to more information about the peak, and I decided this is where I was going.  I shared the idea with my buddy Creighton, and he was excited to go bag a 6200 ft peak too.  The plan was to pick the better weather day and go.  By Thursday, all the weather forecasts were indicating Sunday would be the best day.

We met at 6 am on Sunday, hit the grocery store, and were on the road by 6:20 am.  We arrived at the trailhead at 8:15 am.  We were the only car in the lot at this time .  We geared up and were walking by 8:25 am.  The trail starts in the woods, and after a few stream crossings, it begins climbing.  The rest of the hike would have a similar incline.  There were sections that were as steep as any any trail I have ever hiked.  The phrase "chin-scrapper" seemed appropriate for some sections of the hike.  After about 30 minutes we hit a big stream that took a little more care crossing, then we were out in an open meadow.  The meadow was steep in sections as well, as we switched back across the valley, up towards Headlee Pass.

In all the descriptions of the hike that I had read, it mentioned that the pass was hidden until you are right underneath it.  I don't know why, but I am usually surprised at how accurate some of the trail descriptions are.  We kept climbing through the meadow until we finally hit the west side rock scree slope.  The trail changed from meadow to a cairn chasing rock path.  Walking along the west flank for about 10 minutes, when finally the trail starts to switchback below the pass.  The pass is not visible until you are standing right below it, and standing below it is intimidating.  The trail is visible up to the top as it cuts back and forth over this narrow saddle.

At the pass, we took our first break to drink some water, and Creighton had a snack.  I should have to but was not hungry at the moment.  We could see Vesper for the first time from the pass.  After about a 10 minute break, we pushed on to Vesper Lake.  The trail drops a bit from the pass, then cuts along the rock scree south of Sperry Peak.  We had to do a  bit of bouldering right before Vesper Creek, then we crossed the creek, and started following the trails up to the summit.  The weather at this point was fairly cloudy and was getting cooler with a strong breeze.  I was feeling shaky, and called up to Creighton who was about 200 feet ahead.  I needed a bite to eat, since it had been almost 4 hours since my breakfast of two donuts and coffee.  After some trail mix, I was feeling a lot better.

Creighton spotted mountain goats while I was eating, and he tried to show me where they were.  I missed them.  We kept climbing up the trails, until we hit snow.  Creighton is a maniac on the snow, so he took off up the snow fields.  I was not liking the grip I was getting, so I found climbing over the granite was easier.  I had a few sections where I had to snow traverse, but they were short sections and usually between big sections of granite.  As I was scrambling up over the granite, I could feel my cheeks hurting from my smile.  Twenty minutes earlier I was silently contemplating why anyone would want to summit a peak.  Vesper Lake looked beautiful and we could just have stopped there.  The last 2000 feet to the top was not really going to be worth it.  I could not have been more wrong.  Right below the summit, I was scrambling up a crack between the snow and rock.  I felt like a serious, cool mountain climber, as I was lifting myself though the terrain, inching closer to the summit.  Finally around 11:30 am, I reached the top and was rewarded with amazing views in all directions.

Creighton and I took a good hour break here at the summit.  We took pictures, ate lunch, relaxed in the sun, layered up to cut out the wind, and had many great conversations on various subjects.  We began our decent around 12:30 pm.  On our way down, when we hit the biggest snow patch, Creighton went off down the snow almost like he was skiing in shoes.  I followed along a similar path, although less graceful.  I was proud that I did not fall, but I should not have bragged about it.

Orchid: The summit and shoe-skiing the snow field.

Onion: The downhill falls and the aching knees.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 56 Sept. 25 - Lower Lena Lake, again.

Total Distance: Approximately 6 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1300 ft
Time: 9 am - 10:55 am
Weather: Rain with periods of stronger rain and strong winds.

I did not know where I was going to hike, or even what day I was going to hike this weekend until late Friday night.  The weather was going to be much better on Saturday, but my Alma Mater, Oklahoma State, was playing in a nationally televised college football game on the road against Texas A&M.  I also had a party in Seattle Saturday night, so I looked around for a hike that would keep me busy all day Sunday, even though I knew I would be wet all day.  I choose to hike to Upper Lena Lake, a 14 mile round trip with some good elevation gain.  I got up around 6:10 am and began getting everything ready: day pack with rain gear, a chair, first-aid kit, emergency glasses, ankle brace, iodine, and pocket knife, a set of dry clothes for after the hike, boots, poles, gaiters, and camera.  I was shuttling all this into the car with the plan of buying some snacks at the market down the street on my way to the trailhead.  I was packing some left over snacks into my day pack from my last trip which ended on Thursday.  I had leftover Luna Bars, Cliff Mojo bars, some pita bread, some almonds, and Gatorade powder.  I closed up my pack, turned out the lights, locked the doors and left around 6:50 am.  I was at Safeway, and I decided to get a coffee and pastry and not worry about snacks for the day.  I was on the road by 7:00 am.

I knew the way well enough, since I was here before.  In week 30, I came up to the Lower Lena Lake and snowshoed a bit north past the lower lake up into the "Valley of Silent Men."  This week, I was excited to go see the Upper Lena Lake.  I was at the trail head at 8:40 and began getting ready.  I was thinking of immediately putting on my rain gear.  It had poured rain the whole drive with the heaviest periods of rain being in the last few minutes before I had parked.  I went to the back of my Subaru, opened the back, and did not see my pack.  I knew immediately that I had left it in the kitchen.  I was pretty mad with myself.  I could not go back, get it, and come back.  I could not hike 14 miles with what I had with me.  I thought for a minute.  I was wearing long underwear top and bottom, sock liners, wool socks, Adidas shorts, a synthetic pullover, a stocking cap, hiking boots, and gaiters.  I knew I had dry clothes when I was done with the hike, and I knew it was only 6 miles up to Lower Lena Lake and back.  I decided to hike to the lake and back, hoping to be done in 2 or 2 1/2 hours.  I did have an empty water bottle, so I placed that in a place near the trailhead that was getting a lot of rain.  I grabbed my poles and took off at 9 am.

I was plenty warm as I started, in fact I was a tad too warm.  I think I was hiking pretty fast when I began.  I was a little mad at myself.  Funny how I can have so much experience, but still make huge, simple mistakes, like take your pack with you on a hike.  I started sweating and slowed down after about 10 minutes on the trail.  As I climbed the switchbacks, I began recognizing parts of the trail and seeing many backpackers on their way down.  A big group of young men and their fathers were the trail company for the next 20 minutes.  As usual, the kids will say hello and keep walking, but the dads are usually willing to chit-chat.  I shared in some of my small chats with the trail company how I had driven two hours when I realized I forgot my pack.  There were a lot of people heading out, and I chatted a minute or two with several people.  By 8:45 am, I could feel I was getting close.  There was a camp bulletin board and a posted sign marking both lakes and The Brothers, the two side-by-side peaks above the Valley of Silent Men.   I began to see small slivers of the lake through the trees on the right side of the trail.  I passed a family of four plus their dog, where the little girl and older brother had to be less than 7 years old.  Right behind the dad and pup was a view of Lower Lena Lake.  I dropped my poles, took a few photos, glanced at my watch (it was 8:55), and took a few deep breaths looking at the lake.  I grabbed my poles and took off back to the car.

I passed the family in a few minutes and was cruising at a bit of a jog.  As I was coming down, I saw a gray trash bag on the trail.  One of the many backpackers that I had seen on the way up had dropped a perfect garbage bag.  I picked it up and made it into a rain poncho. I was already soaking, but this would help a bit.  I hiked down steadily, passing many I passed on my way up, and enjoying being warm although wet.  I was back at the trailhead by 10:50 am.  I went and found my water bottle, which was full, and went to my car.  I went to the restroom and changed into dry clothes, socks, and shoes.  I used the trash bag poncho as my wet clothes transport and walked back to my car.  I was home in two house, loading my wet gear into the dryer.  When I realized, I don't have my long underwear bottoms.

Orchid: Hiking 6 miles in the pouring rain with the clothes on my back, trekking poles, and a found trash bag.

Onion: Hiking 6 miles in the pouring rain with the clothes on my back, trekking poles, and a found trash bag because I left my day pack at home.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 55 Sept. 18 - 22 - Sophomore Outdoor Ed.

Total Distance: Approximately 36 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft
Time: Sun. 1 pm - Thurs. 12:30 pm
Weather: Sunday was a rainy morning, nice afternoon.  Monday and Tuesday were perfect. Wednesday was cloudy and overcast. Thursday, we woke to rain and hiked out in the rain.

This weekend's hike was the Sophomore Outdoor Education trip.  Every fall the sophomores at my school go on 5 day/4 night backcountry trip.  Six years ago, I went on my first Outdoor Education trip and discovered a love and passion for being in the wilderness.  I remembered loving summer camps as a kid, and I even went on a hike or two before I ever went on a trip.  But all the knowledge and gear I own is due to this amazing program for our sophomore students.  This year we have a large class of tenth graders, and our "standard" routes were all taken.  I, along with a fantastic friend and colleague at work, led 8 students up to Ross Lake to walk the 35 mile route I scouted two weeks earlier.

We left school at 8:20 am, and we were at the trailhead of Highway 20 by noon.  We hiked down to the water taxi dock, called the resort, and after two rounds on the taxi, we were settling into the Little Beaver Creek campground right on the lake.  The first day was a lot of travel but not a lot of hiking.  We had a decent meal of grilled cheese and soup.  We were in our tents by 9:30 pm.  I slept well, although maybe a little chilly, and woke in the middle of the night to a solid sounding rain.

When I got up around 7:15 am the next morning, the rain had stopped, and blue skies were in the western skies.  We got an early enough start; we were hiking by 9:25 am.  This was going to be a long day.  The map had the mileage somewhere around 12.5 and we were loaded with some heavy packs.  We were walking fast enough, but our breaks were long and more frequent than I would do without kids.  We were into camp by 5 with everything set up with dinner cooking by 6 pm.  In bed a little later this second evening, but asleep fast.

The next morning, we awoke to what was going be another long day.  We had 23 miles left to walk, and the mileage break down was going to be either 11, 5.5, 7.5, or 7, 9.5, 7.5.  We all thought it best to get the 11 in on Tuesday.  This was a weird day.  The morning was good; the kids at the front and I hiked an hour and a half and got 2.6 miles up and over Beaver Pass.  Here we waited for about 45 minutes before the whole group got together.  We took off for Luna Creek another 4.1 miles down the trail.  Again, there was a group of kids at the front with me, and a few in the back with my co-leader.  This section took us 2 hours in the front and 3 in the back.  Writing this blog, a couple days later, I see a lot I should have done to keep the group together.  We regrouped around 3 pm at Luna, and we talked through the final push of 4.3 miles.  I did not, however, explain to my co-leader where the camp was.  There is a camp west of 39 mile creek and the horse camp is east of the creek.  I also forgot about the crossing of the creek, there is an upper and lower crossing.  The lower is for horses (no bridge), the upper for hikers (nice bridge).  The front group with me got into the camp in less than 2 hours, an impressive pace for anyone, especially kids, with heavy packs.  We spent a few minutes setting up tents and organizing group gear.  One camper got a small fire going in the fire pit.  I looked up from and saw the kids all laughing and enjoying the warmth of the fire.  I thought I would go out and meet the others and help them into camp.  It was about 5:35; I had been in camp for about 45 minutes, and all day long the back was about an hour behind.

I told the kids around the fire that I was going to go wait by the camp sign west of the creek.  I got there, and then walked up about 10 minutes up the trail.  All day long, the group in the back would break about 10 minutes away from where they would meet us, so I thought this was a genius move to meet them before they stopped.  I found a great spot to sit on the trail, and I rested.  Fifteen minutes went by, and I was a bit worried.  I waited another 15 minutes.  Still there was no sign of them.  I looked at my watch.  It was 6:20 pm, an hour and a half later than us.  I thought about going and checking in with the camp, but I figured they couldn't be far, so I walked up the trail.  I was shouting their names, and I was convinced I would see them soon.  I kept walking, and there was nothing.  I began running.  I was now really worried they were in trouble.  I was shedding layers and dropping them on the trail.  I would get them when I return.  I am shouting and running, when finally I hear a response.  I see two men walking down the trail.  I explain my situation, and they tell me they have not seen anyone since they left Luna at 4 pm.  I relaxed a bit, thinking now I crossed with them way back a 39 mile and this whole time they were in camp.  I walked with the men for a tad, and then took off running again.  Sure enough at 7:20 when I got back to camp, there my co-leader was.  She was keeping all the kids calm and cooking a hot meal as I walked up.  I learned a lot on Tuesday.

Wednesday we slept in, and I cooked brownies for breakfast.  A short 5.5 mile walk to our next camp.  I made cookies for a mid-day snack at camp.  We swam in Ross Lake.  We had a sweet and sour rice for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert.  We went to bed early, and we woke to morning rain.  We packed and ate breakfast on Thursday in the rain.  We hiked out in the rain.  The group stayed together well the last day.  We hiked the last 7.5 miles in less than three and a half hours.

Orchid: Carrying a lot of weight and hiking pretty fast.

Onion: The 39 mile creek mix-up.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 54 Sept. 11 - Blanka Lake

Total Distance: Approximately 7.5 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3300 ft
Time: 10:00 am - 3:45 pm
Weather: Sunny and hot. Perfect weekend in the PNW, yet again!

Berry hike with kids will have to be written about later. Maybe never, again.  Just know I hike the slowest I had in weeks.  I averaged 1.7 miles per hour.  Not including the hour and a half break at the lake.  I was carrying a 37.5 lbs pack. 

Orchid: Swimming is hard to beat at this lake. 

Onion: The torturous uphill grind, sweating profusely. 

Picture:

Google Map

Week 54 Sept. 10 - Sol Duc/7 Lakes Basin Loop

Total Distance: Approximately 19 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft
Time: 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Weather: Sunny and warm, perfect weekend in the PNW, yet again!

Crazy weeks back at school, and my blogging takes the biggest hit.  This weekend was bookended with lots of great things happening at my work. With the school year now in full swing, this might be the last weekend that I could go hiking both Saturday and Sunday.  And true to form, this September has been the PNW summer that the people of the Puget Sound region have complained about not having this year.

The plan for week 54 was to get the Outdoor Club out on a hike early in the school year, so we had a day hike planned for either Saturday or Sunday.  An active student member of the club told me he had never had a wild blueberry.  Shocked, I wanted to get him out to a place with good berries, but also a doable first club hike.  The place I thought of was Blanka Lake, a hike I did on week 4 but did not really blog about.  The picture for the blog was also not my picture.  It was Creighton's photo.  The student, who needed to eat wild berries, was busy on Saturday, so we chose to plan the club hike on Sunday.  At the beginning of last week a colleague of mine mentioned how he wanted to hike the loop around the Seven Lakes Basin as a day hike.  I did that hike over 5 days with students in week 3 last year and did not really blog about it either. Plus, I remembered meeting a hiker on the fourth day of that trip who was hiking the same loop.  I thought to myself, "wow, I wish I could do that."  Hearing the mileage now after a year of hiking, I felt like I would be fine.  But my feet would probably hurt.

We wanted to get an early start, so I was up at 4:30 am on Saturday.  I went to pick up Creighton, and we drove to Gig Harbor to meet our colleague who suggested the route.  We were at the trailhead by 8:45 am.  We were walking at 9 am.  It's hard now almost a week later to finish this post, so I am only going to talk about what I remember.

We walked quickly the 0.8 mile to the Sol Duc Falls.  This is where the loop begins and ends.  I took the lead on the next 3 mile stretch to Deer Lake.  We were there by 10:30.  We then began heading up to the High Divide.  I remembered a lot of the scenes from the year before.  The the little pond of a lake you skirt by on your way to a meadow with a few to west that goes on to the ocean.  This was were I saw my first bear in the woods a year before on Outdoor Ed.  The climb up the divide and continuing on to Bogachiel Peak was filled with brilliant views and gorgeous weather.  The view of Olympus was the kind of view that makes you want to climb a mountain.

We continued on to Heart Lake.  As we dropped down, we were coming up on 10 miles and it was around 1:30 pm.  We took an hour break, where we ate, swam, dried in the sun, and I changed into a new pair of socks.  We took off down to Sol Duc Park and just kept walking to the group site at 7-mile camp.  We took a short break here, where we calculated the mileage back to the car.  It was about 5.6 miles, and it was about 3:45pm.  I thought it would be cool to be done by 5:30.  It would mean it took me 8 and a half hours to walk about 19 miles with some pretty decent elevation gain, and that included an hour break with swimming and relaxing.

At 5:16 pm, we were coming back to Sol Duc Falls with only 0.8 miles left to go.  I wanted to finish and took off for the trailhead at a brisk pace.  I even found myself, slightly jogging to ensure I got back by 5:30.  I was at the car at 5:28.

Orchid: Swimming, or the Olympus view.

Onion: Too long ago to remember the onion…

Picture:

Google Map

Week 53 Sept. 4 & 5 - Little and Big Beaver Creeks

Total Distance: Approximately 34.7 miles
    Day 1: 14.2 miles; Day 2: 20.5 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3200 ft.
    Day 1: 2000 ft; Day 2: 1200 ft
Time: Saturday 9:00 am - Sunday 5:45 pm
    Day 1: 6 hours 45 minutes hiking
    Day 2: 9 hours 30 minutes hiking
Weather: Sunny, warm on Saturday; mostly sunny, warm Sunday. Perfect weekend in the PNW, yet again!

For the third weekend in a row, the weather has been perfect for hiking.  Add to this that the trails are finally melted out, and you get the best hiking summer anywhere in the world.  That's right! Summer finally came to the PNW 4 weeks ago.  But summer is over for me; I started school last Wednesday.  Labor day weekend might be my last "big" trip, since the demands of work will be mounting each week for the next 41 weeks until graduation.  The plan, all along, was to use this weekend to get in at least one night in the backcountry and to scout the trip I will be leading in two weeks with another co-worker and 9 wonderful sophomores.  I was hoping a new friend I met 3 weeks ago on the Summerland hike was going to come along.  He was still unsure of his ankle, not because of the Summerland hike.  He ran in some 15 mile trail run a week ago, and he wanted to rest his feet. Understandable, but it left me solo.  I put out the obligatory facebook plea, only to met with the standard, non-committed, humours responses. I packed up and left Saturday mid-day.  I had access to a cabin only about 45 minutes from my trailhead, so I went up to Marblemount, got my permit, and went to the cabin to rest for an early start.

I was up and out the cabin door at 6:45 am.  Parked and geared up in the trailhead parking lot at 7:45.  I walked about a mile down to the Ross Lake Resort Ferry dock.  I buzzed my ride, and within 10 minutes, I was in a ski boat cruising up Ross Lake to the Little Beaver Creek Camp.  The boat ride took about 30 minutes.  It was a calm morning on the lake, and still early enough that we were the only human traffic, at least in a high powered machine.  I think I saw a few canoes across the way.  We pulled up to the dock, I payed the water taxi driver, and took off for my campsite some 14 miles away.  I looked at my watch, it was 9:06 am. 

I had new poles in my hands for the first time.  They are a tad heavier than my last pair, but the first mile of switch-backs up-hill made me happy to have two working poles.  The climb lasted for about 30 minutes before it swept across the south facing side of the hill and switched-back down a few hundred feet.  It then took of west along the Little Beaver Creek bed.  The trail was good.  A lot of forest hiking, then changing to densely packed, wet bushes.  In some places, taller than me, leading me to worry about bears.  There were lots of berries too. Red and black huckleberries, thistle-berries, and blue berries, yum!  I tried to keep a consistent hike two hours, then break.  The first two hour stretch had me at the Perry Camps, 4.6 miles in.  I ate a small snack, and drank a liter of water.  I was being annoyed by mosquitoes, but I thought nothing of it.  They quit when I started up again.

I pushed along to where the Little Beaver Creek Trail meets the Big Beaver Creek trail and began climbing up towards Beaver Pass. Around 1:45 pm, I took another break.  I was thirsty, and had come to a good water source.  It ended up being the last water until I hit camp at 3:45 pm.  Camp looked nice, I got in and dropped my stuff.  Sitting there, I started getting annoyed with black flies.  It started fairly innocent enough, but then it got absurd.  I was looking for some solace, so I began setting up my tent.  The more still you were, the worse it got.  I would have to walk a ways before I could come back and work for about 30 seconds. I finally got my tent up, and I carefully got a book and my camp chair inside.  When I took the plunge, a few followed me in.  I was able to kill the 6~7 that got in my tent.  I glanced at my watch; it was about 4:15 pm.  I set my watch alarm for an hour, and I feel asleep.

I awoke before my alarm, but laid in my tent listening to the buzz of black flies and mosquitoes.  When my watch started going off, I made up my plan to cook dinner, and get back in my tent as soon as I could.  The next hour might be one of the worst evening with bugs I've ever had.  I was covered in cloths, including rain gear, to try and keep them from biting.  I was also moving a bit to keep them off me.  So, wearing a lot of clothes and moving, I was sweating profusely.  It took a ridiculous effort to fish out dead black flies from my pasta.  I tried to remain vigilant, but I am sure I ate one or two.  I ended up eating in my tent just to have a few minutes of peace during dinner.  I did not even clean my dishes, I just hung them with my food, and I got back in my bug free tent at 7:30 pm.  I set my watch alarms for an early morning.  I know it take me about an hour to pack, and the hike out would take at least 10 hours.  I wanted out early, so I went to sleep thinking I would break camp and be moving by 7am. 

I woke a few times in the evening, nothing out of the ordinary for me.  But I was not going to get out of my sleeping bag.  I just kept falling back asleep.  Finally at 7 I resigned to get up, and yes, the black flies were up too.  Coffee and oatmeal went down fast, and camp got packed up a little slowly.  I was walking by 8:15 am.  I figured that if I got to my car by 6:15 pm, then I would be happy.  The first hour and 45 minutes flew by.  I was going mostly down hill and stopped only because I was at Luna Creek Camp and was thirsty and hungry.  A short 15 minute break and I was walking again.  At 10:30 am, I crossed another hiker.  I realized he was the first person I had seen in about 25 hours.  I thought that was cool.  I walked on to the next camp, and took a break there too.  I remember I left 39 mile camp at 11:56 am.  Big Beaver Camp was 5.1 miles away, and I wanted to get there before 3 pm.  I knew it was 6 miles from there.  I got to the junction with Big Beaver Camp at 2, and there a sign read it was 7 miles to the car. I kept moving and took a break at the last good water about 30 minutes further south towards the car.  This was a nice long 30 minute break.  I took off my boots and changed my pair of socks.  I knew it was going to be my last break.  I took of at 2:55 pm.  The last almost three hour stretch hurt.  It was a slow up hill, but my feet were killing me.  When I got to the Ross Lake Dam, my feet were almost too sore to walk across the pavement.  I knew I was about 45 minutes from my car.  I think that was the only thing that had me keep walking. 

Orchid: Longest solo trip.

Onion: Black flies for dinner.

Picture:

Google Map