Week 39 May 29 & 30 - Packwood Lake

Total Distance: Approximately 10 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 600 ft.
Time: Sunday 12:45 pm - Monday 1:15 pm
Weather: Gray, cloudy, and cool, light rain off and on.

Avid readers of the blog might remember my Packwood Lake snowshoe hike back in week 28.  I wanted to use the long weekend to get out and at least overnight somewhere.  A good friend from work wanted to join, then quickly two other friends were also convinced this would be a good use of the three-day weekend.  Asking around at work, the same friend who suggested I snowshoe to Packwood Lake, said the snow would probably be melted enough to hike in and at least have a nice backcountry spot.  I geared up Saturday, and we hit the road decently early on Sunday.

We started hiking from the trailhead, and we were at the lake in an hour and a half.  A great pace with a pack on, and after a short snack and water break, we strolled along the shore of the lake looking for a campsite.  We found a beautiful site, and we began to do all the little tasks to have a fun, safe backcountry trip.

The evening was great.  We ate a ton of good food and had good times around the campfire.  By 10:30 pm, everyone was in their tents sleeping while I waited for the fire to die down.  Around 11:15 pm, I heard loud cracks and commotion way off to the southeast.  I am almost positive it was an avalanche up on the surrounding ridges or a massive tree fall. 

The trail had quite a few down trees.  I was awed by the power the winter has.  Huge second growth trees up-rooted as their massive limbs and trunks obstruct and destroy the trails below.  Previous to the last 39 weeks, I would say I was a casual hiker.  I went on trips with work, and a few personal trips, but all in all I only hiked occasionally.  I might see a down tree every once and a while, but nothing like what I get to see as winter's clinched fist is finally starting to relax its grip on the high country.  It has been amazing to be out week after week and start to see a small, small glimpse of how the forest changes throughout the year. 

I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 6 am.  I probably could have gone back to sleep, but I thought why waste my time in the tent sleeping.  I got out, stoked the ashes, revived the fire, listened to the forest, and watched the lake in the morning fog.  We had a leisurely pace in the morning and were packed up ready to walk by 11 am.  We were at the car by 1:15 pm.

Orchid: The 3-course dinner I made for my friends. Pizza, Pasta, and chocolate cake.

Onion: Blisters on my big toes.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 38 May 21 - Duckabush Trail

Total Distance: Approximately 17 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2000 ft.
Time: 10:45 pm - 4:15 pm
Weather: Gray, cloudy, rainy, and cool.

What was to be a school outdoor club hike devolved into a walk in the woods with the same senior who went on beach hike with me.  As I said in the beach hike blog entry, the senior was on that hike to serve as an intern in the school's outdoor education program.  While the beach hike took a lot of work, the internship must be at least 60 hours of work, with at least 40 being during the last 3 weeks of school.  He still has hours to earn, so I was trying to help take him hiking.

Crazy busy weekend at school. Friday, the entire high school was out doing different community service projects in the morning.  I was with kids building trails in the back wooded area that the school owns.  That afternoon, after the bar-b-que picnic lunch, I played with some colleagues in the student dodge-ball tournament.  After this was over, I had enough time to run home and pack for the all night walk and bike-a-thon at the school.  I was going to stay up, as late as I could, and then take three kids on a hike with me the next day.

I got about two and a half solid hours of sleep, when I was woken up at 5:30 am.  One of the other 4 adults was waking me up to be with the kids while he got donuts.  An hour and a half later, I was leaving campus to go to the grocery store, buy my food, and wait for the kids.  I already knew we were down to two because one of the three was at the lock-in with me, and he was too tired to go hiking.  By the time I got to the grocery store, our meeting place, the other kids were there.  It was raining slightly.  An annoyance only because the forecast the night before was for late evening showers on Saturday.  I ran in bought food, stopped at Starbucks, ran into my boss, chatted about the lock-in, and went back to the car.  When I got back, one of the kids was saying she no longer wanted to go.  She took her stuff and went home.  It was at this moment I realized I forgot my digital camera.  So, it's here where the hike story begins:

This senior and I hit the road at 7:45 am with the Duckabush Trail Trailhead as our final destination.  Google maps said 2 hours.  We had no trouble, except the last 2.6 miles.  We saw a sign saying Duckabush trailhead 2.6 miles ahead.  We went on, and came to a three way fork.  I remembered reading about forest road 2510, so I followed that.  And I was on this road for so much longer than 2.6 miles.  I don't know why but I didn't even look at the odometer.  Instead, we took a 25 minute detour up the forest road before turning around and getting to the trailhead at least 45 minutes later than we could have. 

When we finally did get to the trailhead, it was packed.  We were able to make a spot near the end, and I got geared up and we hit the trail at 10:45 am.  The trail starts in the Olympic National forest and according to the trail signs hits the National Park boundary 6.4 miles in.  My senior hiking buddy needed to be back relatively early, so we were determined to get there quickly.

The hike had a good amount of elevation gain, but I was feeling pretty good.  The kid, of course, is a ridiculously strong hiker, remember the 25 pounds of trash he hauled off the beach, while still going faster than me.  We cruised up switchbacks, past many people with full packs looking to overnight.  We ended up walking with no breaks the entire way to the National Park sign.  It took us a little less than 2 hours and 30 minutes.  According to my cell phone GPS Track, this point was about 8 miles in.  We took about 30 minutes to snack and rehydrate.  We were in a wide open area, and by the end of the break, the rain was a little more constant, and we were getting cold.  We began our walk about around 1:50 pm. 

At this point, my feet were tired and sore.  On my last hike, among the multitude of onions, one I forgot to blog about was a busted boot at the very beginning of last week's hike.  I guess 37 weeks in a row will put some wear and tear on gear.  I was hiking in a new pair of hiking boots.  I wore them Thursday night, and almost all day and night Friday.  After three hours of hiking on Saturday, my feet were tired of being in them.  The boots are awesome, I just need to keep breaking them in. 

I needed a water break on the way back up, but after only about 10 minutes, we were walking again.  We did not slow down much, and we were back at the car by 4:15 pm.

Orchid: Great co-hiker.

Onion: Sore feet.

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Google Map

Week 37.5 May 18 - Kayaking Chambers Creek

Total Distance: Approximately 2.5 miles

Elevation Gain: Approximately 500 ft.

Time: 12:30 pm - 1:40 pm

Weather: Mostly sunny, warm.

This was not really a backcountry trip, but this was worth blogging about.

My friend who teaches high school Biology takes students every year to a creek near school where they study the natural environment.  He was interested in looking for other sites upstream on the creek, and asked me if I wanted to go help him scout the creek by kayaking down.  With our schools schedule we both have one day every two weeks were we are free between 9:30 am and 1:50 pm.

We left school at 11:30 and dropped one car off at the park where the kids already explore.  We drove a few miles up the road, and found where we could put in, just north of Steilacoom Lake.  

We got our kayaks inflated, life jackets and helmets on, and launched at about 12:30 pm.  I have never kayaked before.  It was awesome.  There were definitely scary sections, where trees had fallen over and the creek was moving really fast, but the adrenaline rush and the feeling of ripping through the creek was awesome.  There were some really sweet whitewater sections, and I only had to bail out two or three times.  My friend said I did great for a first timer, I loved every second of it.  Especially the private property portaging we had to do.  Nothing like the thrill of trespassing.

I will be out on kayaks again before the 52 weeks are up.

Orchid: Being in a kayak.

Onion: Almost being late for my last period class.

No Picture

Google Map, GPS Track

Week 37 May 14 - North Fork of the Skokomish River

Total Distance: Approximately 17 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft.
Time: 8:50 am - 5:00 pm
Weather: Partly cloudy, sunny in the morning, turning overcast and sprinkling at the end of the hike.

I was up for some distance but not the driving variety.  Using the Hike Finder map on wta.org, I found a 15 mile hike to the Flapjack Lakes in the Olympic National Park from the Staircase trailhead.  I decided to get up relatively early and do it.

I woke up at 6:15 am and was on the road, packed and gassed up, by 7:05 am.  Made great time getting to the trailhead at 8:40 am.  I geared up (gaiters and strapped snowshoes to the pack) and went on with the hike. 

I immediately fell in love with the trail.  I don't know what it was, maybe the wide trail or the easy grade or the sun rays beating on my back. Either way, I was loving it and already was daydreaming of coming back in the summer.  After about 30 minutes the trail did start to climb a bit steeper, but I was feeling great and was keeping a steady pace. 

By 10:00 am, I was 4 miles up the trail at the junction to turn off to the Flapjack Lakes.  I drank some water, then got a move on.  Still feeling good, this trail was a bit steeper, but my pace only slowed slightly.  After only 5 or 6 switchbacks, the trail hugs the west side of a peak and slowly climbs.  At 10:40 am, I hit Madeline Creek, about 6 miles from the trailhead.  I was stoked, I was going to try and be at the lake by 11:20.  Seven and half to eight miles in two and a half hours, oh yeah! 

After Madeline Creek, the trail started to have bigger and bigger patches of snow cover.  Still not enough for snowshoes, but there was enough to slow me down.  As the trail started to bend to the east, running parallel to Donahue Creek, the snow was no longer in patches but a continuous slope of slick icy snow. I put on snowshoes, but I was still having trouble. 

It was 11:05 when I put my snowshoes on.  I must have spent the next 2 hours moving about 2 miles, back and forth in the same half mile radius.  I kept losing the trail, but in my defense it was covered with snow.  In addition to countless falls, I slid down the snowy slopes at least 7 times.  One, very scary, was about a 200 foot skid, down a 40 degree slope, barely stopping before a large, down tree.  I marched back, found what looked like previous hiker's footprints, and tried again.  I came to a clear snow field, took one step, and sunk down to my waist.  Trying to get out, I fell over, rolled down a few feet, got my foot caught and twisted, and landed on my poles.  I screamed, "you're done." Talking to myself, of course.  I got up, walked to a relatively flat place, matted it down with my snowshoes, and took a lunch break.

After a good 35 minute break, I got up to pack up, and when I turned around the pad I was sitting on was gone.  I watched it slide down about 300 feet.  Leave no trace, right?  I walked down, got it, and walked up.  It took 45 minutes with all the slipping and sliding on the snow.  I walked back to the west, found my tracks, and followed them back to where the trail was actually visible.  I decided to walk out.

I got through all the snow, found a sunny place on the trail, and took another long break.  I was soaking wet from the snow, so I was enjoying the sunshine as it helped dry my clothes.  I needed to use my knife to cut some of my block of cheese.  I set my knife on the side of the trail.  I packed up and began down the trail.  Twenty minutes later, I thought about my knife, I didn't remember packing it.  I stopped, checked every pocket and emptied my pack.  No knife.  I left all my stuff on the trail, grabbed a water bottle, and jogged back up the trail to find my knife.  Sure enough I found it 15 minutes later.  My father gave me this knife.  It is not crazy expensive or irreplaceable, and it's not like it was his father's knife or anything like that.  But I remember the day he gave it to me.  I wasn't into backpacking at the time.  Years later as I got into backpacking and hiking (thanks to my school's outdoor education program), this has been my knife out on the trail.  For this sentiment, it was worth going back for, and I wanted to keep it.

I was back at my pack another 20 minutes after that and began my walk out, hopefully for the last time.  After about an hour and a half, I started to see people on the trail.  We were all heading out.  The walk out was nice.  It got dark and cloudy.  It even rained a bit, but only enough to cool you down, and not get you wet.  I was wetter with sweat.  When I got back to the car, I got everything packed up, and it began to pour.

Orchid: The first 2 hours of the hike and the last hour. For whatever reason, I was cranking out the mileage during those times.

Onion: The lost trail, the runaway pad, or forgetting my knife.  All were bitter moments at the time, but now strangely they are good memories.  True onions...

Picture:

Google Map

Week 36 May 8 - 11 - 8th grade beach hike

Total Distance: Approximately 20 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 300 ft.
Time: Sunday 12:30 pm - Wednesday 10:50 am
Weather: The whole spectrum: sunny and warm to overcast, cool, and a little rainy to a full on downpour.

This was the third multi-day trip with students I have gotten to take this school year.  This is an annual hike for every 8th grader in my school's middle division.  This is the fourth year in a row I have led a trip, and the third year in a row I went with the same co-leader. She is the 8th grade history teacher, a good friend, too.

Sunday: We hit the coast at Rialto Beach on the Washington coast.  The weather was perfect, warm and sunny.  We were walking at a quick pace, due to a 5 foot tide point south of Chilean Memorial that I was nervous about making.  We got into camp and enjoyed a delicious meal of hot dogs and mac and cheese with s'mores for dessert.

Monday: Up early, 7 am, with a full 7.5 mile day ahead of us.  We ate breakfast, broke camp, and were moving by 9:15 am.  I love that this is called the 8th grade beach hike.  It conjures up images of sandy beaches that you stroll along easily as you carry a pack.  In reality, the coast is rocky and tough.  There are rocky headlands slick with seaweed and moss with beautiful cuts in the rocks made by the tides, and tidal pools littered with marine life.

The group was 8 eighth graders, a high school senior, my co-leader, and me.  Now, the senior was a special circumstance.  Every year seniors do an internship for 3 weeks, and many do on campus work with teachers.  This year, an amazing senior, who went into Dark Canyon with me in February, set up his internship with the school's outdoor education program.

Between his leadership in the front, pacing the fast hikers and carrying any extra weight from the kids in the back, me in the middle with a few kids keeping an eye both ahead and behind me, and my co-leader in the back with some of the kids unsure of their footing or struggling with the hike, we moved amazingly fast.  It took us 4 hours and 30 minutes to get to my absolute favorite spot in all of Washington, Kayostla Beach.

I first camped here in the Fall of 2007.  I was with students, and I was on my second backpacking trip ever.  As we got into camp, I immediately was upset by the conditions of the site.  The previous tenants left the site in the worst condition.  The list of items left is far too numerous to enumerate, but here are some of the worst offenses: burnt trash, tent poles, poker chips, pots and pans, cigarette butts, etc.  Including the trash left, the areas of vegetation, clearly blocked off to avoid foot traffic, had also been trampled and the many log barriers had been removed.  With the help of the senior, we moved driftwood from the beach and restored the path ways.  We cleaned up all the trash, one of the many items on the beach was a big plastic trash bin.  We were able to fit all the trash into the bin, and restore the site to one of respectability.  The senior pointed out leaving the trash bin would encourage trash being piled up by future residents.  We agreed to hike it out, each holding on to a handle the next two days.

The rest of the day included, napping, a big campfire, campfire games, sub-par dinner (I burnt the stir-fry veggies), and a good brownie dessert.

Tuesday:  Up early again, and out on the hike by 9 am.  As we were gearing up, the senior thought it would be easier to just strap the garbage to his pack.  Sure enough using rope found on the beach, he strapped a full size Brute plastic trash bin to his pack.  He carried the bin the next 6 and half hours 7.2 miles up the coast.

The second full day was a tad tougher on both my body and the group.  We went much slower, took more breaks, and group morale was pretty low.  We made it to Sand Point and got camp set up.  We explored the area, including a walk up to my co-leader's favorite spot up on a short bluff at the point.

Dinner was good, dessert was even better.  Since the site doesn't allow campfires, we had little reason to stay out in the cold and went to bed early.

Wednesday: Woke up around 3:30am to the sound of pouring rain.  The only "real" rain of the trip.  Once on both Monday and Tuesday, I noticed rain but it ended quickly or was not enough to even worry about.  But this was a good old Pacific Northwest downpour.  Fell back asleep, hoping for a change in the weather.

At 7:30 am, nothing had changed except the time.  The rain was not going to stop.  I got up, and just accepted being wet. We broke camp and were walking on the boardwalk back to the Ozette Ranger station by 9:30 am.  We were there by 10:50am.  The senior had carried the trash bin, all the way to the bus.

Orchid: The senior carrying the trash bin.

Onion: I was in a foul mood Wednesday evening.

Picture:

Google Map