Week 48 Jul. 30 - Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Total Distance: Approximately 7 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1000 ft.
Time: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Weather: Scattered clouds, sunny, very hot, too hot.

Traveling with my family the last week has me back in my home state of Oklahoma.  I did a google search for Oklahoma Hikes and found a book on Amazon aptly titled "Oklahoma Hiking Trails."  I did not have time to purchase through Amazon, but found a store in Oklahoma City that sold the book yesterday, and I bought it. I was immediately ecstatic that I did.  It is a great trail book and in color.  It details almost every trail in the state, so I can easily find new hikes when I visit in the future.  In the beginning sections, it lists the "top hikes" in Oklahoma.  The first is the Black Mesa summit, which I did back in week 16.  The next trail listed was a place called Charons Garden.  I read the entry and was intrigued.  The hike was located in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  I woke up and was on the road by 7:30 am.

I arrived in the refuge around 8:30 am and decided to stop off by the visitor's center to make sure I was heading to the right place.  I am glad I stopped.  When I told the woman at the information booth my plan, she informed me the Charons Garden Wilderness has been closed due to excessive heat.  Last week 10 hikers were rescued, 8 for heat exhaustion and 2 were helicoptered to the hospital with broken bones and dehydration.  A fellow, dressed like a ranger looking very official, came over and joined the conversation.  He let me know that many of these hikers were ill-equipped for the conditions.  Many were in flip-flops and/or brought 1 bottle of water and nothing else.  He told me about some good hikes that were still open and apologized that he could not let me go into the area.

I was bummed and even thought about doing the Charon Garden hike anyway.  My new hike was in the same direction.  I got back in my car and took off.  I made the turn from the visitor's center and within 5 minutes was stopping on the road to let a herd of about 30 buffalo cross.  I don't remember ever seeing this many buffalo in one place in my life.  I was smiling like crazy and instantly began feeling better.  After they crossed, I drove on and was then stopping again, this time for a couple of longhorn cattle.

I got to the Lost Lake trailhead, got my boots on, loaded 6 liters of water in my pack, and began walking the kite trail (the trail the ranger suggested).  Within minutes, I crossed two men who asked what I was up to.  I told them, and they were in a similar situation.  They did tell me that in about 20 minutes I would reach a buffalo on the trail.  I was so excited.

I took off on the trail and was enjoying the early morning weather.  It was hot, but not oppressively hot.  I came to a place called forty-foot hole, a decent sized gorge for Oklahoma, and I was hearing a lot of commotion up ahead.  A family of about 7 were watching the buffalo.  I got up there just as they were leaving.  After they left, the buffalo and I hung out together for about 10 minutes.  I did not approach too closely, but I was within about 20 feet.  He was not concerned with me at all, instead he was enjoying the grasses along the trail.  I moved on, and within 30 minutes I was the end of the trail at another trailhead.

I walked the road a bit to a place called Boulder Creek Cabin, where another trail went up into another gorge.  This place was called The Narrows.  The ranger said this was his favorite area in the park.  I can see why.  I first dropped into the creek bed and could see some rock cliffs unlike any I ever knew existed in Oklahoma.  I then climbed from the creek bed and gained a bit of elevation.  It was about 11 am when I found a shady spot under some rock cliff, and I sat and drank lots of water.  It was really hot at this point, but thankfully there was a strong breeze.  The wind was coming through to this shaded area, and I was cooling off a good deal.

I was about to head back, when I spotted a few rock cairns moving up a talus slope.  I went in their direction, and soon I was climbing up to Eagle Mountain.  I was reminded of boulder climbs I have done in Utah and in climbing gyms.  It was a ton of fun, and soon I found myself really high up.  The rocks were scorching hot, as this was the east facing side of Eagle Mountain, and they had been warming up all day.  I saw a hawk fly about 30 feet above my head, and the view I had to the south was amazing.  I was burning up, and my hands hurt.  I decided to head back to the car.  I  took another route down from where I had climbed, and it was 12:15 when I was back at my rest stop in the shade.  I stopped again and drank a ton of water.

I took the trail back to the creek bed, and I had to soak my head in the creek to cool off some more.  The creek water was warm, a surprise to me since I am used to Washington's cold streams, lakes, and oceans.  I continued on, got back to the road, and the trailhead heading back to my car.  I met some cool guys from Kansas City and had a great chat.  The were looking to hike and maybe climb a bit, and I suggested the hike up the Narrows and up to Eagle Mountain.  I also warned to take a lot of water.

The hike back along the kite trail was brutally hot.  I stopped every 15 minutes in the shade to drink my water, which was now very warm.  I poured a little on my head and neck and would start back up.  I was back at the car by 1:30 pm.  I was down to a liter at this point.  I saved a half liter to drink, then dumped the rest on my head.  When I cranked the AC in the car to drive away, I finally started to feel cool again.

Orchid: Buffalo on the trail.

Onion: Oppressive heat or the shut down trail.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 47.5 Jul. 27 - Grand Canyon National Park

Total Distance: Approximately 6 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1500 ft.
Time: 11:30 am - 5:00 pm
Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy, warm, and beautiful.

My mom expressed an interest in seeing the Grand Canyon around Christmas time.  At the time I was about 18 weeks into my hiking commitment, and I thought having a hike in one of the most beautiful canyons in the world would be pretty awesome.  Well, time marched on, and before I knew it I was on a plane down to Arizona at the end of July to meet my mom, dad, sister, and her fiancée.  We spent a few days in Scottsdale, then left early one morning to spend a full day along the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

We got to the canyon entrance at about 11 am.  While the entrance was busy, the cars were still moving through the line.  We paid our fee, found a parking spot, I geared up, and we took off for the canyon.  Following the crowds from the visitor's center, it only took a few minutes to reach Mather Point.  As I felt my self getting closer, I lowered my head, to be surprised by a full on view of the canyon.

I crept up to the railing east of Mather point and raised my head with my eyes closed.  I opened my eyes and was immediately welling up with tears.  I am not exaggerating for dramatic effect; the view of the Grand Canyon was truly breathtaking.  The view was so gorgeous that in 80 degree weather I had goosebumps.

My sister, her fiancée, and I continued west along the rim trail to the Bright Angel Lodge.  It took us a little over an hour.  There were all sorts of information placards and viewpoints.  The pull to stop and take a picture or to sit and stare at the canyon was difficult to overcome.  We met my parents at the lodge and had a good bacon cheeseburger lunch.  I went into the gift store and bought snacks and water for a hike down the Bright Angel trail into the canyon.

We took off around 2:30 pm.  The trail was a lot more like a trail here.  Some of the crowd had thinned out a bit, and the trail was not paved asphalt like the rim trail is.  We were in the sun, which was not too bad on the way down.  It was definitely warm.  There were tons of squirrels darting around.  I was shocked when one was not moving as I approached.  He was in a can of dry formula powder someone left.  I assume to lure him closer.  I had to toss a rock nearby to get him out of the can.  Then I picked up the can and hiked with it the rest off the time.

The original plan was to hike down 3 miles and come back up.  By the time we made it to the mile and a half turn around, my sister was dealing with a blister, and it was already 3:30 pm.  We had dropped about a 1000 feet, and I did not want to push too far.  We enjoyed some Grand Canyon spring water, and the shade of the simple shelter.  I used the nice composting toilet.  There was a trash can inside with a sign telling you to hike out any trash.  I dumped the formula powder and put the empty can in my pack.

The hike up was intense, but the sun had started to slip behind the canyon wall.  It took us about an hour and fifteen to get back to the top.  We took lots of breaks in the shade.  When we got to the top, we sat and stared into the canyon for a good hour before my mom and dad came and found us.  We drove around to the east.  Found the Grandview view point and watched the sunset.

Orchid: The Grand Canyon

Onion: The trash, everywhere.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 47 Jul. 23 - Flapjack Lakes

Total Distance: Approximately 16 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft.
Time: 9:20 am - 5:50 pm
Weather: Sunny, no clouds, hot, and beautiful.

I had sent out an email to the Outdoor Club students at my work right as school was ending about 7 weeks ago.  In the email, I picked a few dates I knew I would be day hiking in Washington and said these could be club hikes.  And a little over a week ago, a student or two had reminded me that one was coming up this weekend.  So I made this week's hike a club hike.  I was looking to do some distance to get in better hiking shape. I have begun contemplating what to take on next if I successfully make it through the next 5 weeks.  In just 5 short weeks, 52 weeks will be complete.  I have some big ideas, but for now I must finish the task at hand.  If this commitment is met, I think the next will require me to be in the best physical shape of my life.  As a result, all hikes are now "training hikes."  Today, I carried a 35 lb. pack on a 16 mile hike back to Flapjack Lakes, the place I tried to get to 10 weeks ago on May 14th.

We got to the trailhead at 9:15 am.  We hiked up to the junction to the Flapjack Lakes in about an hour and ten minutes. The pack felt good, and the weather was perfect.  I drank a ton of water and ate a bit.  After a short break, we took off for the lake at 10:50. From there, it took another hour and a half to get to the trail junction with Black and White Lakes and Flapjack Lakes. I recognized much of the hike until I got the snow field I hit 10 weeks ago.  Here the trail became very steep, and goes up fast.  I could see how weeks ago I was not following the trail.

We took a break, where I drank a lot more water.  We hit the junction with the Black and White Lakes at 12:30 pm.  The last half mile took us about thirty minutes, and it was the only time there was any snow. Many people have traveled to the Flapjack Lakes, and the path was easy to follow.  We found a spot in-between the lakes and had a glorious 2 hour lunch, swim, and nap break.  We swam in the west lake, and we were gobsmacked by the beauty of the two lakes.  The ridge between Mt Lincoln and Mt Cruiser forming the eastern wall above the lakes was calling to me.  I felt like I could just bound across the rock tops.

We packed up and began moving down at around 3 pm.  We were out by 5:50 pm.   A great day with great kids, this is why I go every weekend.

Orchid: Two hours at the lakes.

Onion: Sore legs, ankles, and wet underwear on the hike out.

Picture:

Google Map, GPS track

Week 46.5 Jul. 19-21 - Kayaking in the San Juan Islands

Total Distance: No clue, a long way...
Elevation Gain: Maybe 10 feet.  I was on the sea, except at night where I was sleeping on an island.
Time: Tuesday 12:30 pm - Thursday 12 pm
Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy and even a little rain.  Strong winds on the water at times.

After returning from my 12 days in the Olympics, I had to turn around and pack for a 3 day 2 night kayak trip in the San Juan Islands.  I was super excited for this trip since I have never kayaked before and so many of my friends do.  This was a trip with a total of 9 people, 8 who have worked or currently work for my school, and the spouse of one of my colleagues.  It was a fun, albeit a learning and challenging experience.

It starts really with the day before the trip Monday July 18th.  I did not leave school after returning with the kids from my 12 day trip until about 6 pm.  I then went home where I spent a good 20 minutes chatting with neighbors who thought I was lost in the woods for sure.  I then went to a couple of grocery stores trying to get all the needed food items for the gourmet dining experience leader trips can be.  Then getting home and unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry and repacking could begin.  As I began the process of packing, I was extremely flustered and taken back by the difficulty of planning for something you have never done.  I was constantly checking I had the essentials: head lamp, batteries, extra glasses, etc.  I was also dealing with the challenge of trying to get these in waterproof stuff sags.  Since I don't own these I used garbage bags and my nylon stuff sacks.  By the time I really felt ready to go, it was 2 am.  I had to be at school to meet a friend by 5 am, and as tired as I was I knew I would over sleep.  I stayed up.  I would sleep in the car.

At 5 am on Tuesday, I met my friend.  We loaded his car, locked mine up, and went to pick up another friend from work.  By 5:45 am, we were all together loading up the two vans with gear and food for 9 people for 3 days.  So excited to be with friends, I caught a second wind.  I enjoyed spending the next couple of hours catching up about our summers.  We left so early to catch a ferry in Anacortes to Lopez Island.  By the time we got Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island it was 11:30 am.  We finally launched at 12:30 pm.

We were heading to Turn Island.  This is night 1 of the 5 day 4 night trip we do with kids in the fall.  I really enjoyed this leg.  I was tired for sure, but the sea was a lot of fun.  We saw tons of seals, birds, and other boats.  The kayak felt stable and the currents and winds were not too tough for this first hour and a half.

We launched for Jones Island.  This is the second day of the school trip, but we were trying to do this in 3 days, not 5.  The next couple hours were tough, but I was hanging in.  I was definitely not up in first, and slowly I began moving to the back consistently.  The currents and winds were not in our favor, so we were staying close to the shore of Friday Harbor.  When we began the cross to Jones Island, I started to feel so weak.  My arms ached, I was tired, and I could not keep up with the majority of the group.  I guess I wasn't the only one needing a break, and at about 5:45 pm, we go to a spit of an island to break.  I joked to my friend on the shore that the rip tide we were in was my onion.  Unfortunately, This would not even come close.

We got back in our kayaks and went for Jones Island.  I remember falling behind early and being physically exhausted.  I started closing my eyes and paddling 4 strokes then opening them and readjusting my course.  I was looking at time closely in the brief moments I could keep my eyes open.  I was seeing how long I could paddle without stopping.  Minutes seemed like an eternity.  The next thing I remember was a buddy, heading towards me, while I was a lot closer to the Island suddenly, but east of the harbor I was looking to land in.  The best I can surmise is that I fell asleep.  When I came to, I was not fully there.  I was nauseous and feeling outside my own head, looking in and wondering why I was so confused and weak.  I think in addition to exhaustion, I was dehydrated.  When I finally landed, I could hardly move.  I sat drank water, and got into warm clothes.  I felt normal again in about 30 minutes.  Amazing appetizers, dinner, and desserts sent me to bed feeling 100%.

The next morning I made scones for everyone.  We got loaded up by 10 am and launched for Olga Marine State Park on Orcas Island.  We crossed to Deer Harbor, and I started feeling sick and nauseous again.  I was super mad, but I learned from the day before to say something before I was in a worse state again.  We got into a small beach on Shaw Island, where they moved me into a tandem boat.  The two colleagues with the most experience were the navigators, and at this point changed the trip to go back to Turn Island.  I know I should not feel this way, but I fell like I ruined the trip.  Of course, no colleague made me feel this way, and judging by the laughs we had it is not true.  But, I wish the original plan could have been kept.

We shipped again, this time heading to a lunch stop on Shaw island.  And on the way in the tandem, I got nauseous again and finally blew it into the ocean.  My stomach decided the scones would be better for the fish of the San Juan Islands.  I felt better, a lot better.  But, I think I have a few new nicknames at work.

The rest of the day to Turn Island I felt great.  That night was a ton of fun too.  I stayed up late and heard seals playing in the water.  The next morning was great.  We woke up to rain ending and sun starting to break through as we began packing.  We launched for Lopez Island and Fisherman Bay.  I was paired with another colleague today, and we rocked it.  We stayed second place all day, and I felt great.  I still want to kayak more, but maybe I should just stick to short trips, like Turn Island to Lopez Island.

Orchid: Kayaking

Onion: Oh, I don't know...

Picture:

Google Map

Week 46 Jul.12-18 - Elwha River Valley

Total Distance: Approximately 52 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2500 ft.
Time: Tuesday 9 am - Monday 2 pm
Weather: Overcast and rainy 4 of the 7 days with overcast with occasional sun-breaks in the other 3 days.  The last day was the sunniest and warmest.

More to come later, but...

I just got out from 7 day/6 night trip along the Elwha River in the Olympic National Park.

Highlights include good meals, great kids, an amazing co-leader, and the majestic, mighty Elwha.

And here is later...

We spent Monday night at the Elwha campground.  This is a drive-in campground, but it was a half mile from the "de-facto" trailhead for the 7 day/6 night trip alongside the Elwha river.  I say de-facto, since the Whiskey Bend Road had washed out in two places this winter, so we had 5 miles of bonus hiking.  We hiked a total of 10 miles the first day with the heaviest packs of the entire 12 day trip.  My pack was heavy, but the hiking felt good until the last 2 hours when we were dealing with rain too.    As we got to Lilian River, we dropped a good 300 feet, and we were at camp.  I made chicken burritos with rice and beans.

The next day was a short hike to Mary's Falls where we had a dish called "Gado-gado spaghetti."  The boys played pine cone wars on a bit of an island in the Elwha.  We ate a ton of salmon berries.  We woke up to a deer in camp who had no fear of us. She stayed around all morning.

The next day was a big hike down south to Chateau camp.  The camp site was nearly impossible to find with no sign.  Two boys on the trip spent the next two nights making a beautiful sign from a down tree that had been sawed off and left near the trail. Dinner was good tasting, but a pain to make.  We had lasagna.

The next day we hiked to Camp wilder and had a rainy night.  After the tents were all set up, the boys mostly got in to stay dry.  I geared up and went exploring.  I found a huge tree, where the limbs above were shielding most of the rain.  I sat down and napped on the tree.  I came back about an hour later, and my co-leader and a camper made a dinner shelter with a tarp.  I cooked pesto pasta with roasted pine nuts.  I finished a book in my tent that night.  It was the first trip where I began a book and finished it on the same trip.  Camp wilder was beautiful.

We turned around and went out the next day.  We hiked to Elkhorn.  A huge, beautiful site where I made pizzas for dinner.  The next day was the last full day in the woods.  We hiked out to the trailhead at the end of the Whiskey Bend road.  It was not the best last site, but made for an easy out the next day.

On the last day, I felt weird leaving.  I enjoy the woods a lot.

Orchid: Hiking 11.5 miles with a heavy pack.

Onion: Cooking the lasagna on the 3rd night.

Picture:

Google map

Week 45 Jul. 7-11 - Enchanted Valley

Total Distance: Approximately 35 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft.
Time: Thursday noon - Monday 11 am
Weather: Partly cloudy and sunny for 5 days and 4 nights.

More to come later, but...

On Thursday, I left on a 5 day/4 night trip up the Quinault River. I took a colleague and 8 boys from my school. Our ultimate destination was the Enchanted Valley.

Highlights include the valley itself, great dinners, multiple bear sightings, 4 am hike to Anderson Pass to see the sunrise, herd of elk at 430 am, and more.

And here is the later...

Back in late March, I had a brilliant idea to hike the Wonderland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park.  The trail is approximately 93 miles and circumnavigates the base of the mountain.  I also figured I could get a group of students from my school to pay me to take them.  Well, while I had planned for just about everything except the winter weather that lasted well into May.  As a result, the trail was covered mostly in snow.  We left on Tuesday July 5th for a plan B trip in Mount Rainier, but we were thwarted by snow the first day and could not make it to our first campsite.  My co-leader and I called this trip, and we hiked out.  By the time we got back to the trailhead, the rangers had left, and there was hardly anyone left in the parking lot.  We camped at the trailhead and called the next morning.

My co-leader and I spent the next day scrambling to come up with an alternative hike.  We called the Olympic National Park, which had two options for snow free hiking, and we were able to design a 5 day/4 night trip and a 7 day/6 night trip, back to back.

We left Thursday for the Quinault River valley.  We hiked 6.6 miles the first day to O'Neil Creek.  The site was a little full, but I met some great people.  I fixed a delicious meal of grilled cheese and soup.

The next morning we were up and hinge by 10 am.  We were in the Enchanted Valley by the mid-afternoon.  We saw a juvenile black bear on the way, about a mile north of Pyrites Creek.  This is only the second trip on which I have seen a bear.  I loved it.  That night I prepared a great Thai Peanut Noodle dish with vegetable stir-fry.

The next day was going to be a short day, so I planted the idea of an early morning sunrise hike in the kids' heads.  Four of the eight boys joined me at 4 am as we hiked to Anderson pass.  We saw a herd of elk around 4:30 am, which was magnificent.  When we hit a huge snow field around 5:45, we decided to just head for a saddle above us.  I am pretty sure we were not going to the pass, but instead just climbing up between LaCrosse Mountain and White Mountain.  After a good hour and a half of climbing up the snow, I thought we had gotten high enough and that the decent would be an adequate challenge.  We all slid down on our butts or did a large step running variation.  We had a blast, and we all came down safely.  We got back to camp and ate a huge breakfast.  We moved camp down the river back to Pyrites.  On the way I met a cool ranger who had a Phish hat on.  Phish happens to be my favorite band, so we chatted a while.  I eventually caught back up with my group and was in camp by 4 pm.  The dinner this night was a delicious Alfredo pasta with salmon and basil.

The next day, we hiked our biggest distance with packs.  We did about 8 or 9 miles down to Pony Bridge.  We had a sweet and sour rice for dinner.

We were out the next day.  We were picked up at 11 am, and we spent the afternoon in Port Angeles getting our next set of permits and resupplying food stuff.

Orchid: The early morning hike.

Onion: None, seriously.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 44 Jul. 3 - Upper South Fork of the Skokomish River

Total Distance: Approximately 10 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2500 ft.
Time: 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Weather: Sunny, scattered clouds, mid-70s.

Well, I picked this hike late last night, but I got up early and was at the trailhead at 10 am.  Couple factors went into choosing this trail.  First, my northwest forest pass expired at the end of June, and I don't need to buy one really until August, since almost all of my July hikes are planned and not in Forest areas.  Second, it was lower elevation and in the south section of the Olympic National Forest.  I was hoping both of these conditions would mean no snow on the trail.

It was a two hour drive, only because the last 40 miles were all on gravel, backcountry roads.  I was excited for this hike, if only to get out and stretch my legs a bit.  I leave on Tuesday for a 14 day/13 night backpacking trip in Mount Rainier National Park, and I want to be confident both in my shape and on my right ankle.

I checked in on the trailhead ledger.  I saw there was only one group out ahead of me, which made sense, since there was one other car in the parking lot.  I geared up and hit the trail right at 10 am.  Within 15 minutes, I caught the other 4 people and passed them.  About 5 minutes later, I was at the first crossing of the South Fork of the Skokomish.  A beautiful river, that definitely had some hardcore winter run-off.  The first bridge was out.  I found a downed tree and was able to scoot on my butt across the river.  It took me a while, when I eventually crossed and got back on the trail, I saw the group of four crossing downstream on a much bigger nicer log.  I filed that away for my return hike.

I kept walking up the trail.  I had no particular destination.  The trailhead said it was 4 miles to Startup Creek Camp, 5 miles to the Park Boundry, and 7 miles to the Sundown Pass.  I thought if I could get to the pass that would be great.  Right around 11:15 am, I saw what I thought were two horses about 30 yards away.  I was looking at them from behind, quickly scanning for owners, I saw a huge elk with a good rack on his head about 20 yards off to the left.  Once he saw me, he took off up the slope to the right.  His friends followed suit.  In this one instance I saw 6 elk bounding up the hill.  I continued on, and I began to sing out loud to create more noise and not come upon some other wild creatures without announcing myself.

Right after the elk encounter, I hit snow.  At first small patches, then large fields covering the trail.  I was able to follow what seemed like the natural flow and never really lost the trail.  I got to another creek crossing without a clearly marked bridge.  I made my way across and had my first break at around 11:45 am.  During my break, I decided not to continue the hike any further up the trail.  My ankle was fine, but I did not want to push my luck in the snow.  I had a delicious lunch, then I was going to go swimming.  I got knee-deep in the creek and wussed out; it was too cold.

The hike out was great.  I had no trouble finding my way, and I crossed another group of elk, this time I only saw 4 before they disappeared in the canopy of the forest.  I was out a little faster than I took to get in.

Orchid: The warm sun baking sections of the trail producing that irrefutable smell of summer.

Onion: Snow at 2200 feet.

Picture:

Google Map, GPS Track