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
No comments:
Post a Comment