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
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