Sept. 22-26 - Sophomore Outdoor Ed.

With the exception of one weekend that I was very sick, I have hiked the 4 out of the last 5 weeks.  This last weekend was the start of my 8th outdoor education trip at my school.  This is the program that introduced me to the world of backpacking.  At the age of 24, I took off into the woods on my first backpacking trip. From that moment on, I was hooked.  Although I did not do it enough, I was in it. As many of you readers might know, the weekly streak began right after my first marriage fell apart.  It lasted a little over 2 and a half years. But now, here I am fresh out of the PNW woods after a spectacularly rainy and wet 5 day trip in Mt. Rainier National Park.

More soon...

Sept. 7 & 8 - St. Andrew's Lake

A couple quick updates:

• I have been hiking, but not as much as I like.
• I did a 47 mile loop over Labor Day weekend. It kicked my butt. I did 18 miles in 12 hours (that is 1.5 mph, pitiful).
• I hiked this weekend, that makes two weeks in-a-row, I am thinking of starting a streak back up... at least one of training.

So I am two weeks away from the Sophomore Outdoor Ed trip, and the route I am doing is completely new to me. This weekend I needed to get a look at it, so I took off on an overnighter.  I was lucky enough to bring three friends from work with me too.

We took off from the end of the Westside Road at 9:15am Saturday.  We hiked 3.8 miles up the road, then took off towards the South Puyallup River camp on the Wonderland trail some 2.2 miles away.  From there, we took a right and went to St. Andrew's Lake 3.2 miles away. We hiked in cloud cover almost the whole time.  It was kind of nice since it was a decent climb, and I had worked up a good sweat.  We were at the lake around 1:30 pm, then we wandered up to the cross country zone to set up our camp.

This is where the trip became something I wanted to write down.  Since I am trying to see my 27 mile route, and I had only done 9.2 miles of it. I took off up the trail in my running shoes and with a small day pack.  My goal was to get to Golden Lakes (8.8 miles from our camp, plus the trail has a good amount of up and down).  

At 2:22 pm, I was running down to the lake and then to Klapache Park.  Then jogged down the switchbacks to North Puyallup River.  This was brutal down hill.  I made decent time, it was about 3:30 pm when I began the 5 mile climb back up to Golden Lakes.  No running here, but I was maintaining a fast-ish pace, telling myself to go quicker anytime I felt myself settling into my natural gait.  At 4:30, I stopped for water at a stream.  I told myself I had to be moving by 4:35, which I was.  Shortly after, I was breaking out of the forrest and I was up on a ridge (but still in the clouds).  I was soon losing elevation again, and then all of the sudden, the ranger patrol cabin and the Golden Lakes sign was right in front of me. It was 5:10.  I chatted with the ranger (a beautiful woman) for a few minutes and took off back for camp.  I walked back to the top of the ridge, then took off running. I maintained a good running gear for about 45 minutes.  I walked into North Puyallup at 6:30. This was a huge highlight, that marked 10 miles in three hours.  That has been a thought of mine over the years as a theoretical pace for thru-hiking the PCT. I was so excited that I was able to do that, but I also realized to maintain that over weeks, or even a whole day, my training needs to step up. I took another break at 6:30 but this time took an extra 10 minutes, making my charge up to camp at 6:45 pm.  I decided the best thing to do was to move consistently and as steady as possible.  By 7:55 pm, I was 2.8 miles up from the North Puyallup river.  I met two wonderful people and spent a good 10 minutes chatting with them.  As obsessed as I had been with time, I was so thankfully to give that away as I met these amazing people.  The husband walked up for about a half mile with me.  I was in camp at 8:22 pm, exactly 6 hours after leaving for a 17.6 mile round trip. 

My friends, being amazing as they are, had seen my headlamp approaching and had a hot dinner ready.  I slept well and hard.  Today was amazing too, in a different way. We woke up had scones (freshly baked in my oven), played cards, and relaxed all morning. We were walking by noon. We saw a bear :). We were at the car at 4 pm.

July 24 -30 & August 1 - 9 - The Wind Rivers

I spent 16 days and 14 nights in the Wind Rivers this summer.  I went with Creighton as I did last year, but we also brought some other friends.  We did a 7-day/6-night trip from the Green River Lakes and were joined by Gil and Diane.  Gil and Diane had to leave on the 30th of July. Creighton and I came out with them and spent 2 nights and 1 full day in the Wyoming towns of Jackson and Dubois.  We did laundry, resupplied, bought some gear, and rested.  We then went in for a 9-day/8-night trip from the same trailhead (Trail Lake Trailhead) that we went in from last year.  I did not journal this year as much, but I took some notes to remember some amazing moments.  I thought a good way to sum up last summer and this summer in this magical place would be the simple phrase, "last year I survived; this year I thrived."

I did write two poems (very unlike me) while I was deep in a reflective state one morning.  Creighton had decided to run up Gannett (yes he ran, well he summitted damn fast).  I stayed in camp.  Here they are:

1)

With time in the woods comes comfort in hard things.
      Today, I napped on a rock softer than a feather bed.

2)

I wish I were a poet or writer,
one who had the gift to capture feelings with words.
I wonder what I would capture in this moment,
sitting alone by this high alpine lake.
The feeling of contentment?
The feeling of aloneness?
Maybe just the sense that life is pretty good when spent outside.

I scan my surroundings,
hoping to see a sheep or elk,
instead just the ground squirrel is within my sight.
He darts around camp in quick, acute movements.
If I sit still, it's as if he does not notice me.
When I move, he runs off in the same sharp movements.

Minutes later, the squirrel returns.
This time not frightened by my movements.
As if me sitting here, he (and the rest of this place) has gotten used to me.

He stops and looks at me.
We share a moment.
This squirrel knows me,
or at least I want him to.

July 15 & 19 - Summit Mt. Adams

Inspired by Creighton's facebook photos while I was in the Midwest, I wanted to climb Mt. Adams, again.  I sent out the email and text invites to my regular hiking friends and got three yeses.  The problem: not everyone could go at the same time this last week. I thought of a pretty simple solution: I would climb the mountain twice.

The first trip was a Sunday/Monday thing with two of my colleagues.  We drove to the Cold Springs campground Sunday afternoon, camped, and climbed the mountain on Monday.  We started at 5 am after a pretty sleepless night.  We were one of the last groups to leave that day. There were very few people on the mountain, which was nice.  I remember when I first climbed Adams in August of 2011 (Week 50), it was a parade of hundreds of climbers.  The climb was long, but the day was amazing. We made it to the summit in a little less than 9 hours.  We were the last group to summit that day.  We then had a great, fast glissade down.  We were back at the car three hours later.

The other yes was from a former student who is an excellent hiking buddy. He and I have hiked a few times together, including this last February in Havasu.  He sat shotgun the entire trip in my van, and we became pretty good traveling buddies.  He and I took off from Tacoma around 9 pm and reached the trailhead around 2 am.  We took a solid 3 hour nap. Woke up at 5:25 am, and we were off hiking by 5:50 am. We were last group leaving the trailhead on Friday. We were a little slower than my Monday climb, but I think that was due to the heat.  It was so hot. On Monday, I hiked in pants, long sleeve, hat with bandana, and a light jacket. If we stopped I would get chilled. On Friday, I was in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and didn't need layers when we stopped.  The hat made my face feel hot, but I knew I needed the sun protection.  The snow was a slushy mess too.  It was great was to see this kid reach his first big summit. He was definitely proud and excited.  We hung out on the summit for an hour. We were the last to summit on Friday too.  We left the summit at 4:15 pm and were back down 3 hours later. 

July 13, 2013 - Flapjack Lakes and Black and White Lakes

I went on a pretty great hike today.  I went to Flapjack Lakes to start.  I have been here before but only once.  I tried to get there twice, I think, before I made it there finally in July of 2011.  A couple weeks ago I did a hike with Gil up the North Fork of the Skykomish, and we talked of a potential Flapjack Lake hike.  These lakes are beautiful. The photo from the week 47 hike is one of my favorites (Link to post).  The weather today was amazing, and I did not want to waste a day that I could be hiking.  I have been out of the PNW for two weeks.  I was back in the midwest visiting friends and family, and while that was awesome, I have been pining the forests and high country of this amazing place I call home.

I took off from the Staircase trailhead at 11:30 am and made it to the Flapjack turn off in 55 minutes.  That is pretty standard.  The park says its 4 miles, but I am 99% confident it is between 3.4 and 3.8 miles.  It cannot be more than 3.6... Whatever the distance, I took a 4 minute break to snack and hydrate.  I was walking again by 12:30 pm.

I made it to the lakes 1 hour and 44 minutes later.  This stretch is 4 miles and climbs about 3000 feet.  I kept a steady pace and passed many backpackers in the first 30 minutes.  After about 30 minutes, I was alone the entire walk to the lakes.  I found a blue huckleberry bush that was ready for the picking.  I ate a handful of my first berries this summer.  They were incredible. I went to the same area between the lakes I stopped at last time I was there. I ate a small lunch then got ready to go for a swim.  The lake to the east was the one I choose, and it was so cold.  I went in to my knees and stood there for about 25 minutes before I had the courage to make the plunge.  I heard some fisherman on the west lake, but it felt lake I had the lakes to myself.  After I finally jumped in, I hopped out and changed into dry clothes.  I then laid down for a few minutes while my clothes were drying.

I took off back down the trail after a 90 minute break. I passed a few of the backpackers in the first half mile, then I reached the junction with the Black and White lakes trail.  To the left was the way I came up, to the right some place new.  I took off to the right.  For the next 2 hours and 16 minutes I was on trails I had never hiked, and judging by the condition of the trails, not many others have hiked either.  For an hour or so I climbed to the Black and White Lakes.  I got above the tree line too.  I had a beautiful panoramic view to the west.  I don't know why I haven't been up here before. It was so great.  When I began the hike down to make a loop, I realized that the trail directly to the Black and White Lakes is brutal.  I lost some 3200 feet in two miles.  It took me an hour and at the end my legs were quivering.  I kept walking after a short break chatting with some people heading up the North Fork of the Skokomish.  I made it to the Flapjack Lake junction three hours after I left the lake.  I took a 10 minute break then took off for the "uneventful" hike back.

It was a beautiful evening.  The sunlight was shinning in from my back, giving the forest an amazing green color.  The weather was perfect all day, but it was kind of cool at this point.  I was cold when I was resting but was warming up on the hike down.  The trail was empty, so I started singing some songs to keep any big animals away.  I passed all the familiar landmarks, when suddenly I was staring an adult male goat in the face about 10 feet away.  The goat was on the trail into Slide Camp, and I walked right past him.  He took off up the trail followed by a smaller medium sized goat and a baby that I had not noticed at first.  The three goats were gone so fast (and the light so bad) that I could only get blurry photos.  The rest of the hike was uneventful with the exception of louder singing. I was back the car at 7:45 pm.

June 16, 2013 - Carbon Glacier

My first hike in about a month officially kicked off my summer hiking trips today.  Since my last hike, my weekends have been filled with a Ski to Sea Rely Race, final exam review sessions, retirement celebrations, graduation parties, and finally graduation last week.  The end of the school year is always a whirlwind of activities and celebrations.  I feel like my life the last few weeks has been a big party with the same guest list, and the company has just been getting better and better.  Lots of conversations with the graduates drift to plans for our future relationship together.  Many kids always want to go for a hike with me.  Sixty-six members of the class of 2013 just quit being students of mine.  I am close with many of these great young people, and now I can finally refer to them as my friends.  One such friend joined me on my hike today.

I wasn't sure where to go.  I have been itching to be out hiking for awhile.  I narrowed it down to two options, both places I have been to before.  My friend chose the 17 mile walk to the Carbon Glacier.  I was so excited to go for a long walk on the old, familiar jaunt up to the lowest elevation glacier in the lower Forty-Eight.  We planed for an early morning and were on the trail walking by about 8:30 am.

I love the road.  The old road to the Ipsut Campground is no longer maintained as a road, instead it is a 4.9 mile multi-use trail.  It is a beautiful, peaceful walk especially early in the mornings.  The river to the left, the rocks to the right, and the old growth forest stretching higher than I can ever accurately remember.  The road is wide enough so that you can hike next to your friend.  It slowly gains a negligible amount of elevation, and before you know it, an hour and a half goes by and you're on the trail.

The trail was fun.  We cruised and made it to the glacier in about an hour and a half.  We enjoyed lunch in the sun and under the glacier.  We had the place to ourselves.  I felt so good.  It was sunny and snow free.  As my new friend and I walked up, I was mentioning how much I love returning to places I have been to before.  Today was no different.  It was a lovely, lovely hike.  I was wondering why it took over a week to get me out hiking this summer.  We took a nice hour long break then took off back for home.  We made in down in less than three hours.

Amazing day with an amazing new friend.

May 14-17, 2013 - 8th Grade Beach Hike

So I am back, at least I am back blogging.  I just returned from my 6th beach hike (in a row).  For the last 6 years, I have taken a group of 8th graders from Lake Ozette to Rialto Beach (or vise versa depending on tides).  Every year it is great for different reasons.

The first year (2008) I hiked from Rialto to Ozette, staying at the good campsites.  I went with one of the best leaders in the school, especially when it comes to beach hike.  I also had a group of kids that I became very close with.  Whole relationships were built on that hike but that happens every year.  I guess you never forget your first. These kids graduated last spring.

The next year (2009) was my first school hike where I was the "primary" leader.  This means I was the most experienced adult out there.  I had been on 5 school backpacking trips at that point.  I need to double check, but this beach hike was 18 or 19.  I went with a woman co-leader who became one of my best friends thanks to Beach Hike 2009.  One of the 8th graders this year was on my most recent (2013) beach hike for his senior internship. Another student has been my advisee for the last four years, and I am handing him his diploma.  This trip creates amazing student-teacher relationships.  We walked north to south, Ozette to Rialto, and had the "bad" campsites.  A point of clarification, the distinctions "good" and "bad" are not very accurate, a better distinction would be "my favorite" and "my second favorite."  I have a very special place on the coast, Kayostla Beach.  "My favorite" campsites contain this beach.

The next year (2010) was with the same leader as the year before.  We walked Ozette to Rialto and had my second favorite sites.  Three of the students on this trip are in my advisory.  The fourth year (2011) was blogged about here.  The fifth year (2012) was blogged about here.

My most recent trip went like this...

We took off Tuesday morning from Ozette bound for Sand Point, the first of my favorite set of campsites.  There is a long story here that I don't really want to get into.  The short version is this: got camp set up, took a nap, ran into ranger ranger, slept, woke up and dealt with ranger ranger again, packed up camp, started hiking, then walked with ranger ranger for a little.  

Wednesday was a long hike, but it was to my favorite camp site.  We were a little wet from rain the night before, and it continued on and off throughout the day.  We had a great fire at Kayostla. I slept in my favorite spot.  We woke to a cloudy day on Thursday. Started a little later than the day before and dealt with rain all morning.  We took a good break from 11:00 to 11:40, then started back up.  Around noon, the sun broke out, and we busted out a good old yard sale.  All our gear out and drying.  It was the highlight of the trip for me in a lot of ways.  Another great campfire on last night at Chilean Memorial.  We shared our orchids and onions.

Our hike this morning was amazing.  We took off at 8 am after I made some fantastic scones. We hiked some 3.8ish miles down the coast in two hours and 20 minutes.  Back on the bus and into civilization again too quickly.

My mind has been racing a million miles a minute since I returned to the frontcountry.  I have been on facebook, email (both personal and work), on the phone, on the internet, on spotify, texting, tweeting, liking, reading, singing, dancing, driving, unpacking, etc.  And I have done all of it in little chunks, never holding on to a task for an extended time mainly because many of them have no end.  For example, writing this post has been intermixed with texts, facebook refreshing, spotify searching, and email writing.  Why do I do this to myself?  I told a friend via text tonight how much I enjoyed the last 4 days.  I felt at home both in my surroundings, but more importantly, at home in my own skin.  I felt like I was me and that was all I needed to be.  I have been in cell range since 1:15 pm.  I feel amazing after this fantastic trip, but I am feeling nostalgic, literally nostalic.  The original greek meaning is a pain from wanting to return home, or at least that is how the word came to be used in the late 18th century.  It is cliché, or corny, or overstated, or obnoxious, but no matter what I think about what it sounds like the truth is I feel at home in the woods.

The end... or a new beginning.

And with the end of the weekend drawing near, it finally ends. 132 "weekends" of hiking in a row. It has been coming slowly but surely. I am choosing for it to end.

So now that I'm done with that commitment, I think it's time to make some new ones. Here are two: sell my house and get my masters.

Oh, and start hiking again next week.

Week 132 Mar. 10 - Black Diamond Coal Mine

It is May 17th and I am updating the blog...

Back on a real trail this week, but I got a little lost and wandered on to a major road, which I ended up following for more time than I was on trails.  I found a hike relatively close to home and with some good distance.  I took off from a road and was walking in a mountain bike trail system.  It was open to hikers too, but it seemed obvious hikers were less frequent visitors.  After a few miles, I wondered out into a neighborhood.  I ended up trying to force a loop and got on a country road walking the wrong direction, I was able to find out later.  

I walked by a little league baseball/softball park and saw some people in the parking lot.  I asked where a street was, and I found out I was heading the wrong direction.  I ended up walking a long way along the side of a road then along a train track. Eventually finding my way back to the car via trails.

Week 131 Mar. 3 - Ft. Steilacoom Park

It is May 17th and I am updating the blog...

This is when I knew the end was almost upon me.  I walked for an hour around a pond talking to two friends on my cell phone.  I was exhausted and remember feeling guilty about not doing any training for a marathon, which eventually became a half because of an injury.

A nice park, but I don't think this was a legit hike.

Week 130 Feb. 24 - Buckskin Gulch

It is May 17th and I am updating the blog...

This was a hike in the "longest slot canyon" in the US.  Incredible day hike with Diane, Creighton, and students.  We tromped through ice cole puddles, literally.  We say the most glorious colors along the canyon walls.  We were cold, or at least I was.  There were some large spaces where sunlight found its way down to the canyon floor, and I would walk straight to them.  A couple tough, climb like area to move around.  Diane and I pushed further than anyone.

Week 129 Feb. 17 - Ice Box Canyon

Total distance: Approximately 2.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Time: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Weather: Sunny, warm to start, cool after sun went down.

Diane, Creighton, 12 students, and I flew into Las Vegas on Sunday Feb. 17th. We got a short hike in on in the Red Rocks Canyon Area.

On Monday, we got a great day hike in to the top of Turtlehead Peak in the same area. Now, I am sitting in Kingman, AZ and gearing up for a 4 day 3 night trip into Havasu Canyon.

Orchid: Ring-tail cat up on the canyon wall watching me.

Onion: Forgot my camera.

Picture: None.

Google Map

Week 128 Feb. 10 - Owen Beach and Point Defiance

Total distance: Approximately 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Time: Late afternoon/early evening
Weather: Overcast and cool.

A week before Winterim, I was ready to end the streak.  That is all I really remember at this point, some four weeks later.  I went down to a restaurant on the water because I had a gift card.  I walked along the beach after an early dinner.  I then off trail hiked up to the trails above in Pt. Defiance.  I looped back to the beach.  I walked for about an hour and half.

Orchid: Not ending the streak.

Onion: Point Defiance for a third time within a year.

Picture: None

Google Map

Week 127 Feb. 2 & 3 - Snow Cave at Paradise

Total distance: Approximately 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 300 feet
Time: Saturday 1:00 pm - Sunday 9:30 am
Weather: Sunny and warm Saturday afternoon, cooler and cloudier on Sunday morning.

Me and a few friends have been talking about winter camping and building a snow cave for weeks.  We settled on Super Bowl weekend, and the weather Saturday shaped up to be absolutely incredible for snow caving.

We spent the better part of the afternoon digging out a cave.  It took from about 1:30 pm until 4:45 pm. We had a cave with enough room to stand up, and we carved out three beds in the walls of our cave.  It was very fun and surprisingly warm.  The evening was cool, but the stars were incredible.

We woke up Sunday morning to discover a fox outside our cave.  We had lazily secured our food, and the fox had spent the evening gorging himself on cheese, crackers, crumpets, and beef jerky.  We chased him off, had our breakfast that was still intact, and destroyed our home.

Orchid: First snow cave.

Onion: Not digging out a wide enough shel, and feeling a little cramped up all night.

Picture:
Later

Google Map

Week 126 Jan. 27 - Little River, again

Total distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: 3500 feet
Time: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Weather: Overcast and cool.

I tried and failed again at reaching Hurricane Ridge from the Little River Trailhead.  I got lost in the same place again, so that's good.  But I think I need some map and compass, maybe a gps device or something, to find the trail in this one area.

I took Sean with me, and the two of us had a good time.  He is dealing with life, and I can only imagine  being 16 and dealing with all that stuff.  I told him before the hike that I will always walk the trails when my heart hurts, and it usually still hurts when I return.  It does get better, and for brief moments along the hike, I forget my troubles.  He and I spent a lot of the day in silence.  We talked when we needed too, but we enjoyed the wilderness and the silence this hike always seems to provide.  I have hiked this trail three times and each time only seen the other person I was hiking with.

Orchid: Working on the stuff in my head, with a future friend with me.

Onion: Losing the trail... again.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 125 Jan. 20 - Paradise

Total distance: Approximately 3 miles

Elevation Gain: 200 feet

Time: 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Weather: Sunny and warm, really warm.

My parents came up to see me from Oklahoma, and the weather report was for beautiful sunny weather the whole time.  Then a fog rolled in earlier in the week and stayed in the lowlands and created an inversion zone.  So down in Tacoma the weather was gray, cloudy, and a cool 38°F, and up at 5000 feet it was sunny, clear, and a warm 55°F.  We spent Sunday afternoon walking around the Paradise area.  We got up a little bit, and we got great views of Mt. Rainier.  We didn't do much, and I wasn't sure my dad enjoyed it.  My mom did.  We stayed the night down in Longmire at the National Park Inn.  It was my favorite part of their visit.

Orchid: Sharing the sacred mountain with my mom and dad.

Onion: No onion.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 124 Jan. 13 - Panorama Point and Mazama Ridge

Total distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2000 feet
Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Weather: Sunny, cool, and windy.

Last week I was up at Paradise. We had some great times, but not the greatest weather.  I mentioned my previous 2 Januarys with incredible weather days.  Well, I guess last week was a week early.  Today was the amazing weather day up at Paradise.  A senior at my school Fritz, who I taught as a freshman and as a junior, asked if we could go on a hike over winter break.  I said yes, but forgot when I agreed to go with teachers last week.  He was generous enough to not mind, and he agreed that this weekend would be fine.  It was the better weather, and we had an amazing day.

Fritz is a great guy, and he has an amazing mom.  It is one of those families that I love, and one that has gotten to know me and knows where my priorities fall. Despite being human, some people have some insane demands of teachers.  I always appreciate the families that allow me to be myself.  Fritz was always a student I could rely on, and we always had a great relationship.  He and I have never hiked together though. As a matter of fact, I never really asked him directly to join me.  I knew he was a fisherman, but I never knew his passion for catching good views with his camera.  I borrowed a pair of snowshoes from a friend and asked if he wanted to go to Rainier or to the Olympics.  He opted for Rainier, and I am so glad he did.

We met up at 7:15, and we were up at paradise by 9:45 am.  We had to chain up at Longmire, but my old Subaru made the journey just fine.  I had not packed my pack in the morning, I just simply threw all the gear into a Rubbermaid® container.  By the time I was packed and geared up, it was 10 am.  It was in gearing up that I noticed I left my camera at home.  Fritz suggested my cell phone in airplane mode would have to suffice.  We took off up to Panorama Point.  We had such sunny weather we were both rocking sunglasses.  I had my glacier goggles on which always make me feel like a badass.  We climbed at a decent pace up some pretty steep slopes stopping occasionally to catch our breath, both from the snowshoeing and the breath-taking views.  We snapped quite a few photos and kept remarking about the exceptional day ahead of us.  After a good two hours of climbing, we had come to a rock cairn and no one else was around.  We soaked in the views to the south.  The Tatoosh Range, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even Mt. Hood were all shining in the bright January sun.  This is always one of my favorite views.

We drank hot chocolate and hot cider, then we decided to go down to Mazama Ridge and catch the Fourth Crossings Trail down to the road.  We then took the road back to the parking lot.  The snow was an exceptionally dry powder for Washington.  It was fluffy and dry.  I could not get over how wonderful the conditions were.  We glissaded when we could, we stopped for photos, we marveled at the skiers tracks, we enjoyed some meaningful chats, and we were done too soon.  We were back at the car by 3ish, and made the journey back to Tacoma in style, stopping for coffee, then for a Mexican food dinner.

Orchid: First hike with a future friend.

Onion: My face got a little too much sun, but it isn't burned.  It actually feels good right now.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 123 Jan. 6 - Reflection Lake and Mazama Ridge

Total distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: 1500 feet
Time: 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
Weather: Overcast, cool, breezy.

I went out today, that's right, I am blogging about this hike the day it happened.  It has been awhile since I did that and for no real reason other than procrastination and busyness.  It is a New Year, and with the new year comes renewed hope for the future.  The future of all things seems so open and new. I have made 11 resolutions so far, and I am looking for 2 more to round the list out at 13.  I have spoken about trying to blog the night I return from a hike as being one of my "hiking" resolutions.  Either way, I am writing about a hike I did today.

Diane, my friend that goes to the desert with Creighton and me, texted earlier this week with the idea to hike on Sunday.  She mentioned Paradise.  I sent out an email invite and had two more takers.  It has now happened three Januarys in a row.  I have found myself snowshoeing on Mazama Ridge, and usually stopping by Reflection Lakes.  This was the first time in those three Januarys when the visibility wasn't as great.  Just look at the photos from Week 21 and Week 71.

Since visibility was limited up high, we took the low route to Reflection Lake.  We skirted around the Barn Flats on the well worn snow.  We took the route through the trees, following the signs and pole markers.  It was a bit of a climb, but I had been doing a decent job managing layers.  We hadn't seen anyone yet, and as we climbed we came across a cross country skier.  We passed him and were soon at the lake, about an hour and a half after leaving the car.  There were three people across the lake, we followed previous track over to the north lake shore and stamped out a landing pad to eat lunch, stare at the Tatoosh Mountains peaking through the clouds, and enjoy a hot beverage.  Great company, good snacks, and a quiet serene scene.  We took off for the car with a plan to go up on Mazama Ridge and come back down the Fourth Crossing Trail.

The climb up the ridge was a great.  It was a bit of work too.  Climbing, combined with some trail breaking has certainly made these legs of mine a tad sore from the chore.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  Diane was entirely enthused; she said she hadn't been able to get out and hike at all this Winter Break.  We had so much fu, we missed the trail down to the road.  While the distance we continued past the turn wasn't great, the elevation we gained unnecessarily was hard.  I enjoyed it, but it was tough.  As we climbed visibility was very low, the wind picked up, and the nervous feeling of a complete whiteout was looming.

Thankfully Diane felt off about the trail and said let's turn around.  Conditions quickly improved.  We found the trail heading down minutes later.  We made quick work of all the down hill and were back on the road in a flash.  Sooner than I wanted, we were done with the hike.

Orchid: Bombing downhill to the road.

Onion: The brief panic of not knowing where we were.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 122 Jan. 1 - Putah Creek

Total distance: Approximately 4 miles

Elevation Gain: 200 feet

Time: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Weather: Sunny and cold.

This is the first week I am counting even though the hike was not on the "weekend."  There are a few hikes where I counted a Friday hike or a Monday hike.  The one Friday hike, I actually hiked on the weekend too, but I got sick that night and never blogged about the hike on the weekend.  It was earlier in the streak (actually about 2 years ago exactly).  Then almost a year later I counted a Monday hike because the holidays were Saturday and Sunday.  But this last week I hiked on Tuesday.

I was in California for the holidays visiting my friend Matt and his lovely family.  Matt actually started this whole thing back in September 2010.  We had a great hike planned earlier in the week for Monday.  I was totally fine with counting it because of all the holiday time and travel stuff.  Well then came the crazy intestinal bug his son got, followed hours later by his wife, then me, then Matt. Monday was recovery.  Tuesday, we felt normal enough to do something.

We biked 5 miles to a trailhead, hiked about 4 miles along Putah Creek (the same creek I was at about a year earlier, but lower in the valley), and biked back home another 5 miles.  It was a lovely hike, and it was nice to hike on jeans and tennis shoes again.

Orchid: Hiking with my best friend.

Onion: Knowing I was leaving the next day.  And really needing a bathroom for 3/4 of the hike.

Picture:

Google Map