Week 40 Jun. 5 - Rainy Lake

Total Distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3000 ft.
Time: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy.

So this was the last weekend of the school year, and It made sense to me to take the club out on a hike.  We had a great turn out for our last hike with 5 kids and 5 adults (including me).  Looking for a hike this week, I wanted some distance and some elevation gain, but also short driving time and something I had not done before.  I checked wta.org (as always) and found a hike to a place called Rainy Lake.  As I read the description of the hike, I became more and more intrigued.  First off, the trail is abandoned.  For whatever reason, the trail is no longer maintained.  Now, once a trail exists on a map, no one can tell you you cannot hike it.  Remember these are our public lands and we have every right to enjoy them the way they are meant to be enjoyed.  Rangers can advice against hiking abandoned trails, but without closing them down, the trail is open.  So I thought, what a great way to end the year, hiking an unmaintained trail.

We took off from the trailhead hiking on a brand new section of trail.  It went from the middle fork of the Snoqualamie river down to Pratt River.  Within about 5~10 minutes we were at Rainy Creek.  The crossing was a little sketchy.  There was a down log, but it was steep and narrow.  We all crossed with no problem, and began a bit of a bushwhack up the creek.  Within minutes, the trail presented itself was easy to follow.  It was steep in parts, but a lot of fun too.  We walked for about 2 hours, taking breaks every 30~45 minutes, again pretty steep hiking in parts.  The breaks were short due to the swarms of bugs that were attacking our flesh the minute we stopped.

At around noon, we hit the snow.  At first we were just following what seemed to be the trail, but soon we found ourselves in the middle of snow fields trying to find a lake.  we hiked up and up to the top of a ridge, but there was no lake to be found.  We stopped and had a good snack.  We actually had cell reception on the ridge, but we could not get the gps working on our phones to give us our location.  We started our hike out after a 30 minute break.

The hike down the snow was fun.  We ran/shoe skied/fell down the snow covered hill. The kids were having fun, as we stopped and they were trying to do front flips and slide in the snow.  We got out of the snow, and then the group separated a bit.  Some boys went trail running, and some were going a tad slower.  I came up on the boys, and one was in significant pain, from tweaking his calf muscle.  After getting one of the adults to look closer, we ended up wrapping it up, and carefully walked out.  We were back at the cars by 4:15 pm.

Orchid: Snow flips and slides.

Onion: Getting back home, and realizing I lost my knife.

Picture:

Google Map

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.

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Google Map

Week 35 Apr. 30 - Green Lake, again

Total Distance: Approximately 9 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1400 ft. 
Time: 8:45 am - 1:15 pm 
Weather: Overcast, cool, a little rainy early then a partly cloudy sunny afternoon.  

This weekend I took 4 students and two adults from the Outdoor Club at my work to the same place I went two and a half weeks ago on my crazy mid-week hike.  While out on the mid week hike, I was telling my good friend from work that this would be perfect for a quick outing, if we wanted to bring the club out and time was a factor.  Sure enough, last weekend was beach clean-up, and this weekend was the weekend before AP exams start at school.  Many of our club members are enrolled in several APs.  So this seemed like a good hike to do early on Saturday, giving the rest of the day and all day Sunday to "study."  

First we all met at our normal  meet up spot this morning, and everyone was there early.  Four students (3 who had not been on a club hike before, and two co-workers (a person who had never been on a club hike and my best friend from work, crazy old hiker guy).  Took two cars, and made it to the trailhead in about an hour and 20 minutes. Learning from my last hike here, I took the time to put on my gaiters, and I strapped my snowshoes to the pack.  

We started up the road and had a great time meandering along the washed out road through a beautiful old-growth along the mighty Carbon River.  After a short hour, we were at the Green Lake trailhead.  According to the Mt. Rainier signs, this was a three mile walk.  We started up the trail for Green Lake, again according to sign posts, this was a 1.8 mile walk.  The walk along this trail was really awesome.  I love getting to know a trail.  It was still covered with a lot of snow.  Some hikers in the last few days must have helped pack it down, and it was not necessary bring snowshoes. I recognized many of the switch-backs, I had a sense of timing and pace, I remembered vivid details like what the rocks on the trail looked like at the turn from Ranger Falls.  I naturally was excited to hike, again.  

Over the last few weeks, I have been shamelessly promoting my blog and my commitment to hike for an entire year.  People are very generous with their words when I mention this, and I get that the last 35 weeks are something to be proud of.  But this week, while walking, I was talking with the other adult who came along, and I really understood something about this particular commitment, and any commitment I make.  There is 100% left to go.  Now, I know I teach math, and 17/52 is about 0.32692.. or 32.7%.  But my commitment is to hike for 52 weeks, and there is still 100% left to go.  Each week holds the entire commitment alive, and holds the commitment in the balance.  Each week the reward grows beyond my expectations.  

Made it to the lake, some of the kids were there early with one adult.  I was in the back with the other kids and my hiker buddy.  We appeared to be the first visitors of the day.  Had the lake all to ourselves.  The clouds were lifting, revealing the brilliant blue skies of a spring day.  The warm sun rays shining at the lake and on our hike out were spectacular to my skin.  

We left the lake at 11:15 am and were back at the car by 1:15 pm.  Great talks with kids about life.  

Orchid: The hike.  

Onion: None. Cloudy morning, if I have to pick.  

Picture:

Google Map

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Week 34 Apr. 23 & 24 - South Duk, Beach Clean-up

Total Distance: Approximately 10+ miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 150 ft. 
Time: Saturday at 12:00 am - Sunday 2:30 pm 
Weather: Beautiful, warm, and sunny on Saturday. Mostly cloudy, cool, rainy Sunday with some sun breaks.

This weekend was the weekend of the Washington State Coast Clean-up sponsored by Washington CoastSavers.  I used this opportunity to help students at the school I work at earn community service hours and to have the school's outdoor club sponsor an overnight trip. Friday, after school, four high school seniors, a parent, and I drove 4 hours to the Lake Ozette Ranger Station with our gear for a 2-night 2-day trip.

Due to all the activities my students are involved with, we could not leave Tacoma until 6:30 pm.  We hit the road, stopped for dinner, and pulled into the campground at midnight.  We set up camp, and I found myself in my sleeping bag and dreaming in no time.  The next morning, I got up around 7:15 am and checked our group in with the volunteer coordinator.  I got a big role of trash bags, and I got the low down on how all of this needed to work.  We were going to hike 7 miles to our site, and pickup as much trash as we could carry out.  At the same time I was checking in a large group from the Friends of the Olympic National Park were checking in.  They were going to drive in using old logging roads and park access keys to just north of our site.  They had several trucks and were only going to be 2 miles from our section.  We worked out a plan and followed in our car.

We stashed our van in the woods, geared up, and walked to the beach.  The walk took only 15 minutes.  Then we were able to walk about 2.5 miles down south to the Ozette River.  This was the river we were going to ford from the south side.  The river was deep and moving quickly.  I was so happy we did not have to ford it.  We set up camp, had a quick lunch, and began clean the beach.  It took about 15 minutes to fill 8 trash bags.  We picked up plastic bottles, floats, buoys, rope, and all sorts of debris.  Then we walked it back the two and a half miles to the trucks parked at the end of the old logging roads.  This was a true "onion."

Some of you readers may know about "orchids and onions."  Most of you have probably inferred what it means, but here is the explanation I heard many years ago on a backcountry trip.  The orchid is the moment that was pure beauty.  The moment when you were awestruck by whatever was going on at the time.  So perfect it was like a wild orchid in full bloom.  The onion is that bitter moment.  So strong and overpowering you could cry or want to just never do anything like this again, when it took something deep inside you didn't know you had to persevere.  It is that moment that, like an onion, when it cooks in your memory it sweetens.  Carrying these trash bags was hard and annoying, but the minute we packed them in the trucks, I was so proud and happy.

We walked back to camp and laid out in the sun by the Ozette River.  I went into the water and dunked myself.  Soon after three other kids did too.  We made a fire and had dinner.  We sat and talked until 11 pm.  It was a blast.  That night some rain came in, and we all slept in until 11 am.  We got up, broke camp, and hiked out, picking up trash as we walked out.  We got back to the van around 2:30 pm.

Orchid: Great Saturday sunshine.

Onion: Hauling garbage back to the trucks. 

Picture:

Google Map