Week 121 Dec. 23 - Cougar Mountain State Park

Total distance: Approximately 4 miles

Elevation Gain: 500 feet

Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Weather: Overcast and cool.

Really did not feel like hiking on this weekend.  I was leaving for California the next day, had work to finish, had chores to do, etc.  Laid in bed for a long time, then I decided an easy hike with an easy travel was manageable to keep the streak going.  I wore jeans and tennis shoes, took no pack, and never lost cell service.  I was on trails though.

I went to the same state park where the first hike took place.  I got to the trailhead, grabbed a map, and saw a simple little lop that would take me by Coal Creek Falls.

Orchid: Lovely walk, felt good to hike in jeans.  I even felt far away from civilization... until I heard it...

Onion: The city noise.

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Google Map

Week 120 Dec. 15 - Lake Carl Blackwell

Total distance: Approximately 4 miles

Elevation Gain: 100 feet

Time: 9:30 am - 11:30 pm

Weather: Sunny, warm, beautiful.

My little sister was married on this day.  I still wanted to keep the streak of hikes going.  Woke up struggling from travel and the rehearsal dinner the night before.  The wedding was in Stillwater, OK.  The city I lived in for five years from September 2000 until August 2005.  It was good to be "home" in a way.  Went out to a lake just west of town.  There were some trails to walk around on.  

It was a short, lovely, lonely walk.  I saw one person on a horse off in the distance.

Orchid: Beautiful day, beautiful solitude, beautiful deer.

Onion: None on a day like this one.

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Google Map

Wee 119 Dec. 9 - Little River

Total distance: Approximately 13 miles

Elevation Gain: 2500 feet

Time: Again, too long ago to really remember.

Weather: A little rainy/snowy depending on elevation.

A former student and I took off from Port Angeles with an aggressive hike up to Hurricane Ridge.  Like the day before, we did not start early enough with the limited daylight.  We turned around, but we had a great hike/snowshoe trip.

Orchid: Good times with a good friend.

Onion: All the log bridges a day after a close call.  My confidence was shaken.

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Google Map

Week 119 Dec. 8 - Carbon River

Total distance: Approximately 14 miles

Elevation Gain: 700 feet

Time: Cannot remember.

Weather: Overcast and cool, a little rain.

Out on a hike with Sean, a student from my school.  He was the kid who I hiked with on outdoor ed and just two weeks before.  Just he and I on our way to the Carbon glacier, but I remember we had a late start with limited daylight.  We carried our snowshoes and used them about a mile past Ipsut Falls.

We crossed the Carbon River at the lower crossing.  It was getting late, so we stopped and turned around.  On the way back, I almost fell into the river off a bridge at the worst place.  The rail saved me.  Sean said the rail moved like it was going to break.

Orchid: Good company.

Onion: Scare on the footbridge.

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Google Map

Week 118 Dec. 2 - Rampart Ridge Loop, Mount Rainier

Total distance: Approximately 8ish miles

Elevation Gain: 2000 feet

Time: 9 am - 4ish pm

Weather: Rainy and cold, snowy as we climbed.

This was a school club hike with Creighton Diane, and 3 students.

It was 6 weeks ago.  I remember the snow and solitude.  The snow helped me feel the holiday spirit.

Orchid: Solitude in snow.

Onion: Cold scare for a student.

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Google Map

Week 117 Nov. 23 - Gray Wolf River

Total distance: Approximately 16 miles

Elevation Gain: 3000 feet

Time: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm

Weather: Rainy and cold.

Seven weeks later...

Orchid: Hiking with a good student and his father.  Their is more of a story here, but I know it will unfold in future hikes.  Basically, on outdoor ed in September I met a friend who happens to be a student.  On this hike, I met another friend, the student's father.  Great people, a great life.

Onion: It rained the whole time, but I liked it.  Is this an onion?

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Google Map

Week 116 Nov. 19 - Camp Pleasant

Total Distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2000 ft.
Time: 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Weather: Overcast, cold, rain turning to snow as I climbed up the trail.

Had no plan for this weekend's hike, even when I woke up Sunday.  I laid in bed and considered if this would be the end.  I chose that this weekend would not be the end.  I went some place that is easy to drive to, relatively close, and familiar.  I went back to "Staircase," a trailhead in the Olympic National Park.  I have hiked from here four times in the last 116 weeks that I can recall without looking it up.  It is a great trailhead, and it has one of my favorite hikes (Flapjack Lakes).

I had no plan, just to hike until I felt like turning around.  It is a great trail with a nice slow, steady grade that climbs along side the North Fork of the Skokomish river.  About an hour into the hike, I started seeing snow along the trail.  Soon the snow was on the trail, but it wasn't slippery or tough to deal with like the hike the week before.  I was at the trail junction to turn to Flapjack Lakes in about an hour.  There I met two cool guys whose footprints in the snow I had been following.  We exchanged some good stories and walked together for about 5 minutes.

I left them as they were trying to decide if they wanted to camp there or move to Camp Pleasant.  Within 30 minutes, I saw the third and finally hiker of the day coming down.  She had made it up to the camp and was heading back out.  I decided then to continue up to Camp Pleasant.  The rest of the hike was uneventful, peaceful, and spent in solitude.

At the camp, I tried to find a dry area (there weren't any).  I hate some snacks, and geared up for the return hike.  Right as I was leaving the two hikers I passed earlier showed up.  I wished them well, and then hiked down to the car.  The hike took about 2 hours down and ended in the dark.  

Orchid: Not ending the streak.

Onion: Soaking wet everything.

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Google Map 

Week 115 Nov. 10 - Granite Mountain

Total Distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3800 ft. 
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Weather: Cold, partly to mostly cloudy, snowing, and a sun break or two.

This ended up being one of the hardest hikes of my life.  I have done this hike before, and while it is steep in sections, it is not overwhelmingly difficult.  What made the hike so difficult today was the weather.  

I took 8 students with me, and we were at the trailhead by 8:45 am.  My co-leader met me there.  By the time I was geared up and ready, it was around 9 am.  It was cold, and as we hiked up the trail, it began snowing.  It was beautiful, but as it kept snowing the trail got a little slippery.  It didn't slow us down too much.  We made it to the fire lookout, and it was snowing really hard.  We didn't stay long, and we began climbing down after a brief snack and water break.

Here is where the hike became tough and dangerous.  The snow had made the rocky trail feel like a slip-n-slide.  It took longer to get down than it did to get up.  I must have fallen 30 times. It was a challenge, and in a way, that was nice.  It has been awhile since I had been this confronted by a hike.  I was very impressed with the students who managed to have fun the entire time.

Orchid: The beauty of the PNW in the late fall when the first snows are falling.

Onion: All the falls on the hike down.

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Google Map