All I wanted and needed from this week's hike was something easy. I didn't want to bleed or fall off any cliffs or get lost or fear dying on this hike. A simple walk in the woods was what I craved. Something that would allow my mind and my body to rest a bit after the last 3 weeks of consecutive challenging backpacking trips. So I decided to try a new trail system I had always wanted to check out. It was suppose to be just 10 miles of hiking through a forest, then through flower choked meadows with rivers and lakes and up into some alpine country. A simple walk. Of course if you have been following my stories and have gotten to know me at all, you will know that this was probably an impossible wish from the start. If I am being honest, I knew it deep down too. I was setting myself up to fail this goal.
As we drove to the trailhead, I popped in a new CD in my truck. It was Jackson Dean and I was in love with his song, "If I don't come back, don't come looking". This should surely be the new theme song for my life! You cannot chose a more perfect song to listen to on your way to go on a hiking adventure. I had the wind in my hair and my foot to the floorboard. I was free with the entire day laid out before me like a gift with the bow still on it. I purposely only brought my day pack so I would not be tempted to sleep on the ground and carry too much weight.
The trailhead was a little hard to find as my directions just gave me miles up a forest service road and said to look for a wider spot in the road where you might be able to squeeze 5 cars. There would be no trailhead marker along the road. I set my odometer and slowed as I neared the correct mileage. I spotted a faint trail on the opposite side of the dirt road from a slightly wide section, that I felt would barely hold 3 cars, but I suppose it depends on the size of the cars! I backed in, burying my hitch in the dirt embankment along the side so the front end of my truck wouldn't get clipped on the skinny dirt road.
The trail didn't mess around at all, and just started to climb right from the road. The forest was dark, but lovely as we switch-backed our way up and up and up some more. We would gain about 2500 feet of elevation on this climb. Before long we started to reach meadows, alpine trees and our first mountain views.
Unfortunately we pretty quickly discovered that the biting black flies I thought we were going to miss out on this year, were just a little delayed. They began attacking us in giant swarms. I was swatting and killing them as fast as I could, but they were winning the battle for sure. If you have not been bit by these guys, I can tell you they are painful! Interestingly it is only the females who bite as they need the blood to develop their eggs. But when they really latch on, they will leave a hole in your skin that you will then seep blood from. So much for not bleeding on this hike I thought begrudgingly! But it wasn't long before I went from cursing black flies to cursing mosquitos. The closer we got to all the streams, rivers and lakes, the more the vampires surrounded us. You could hear the constant tell-tale humming all around us. I think I now know what a turkey feels like at Thanksgiving! We started to just run in order to avoid the bites. Running for miles uphill with a pack on your back is not exactly relaxing or great for your shoulders, but we were spared some of the worst of the bites that way!
Before long, we were immensely distracted by wildflowers though. I have read that Mt. Adams is known for its famous fields of lupines, but it seemed that I would often miss their flowering season when I was here. Not today. We stopped to enjoy their beauty.
Despite the bugs, the beauty of this trail was overwhelming. I realized that this would also surely be paradise in the fall when all the leaves turned color. "This might be a new favorite trail for me." I thought as we hopped across streams and bounded through flower and grass choked meadows. As the trail we were on neared its end at 5 miles, I knew we should just turn around and hike the 5 miles back to our truck to complete our 10 mile simple walk in the woods. All I had to do was turn around to complete the day's planned hike. But who are we kidding. There was no way that I could do that. You see this trail that I was on ended when it T-boned the PCT. The Pacific Crest Trail is my achilles heel. It is a siren's song to me. I can't quite explain this, but the PCT feels different from any and all other trails.
The moment my boots hit it, I can feel it. The best way I can describe this feeling to you is that on the PCT, I feel as free as the wind in the trees. I feel as bright and shining as all the stars in the sky. I have the energy of the entire ocean behind and within me. It is as if even the rocks cry out to me along this path! I don't know if I am feeling the history of this trail and all the souls who have hiked it from Mexico to Canada full of their hopes and dreams. Perhaps their very dreams permeate up through the soil into my soul. All I can tell you is that this is a very special trail and I cherish my time whenever I am on him! So I didn't even pause when the trail I was on ended. I turned north and headed toward Canada on the PCT knowing full well that I failed my plan!!
In perfect magical PCT timing, almost as soon as I headed north, all the bugs were gone. It was as if I could hear music playing as we moved along the undulating trail just along the west side of Mt. Adams. We rode the trail up and down through small peaks and valleys, each with streams, flowers and alpine trees. The mountain constantly looked down on us with a smile. I would shyly smile and wave back at him playing the favorite love affair game we always play as he looked at me with such affection.
We could see Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens peering over at us as we hiked. Several times we would cross giant lava fields picking our way among the rocks and sand. The views were stunning here and even the dogs stopped to enjoy them. At one point though a fighter jet blasted over the top of the mountain and over our heads with such a BOOM, that it startled us all and I looked back at the summit of Adams to make sure he hadn't suddenly become active!
My real problem when hiking the PCT is how to stop. On a regular trail, it ends and you have no choice but to return the way you came, or it is lollypop loop taking you by force back to your truck. But the PCT does not stop. This is how I get myself into trouble every time. I just keep going and going. Before long, I was keenly wishing I had my overnight pack. I was spotting one perfect campsite after another as I hiked along. The weather was delightful and I could feel the trail wooing me to stay the night. I had to lecture myself on all the reason that I could not stay. I had a meeting I needed to run at work the next day. I did not bring overnight gear or extra food. My body needed to rest and heal from the pain it was still in from last week's 30 mile hike. I could already feel my left shoulder on fire and could barely lift my left arm up at all due to this. So I told myself, just a little farther and then we will turn around. Each corner and hill we moved around called to me saying, "you should see what is up ahead around me!" I would bargain with that corner or hill and tell him that I would just go a little farther then. It was another battle I was clearly losing.
Josie was super excited when we got to bigger rivers to ford. She loves nothing more than a good river ford. She doesn't even pause and just plows right into the cold waters. Nova, on the other hand, does not like deep fords. She waits for me to carry her across if they are too deep for her to walk. What is challenging about this is that she doggy paddles in the air with all 4 feet the entire time I am in the water. So carrying a paddling 35 pound dog on my front and a 20-25 pound pack on my back while tied to the swimming wolf and trying to find footing in the freezing fast moving murky water is not exactly easy. Sometimes the water suddenly drops off and becomes very deep. Other times the rocks are so slippery that you can hardly keep your footing. I have had rivers where Josie will be on my left when we start to cross them, but the current sweeps her far to my right mid way across the river only stopping when the rope she is tied to me with goes taught. I have to stop and brace myself when I see this happening so that I don't get pulled over. She will swim like hell to stay with us though!
I always try to keep my gear dry, but you just never know on these types of crossing. I have done some of these barefoot, some in my hiking boots and some in water shoes I change into. Of course I should ideally be using trekking poles when I cross to maintain balance, but with carrying Nova, this is not an option. I also know that everyone says you should never do river fords solo, but I don't have an option. Besides, I say, I have Nova and Josie and God with me, so really I am not alone. I will admit that I have a love-hate relationship with river fords though. It has taken me some time to grow in confidence in them, but secretly they always make me want to pee myself when I first see them. Once on the other side, however, I feel like a million bucks! Oh, the adrenaline rush of a good glacial melt river crossing! The real exciting ones require a ford right above a big drop waterfall. That will get your juices flowing!!
Since today was the first hike in August, there was something new and special about our hike today. You see, every August, Washington Trails Association does a Hike-a-Thon to raise money for their cause. I love trails in Washington, so how could I not participate I thought?? This would be our first time to do so and I was thrilled to hear that the WTA mascot, Miles the Marmot, could join us on all our August hikes. So he joined us on trail today as a new partner. I did have to convince the Wolf that she could not try to chase or eat this marmot as he was our friend. Nova was happy to wear the same color yellow as Miles and pose for photos with him. (Should you like to donate to our fundraising page on this, check out our Facebook page attached to this website for the link!)
I will say that Miles agreed with Nova's plan to be carried across all bodies of water. I happily obliged his furry little body and reminded him that he really needed to trim his nails.
After taking a break to feed the girls some supper and drink pink lemonade with ice still in the thermos, I recognized that the sun was lower in the sky than I wanted it to be. I checked the clock on my pedometer. It was after 6pm and I had hiked 10.5 miles. "How did that happen?" I asked myself. Granted we started late on the trail today. "Well, guess we are doing a 21 mile day hike today Ladies and Gentleman" I said to Nova, Josie and Miles. Let's enjoy ourselves a little longer here and then see how fast we can move on out. My new goal would be to make it to the truck without ever turning on a flashlight, which we did, spilling off the trail just before 9pm. Not to spoil the end of the story, but we ended up completing this 21 mile hike in about 7 hours of hiking time and just under 1 hour of meal and photo time. As a numbers girl, that score made me happy! Now I will admit that I bled on this hike (thanks to the flies and a few branches). But I did not fall off any cliffs, get lost or fear for my life. So I call this a win-win even though I failed my plan of a 10 mile simple walk in the woods.
Of course before we could completely leave the mountain's side and start our run out, we had to take more photos and say our prayers. In case you are wondering, Miles was tired and riding in my pack by this time. Nothing like having a T-shirt wearing Marmot on your back!
As evening descended upon us, and we dropped in elevation, I had to put some extra layers on to protect myself from the onslaught of mosquitos once again. It was too warm for it, but for the first time ever, I even broke down and hiked in my bug head net it was so bad. I prayed no one would see us!! We were hauling along at a fast rate of speed, while I held my left arm behind my back in the only comfortable position I could find for my shoulder pain. But we drew up fast to watch the sun setting across some lupine fields of purple. It was mesmerizing!
As we continued on our fast descent I couldn't help but think about my Dad. In my heart I knew this would be the last hike I would do with him still on this earth. He had been on hospice for several months now and this week was really bad for him. I got my love of hiking from him and this acorn did not fall far from that mighty tree! He would have loved this hike for sure! I toasted him with one of his favorite Rice Krispie treats as I hiked and I spent the run out thinking about his life and all that I learned from him. But what meant the very most to me was that about one week before he moved to be in an almost comatose state, he had accepted Jesus as his Savior and now I knew I would see him again in Heaven. Nothing meant more to me than that! Nothing. The last picture I took on the trail that night made me think of what he was about to see in just a few days time. My Dad passed just 3 days after this hike (in fact just a few hours ago as I write this now) and this photo and my time talking to him in his final days brings me great peace and comfort. I thank God for my Dad, his life and all that he did for me and so many others.
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