Oh merry of soul am I, just as the song goes! I was about to embark on a new trail that I have been waiting months for! It was in February when we were on a snow hike that I discovered this trail which I had never heard of before. There was just a tiny little sign mostly buried in snow next to the long forest service road we were snow shoeing and sledding on. I instantly memorized the spot and decided I would come back to explore it as soon as the snow melted back in July. My hope was that this would be a new secret back door up to one of my very favorite places on Mt. Adams. I remembered there being a side trail off that section from up above that I had yet to explore. Could these two trails connect and be the same one?? It almost seemed impossible as this trailhead was so far away from the other. But I spent the winter pouring over maps trying to figure it out. I could find very little information. What I did find was that it was listed as a lost trail, one where you must have GPS or you can't navigate it as mother nature has reclaimed it. I found a hand drawn map, but with no elevation or mileage listed. Then I learned that the trail goes through the remnants of 3 separate forest fires....from 2008, 2012 and 2015. So it would be very exposed and shade-less for a hot day in July. Nothing, however, that I found deterred me from exploring this trail and bringing my overnight pack so we could take our time! I was so looking forward to it I was humming and singing the whole drive there.
It was strange to drive up those forest service roads that we had last been on in snowshoes. It looked like a different land entirely, but yet I could still remember each bend in the road, the large boulders and trees. New were all the wildflowers along the roadway though. We made it to that small sign and the trailhead with room for about 3-4 cars to park. We were the only truck there. But we were not alone. We had several new friends staring at us, but this lady was the only one to say hello. Oh, my friends, the wild alpine cows of Mt. Adams. We meet again!
They all wore giant cow bells that loudly let me know their presence and jingled merrily together in a beautiful chorus as they moved. I had a long conversation (careful to not use baby talk at all as they hate this!) with my new friends. I assured them that I would not let the wolf chase them and that I hoped they were having a good day. I asked them to not vandalize the trail truck as we left it behind and for payment in being our truck valet I would offer white cheddar low fat popcorn for them. I thought it a worthy sacrifice. I didn't think it fair or reasonable to offer them the beef jerky I keep just for the dogs to eat. We also discussed why anyone should need to make brands so big on them! Are they trying to read them from an airplane for goodness sake! I told her she was beautiful anyway as she was sensitive to these marks.
Once our cow conversations were finished, we hit the trail, filled with excitement for what lay ahead. The unknown is magical on the trail to me. The sense of discovery that fills me is addictive. We were quickly switch-backing up through the forest of ghost trees left from the fires. It is funny how on the trail you get use to the different sounds of wind. Wind moving through large firs and evergreens make a distinct sound, sometimes like a freight train. Wind moving through deciduous trees, like the white barked Aspens we found all along the trail here, sound like a babbling brook. But wind through these dry and dead ghost trees is surely a sound you would find in any horror movie. It is hard to even explain, but it is either an eerie whoosh and whistle that comes through, or the sound of someone calling your name over and over again. It often made us all stop in our tracks just to listen to it.
At times the trail was difficult to follow as I could tell it is hardly ever used. It surely was overgrown in many places and there were downed trees everywhere! But the wolf was acting as my only GPS today. I have learned that she has become really, really great at finding trail and today she was on the top of her game. She use to be terrible at this when I first got her. I remember how Nova and I would laugh at her when we got to the bend of each switch back. She would stare back at us shocked that the trail had just ended so abruptly. We would point up the switch back and she would hang her head and turn to continue on the trail. But now, she can switch back with the best of us always understanding those tight corners and knowing to never cut them. Today she was on some sort of crazy auto pilot and was sticking to the trail in places I couldn't even see it. Who needs GPS I said to her, I have you! This section of the trail was tracking right along the side of the huge lava flows down Mt. Adams. These flows are impressive and you can't help but wonder what it was like when the lava was hot and flowing down the mountain! Pikas shrieked at us as we passed.
As we climbed, we saw more and more wildflowers throughout the burns. There were fields of red trumpet shaped flowers that made me think of firecrackers. These seemed most popular to a crew of hummingbirds in the area. I later read that these are Anna's Hummingbirds and can be rare to see, but they come here every year just for these flowers. We would hear their loud buzzing long before we would see their small dark green bodies zipping about.
This was reservation land we were hiking through now. I have always felt a special connection on this sacred land. I think perhaps this is due to my own native blood. You see I have Choctaw and Cherokee blood coursing through my veins from my Dad's side. My Mom brings me Scottish, English and French, so I am a bit of a mess. But I blame my Native American side for my refusal to carry a cell phone, GPS or even a compass. The sun is my compass I say! I blame my native side for being much more comfortable out of doors than contained within. My stubbornness is surely my Scottish side! My horrible dark sense of humor is surely my English side. My French side of course brings the love of chocolate. A mess I tell you!
We were finding blue and purple Lupines, red Indian Paint Brush, beautiful lavender Asters with their bright yellow centers, and so many other flowers. But I think Nova was happiest of all when she realized that the main color Mt. Adams chose to wear today was purple, just like her!
After about 3 to 4 miles of climbing, we dropped down into a ravine with 2 rivers flowing through it. This section had most of the ghost trees laying on the ground clearly victims to wind storms through here. It was here that we really lost the trail. I mean really, really lost the trail. It literally just disappeared at our feet. We backtracked a bit and tried the approach again. Nope. The trail had vanished. Even the wolf GPS could not figure it out. The number one rule when you become lost is to never panic and then to never lose sight of the last place you knew where you were. So we started to fan out making concentric circles around our last known location. We would surely pick the trail up soon. We crossed both of the rivers searching. We went farther and farther out, nothing. I stood high on downed logs to try to see some distance. Nothing. UGH. Nothing is more frustrating than being lost on trail. I was wasting precious time! But I never panic anymore. Sure there was a time 2-3 years ago when this sort of thing would happen and my heart would be in my throat. I would feel the panic rising and knew I would start to make bad decision because of it. I can also be very stubborn on the trail and insist on just going in one direction for miles even when I know it is wrong because I want to prove a point. I don't do these things anymore. I just slowly evaluate, assess, move. Then evaluate and assess some more. Josie was trying to help me find the way too, surveying all the downed trees and searching for any clue of a trail amongst them. Climbing over hundreds of logs again and again was draining our energy on the hot day as well.
After about 45 minutes of being lost and searching, I finally saw the clue I needed. While standing on a huge downed log, I spied up the hill about a tenth of a mile, one single chainsaw cut in a log. No tree falls to the ground and splinters like that! A perfect chainsaw cut is a beacon of old trail maintenance! Ah-ha!! I almost yelled out loud. "Let's go" I said to the girls pointing in the direction of the cut. We climbed up and over dozens more logs to get there, but sure enough, there was the trail. Upon further investigation, I found that the section of trail that went through here had filled with glacial melt water and was flowing as one of the two rivers. No wonder it seemed to just disappear! It also ducked through a tight stand of Aspen trees choking out any sign of trail. "Tricky, tricky" I said to the mountain. "You'll have to do better next time! I still don't want any GPS other than Nova and Josie!" In places like this you can walk through a completely dry creek bed one time and then a few hours later, it is full of water. So I am sure it was the time of day that filled our trail with glacial melt and made it disappear!
After that fun challenge, I was feeling a bit drained and knew I needed to get my mind back in the game. We were going to have to really stay switched on during every moment of this trail, but not let the mental games suck us in. So I put the past behind me and moved forward to tackle the next challenge. This turned out to be even worse trail on a steeper incline. I long ago lost track of how many trees we had climbed over. This was indeed what the trail looked like. I think we spent more time on top of logs than we did on the ground. Doing so all three tied together is a bit of a nightmare! I started to not even notice all the scratches happening to my bare legs anymore.
Ascending the steep trail while climbing over logs and carrying an overnight pack was now really draining me. We would gain over 3,000 feet of elevation on this climb and it started to feel like my shoulders were bleeding from the pack's pull from gravity. (I later found my collar bones bruised so I guess it was true). Eventually though, we saw the ghost trees give way to more and more live trees. Water was rushing down in rivulets all around. Most were fairly easy to hop or rock step across. The girls were thrilled to have cold water to drink on this day in the 80's out in the full sun. They wanted to linger any time we found shade or water for sure!
Can you tell who went swimming and is looking very pleased with herself here? Her backpack was soaked, but I have long since learned to never put anything in hers that can't get wet!
Now as any good Sister will do, can you guess who photo-bombed Josie next?? Oh, Nova, you are my dear, beloved child!
We were having all kinds of fun along this creek running through a meadow beneath the watchful eye of Adams. Our moods had lifted from the misery of log climbing and route finding behind us and we could feel our hearts soaring with the astounding beauty around us. I dare anyone to tell me this is not paradise on earth!! Soon the trail we were on dumped us out on the very spot I had hoped and guessed it would. Unbelievable! I had found the back door alternate route to one of my favorite trails on earth! But sadly, this connector trail was so difficult due to all those downed trees that I do not think this section will be one I long to repeat anytime soon! So that realization saddened me.
We moved ever forward, turning right on the trail system I know so well and finally enjoyed walking without the constant obstacles! The wildflowers were even better here and the rivers were running higher than I had ever seen them. There is a beauty here that seems to hurt my eyeballs! God was surely smiling down on us today as the sun was getting lower in the sky.
Originally I had thought that if this new trail system got me up the mountain faster that I would climb high on his flanks and spend the night above dead zone. But we were nearing what would be a 21 mile round trip hike already and evening was quickly approaching. I fretted within myself as I hiked. Should I push onward and upward? I knew we were talking at least another 5 miles to do that with a lot more elevation gain. Or I could go with my plan B which was to camp in a meadow I had always admired. This is a place with gorgeous views up the mountain, a cliff side drop with a water fall behind, and a river running through the meadow between. I felt terribly indecisive, which is a feeling I abhor! "Just pick something!" the voice in my head screamed at me as I stood at the trail junction between my two choices for the night. I chose the meadow. As I set up camp, this was my view of the mountain above and the waterfall behind. It was glorious. Except for one little, but terrible thing....
Just as I had camp all set up and was getting ready to feed the girls as the sun sank even lower in the sky, mosquitos came out. I am not talking about one or two little bugs here. I am talking biblical plagues that would surely make my face melt off like the scene in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. They hummed all around my head biting me on every place that was exposed. These were giant mosquitos the size of house flies! I quickly threw on my long pants, then put on my stocking cap, my winter gloves that are too thick for them to bite through (I learned to not wear thin gloves the hard way!), a long sleeve hoodie, a puffer coat, and finally my head bug net cinched in as tight as I could get it around my neck. Just in that short time, I already had welts forming on my scalp, my shoulders, my ankles and my arms. But I had a secret weapon with me! I had this new piece of gear that I had been carrying on my last 4 hikes waiting to try out. It was a rechargeable bug zapper of sorts that uses non toxic cartridges to create a bug free force field around you as you hike or sleep. I couldn't wait to use it! It was heavy, but would be worth its weight in gold if it really worked! I pulled it out and switched it on. The green light flickered once and then went out. WHHAAATTTT???? I tried it again, and again, and again. It clearly was dead. It must have never charged or didn't hold that charge on all my last hikes.
Merry of soul I was not! I was cursing, violently swatting the air around me in the swarms of insects bent on getting through my head net and I am pretty sure I was stamping my feet in some sort of silly tantrum. It was too late to pack up and move up the mountain. I looked at the girls, they were exhausted and already trying to sleep. But Nova's poor head was covered in the vampires. I swatted them away from her. They burst on contact spewing blood all over her head and my gloves. I pulled her hoodie out and got that on her as quickly as I could. She then wanted to crawl deep into our sleeping bag to get away from the bugs. Not a bad idea Nova. I realized that I couldn't even eat my dinner without having to lift the head net and expose skin. So far today I had eaten 4 crackers, 1 spoonful of peanut butter and a small handful of gummy bears. I had planned on a nice supper. I really needed to eat a nice supper. But now I was so discouraged and angry I couldn't have eaten if I had tried. It is amazing I did not throw that bug force field off the cliff behind my camp! I climbed into bed without eating anything and pulled out my book to read until it was too dark to see as solace. The blasted mosquitos were swarming my head so badly in a black cloud that I could hardly see the pages of my book. Then some of them landed on the pages and when I tried to swat them off, they burst blood all over the white pages. When I tried to turn the page, I found it almost impossible while wearing winter gloves. I gave up without another word. This day was testing me . I tucked the book underneath my sleeping bag, pulled the bivvy sack up over my head and willed sleep to come. It did not come for a long, long time.
Just when I thought I would surely suffocate in all my layers, I heard a roar moving toward us. I lowered my bag and could see the burst of wind moving through the tops of the trees around me moments before it lowered and pushed across our bodies. Oh thank God I wanted to shout into the darkness! It was surely well after 10pm now but this wind would move the bugs off us. I was not about to take the head net off just in case, but enjoyed laying without the sleeping bag over my face so I could breathe fresh air through the net. Then I saw it. A comet the likes of which you rarely see that was burning up the sky as it shot above us. It seemed as if it was going to come crashing down right upon us. It lasted forever and made my breath hang in the air the entire time. What a sight that was!! Soon after I fell into a sound sleep.
By 5am though, we had our camp packed up and were ready to go. It was a frigid morning and my hands were numb by the time I had packed the gear up. The most miserable part of gearing back up though was putting on 2 pairs of very cold and wet socks stuffed into cold and wet boots. They had gotten soaked in some river crossings yesterday evening. I had hoped they would dry out during the night, but alas, they did not. My only salve to my soul in doing this was that I remembered I had a thermos of hot chocolate that should still be hot in my pack. I pulled it out and guzzled the now, sadly, lukewarm liquid. This thermos did not do as well as my Stanley would have. But it was something and the only breakfast I had before leaving camp. We took a few pictures of 5am sleepy faces before hitting boots to trail. They looked like I felt for sure!
As the sun was rising, it caressed my bitterness for things not going as planned yesterday. How can I resist the birth of any new day?? It calls to me. Merry of soul I was once again! What a fickle creature I am! I suppose this is indeed proof that I am human after all.
As the sun slowly climbed up the sky behind us, we headed west on the trail back toward the track we needed to take back to our truck. I dreaded climbing over all those logs once again, but at least this time we would be headed downhill the whole way! Route finding would be fine since we had done it once already now. I consoled myself with the idea of one more adventure before retracing our steps out. There is a secret water fall near the trail I would be hiking that I have heard many times, but never had the opportunity to go search it out. Usually this was because by the time I was there, I was too tired to bush-wack to find it. But it wasn't even 6am and I was feeling fresh and ready for something new this morning. So we went off trail and started climbing higher and higher toward the sound of rushing water. It didn't take too long to find it. What a beauty she was pouring down the cliff still in the shadows of dawn as the sun was just starting to touch the treetops on the cliff above her.
The waterfall even made the wolf feel very calm and serene. But that did not last long as she found a patch of snow on our way out and tried to pretend she was not doing anything unusual at all!
My boots were just starting to dry out when it was time to cross rivers again. The water temperatures at 6am were far colder than at 6pm last night I can tell you that! At least they were not very deep! But we also got to pass one of my favorite trail signs of all time, so that made up for the wet and cold feet! It might be old, but it is so wise. Just like Yoda.
Our descent was fast. Probably too fast. We hiked out over 10.5 miles before 10am. It was more fun on the way out as we could let our minds wonder since our feet knew what to do on their own now. The greatest mind blowing event Nova had was that now both her and the mountain were wearing green AND purple. If she had a mike she would have dropped it.
For me, I think my mind was bouncing from one thought to another, as if like a stone being skipped on the surface of the waters. I thought about being lost and then being found, being so joyful and then having my joy stolen, being so warm and then so cold, being so hungry and then not wanting to eat. This trip was all about opposites. But isn't life that way God was whispering into my heart. We must find a way to be content in all circumstances. Isn't that what He told us all in Philippians 4:11-13?? I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. "Lord give me greater strength" I prayed! "Make me merry of soul in all circumstances!"
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