This was a history hike! We were in Eastern Washington. While on this trail, we got to visit the site of several homesteads from the 1860’s. Part of the trail had actually been used by Native Americans, Soldiers and Settlers not only in the 1800’s, but by natives reportedly for thousands of years! The grasses grow long and wave in the winds on these rolling plains. There is a part of me that just loves this forlorn landscape. I feel like I want to build a sod house and move in out here. There is such a beauty to this land with its rolling hills, valleys, expansive skies, and rolling waves of grasses. When the wind is gentle it is like a kiss from Mother Nature here as the sun warms you with its encompassing rays. However, I have read that on the upper peaks of this hike, it is considered the coldest and windiest place in the State of Washington at certain times of the year. Luckily not this June day for us!
We have done this hike in all seasons though. Spring brings beautiful flowers among the grasses as you can see below. But in winter the snows here are crazy deep and drift in unusual patterns. Since the snow covers all the trail systems here, you just start meandering around aimlessly trying to remember the paths you should be on. I am not sure why, but I had decided that on New Year's Eve of 2021 that I would come up to this hike and climb to the top of the rolling peaks to see what kind of cold and wind we could endure it, with the plan to spend the night of course. As we watched sunset off those snowy peaks, losing feeling in all our limbs and listening to the coyotes start to sing wildly to one another all around us, we decided to descend before spending the night, hoping it would be warmer lower down. On that way down (much faster in the snow than on the way up!) we were night hiking by the stars and brightness of the snow only.
As we descended into a ravine where we needed to cross a frozen creek and climb out the other side, I realized that I needed to turn on a light to figure out what I was seeing in the darkness. There was clearly something there that I could not make out and both Nova and I were feeling very anxious at this time. I figured out why the moment the beam of my flashlight scanned the snow in front of us. We had literally walked into a fresh kill sight. Right there, not 10 feet in front of us was blood everywhere....exceptionally bright red on that white snow. Just to the right of the wash of blood was the full carcass of a female deer. I realized that this was such a fresh kill, that the predators had barely started eating her, stripping flesh off her chest, and she looked as if she would still be warm if I took off my gloves to touch her. Nova and I felt very exposed and vulnerable in that moment, so touch that deer, I did not. Instead I told Nova to "RUN!" and we clawed our way up that ravine embankment, tracking blood from our feet as we went, and trying to get up the other side as quickly as we could in the deep snow as it was sucking at our legs and trying to hold us back.
That New Year's Eve was probably the coldest night I have spent. The radio the next day in my truck reported that the evening hit a low of 17 degrees. Nova and I certainly felt that as we kept awaking covered in ice! But what a way to start 2022 I say!!
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