After last week, I knew there was only one way to ensure that we would find wildflowers and sun. We would need to be committed (probably in more ways than one). The eastern side of Washington and Oregon always break out in flowers before the west side. Never has this been more important than this year when all the rain and snow of a long winter has pushed spring back by 2-4 weeks. Since this was the first hike in May, I vowed I would do whatever it took to find ourselves some flowers and get a big dose of Vitamin D. So off we went to the central heart of Washington, northeast of Ellensburg. From my home in the Columbia River Gorge, this meant an eight hour round trip drive time, with a planned 14 mile hike. But, as I said, I was committed to this goal. We left extra early and tried to make the miles fly past by listening to Zac Brown Band CDs. (I left the Paint it Black one in my other truck so there would be no chance of going dark!!) I was getting some color today and color is indeed what we found.
We barely had locked the truck and were loaded and ready to go when we found our first flowers along the side of the trail. Nova was in a dress to start the day out, as is usual for her to always do her part to stop pet nudity, but we quickly realized that the desert heat even on May 3rd suddenly felt like the surface of the sun to all three of us! So she soon dropped her dress and made her Sissy carry it in her pack.
The wolf wore just her wolfsuit and backpack and I stripped down to my tank top and shorts. I didn't even bring my pants with me, but left them in the truck. It was so incredibly hot even though I think it was only in the 80's. But after all our snow hiking, our bodies had just not adjusted at all and it seemed like we were all going to die. I think the wolf's tongue grew by several inches from the heat. I am going to say something that you should be sitting down for. Within our first mile of hiking, I think we were all longing for snow. I KNOW!! Why can't we just be content with what we have in the moment we have it!! The curse of being human.
Instead of starting off on the ridge walk portion of our day, I decided to drop down into a valley between ridges in the hopes that it might feel a little cooler for us until we could adjust. The problem was that there really was no shade anywhere. So it was hard to get relief from the sun beating down on us. I could already feel the sunburn starting on my shoulders. "Well, guess we are surely getting our Vitamin D and finding color. " I told the girls. Forget a red door, my whole body would be red by the end of this day! From the ravine bottom, we had great views looking up to the rolling hills above us. Surprisingly they were covered by giant wind turbines. I could see them turning up on the ridge and wished for that kind of wind down in our little valley to cool us. Later in the day when we got to hike rather close to some of these turbines, I was surprised by how much noise they actually do make. Even the dogs kept staring up at them trying to figure them out.
The bottom of the ravine was choked in pungent sagebrush. As we moved along in our valley walk, we did find a small spring that created a murky pool of standing and stagnant water. Even Princess Nova didn't care and dove in to cool off. I wanted to as well, but drew the line when the mud next to the water almost sucked the boots right off my feet. We proceeded to spend about 6 miles hiking in the ravine before heading up to start the 8 mile ridge-line portion of our hike.
In a rather invigorating moment as we were hiking along next to some sagebrush, the loudest rattlesnake warning rattle I have ever heard came from under a bush about 12 inches away from our bare legs. I jumped in the air with a start and think I peed myself a little. Which was karma serving me back for making the Santa skier a few weeks back pee himself with my classic, "the wolf is going to eat you" game. I couldn't tell if this was the biggest rattlesnake in the world or several of them all clumped together because the sound was so violent and loud. Whoever he was, or they were, there was clearly a lot of anger going on. Now, if you have been following my stories, you know I am obsessed with playing with snakes. I wanted nothing more than to explore that bush. But this was the first time for me to see how the wolf responds to such things and that loud rattle from the brush made her want to jump right in to play too. It was all I could do to quickly hold her back. We are kindred spirits and she clearly was not just going to patiently sit behind me like Nova does so I can play with snakes alone. It almost killed me to walk away I must admit. I did briefly think about standing back and throwing a rock into the brush to see if I could draw them out.....but then I knew they would only be more angry. So in a rare moment of rational processing, I made all 3 of us walk away. "Josie, I do not want to cut and suck a bite on you, shove Benadryl down your gullet and then carry your 60 pound butt back to the truck. It is just not going to happen today" I mournfully told her, feeling my snake charming days ending. For the hike back up to the ridge, Josie kept a keen eye out on every sagebrush shrub hoping for more rattles.
As we crested the ridge, it didn't take long to see exactly what we have been waiting so impatiently for. As far as our eyes could see on some of the hillsides, we found my beloved yellow Balsamroot flowers and the gorgeous blue Lupines. Sometimes the blue lupines are blue and sometimes they are purple, but I love them all. There is also just something so enchanting about the yellow and purple-blue colors all together. It makes my heart so happy. Nova was ear to ear smiles as well, even though she was a little embarrassed to be photographed naked.
We started to call these our fields of dreams and just slowed our pace down to savor the moment. Now that we were up higher on the ridge-line, the wind had really picked up which certainly cooled our sun scorched bodies. I could feel that we were running lower on water from the over 3 liters I had carried in. But the lighter pack on my back was nice to feel at the same time. We were listening to so many birds singing all day it was incredible. You generally think of birds in trees. There were no trees here, but birds were everywhere. We were also frequently circled by butterflies and dragonflies. It was as if everyone (except maybe the rattlesnakes) were celebrating the beauty of the flowers!
We continued our undulating hiking along the ridge-line with killer views in all directions. In the central part of our State you just don't get the trees that obscure your views like the emerald forests I am use to. We could see all the way to Mt. Rainier and the Columbia River at the same time just by turning our head. The rolling hills seemed to go in all directions at once. There were no other humans and it felt a little like time had stood still in this place. As we slowly plodded along soaking in the flowers and sun, I got the feeling that I was turning the whole earth in its orbit by my own booted feet as I walked. The sun was slowly sinking in the sky adding to this feeling. I wanted to stop moving and see if the sun would stop moving and I could freeze this moment forever. But it was almost 6pm now and the girls were telling me they were hungry for some dinner! I had only had one small spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast before leaving the house early this morning, so was starting to feel a bit famished myself. I pulled out an orange and a Rice Krispie treat for myself and gave the girls some bowls of their favorite hiking dog food. We climbed the highest final peak we could find to eat our supper and enjoy the views. Oh how I felt God smiling down on me! Thank you Jesus for this orange and sweet treat!! They hit the spot! I had a cookie hidden in my pack for later on in our sunset hike out. My entire healthy diet goes out the window on hiking days!
Unfortunately it was at this point in our evening, after eating, that I realized that Nova was suffering. Something that happens to her about once a year had occurred. Her foot pads were burned and blistered. Normally this only happens when we get into our first hot summertime hiking, as her poor feet have to transition from winter to summer hiking conditions. She hates wearing boots, but I have some that are always in my pack for hot weather hiking. The problem was that I had not put them in my pack for today since last week we were post holing through snow and I couldn't imagine needing them yet. So I pulled out my robust first aid kit and bandaged her worst foot. Then I pulled out the emergency chewable doggie pain pills I keep and gave her one of those. I knew we still had about 4 miles to go to get to the truck and promised I would carry her for as much of that as I could. I always knew the day would come when I would need to carry one of my dogs out. I was thankful it was the 35lb kiddo and not the bigger one! However it would have been cooler to be carrying one for a snake bite and not burned feet! We took breaks so I could put Nova down and rest and take pictures with her sporting her purple bandage. I had the faith that I could either move mountains or carry my baby back to the truck....whichever was needed for her. I would do anything for my hiking partner, just like she does for me. I didn't care if it took all night to safely and painlessly get her out or if I broke my back in the process.
Like so many things in life, what was easy at first, surely became more difficult. I had a now lightened 20 pound pack on my back, but a 35 pound dog in my arms. Josie was very concerned as to why I was carrying her sister, but seemed to know there was something wrong. So she tried to be on her best trail leader behavior and licked Nova's face every time I set her down. Nova was thankful to be off her feet and relaxed in my arms, sometimes laying on her back like a baby and other times with her arms over my sunburned shoulders. It was slow going on the rocky trail, but luckily it was mostly downhill to the truck at this point. I was glad there were no witnesses to laugh at us. I am sure we were quite the sight.
We enjoyed the sunset as we went and I tried to focus on my dread for the drive out instead of the weight making my arms so sore. (I figured I wouldn't need to do my daily weight lifting for a week after this!) Not only did I have a four hour drive to get home, but the trail head access road was one of the worst I have ever driven; and that is saying something! To make it worse, I was now going to have to do it in the dark on the way out. I think it was this terrible "road" that kept other people from coming to hike this trail. It was an old jeep track (closed for 6 months out of every year) that was maybe good for burros or ATVs only. It was rutted to the point that you felt like you were going to flip your truck onto it's side most of the time. There were huge rough rocks that you had to crawl over and pray you wouldn't pop an off-road tire while having your paint scratched by the encroaching sagebrush. I had high clearance, but it was barely enough. There were several times when I only had 3 wheels on the ground and could hear and feel the 4th just spinning in mid air. It was terrible. The whole drive in I think my mouth was wide open in shock and awe that this was even a road and that I was driving it. (Later I read some trail reports where grown men wrote that they would never drive that road and always hiked it instead....Ugh, now they tell me, I thought!)
But at least thinking about the road got me laughing while making that hard hike out with all the weight on my body. I kept thinking how in most marriages the wives hide how much money they spend at hair, nail and tanning salons. I don't do any of that and even cut my own hair. But what I have to hide from my husband is how many times I need a new suspension in my truck. I think this will be the third time now! My friends at Les Schwab just can't figure out what this little lady does in her truck! No one tell my husband about this!! (Or how many pairs of hiking boots I have in my closet while we are on the subject!)
In the end, I only drove about 2 hours after our hike through significant lightening storms across the central part of the State before having to recognize that I was too tired to safely continue. So I pulled off the road in the middle of nowhere and slept in my truck for a few hours. The full moon was overhead and I watched lightening on and off for most of the night. In the wee hours, I decided to drive the remaining 2 hours home to take a quick shower before making it in to work for some early meetings where I pretended to not be a zombie.
Since I have been longing for this day for the whole winter long, I am going to share some of my favorite sunset and flower photos below. Enjoy God's creation with me! I pray that you find your own field of dreams this spring and fill your soul with the beauty.
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