I really want to tell you where I went backpacking this week, but I only have 2 words for you....plausible deniability. I may not be able to tell you where I was, but I will tell you why I was there. So one of my favorite hiking book authors wrote long ago in one of his books that this was a peak where he had never been able to spend the night, but if he had, he felt it would be life-altering. Well, if that isn't throwing down a gauntlet of challenge, I don't know what is. Challenge accepted my friend. I can truly be my own worst enemy. Besides, to be arrested, they have to catch me. I will take any level of challenge on the trail, this was just a new type of challenge for us. Now I will admit, there were a few times when I questioned my judgement and grew a bit concerned, but a challenge is a challenge after all and I hate losing.
After last week's foot issues for poor Miss NovaLeigh, I made her wear her socks and boots for most of this hike. I did not want a repeat of having to carry her for miles. I also decided that doing this 16 mile hike as a backpack would allow for 2 shorter days for her to not pound her paws as badly as we normally do in a long dayhike. But she was not thrilled to have to wear them. However, the day was hot, which meant the rocky trail would most likely burn her newly healing paw pads. All her blistered pads of last week had peeled away to fresh skin and we needed to baby them. It wasn't stopping her from running and playing ball and all her favorite things in the meantime though. I kept having to remind her to take it easy.
It was warm enough to hike in just a tank top and shorts again this week. Usually that is our uniform for July and August hiking, so it is a little concerning to be this hot in May already. I worry about wild fire season this year. I do not want to have to break fire lines and bivouac on a peak in a wild fire again like I did last year. But that was also a challenge that I could not allow failure on, so I did what I had to do and don't really regret it. Other than perhaps the hole Josie put in my down sleeping bag in her panic that we were going to burn to death in our sleep. We did not. But I will never forget the faces of those fire fighters for the rest of my life.
Now one of the other reasons I needed to climb this peak in May was that I had read that it would be covered in Balsamroot.....my favorite wildflower of all time. I was a bit bitter however when I reached the upper meadows to find a different yellow flower. The hills were covered in yellow Desert Parsley. Now Desert Parsley is great and all, but it is not Balsamroot. Matt, my friend, you may not know your wildflowers. Just because they are yellow, does not make them Balsamroot. But they did color the fields and meadows a beautiful yellow and filled the air with their bitter sweet aroma.
As we climbed higher and higher to reach the peak at almost 4000 feet of elevation, we noticed the high cumulus clouds were turning an ugly dark shade that did not bode well of things to come. It wasn't long before I felt rain drops on my bare shoulders instead of sunshine. Wonderful, I thought, everything I own is about to be soaking wet if this keeps up and we are going to have a rather miserable night. But once a challenge is accepted, there is no turning back or excuses for not seeing it through. You see....I am my own worst enemy. So we continued to climb faster so I wouldn't feel the need to stop and take my pack off to find some extra layers of clothing until we reached the summit. On the way, Josie showed what a nice sister she is by sympathizing with Nova's foot issues. Suck it up buttercup, we are wearing our big girl panties today!
The scent of the millions of Desert Parsley plants was getting to me. I knew the smell was familiar in more ways than just having hiked among them before. How can I describe this scent I thought? Finally I broke down and just tasted some of the feathery leaves from the plant so I could use more than my sense of smell to figure the answer to this question out. It instantly hit me.....it tasted exactly like a cross between Cilantro and Dill. These are really good and I should surely put some of this in my thermos of Chili for tonight's dinner I thought. That will be life-altering. Before you worry....yes, Desert Parsley, is completely edible. Native Americans used it as a fairly regular staple in their diets and it is said to have quite the medicinal properties.
As we got a bit higher up the peak, our first views of Mt. Adams came into sight, as well as the rolling hills that make this place so special. Among the miles of flower filled meadows are occasional pine trees with their alluring scent. I dare anyone to come here and not want to burst into the song, "The hills are alive with the sound of music" and dance around a bit. Can I just say that if I had to rank my top three favorite smells in the world, they would be fresh baked cinnamon rolls, wood-smoke from a fire, and warm crushed pine needles on the ground. I had one of those three scents most of the day on this hike at least.
Up and up we went slowly switch-backing up the peak to our destination. At one point we stirred up some deer who went running off with their white tails switching at us. I knew if Josie's line attaching her to me gave way, I would likely never see her again. I held on extra tight and let her pull us up the ascent in her excitement and dreams of chasing those deer forever. They might be fast, but I know my wolf, and she is far faster. In our final push to the summit, we truly felt like we were climbing right into the storm clouds. The wind was whipping at us and the sky grew darker as the clouds blotted out the sun.
The peak of this summit is a very rounded affair. It does not come to a point and it is mostly like a high grassy knoll. On the north side of the summit is a line of trees growing up the side and just surpassing the peak. It gives you the feeling like your head is truly in the clouds to be up so high among the tree tops. Back in the 1950's some very brave pilots use to land single engine planes up here. All I can say is they surely had some big testicles to land and take off on this thing! It must have been one heck of a ride! So technically once we hit the summit, we were hiking on an old runway of sorts. I did find a geological marker from 1979 at the true summit. Well, this is where we need to camp...right near the very top of this knoll I told the girls. Besides, it was a perfect spot. There were some trees to each side which would act as an important wind break for us and was the only sheltering options we had for the night. The only thing that made the spot not so perfect, was the dark cloud right overhead. But I started to set up camp before we took an evening walk along the rest of the elongated summit.
Now I will tell you a secret that no one on earth knows, except for myself and the girls. When you see my grey backpack, you know I am dayhiking, When you see the blue backpack, you know I am backpacking. That is the secret to know if I am coming back the same day or not. My grey Osprey Tempest 28 is a perfect smaller daypack made for women with tons of hooks for hanging things off it (snowshoes, ice axes, crampons, you name it) and compartments for stowing gear. It is light and comfortable for 20 plus mile dayhikes and holds just what I need for a full day's outing. On the other hand, my Osprey Aura 50 is also a women's specific pack, that while heavier, has a great anti-gravity suspension built in which allows you to carry a lot more weight without feeling it as much. The Aura is large enough to hold my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, ground cloth, Josie's sleeping pad and all the extra clothes, food and water the three of us need for backpacking. I love this pack, but after about 10-12 miles you do start to feel it in your hips. To be fair, as you can see, the pack is larger than Nova. It is liberating to take it off at the end of a day of hiking and crushing to swing it back up to your shoulders the next morning. Although to be fair, if I were a larger human, it probably wouldn't be such a challenge for me! I like to think I am competing in some sort of Special Forces training mission on how much weight I can pack up mountains. That mindset drives me forward and forces me to ignore the bruising I am creating on my hip bones and shoulders to carry the weight.
There is one weight splurge I always take when backpacking. I know that I could leave it at home and my pack would be lighter for it. But I just can't. I always have to bring a book with me (and my reading glasses anymore). We usually set up camp by 6 or 7pm, which means we have a few hours before it gets dark. So when we are not taking photos and staring at our surroundings, I love to lounge on my sleeping bag and read. Somehow reading outdoors, just like eating outdoors, is always better! For this hike, I was starting a new book about a Navy Seal who found God. It was perfect as it mixed together two of my favorite topics to read about ....Special Forces and God! If the author throws in some hiking and travel stories, it will be completely perfect for me. I use to think that if I were a man, I would have gone for being a Navy Seal, but after just the first few chapters of this book, I realized that I would have hated that. Too much cold water for my body that can't thermoregulate! Besides I really don't want to swim with sharks. So now I am thinking Sniper. That would have been a better fit for the male version of me. Think of that....you never have to talk to anyone.....it would be perfect for me. But truly, my dream job would have been to be a Fire Lookout Tower Keep. I am telling you, it would have been ideal for me. If only they still offered that as a full time job anymore! As long as you can bring a dog and wolf with you of course.
The moment camp was set up, Nova stole Josie's sleeping pad for herself. I was just happy the sun was peaking out again and we weren't getting rained on in the moment. But we were watching rain falling just to our west. It was like a curtain being pulled in front of Mount Adams as we laid in our beds watching the show.
Then at the foot of my bed, I was watching rain falling to our north at the same time. The layering of the clouds was intense. Pretty soon, we started to hear thunder rolls from all around our peak. Good thing my ground cover is big enough to lay under and roll up over my bag if needed I thought.
Nova and I both decided it was time to put some more clothes on as we could feel the temperatures dropping and the wind was becoming more violent. She got her hoodie over her dress and I put on two long sleeved hoodies, some pants, stocking hat and gloves. We instantly felt better. Then I switched on the sleeping bag warmer for the night and tucked it deep into the bag. This is basically like a hand warmer that is rechargeable. It is worth its weight in gold on most backpacking trips I will tell you that! On some over-nighters, I have brought more than one when I have feared freezing to death...but that is generally when I am sleeping at over 8000 feet of elevation without shelter.
After awhile, we did get up to walk around again and let everyone find a latrine before bed. As we stretched our legs to the far West end of the peak, we saw that Heaven was blowing kisses down to Earth between us and Mt. Adams. It was breathtaking and we watched it for some time before the sun started to sink in the sky.
Once we were back at camp, one particular cloud drew my attention. It moved quickly to be right over our heads. It started out all white and fluffy and innocent looking. But while I watched it, it started to churn and circle and turn darker and darker. Fingers seemed to be reaching down toward us. It was almost like it had tentacles and I don't recall ever having a cloud feel quite so menacing toward me before. Surely we are about to be hit with lightening or a tornado I thought to myself. But the cloud continued to spin in circles just above us and seemed to almost be digesting itself. Within about ten minutes the entire cloud was gone as if it had never existed. "Well that was new," I said out-loud to the girls and went back to reading my book. Before long the sun was setting and it was too dark to read without a flashlight. Since I was not suppose to be where I was, I refrained from turning on any lights that might give away our position.
Looking back toward our camp I want to show you the most inviting sight imaginable on our little peak. You are going to have to look really closely on this one! So do you see that slight bump on the ground in the center of the mountain between the two parted trees? That is our sleeping bag and camp! Tell me that does not look like a life-altering place to spend the night! We could turn our heads to the left and stare at Mt Adams. Straight ahead was Mt. Rainier. Behind us was Mt. Hood and to our right was all of Eastern Washington stretched out before us. I couldn't wait for sunrise! But we enjoyed sunset as long as we could.
I started to doze off as the sun dipped below the horizon, but the light was not completely gone from the sky. I wasn't fully ready to sleep and this was more like cat napping. But I would fall so deeply into my naps that I kept waking with a start and then didn't know where I was. It happened several times....each time I scrambled to figure out where I was. After a few moments of observing that I was outside, I relaxed and started to remember where I was...the peak where I don't exist I thought. I knew I was clearly tired, so I gave up and tucked Nova into the bag with me so we could start spooning for the night, and got Josie on her pad next to us. As usual, I placed my gun and flashlight next to my head in my boots for easy access and had my hankie and chap-stick in my pocket. I wrapped my book in its bag in my pack so I wouldn't wake up to it covered in condensation. Priorities all set. Ready to sleep.
Sadly, sleep did not come easily this night. First, it got really cold when the sun was gone. It was May after all and we were at 4000 feet with a strong wind. Every time I fell asleep I went into the same dream to which I again awoke with a start. In this dream I was night hiking and searching for a cabin in the woods. I would find a small shelter with a wood stove and just get the fire roaring and pouring out heat, when I would wake up to the dark cold night longing for that wood stove. I must have gone in and out of that dream a dozen times. It became antagonizing and showed me that I was clearly colder than I thought I was. At one point, Nova got out of the sleeping bag. When she laid back down on top of me she was shivering within minutes. I made her get back in the bag to warm up.
Then sometime between about 2 and 3am, the crack of a large branch off to our right in the trees woke us all up with a start. Josie jumped to her feet ready to battle whatever was headed our way. But I instantly ignored that and was transfixed by the night sky. There above me, was something I could not comprehend. I have never in my entire life seen anything like this. I have stared up at many a night sky and seen my share of meteor showers and satellites and so forth, but this was unreal.
The best way I can describe this is that I was staring up at a train of bright lights in the sky. It was a perfectly straight line of large bright orbs, each equally spaced apart. The chain consisted of about 50 bright lights and they were much lower in the sky than most of the satellites or stars I see. This chain of lights was moving from south to north very slowly; without speeding up or slowing down at all. The tail was not burning up like a shooting star would. I just could not surmise what this could be, which left me with the realization that I technically was seeing an unidentified flying object, or UFO.
I continued to watch this slowly moving train of lights as it headed in a slightly northeasterly direction. Well, I thought to myself, if it is a UFO, and they are about to suck me up off this mountain top where I am not suppose to be, they are going to be very surprised to find my body attached to a wolf and a dog wearing clothing. I will tell you that later when I got home, curiosity got the better of me and I had to google what I saw. Turns out that Elon Musk's company SpaceX created something called Starlink. (I know sounds like a 1980's space movie I remember). According to their website, these are a "constellation of low earth orbit satellites" and the pictures I found online were exactly like my UFO. Apparently they are rare to see, which I guess explains why I have never seen them before. Thanks Elon Musk for giving me a heart attack and a sleepless night!
Eventually morning arrived and we crawled out of our cold bag just before 5am to a low light on the eastern horizon. As the light grew stronger we could feel it saying good morning to a new day. There is nothing like the first rays of sunlight on a new day. As I wiped the grime off my face, I watched those first rays kiss each of the volcanic peaks surrounding us before it reached the ground at our feet.
Good morning Mt. Adams said the sun.
Good morning Mt. Rainier and Goat Rocks said the sun.
Good morning Mt. Hood said the sun.
Good morning Nova, Josie and Amy said the sun.
I gave the dogs a quick breakfast and we all drank as much water as we dared on this dry hike. I had packed in almost 4 liters of water, but we were running alarmingly low. We had all been conserving water, but the wolf drinks a lot to be fair. There were times when I awoke in the middle of the night craving water like a drowning person wants oxygen. I knew I was going to have dehydration headaches for days! We still had an 8 mile hike out this morning until we would get back to the truck and my extra water reserves. By 6am I knew we had to hit the trail as I needed to get to work today. But it was so very hard to drag myself off this mountain. I was feeling melancholy that I may never get to come back as I was pushing the envelope by being here yesterday and today as it was. The views of the river canyon below us and the mountains in all directions was captivating. I reached a point where I thought leaving my beloved Mt. Adams would break me. The only way to break this spell was to pull out my two little oranges I had packed and quickly eat them while my boots did what they must do and began the long descent into the lowland meadows. Even the girls seemed sad to leave. But I thanked God for the amazing night we got to experience and for protecting us from most of the rain and storms. I knew I would always remember this backpacking trip! Perhaps Matt was right and this was a life-altering place to spend the night after all.
Please enjoy a few of my other favorite photos from this hike!
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