I always remember this hike as the first (and surely not the last) where I totally broke curfew. Yes, I am in my 40's and have a curfew. You see, since I refuse to take a cell phone or tell anyone where I am going, my husband and I had a deal. If I was out day hiking and decided that a certain place was calling my name to spend the night, I could do so, but I had to either be home or find a way to check in by Noon the next day. Otherwise he would call me in as a missing hiker to Search and Rescue. At that time I thought that Noon was enough time. Oh, how wrong I was! I have now pushed my curfew back to 5pm the day after any day hike. I am trying to push for 72 hours, but my husband doesn't like that at all. However, I say if I am really deep in, it takes me time to get back out! Besides, how can a girl leave a place like this?
This was an area of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) that I had always wanted to go do. It is the gorgeous Snowgrass Flats, Knife's Edge and Lily Basin region in Washington State outside Packwood. I did have my overnight gear with me in case the mood was to strike to spend the night. But who was I kidding...of course the mood was going to strike! We started the hike climbing up through beautiful Fall colors on the way to intersect the PCT.
Even though it was October, the day was a warm one, in the upper 90's. We had packed a lot of water, but also had our water filter which we did end up using to filter glacial melt on day two. The trail was clearly well loved and easy to follow. Shortly after connecting to the PCT at the start of the Snowgrass Flats, we came across the largest cairn we had ever seen! Of course we had to add a rock to it!
We hiked along the trail reveling in the huge expansive views. The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and we started to see other backpackers setting up their camps along the way. I wanted to be far from anyone else, so we kept going and going across the meadows and up into the rocky terrain just south of the Knife's Edge. We paused to watch the setting sun.
The sky was extra hazy on this day from wild fires blowing smoke up from the south. It brought a unique color to the sky as we continued to hike looking for a campsite. The terrain had switched from lazy meadows to walking on challenging rock. It truly felt and sounded like walking on dinner plates!
After a mile or two of these rocks, we started to fear that we were going to have to turn back to find a campsite after all. But then Nova wanted to climb above the trail and up a little rise to our right. She was so right! There was a hidden campsite just above the trail where no one would see us! Someone had even built a little wind break for us. Since this was an incredibly exposed ridge, the wind was really picking up and blowing down on us from the glaciers just above.
We set up camp on the still wet ground (from glacial melt above) and hastily ate a quick dinner before climbing into our shared sleeping bag. It was cold already and I put on all our clothes. This was only our 4th or 5th backpacking trip for Nova and I. We learned a lot about gear that night! This was the last time I used that sleeping bag I can tell you that! As soon as I got home, I ordered one that was rated to go down to 20 degrees and have been using that down bag ever since. The most memorable part about this night was that there was a sound that kept waking me up over and over all night long. It was the sound of my own teeth chattering! Nova and I spooned so tightly in that bag you could hardly tell where one of us began and the other ended. But we could not get warm. It was one of the longest nights of my life and not in a pleasant way at all. I couldn't wait for sunrise praying that some warmth would come! We broke camp and hit the trail for the Knife's Edge before 6am, waking some very vocal Pikas in the process. The wind was still super fierce in the morning, as you can tell from Nova's poor ears!
It was right near here, where I first broke my big toes. I had to cross a glacial field that was at a very steep angle. But since it was before 6am, the trail that normally crosses it had completely iced over leaving it at an angle of at least 45% with a partially melted ice lake below. No problem, I thought to myself. I will just kick some steps into this ice and then I can continue on my way. I started to kick and my boot bounced right off, not even leaving a dent in the ice. Harder, I thought. I kicked over and over again with my right boot. Each kick just ricocheted right off the ice, having no effect. That is until I felt the big toe on my right foot pop. I gave a long, but silent, scream and then proceeded to kick repeatedly with my left boot. It was not my brightest moment. All I can say in my defense is that I was very determined to cross this glacial field. After the big toe on my left foot popped painfully and I gave a longer silent scream, I decided I better look for an alternate way to get around this thing. Ultimately I ended up climbing up completely above the glacier and getting around it, which was a lot easier than trying to kick a thousand steps across the thing! God was surely teaching me that sometimes in life it is worth taking a little time to evaluate our decisions fully and not just blindly force our way through the way we think things should go. Determined is one thing, stupid is another. Once we got to the other side, we found a PCT sign that Nova took the time to read.
My plan for this day was to connect two different hikes. Instead of going back out the same way we came in, I wanted to connect over to the Lily Basin trail system. I had read about a lake over there in a giant bowl and wanted to see that. I couldn't find a description of anyone connecting these hikes, but my maps seemed to indicate that they weren't too far apart. I figured it couldn't be too bad and as we headed in that direction, I caught a glimpse of the lake from a distance. (Look way off behind Nova to the right in this picture to see the lake beneath that snow field on the ridge.) That was when I first realized, that I had a lot of miles to cover and Noon would be here before we knew it! The only way there was to climb down into the basin below the lake, then back up to her.
We were hiking hard and fast, but did have to stop to filter some water and take a few more pictures of the beauty we were passing through. This place was like Disneyland for hikers. Luckily there were not many people out this day. Not sure if that was because of the wild fires or due to it being a weekday in October. But this place is what dreams are made of! I often find my mind wondering back to these two days. What a blessing they were and a salve to my soul.
The day did warm up quickly and our cold miserable night became a distant memory. The colors around us were so astounding that I didn't even feel the pain in my toes anymore. But I think that was because they had swollen to fill the end of my boots and the pain wouldn't really start until I took those boots off. But I didn't care. I could have stayed out there for days just exploring trails! That is until I looked at the time on my pedometer. It was late morning when we reached the lake!! Oh, I am in trouble now I thought. There was no way I wouldn't be reported as a missing day hiker now! But then look at this lake!
Okay, seriously don't judge me. Those are indeed my M&M's on the rock and I was eating them...in the morning! I generally have a rule of never eating junk food and especially not sugar early in the day. But hiking days are an exception to every rule. What I really wanted to do was to take a swim, but four men showed up and were watching Nova and I, so I gave up on that idea. Besides, I really didn't have the time. There is another trail that climbs up above this lake and looks down on it. I have not yet done that one, but hope to before long! So many trails, so little time!!
Once NovaLeigh and I left the lake, we started to trail run for miles. We still had to hike out something like 8-10 miles to get to the truck and then it was still a 3 hour drive home. At this point, I realized our only hope in making curfew was to find another hiker with a cell phone who could call my husband to check in. So I became that crazy person on the trail. Every human I could find I would stop and breathlessly ask if they had a cell phone. They all looked at me like I was nuts and said that of course they did, but there was no service here. Then I would keep on running. A couple of men asked if I needed help, but I just kept on running and yelled something over my shoulder along the lines that I am trying to not be reported missing. I am sure that was confusing and concerning to them now that I look back on it. But I didn't have time to explain myself to everyone. Once I made it to the trail head, I found someone with a satellite phone. That will do it I thought!! I begged them to try to make a call for me. They had no service. People wonder why I hate technology so much!
Nova and I jumped in my truck, not even taking time to change my clothes or boots or clean up or anything. I was fishtailing on the gravel roads flying out of there with my CD player blasting to get down to the small town of Packwood. I would surely find a phone in Packwood I thought! My truck came screaming into the one pump gas station just in time to see a huge bald, very muscular and tattooed man standing there in his tight black t shirt. I vaulted out of my truck, dirty and disheveled from the long cold night and miles of trail running and ran up to him. "Do you have a cell phone" I blurted out, probably a little too loud and desperate sounding. "Yes." was his single word answer, more of a question than a statement. "Can you please send a text for me?" I begged him. He calmly tried to hand me the phone. Uh-oh, I thought. This is going to get weird very quickly was my next thought. "God, how do we get into these situations" I asked silently to my Father in Heaven.
There was no turning back now, so I just dove right in and said "I have never used one of those, can you please do it for me?" He paused, lowering the phone by his side and looked me up and down slowly, clearly trying to figure out what sort of trick I was up to. "Sure." he finally said hesitantly. "What do you want it to say?" Now, you have to understand that I don't know how texting works at all. I figured you all have to pay by the word and I didn't want the nice man who could squeeze the life out of me with one hand to have to spend money texting a long message for me. So I treated it like Morris code or a Telegram or something I could understand. . "Just say, Amy's not dead. Coming home now." I told him quietly, pausing with each word. He completely stopped all movement and then quickly dropped the phone down by his side and very sternly said, "Okay, do you need help??" He clearly thought I was a kidnapped Amish girl who had just escaped and stolen a truck with a dog in it. I laughed nervously. But it didn't help as his eyes were boring into my soul. I did my best to explain in one long run-on sentence that I was a mere day hiker who had spent the night under a glacier with pikas and wanted to see a lake in a bowl and missed checking in with my husband because my broken toes slowed me down and now that it was 2pm I had probably been reported to Search and Rescue. As soon as I blurted all that out I regretted it as it sounded unreal even to my own ears. He must have believed me though, because he finally sent my message. Luckily my husband had delayed calling me in as missing, so all's well that ends well I say. But for as long as I live, I will never forget the look on that poor man's face. I still cannot even think about him without laughing! God only knows the story he tells of this incident! Thank you kind sir!!!
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