I figured if Armageddon or the Zombie Apocalypse occurred, it would only be wise to know all the back roads possible in case I needed to go into hiding. So the plan was to explore some more forest service roads today before our hike commenced. Recently I had learned how to get from Trout Lake to Packwood on nothing but dirt roads, but this week I wanted to try out an idea I had. I was pretty sure that I could connect Forest Road 23 and 21 with 5601, 56, 5603 and then loop 2329 back to 23 in an epic dirt road adventure. I was right, but that may not mean much to you if you would have done that with GPS or your cell phone giving you directions. I had no technology and didn't even bring maps. I wanted to go on hunches and exploration only. You see I think the desire to explore sets us apart as human beings. Most of our lives have been so groomed and polished as to no longer allow for any exploration or adventure. People fill their lives with comforts and technology and then wonder why they feel so dissatisfied, bored and discontent with life. I was filling this need today with rough backwoods exploration!
Now, my truck may have lost his suspension and shocks once again by the end of the day, and I am pretty sure I did kidney damage from all the washboards. potholes and moguls on those dirt roads, but oh, it was fun! It was immensely satisfying to find and make all the connections. I also know how to connect all these roads to the towns of Randle, Cougar and even Carson. I sadly didn't have time to explore all the roads veering off in different directions. There is surely a spider web of dirt roads in the forests that many people never get to experience! I knew snow would be coming soon to cover them all up, so this might be my last chance to explore more of them before late next Spring or early Summer.
The funny part about all these roads though was how well my brain was mapping them out in my head. I could see them all and remember their forest service numbers with no problem. The reason I found this ironic was that after the 3 concussions I sustained in a 12 month time-frame last year, I can't really remember the names of most people.....especially new people I have recently met. I just have to pretend I know who they are as that ability seems to be forever lost for me now. But give me a dirt road and a number, and I will take that to my grave in my brain that has turned to Swiss cheese. But I guess that shows that my brain holds the info it feels is most important for my life. I am okay with that.
The only bad part about doing so much pre-hike exploring on the forest service roads was that it meant a pretty late start for our hike today. By the time we were finally parked and ready to hit the trail, it was almost 3pm in the afternoon and the sun was already sending late day long rays down to greet us. I was not worried at all about doing our 15 mile hike starting at 3pm however. I love sunset and night hiking and knew that is what I would be getting! Especially in October as it is noticeably getting darker earlier and earlier each evening. As our boots hit the dirt path meandering through a meadow right from the trailhead, we had gorgeous views of Mt. Adams above us.
The mountain was wearing a coat of fresh snow on him that particularly made him shine against the beautiful blue sky with a skirt of green alpine trees all around. This meadow is known for its herds of grazing elk. We hoped to find them when we came back through in the dark. The trail immediately had me smitten. I kept asking him, "where have you been all my life?" as it was such a pleasant trail with everything you could ask for.
The dirt path snaked through alpine trees with sunlight filtering down to kiss our skin. The gentle and well maintained path was wide enough to walk side by side and not in our normal single file. It had the perfect amount of elevation gain with luxurious switch backs clearly made by someone who knows and appreciates them. After several miles, we T-boned, then crossed the Pacific Crest Trail on its never ending quest to move northbound. We stopped at that junction to close our eyes and feel the rapture and majesty only such a trail can produce.
Before long, we couldn't help but notice the low shrubs turning a deeper red as we gained in elevation. The fall colors were all around. It seemed as if the very ground beneath us was on fire and that this fire was then spreading into the trees as we climbed.
It had clearly rained earlier in the day as the brush was still beaded with rain drops. As the trail narrowed and the brush encroached on the trail, my pants from the knees down started to become soaked with the moisture. But the day was warm and my quick-dry pants dried quickly as we kept moving. It was funny to think how just last week at about this same elevation, we were hiking in snow on this very mountain. But it had, luckily for all but Josie, melted up higher so we could enjoy this early October hike without snow under our boots. I still had micro-spikes in my pack just in case of course. Eventually, we intersected the Highline trail and turned left to make it to the upper meadow we were planning on for our final destination of the day. There was a peaceful and tranquil creek running along the side of the trail that kept the girls well hydrated along the way.
One of the things I love on the trail is when you can assess things like elevation based on the plant life around you without needing to look at a map or altimeter reading. When this trail raised out of the blueberry bushes and meadow grasses and into Beargrass, I knew we had gained some decent altitude.
It did not take long for us to reach the upper meadows. We could hear water running from the upper creek beds here and luckily still had sunshine reaching down to caress our backs. The scent was of damp soil, grass and evergreen boughs. There was not a soul around other than the three of us and all the birds singing their evening songs to us. What a fabulous place to have our supper! We were surely blessed indeed! I knew my faith could move this mountain if I wanted it to, but I didn't want him to move one millimeter.
One thing I have learned about Josie the Wolf is that she takes after her Mama when it comes to mountains. She can barely take her eyes off of them when we are anywhere near a mountain view. She hates when I make her face toward me with her back to the mountain for photos and does everything she can to keep looking at the beauty behind her back. The extent she goes to for this is hilarious.
Nova knew that if she was going to get some of my hot stew from my thermos into her bowl with her special food, that she should pray extra hard before mealtime. So she scrunched her eyes up tight to make this wish come true. Both girls loved their kibble with stew frosting for sure!
Strangely for October, as we were sitting on logs to eat, mosquitos started to find us in the meadow. There was certainly a lot of water in the area and it made sense for them to be here in Spring and Summer, but I was surprised to find them circling my head in October. I impatiently waved them away as we ate and stared at the summit of Adams. I wished I had my overnight gear with me as this seemed like a wonderful meadow to watch sunset and sunrise from. But as the sun was sinking lower in the sky, I could feel the colder temperatures already starting. I put on one of my extra two coats from my pack as well as my gloves and reluctantly told the girls that we better start our hike out. It was hard to leave, but I knew it was already 5:30pm and we still had 7.5 miles to the truck. This meant we would hit the trailhead at about 7:30pm which would be perfect.
The descent is always faster than the ascent and generally enjoyable when my knees and toes aren't screaming at me. Today's gentle trail caused me little pain on the descent and we moved quickly flying past the trees, bushes and creeks. As we dropped deeper below treeline, our eyes had to adjust to the darkness that was quickly encircling us. There were many trees showing rub marks from elk. I did take the time to look beneath each one in case I could find shed antlers. But we did not have any luck today. Before long it was truly growing harder to see, but we pushed forward having to slow our pace to not trip on an unseen root or rock. Our eyes adjusted yet again. In the dark, your hearing becomes stronger and all of your senses rise up. You become more aware, as if you can feel everything around you through your very skin. I love it, even though at times movement in the darkness will cause your heart to leap in your chest with a silent gasp caught in your throat. Despite always carrying 4-5 flashlights in my pack, I never want to turn one on. They destroy your night vision and once on, you can't go back. I prefer to push the envelope and see how long I can go in darkness.
Tonight I allowed the darkness to get to an extreme. I knew it was after 7pm and could barely see my hand in front of my face as we hiked deep beneath the tree cover. I had lost depth perception on the ground. At times what I thought was a flat surface would suddenly drop out beneath me and I would almost fall. The girls were leading the way to the truck and I knew they could do it in the dark. But after no longer having depth perception I was tripping and stumbling a lot. We had to slow down to almost a crawl to keep from really taking a bad fall. I knew we were only a half mile from the truck when I remembered that we were going to be walking into the meadow known for elk in the dark during hunting season with a parking area right nearby. That was a recipe for surely being shot from a hunter that cannot imagine a human hiking without a light and assuming we were elk. So I reluctantly pulled out one of my small flashlights and put it on its lowest setting to cover the final distance. It was too dark for us to see any elk in the meadow ourselves at this point. But what I did see, took my breath away. Mt. Adam's silhouette was glowing from the stars above the meadow like a ghost mountain. I could barely make out the spiky alpine trees beneath the glowing snowy flanks of the mountain. It was mesmerizing. Sadly, it was too dark for my camera to capture the moment. But it is forever burned into my memories. This is the view from the daylight hours. Perhaps you can imagine a ghostly Mt. Adams hugged in blackness with a night sky full of diamonds shining down upon him. Truly magical!
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