We were on the hunt for the elusive sulfur water Eel on today's hike. I know that sounds a bit strange, but since you know me, that should not surprise you at all. So over a year ago, we were on this very trail and when we reached a high meadow on the flanks of the mountain, we found a creek running full of sulfurous water. Mt. Adams often will run sulfur water down his flanks. I have gotten use to how one time a river here will be fresh and clean and the next time it will be yellowish brown and reek of boiled eggs. You never know with Mt. Adams. I have read about how there use to be sulfur mines on the summit in fact! They would take donkeys up and down the mountain to pull the sulfur out until they finally decided it just wasn't worth it.
Well on that particular hike over a year ago, Josie jumped in this stream and started to walk up it enjoying the water. Nova and I were walking along side the creek keeping our feet dry on the bank just above her. All of a sudden Josie disturbed a large creature which jetted up off the floor of the murky stream and rose to the surface. She looked down to see what was moving between her legs and that is when I saw it too. At first I thought it a huge fish, but then I saw the length of it and the way it swam. For a moment I thought it a giant water snake. The problem is that a snake tends to be rounder in diameter than this creature was. This almost jet black shiny creature was flatter and taller than a snake, with great breadth and moved like lightening swimming in the water literally making waves with its body. It was several feet long and moved across the surface as Josie spun around in the stream to go after it along with Nova and I. But it immediately disappeared where the muddy banks met tall meadow grasses. The three of us stopped in stunned silence. "What the hell was that?" I asked the girls absolutely flabbergasted. I had never seen anything like that. It also surprised me because the water was very sulfurous today and I could not imagine any creature wanting to live in water like that! We decided to try to find it again. So back and forth we went, up and down the stream with Josie dredging the water. I poked around in the long grasses over and over again, but to no avail. We never found it again.
Since I am a stubborn woman, I formed a new plan that day. I decided that we would come back the very next week at the same time of day and try again. Surely we could surprise our Sulfur Eel friend that way! But on our return trip, exactly one week later, we shockingly found the stream completely dried up. There was no water at all. We were so disappointed! This is another thing that Mt. Adams does well. He likes to dry up his river beds and then rerun them when you least expect it. I have been up high on his flanks when the water has come roaring down, filling empty river beds in a flash. I am not going to lie, this is disturbing every time it happens as I always feel the volcano is erupting due to the loud roaring sound the waters make. But I love it at the same time. Unlike some of the other mountains that you could set a clock to for when their streams dry up and then run again, Mt. Adams is constantly changing the game plan on this. So I decided to temporarily give up and come back in another season a year later.
That was going to be today's hike! It is now Fall and I thought this would be our best chance to find our elusive eel friend. I was so excited for the adventure. It was lightly raining as we arrived at the trailhead to find only one other truck there. It was a big white US Forest Service pickup. I figured the ranger was just checking parking passes and wilderness permits, but didn't see anyone around. I smiled to myself that this ranger was hiking trail today! We were barely on the trail a mile before the Fall colors were really popping out at us!
As we slowly climbed up the mountain on our way to connect to the Pacific Crest Trail and then to the Round the Mountain trail, I spent the time evaluating all my best plans of how to capture the Eel. I knew I could put Josie in the river to dredge it again and then I had to be ready! The moment I would see the Eel surface, my plan was to jump in, grab him with my hands and throw him up on the grassy bank. I would have to keep the Wolf away from him so she wouldn't try to grab him as well. Then the plan was that I could figure out what he was before throwing him back in the water. Of course this was a catch and release plan! I had to decide if I should wear my gloves or do this bare-handed. I didn't really want to get my gloves wet, but knew Eels have sharp teeth. I also had no way of knowing if this Eel could electrocute me or not. I had done my research, Electric Eels do tend to live in freshwater over salt water. Electric Eels also breathe air, so they often surface. But the American Eel is a bottom dweller and not electric. They will often be in ponds or brackish waters, hiding during the day and feeding at night. Now we seemed real far north and west to find such a creature, but when it comes to Mt. Adams and the sulfur streams, I have long since stopped questioning anything weird! I worked out every scenario I could think of in my head until I felt ready to tackle this challenge! The eel would not get away from us this time!
As we climbed up through the old forest fire remnants here, we listened to the wind whistling through the ghostly white trunks. I love the sound the wind makes in a forest like this. It is completely different from the sound a living forest makes. This is a high whistle and sometimes you swear you can hear voices and words. I often think I hear the trees calling my name. As we summited one high ridge where the winds were particularly fierce, it sounded like a thousand voices screaming all at once. That will give you goosebumps for sure! But we got so use to the whistling wind for so many miles, that when it suddenly stopped I found myself humming the same tune for some time to come. Realizing that you are humming the song of the ancient trees will also give you goosebumps. There is surely a beauty to these places that many people can't or won't see.
Unfortunately, due to the cloudy and rainy weather today, Mt. Adams was keeping his face hidden from us all day. But luckily the memories I have of how he looks from this trail were burned into my brain; so it was as if I was seeing him from each vista despite his shyness today. This particular meadow normally peers up right into his face, so you will have to use your imagination for this one too!
It wasn't long before we reached the PCT junction and turned North. After a short distance we ran into not one, but two US Forest Service Rangers. They both wore USFS hats and matching grey shirts. We had come upon them moving a large tree off the trail, which was causing Josie to work hard at not having a panic attack. We stopped a good distance away so they could clear the tree and not terrify the wolf. Once they were done and headed in our direction again, I thanked them for their trail maintenance and confirmed that they belonged to that truck I was parked next to. Now, that terrible voice in my head who always wants to get me in trouble started trying real hard to get me to ask these young, hard working men a question. "Ask them if they have seen the elusive sulfur eel!" she kept yelling in my right ear. "There is NO way I am asking these men with the rippling muscles under their tight shirts if they have seen an eel on this mountain!" I yelled back at her trying hard not to giggle. I must admit though, my favorite part of their uniforms were the large wooden axes strapped to their backs. Now that is sexy I thought. I think I need to rethink my entire kit. Perhaps I should not only pack a switchblade, a gun, and an anxious wolf, but also an axe! You don't even need testicles if you carry on axe on your back; just saying. Can you imagine walking down the isles of the grocery store with an axe on your back? Yet it is completely normal here on this mountain. How I love the trail I thought! This is where I want to live my entire life, in a place where it is normal and accepted to strap weapons to any body part you want.
After passing the Rangers, we connected to the Round the Mountain trail and turned off the PCT. We were almost there! Excitement grew inside me and I could feel myself hiking faster as the rain drops became more serious as we pushed toward our quest to find the Eel. We rushed around the final corner and dropped down to the creek bed, only to find it completely dry once again. What a blow it was. I almost felt like someone had just struck me across the chest with one of those axes. Even Josie looked at me with disappointment in her face. "Okay," I said calmly, trying to temper my own disappointment and look on the bright side. "Let's dry dredge this whole stream bed Josie." I told her. I had read that eels burrow under sand, mud and even rocks, especially during the day. The creek bed looked wet still. That could be from the rain, or maybe it was just recently running with water and dried up shortly before our arrival. We would search the mud and sand for evidence of the great eel. Although this looks like trail, it is really the creek bed. We searched long and hard. At one point it seemed that Josie was trying so hard her body was disappearing into the creek bed itself. This is the wolfouflage effect we sometimes find when hiking.
After going up and down the creek bed and not finding the eel, Josie suddenly found a place in the sand that smelled intriguing. So she started to dig. Normally I ignore her digging, but this time both Nova and I watched intently. Before long, all we had discovered was Josie's guilty look and her questioning us as to whether or not she had anything on her face. After our laughter dissolved, we decided it was time for supper.
Now this third week in September marks the last days of Summer. Fall officially begins in just a couple of days. So at the last minute, while packing for this hike, I decided we needed to celebrate and have a party on this hike. What does a hiking party look like for us you ask? Well that meant not one thermos, but two!! It was a Stanley party if nothing else. For the first thermos, I filled it with boiling water, a little butter, salt and pepper. Sound gross? Not until you find out what I brought to put in it. After we found a wet log to sit on, I opened up my steaming butter water and poured in a ziploc bag of mashed potato flakes! I stirred them up and we ate hot mashed potatoes for our first course while sitting in the rain. Total carb loading at its best!
In normal daily life, I count every calorie I consume and am a bit of a Nazi about what I allow myself to eat. As a vegetarian, I also have to track how much protein I am consuming especially for how much I work out. I try not to eat anything that will not have a good pay out. Most days I live on salads loaded with veggies, protein shakes, beans, oatmeal, fruit, nuts and yogurt. Not on hiking days! Hiking days I allow myself to eat anything I want. Sadly, I must admit, I often find that I don't want to eat much on the trail and I do still find myself counting and tracking calories. But by allowing the junk food, I give myself something to look forward to each week. Some months if I find myself craving something, I plan weeks out in advance what food item I will pack on each hike. So say if I really want red licorice, I get to fantasize about it for a couple weeks before enjoying it! I say the wait makes it all the better. The mashed potatoes today were just the beginning of our end of summer party! Next came a thermos with some left over Apple Pie Cheesecake I had made for a church potluck. Someone really needs to explain why food tastes better when eaten in the wild places outside! This was the most divine cheesecake I have ever eaten! Even Nova agreed!
No, I would never share a spoon with the Wolf! I do have standards. That beast is often secretly holding coyote scat in her mouth when we hike. Gross! I will say that I don't think there is a restaurant on the planet or any 5 course meal that would have tasted better to me than my potatoes and cheesecake though! It helped improve my mood immensely. I had not eaten anything yet this day, so I also think a good hunger makes food taste better.
While I was eating and listening to the rain bounce off the hood of my gore-tex jacket, I was trying hard to not be disappointed in not finding our eel friend once again. I knew that deep down I was not going to be done with this search. But as I also searched my heart, I realized I was a little bit relieved to have not found him. It would have been like finding Bigfoot....the mystery and awe around him would be gone. So I found solace in the fact that my mysterious sulfur water eel mystery could continue. As I was screwing the thermos lids back on and stowing them in my pack's side pockets, I realized that Josie was seeing something behind me. I slowly turned around on the wet log I was perched on, only to almost fall off, while curse words were uncontrollably tumbling out of my mouth. What we saw was shocking and amazing all at once!
This rainbow had formed over the meadow holding the sulfur eel river while we were eating. It hung directly between us and the peak of the mountain and I could literally see both ends touching down to the ground. I have never seen a rainbow truly touching down like this on one end, let alone both at the same time! I was struck unable to move or speak for several moments. The ground glowed where the bow touched it on each side in the meadow. Suddenly, when I could move again, I yelled to the girls, "Hurry, let's run to the end!" We quickly decided to run to the left side since that one seemed to be directly over the creek bed. I had an irrational thought that the eel would be found right in that bow's light. We started to run, but could tell it was too late. The rainbow started to dissolve right before our very eyes. So we stopped to get a few more pictures in before it was too late. Just like that, it was gone. We had almost missed it entirely.
Here it is with a black and white filter just for fun!
We shook our heads in gratitude to be able to experience such a magical and once in a lifetime moment. "Take that Sulfur Eel!!" I said out-loud. That rainbow was way better than a wet slimy eel with sharp teeth! We walked away from the meadow with a big smile on our faces, feeling like we had just won a hiker's lottery. We decided to descend a different way than we had hiked in. This would allow us to drop down to a beautiful lake and cross several rivers, as well as navigate some unmaintained difficult trail. Josie was sniffing the air as if knowing what was to come! She loves exciting trail for sure.
The rain started to back off, allowing me to drop my hood. Shortly, we arrived at a river that also shocked me. The last time I had been here, this river was one of the most difficult and dangerous fords I had ever done. It was more than waist deep, very fast moving water that took the wolf right off her feet while we crossed it. It was super challenging and when I looked back on it probably really stupid to do solo while carrying Nova on my front, a full pack on my back and Josie tied to my waist. I will never forget how hard it was to climb back up the bank on the other side as the water got even deeper and swifter by that embankment. I remember literally throwing Nova up on dry ground and then having to heave the wolf up as she clawed at the ground trying to help me while I was being dunked under the water. It was terrible and I had vowed we would never cross that river again. But here it was barely a trickle. We didn't even need to get our boots wet when crossing it. What a difference the season can make!
Before long we could look down and see the lake below us. We climbed down to it and enjoyed having it all to ourselves. Normally there are several tent campers down here. Other than the fish breaking the surface and the occasional cry from chipmunks, we seemed to be the only ones braving the rainy day.
Once we picked our way across the lost trail system here to connect back to the one that would lead us to our truck, we dropped down to another favorite meadow just in time to watch the sun begin to set. I absolutely love sunset hiking. You never know what to expect, but it is almost always beautiful with great solitude. Nova the Beauty and Josie the Beast took turns posing in the long meadow grasses as the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky.
I knew from experience that we would not need to rush from here on out. I can time most any hike now to exactly the minute I want. I knew that we could go slowly to savor the moments watching sunset and hit the final treeline mile to the truck with just barely enough light to make it out without turning on a flashlight. We would get to the truck just as the crescent moon would be smiling down upon us. But first we got to enjoy nature's staircase and a heart shaped boulder that made us think of last week's heart shaped lake.
From there it was sunset and sky shows the rest of the way. Sunset hiking after a stormy day can either go really amazing, or very poorly. I think you can agree with me that this one went quite well. Now in case you thought our end of summer party only involved a two-course meal, you would be wrong. The final photo here will show you the third and final course of the day. Was it wrong to eat him as the sun was setting? I felt a little guilty as he was so cute, but he was oh so tasty! Do I still qualify as a vegetarian do you think?
Comments