Returning to Civilization: Realizing you can have once again all the things you learned to live without.
I've been back in the Real World for a few days now, and I still feel odd. There are a few things that I'm remembering I can have. Some things I'm glad to be done with for a while, I need a break from pb. I have to remember how to act like a normal civilized person again.
1. No more camp food. I was so excited to finally be able to buy FRESH fruits and veggies! -I got burnt out on peanutbutter. It was all I ate for lunch every day, and sometimes with breafast. I am also swearing off dried fruit and bagels for a while. - And then at the store I remembered that I could buy more food than just what I could carry. I also had to run back when I recalled I could now buy eggs and milk and butter.
2. Now I have to look up more recipes because I now have ingredients to bake things, and cook good food. And I can use more than just one pot!
3. I also had to make myself use dishes and utensils. I got used to the spork/hands method of inhaling food, and just eating out of the pot to save dishes.
4. Not going to bed with the sun (or being woken up by it). Back into the dancing world and I get tired now. I'm not used to late hours anymore.
5. Funny thing about food. I have to remind myself when to eat, and that I can have snacks. When you're in the woods for so long, everything is rationed and I know exactly what I can eat each day and where I can give and take in my rations depending on the day. Now I'm sitting around a lot at the moment and I'm not on a hunger schedule anymore. And I don't have to feel bad about buying something to eat, because I don't have to carry it anywhere.
6. I took my boots off and shoved them deep into the closet. My feet are really happy to be out of those shoes for a while.
7. Wearing real clothes. I wore two outfits the whole summer. Work clothes & camp clothes. Now I have options, and variety, and it is possible to dress up again. I do have to remember to glance in the mirror before I leave the apartment though. A whole summer without really noticing what my crazy hair was doing (I just stuck it in braids and let it be) and it didn't matter that I wore the same thing for 2 weeks straight.
8. Language. When you're on the trail civilized talk has the tendency to just fly out the window. Especially because in a lot of situations swearing is very apt (as in yelling at a log that won't move, or when you fall, or when scary things happen).
9. My wonderful bed. I don't miss sleeping on the ground, although I love my big agnes. But it's such a luxury to have a real bed (and a real pillow- I rolled up my fleece all summer and used that).
10. I can drink more than water. And I don't have to filter or treat water. And plenty of it is always available.
11. Hot showers. (and soap). Anytime I want. No bathing in creeks or lakes for a while.
12. I don't have to ration the pages in my book. I can call people and use the internet once more, all I want. In two days I've seen hundreds more people than I would have seen in two weeks on the trail. I got used to working with only one or two people, at most there would be four of us w/ an occasional visitor. (Must remember how to have civilized conversations again, social protocals, and all that nonsense that human interaction involves).
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Trail Wisdom
After a whole summer trekking through the Glacier Peak and Sawtooth Wildernesses, I covered about 317.5 miles of tread, and learned a few invaluable lessons in the journey.
Trail Wisdom
-The answers to most of life's questions tend to be: Up & Drink Water
-Rocks are slippery
-Logs are slippery too for that matter
-Jump in every lake and creek you can
-Camp shoes make life better
-One pot wonders can be miraculous
-Tapatio makes anything edible
-Desserts are a necessity
-Berries can make any day better
-Look at the stars when you can
-Soap is an unnecessary luxury
-It doesn't matter how much dirt you're covered in, as long as everyone around you is covered just as much as you
-Don't pee uphill
-Hike and work only during the cool parts of the day
-wear sunscreen
-Bring aloe vera just in case
-Rocks, moss or leaves are better than TP
-Watch your feet
- Always attempt the no cut method first (when dealing with logs on the trail)
-Duct tape works wonders
-Pause to enjoy the view
-Hike naked
-Never separate yourself from your lunch
-If you pack it, use it
-Sometimes it's okay to be geographically misplaced
-Use a stick when crossing creeks
-Hide in trees and tell ghost stories when thunder and lightning are overhead
-The flattest spot for a tent is usually in the middle of the trail
-Keep your camera in your pocket at all times
-Always bring a book
-Toss objects instead of passing them
-Don't sit too close to the fire
-Read alouds are awesome
-If you smile while working you get dirt in your teeth
-Any log is moveable with enough willpower
-Sunglasses are eyesavers (in snowy fields)
-Boat rides are for napping
-If you hear a noise at night, wiggle and that noise will frantically gallop away
-Hanging food is about rodents, not bears
-Both up and down are equally dreadful
-Meandering trails are best
-Making a loop is the way to go
-It is possible to trudge up
- any peak, just keep putting one foot in front of the other
-Safety naps promote productivity
-Eat icecream every chance you get
-Campfires make us feel like they keep the bugs away
-The day you don't have your raingear with you, you will get soaked
-Carry a deck of cards
-Unruly hair can live in braids for weeks quite nicely
-Don't leave camp with out shoes
-Relish the good moments
-The bad moments become good stories
-The good times become great dreams, and they are what continually call us back to the wild.
Trail Wisdom
-The answers to most of life's questions tend to be: Up & Drink Water
-Rocks are slippery
-Logs are slippery too for that matter
-Jump in every lake and creek you can
-Camp shoes make life better
-One pot wonders can be miraculous
-Tapatio makes anything edible
-Desserts are a necessity
-Berries can make any day better
-Look at the stars when you can
-Soap is an unnecessary luxury
-It doesn't matter how much dirt you're covered in, as long as everyone around you is covered just as much as you
-Don't pee uphill
-Hike and work only during the cool parts of the day
-wear sunscreen
-Bring aloe vera just in case
-Rocks, moss or leaves are better than TP
-Watch your feet
- Always attempt the no cut method first (when dealing with logs on the trail)
-Duct tape works wonders
-Pause to enjoy the view
-Hike naked
-Never separate yourself from your lunch
-If you pack it, use it
-Sometimes it's okay to be geographically misplaced
-Use a stick when crossing creeks
-Hide in trees and tell ghost stories when thunder and lightning are overhead
-The flattest spot for a tent is usually in the middle of the trail
-Keep your camera in your pocket at all times
-Always bring a book
-Toss objects instead of passing them
-Don't sit too close to the fire
-Read alouds are awesome
-If you smile while working you get dirt in your teeth
-Any log is moveable with enough willpower
-Sunglasses are eyesavers (in snowy fields)
-Boat rides are for napping
-If you hear a noise at night, wiggle and that noise will frantically gallop away
-Hanging food is about rodents, not bears
-Both up and down are equally dreadful
-Meandering trails are best
-Making a loop is the way to go
-It is possible to trudge up
- any peak, just keep putting one foot in front of the other
-Safety naps promote productivity
-Eat icecream every chance you get
-Campfires make us feel like they keep the bugs away
-The day you don't have your raingear with you, you will get soaked
-Carry a deck of cards
-Unruly hair can live in braids for weeks quite nicely
-Don't leave camp with out shoes
-Relish the good moments
-The bad moments become good stories
-The good times become great dreams, and they are what continually call us back to the wild.
Tour 8
(Our mission was to logout Company and Devoure and brush both trails. It's a 30 mile loop. We also included a bushwack down to Holden village for dinner & what was going to be a tool exchange)
Day 1.
Kenny and I declared it was tie-dyed Tuesday and we wore our awesome new Holden shirts to the office. We had one more Mandatory training to get through- it was rather ridiculous and boring- we also had to get fingerprints- none of what we were doing today would be applicable until we were finished w/ the season.
The officer taking our prints let us check out the jail- which hasn't been in use for 5 years- and offered to lock Kenny up, but he would have just taken a nap and enjoyed himself too much.
To distract from the boredom of training, we went and made trail t-shirts that say 'Take a Hike'. Kristian made the design complete w/ a shield w/ an axe and shovel.
Day 2.
Waited to pack until 11 last night. I guess I had other things to do (like eat icecream and go swimming)
We get to Stehekin, check out the visitor's center, eat lunch at the bakery, and then sit at the Company Creek trailhead for a while wishing we were somewhere else. It was 100 degrees.
None of us had been on this trail before, so we didn't know what to expect, but we had heard stories of legendary trees and swimming through nettles that were 7 ft tall.
I didn't make it very far up the trail before I felt like I was dying. Sweat was pouring off me, I wanted to throw up the bakery food and my head was pounding. It was torture to take 10 steps. I finally catch up to Halden who is taking a break and we decided to literally take a safety nap and wait out the heat of the day (we have often joked about safety naps, but now it was necessary).
We started moving maybe an hour or so later and after 10 steps I felt like I was dying again- I was considering just collapsing on the trail and camping there for the night. The crew could find me later. But after 2 more breaks, and a few pills, I felt like I wanted to live again. I caught up to Halden and he said Kenny and Kristian weren't too far ahead of us. We were all really low on water and desperately searching for a stream. Our original intent for the day was to clear the trail up to 5 mile camp, that quickly changed to just getting to camp, and then that changed to just finding water and camping at the first available flat spot.
Found water about 2.5 miles up, and then we entered the jungle. The stories about the nettles were true. My longsleeves were buried in my pack, so I was trying to hike w/ my arms above my head, which didn't help my balance, & I fell into the nettles even more.
Made it through the jungle after a slight detour of losing the trail and hacking through more nettles. Started searching for a reported camp, but found none, so we trudged on another mile and a half and finally made it to 5 mile camp and Hilegard creek.
We started the hike at 1430 and didn't make it to camp until 2000. It was ridiculous. It was a very long 13 hour day and none of us were happy campers. The hike was only 5 miles, but it seemed like 10 and felt like 15. I do not love this trail. I think we should leave it to the wilderness which has already taken over most of it. Next time it's 100 degrees, I am going to refuse to hike.
Day 3.
We started work late in the morning, Kristain and I were the saw team, Kenny had a silky, and we left Halden to do what he wanted with a silky and a machete. We didn't get too far down the trail, but we did find a nice shady spot by a creek for lunch. Kenny was reading Watership Down and Kristain asked him to read aloud, so we took turns reading a chapter and passing the book around. It was a nice 2 hour lunch and we escaped the nasty heat. We didn't finish all the work on the first section of the trail, but no one seems too concerned yet (although we have 30 miles of tread to cover).
When we finished work around 1800 they sent me down the trail to find Kenny, just because he had the book.
We heard a rumble this evening and were all angry when we recognized it as thunder, but although we saw lightning, the storm itself was far from us (we guessed it was in Agnes Creek). We read late into the night, passing the book around the campfire. We really wanted to know what would happen to the rabbits, but we'll have to wait I guess. At the end of the night when we decided it was time to call it in, even Halden grabbed the book (he had not been participating up to this point) and he read one more chapter, but we still did not reach a conclusion.
Day 4.
We moved back down the trail in our same order again. I had a little too much fun rock climbing on my days off, so I got to saw w/ only my right arm both yesterday and today. Not as much fun when you can't switch arms.
Our breaks were highlighted by our story all day. A chapter at breakfast, and a few during lunch, and more after dinner and into the night. We took lunch in a really ancient cedar grove we found when we were searching for the mythical camp at 3.5 miles the first day. The trees are huge. Almost as big as redwoods. It's somehow soothing leaning against such ancient wisdom as we eat our lunches and let our minds travel over meadows with rabbits.
Day 5. A Most Adventurous Day
The morning started with a very cold creek crossing. We packed up camp and sat on the bank dreading the inevitable. Finally, with pants and boots draped over my neck, and a stick in my hand for balance, I braved the icy waters- wading thigh deep across. Kristian and I spent a while on the other side hollering and trying to get our legs and feet unnumb- yelling does seem to help.
The four of us steadily work our way up the trail, splintering further away from each other as we run into work. Kristian and I ended up in the lead after leaving Kenny to wrestle a tree. We round a bend and Kristain, in front, stops and says 'bear'. I stop behind her, almost running into her, have just enough time to register a cub in a tree and another bear below, when mama charges.
The swearing and the shouting commence. Kristian is backing up and I'm tripping over myself trying to get out of her way and back up myself. I half fall into the bank and I'm like a turtle turned on its shell. Completely defenseless and weighed down by my pack. And the bear is charging. I right myself and join Kristian in yelling 'NO!' which strikes me as an odd thing to yell at a bear, but I yell anyway. Kristain has dropped her pack and pulled out the pulaski (to shake more than to defend with). I keep my pack on to look bigger and am yelling 'radio, radio'. This was all I could think of, let the guys know there's a bear after us- so someone knows what happened. The bear started maybe 100 ft away, charges up real close, then swerves right below us on the trail, makes a half circle and runs up over the ridge. (It is important to note that all this happened in a few seconds, and the event takes longer to describe than to occur).
Kristian pulls out the radio and calls Halden- he sounds way too calm compared to our shaky selves. A moment later Kenny comes up the trail- He says he heard a bizarre yelling and thought someone had broken a leg. We gather our wits and in response to the adrenaline, along w/ shaking limbs, we start cracking up. Both of us agreed we had never been that scared in the woods before.
The creek we were heading towards for lunch was only another few minutes hike, but I was wishing it was much further away. Especially because mama was still up on the ridge, and the cub was below the trail, and we had to walk thru there.
But we read our book during a leisurely lunch, annoyed only by biting flies, which we killed mercilessly.
Midafternoon, we came upon an avalanche shoot with a mess of logs to clear out. As we're working (with the horrible 71/2 ft saw- the guys were using my 51\2 ft saw) Kristian gets gouged by a tooth and I get to play doctor with butterfly closures and duct tape. She loses her drive to work, so we head up the trail to search for a camp. It was rather amusing to attempt to strap the giant saw on my pack and then hike with it. The U kept falling over my head. I was hiking w/ a 2 ft halo swaying above me.
Our luck with this trail gets worse. I managed to trip a few times, landing on my hand once and now my pinky finger won't move, although Kristain had already fallen twice today, so we thought our quota was in.
We then lost the trail. One moment it was there, and the next we were wandering up and down the creek bank, jumping across it, and back again, searching the ground for a sign. Eventually the guys joined us in the search and Kenny found the trail. Camp came quickly, but we saw bear prints by the water source- a big paw and some small prints. We're hoping mama bear won't pay us another visit. Our tents are rather close, on the one spot of flat ground the camp has to offer, and we're thinking a bear is most likely to get Kenny- because he keeps his food in his tent.
Our campfire and our book keep us warm and happy tonight. (Halden even got mad when we were going to stop reading before he got to read his chapter). While the cold nights of late August remind us of the coming fall.
Day 6.
We worked both ends of the avalanche mess we found yesterday. Our game for the day was 'Who can get covered with the most pitch'. Kristian won hands down. The sap and branches were a mess, but it smelled like Christmas while we worked.
In the afternoon we hiked above our camp to clear the way ahead. The guys left Kristain and I to wrestle with a tree, only to return shortly with good and bad news: we weren't going up the pass today- it's ridiculously steep, and they found a perfect flat meadow spot for a 'Safety Meeting' Kenny says as he whips out Watership Down.
There is a fire over the next ridge (every time we check in they ask us to leave our radios on for updates) and the smoke is filling up our valley. The view we might have had as we hiked up into a basin was smothered by a haze of smoke. We found alpine blueberries today- very small plants with amazing berries. The smoke and chill in the air that comes as soon as the sun leaves keep reminding us of fall. As soon as we leave the campfire ring, the cold surrounds us, each breath seen in the night air.
Day 7.
There was frost this morning. Packed up, paused at the bottom of the pass, then steeled ourselves and climbed. The general remark when we were all at the top was 'that wasn't so bad'. We enjoyed a few alpine blueberries as we triumphed over our victory of the pass. Kept hitting work as we moved thru 10 mile basin. It's annoying to find a lot of logs when we're moving with our packs and we have a goal in mind. The general idea was to hit the junction to Devoure and bushwack over to 10 mile creek trail and bump down to Holden for dinner.
We finally hacked our way to the junction, then had a quick pack rearrangement as we assessed what we really needed to take with us in our brains for an overnighter- tevas were necessary, but sleeping bags were not.
The bushwack wasn't too bad, part of it was an old trail, and only one tree bit me. Then we sprinted down to Holden and made it just in time to eat the scraps from dinner. We lived it up for our one night stay: toast, raided potty patrol for clean clothes, hot shower, icecream, chatted w/ some people in the pool hall, popcorn, we found an empty media room and finished watership down, then at 2300 put in the movie Swiss Family Robinson, and fell asleep inside w/ some sleeping bags we found at the Hike Haus.
Day 8.
Didn't sleep too well, the movie had an annoying kid in it that you couldn't tune out, but I took a body pillow from a couch in the hall and it made the night better- although I was wishing for my big agnes.
Got a wake up call from Halden early in the morning, pancake breakfast, then hung around waiting for the guys to be ready to go back up the trail. Eventually, Kristian and I just left. We weren't looking forward to the steep hike and bushwack ahead of us, but once again, it wasn't so bad. Made it up the 3.5 miles in only 1.5 hours.
Once again we found more work than we wanted. We were hoping to get to camp early at least once this trip. Our campsite was in a small clearing, and for once we were camped where we could see the stars. Saw a porcupine in camp-it was pretty cool, rather large, first porcupine I've seen over here. Kristian started reading Of Mice and Men and it was great to listen to her and stare up at the sky- knowing we'll be out of the woods tomorrow.
Day 9.
Woke up this morning and Kristian asks 'Ready for a 9 mile birthday hike?' Downhill the whole way- feet, calves, and shins are now in mutiny. The first bit of the hike was rather pleasant, we were clearing as we hiked, and then the trail got really brushy w/ lots of switchbacks.
We made it to Weaver Point (which is at the lake) by lunch and I made upside down trail cheesecake. I've been waiting all tour to pull that out of my pack. It was rather delicious.
A park service boat picked us up and took us across to the Stehekin landing. We get to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. A couple hikers shared their six pack with us- they said we looked like we needed it when we rolled in w/ our big packs and covered in dirt. Made dinner reservations at the landing restaurant, ran into Barbara who we saw at Holden yesterday. She was sent on a fire assignment as the public info officer. Funny thing is they closed Company Creek trail for potential danger from the sable fire. We were just there and had no idea how big the fire was, but no one called us.
On our boatride across, we got a little tour, and the driver showed us some pictographs on a cliff wall above the water. That was pretty neat.
Dinner was amazing, complete with rhubarb pie, then we went to a party with the parkies. A couple was celebrating their birthdays, and they celebrated mine as well. It was a fun triple threat birthday party I got to tag on to. By the wee hours of the morning, only the trail crews and one lone ranger were left standing. Bizarro with the trail crews. We each have a counterpart. Mine is Gretchen- who is the girl on their crew, with curly red hair. The only difference in our crews is that they get to use chain saws.
Best Birthday ever, more than I expected from being out on the trails.
Day 10.
Woke up at 630 and went on a morning 1.5 mile jaunt with Kenny to the bakery. Fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee!
It's weird that this is the end of the summer and I'm returning to civilization. Stehekin is very peaceful. Now that the trek is over, I would very much like to just stay out her in the wild. It's amazing how quickly we forget the painful parts and only remember the good.
Napped on the boatride (after finishing knitting a sleeve to my knitting project), filled out my exit paperwork at the office, returned all my gear (I had two piles going 'mine' and 'not mine', my pile was tossed haphazard everywhere in the car) then The Boss took us out for milkshakes as a farewell birthday send off to me.
And then it was over. just like that. I dropped Kristain off and said 'see you later' and it felt like we were just on another four day weekend and we'd all be back at the station on Tuesday with stories of our adventurous weekends and ready to play in the wild again on our next trail mission.
Instead, I went back to Aunt Kathryn's, enjoyed an amazing send off dinner there, and got ready to leave Chelan for good in the morning. But I hope to be back next summer. The Boss asked me 'did you like it?' I said yes, 'well if you want a job again it's here'.
Day 1.
Kenny and I declared it was tie-dyed Tuesday and we wore our awesome new Holden shirts to the office. We had one more Mandatory training to get through- it was rather ridiculous and boring- we also had to get fingerprints- none of what we were doing today would be applicable until we were finished w/ the season.
The officer taking our prints let us check out the jail- which hasn't been in use for 5 years- and offered to lock Kenny up, but he would have just taken a nap and enjoyed himself too much.
To distract from the boredom of training, we went and made trail t-shirts that say 'Take a Hike'. Kristian made the design complete w/ a shield w/ an axe and shovel.
Day 2.
Waited to pack until 11 last night. I guess I had other things to do (like eat icecream and go swimming)
We get to Stehekin, check out the visitor's center, eat lunch at the bakery, and then sit at the Company Creek trailhead for a while wishing we were somewhere else. It was 100 degrees.
None of us had been on this trail before, so we didn't know what to expect, but we had heard stories of legendary trees and swimming through nettles that were 7 ft tall.
I didn't make it very far up the trail before I felt like I was dying. Sweat was pouring off me, I wanted to throw up the bakery food and my head was pounding. It was torture to take 10 steps. I finally catch up to Halden who is taking a break and we decided to literally take a safety nap and wait out the heat of the day (we have often joked about safety naps, but now it was necessary).
We started moving maybe an hour or so later and after 10 steps I felt like I was dying again- I was considering just collapsing on the trail and camping there for the night. The crew could find me later. But after 2 more breaks, and a few pills, I felt like I wanted to live again. I caught up to Halden and he said Kenny and Kristian weren't too far ahead of us. We were all really low on water and desperately searching for a stream. Our original intent for the day was to clear the trail up to 5 mile camp, that quickly changed to just getting to camp, and then that changed to just finding water and camping at the first available flat spot.
Found water about 2.5 miles up, and then we entered the jungle. The stories about the nettles were true. My longsleeves were buried in my pack, so I was trying to hike w/ my arms above my head, which didn't help my balance, & I fell into the nettles even more.
Made it through the jungle after a slight detour of losing the trail and hacking through more nettles. Started searching for a reported camp, but found none, so we trudged on another mile and a half and finally made it to 5 mile camp and Hilegard creek.
We started the hike at 1430 and didn't make it to camp until 2000. It was ridiculous. It was a very long 13 hour day and none of us were happy campers. The hike was only 5 miles, but it seemed like 10 and felt like 15. I do not love this trail. I think we should leave it to the wilderness which has already taken over most of it. Next time it's 100 degrees, I am going to refuse to hike.
Day 3.
We started work late in the morning, Kristain and I were the saw team, Kenny had a silky, and we left Halden to do what he wanted with a silky and a machete. We didn't get too far down the trail, but we did find a nice shady spot by a creek for lunch. Kenny was reading Watership Down and Kristain asked him to read aloud, so we took turns reading a chapter and passing the book around. It was a nice 2 hour lunch and we escaped the nasty heat. We didn't finish all the work on the first section of the trail, but no one seems too concerned yet (although we have 30 miles of tread to cover).
When we finished work around 1800 they sent me down the trail to find Kenny, just because he had the book.
We heard a rumble this evening and were all angry when we recognized it as thunder, but although we saw lightning, the storm itself was far from us (we guessed it was in Agnes Creek). We read late into the night, passing the book around the campfire. We really wanted to know what would happen to the rabbits, but we'll have to wait I guess. At the end of the night when we decided it was time to call it in, even Halden grabbed the book (he had not been participating up to this point) and he read one more chapter, but we still did not reach a conclusion.
Day 4.
We moved back down the trail in our same order again. I had a little too much fun rock climbing on my days off, so I got to saw w/ only my right arm both yesterday and today. Not as much fun when you can't switch arms.
Our breaks were highlighted by our story all day. A chapter at breakfast, and a few during lunch, and more after dinner and into the night. We took lunch in a really ancient cedar grove we found when we were searching for the mythical camp at 3.5 miles the first day. The trees are huge. Almost as big as redwoods. It's somehow soothing leaning against such ancient wisdom as we eat our lunches and let our minds travel over meadows with rabbits.
Day 5. A Most Adventurous Day
The morning started with a very cold creek crossing. We packed up camp and sat on the bank dreading the inevitable. Finally, with pants and boots draped over my neck, and a stick in my hand for balance, I braved the icy waters- wading thigh deep across. Kristian and I spent a while on the other side hollering and trying to get our legs and feet unnumb- yelling does seem to help.
The four of us steadily work our way up the trail, splintering further away from each other as we run into work. Kristian and I ended up in the lead after leaving Kenny to wrestle a tree. We round a bend and Kristain, in front, stops and says 'bear'. I stop behind her, almost running into her, have just enough time to register a cub in a tree and another bear below, when mama charges.
The swearing and the shouting commence. Kristian is backing up and I'm tripping over myself trying to get out of her way and back up myself. I half fall into the bank and I'm like a turtle turned on its shell. Completely defenseless and weighed down by my pack. And the bear is charging. I right myself and join Kristian in yelling 'NO!' which strikes me as an odd thing to yell at a bear, but I yell anyway. Kristain has dropped her pack and pulled out the pulaski (to shake more than to defend with). I keep my pack on to look bigger and am yelling 'radio, radio'. This was all I could think of, let the guys know there's a bear after us- so someone knows what happened. The bear started maybe 100 ft away, charges up real close, then swerves right below us on the trail, makes a half circle and runs up over the ridge. (It is important to note that all this happened in a few seconds, and the event takes longer to describe than to occur).
Kristian pulls out the radio and calls Halden- he sounds way too calm compared to our shaky selves. A moment later Kenny comes up the trail- He says he heard a bizarre yelling and thought someone had broken a leg. We gather our wits and in response to the adrenaline, along w/ shaking limbs, we start cracking up. Both of us agreed we had never been that scared in the woods before.
The creek we were heading towards for lunch was only another few minutes hike, but I was wishing it was much further away. Especially because mama was still up on the ridge, and the cub was below the trail, and we had to walk thru there.
But we read our book during a leisurely lunch, annoyed only by biting flies, which we killed mercilessly.
Midafternoon, we came upon an avalanche shoot with a mess of logs to clear out. As we're working (with the horrible 71/2 ft saw- the guys were using my 51\2 ft saw) Kristian gets gouged by a tooth and I get to play doctor with butterfly closures and duct tape. She loses her drive to work, so we head up the trail to search for a camp. It was rather amusing to attempt to strap the giant saw on my pack and then hike with it. The U kept falling over my head. I was hiking w/ a 2 ft halo swaying above me.
Our luck with this trail gets worse. I managed to trip a few times, landing on my hand once and now my pinky finger won't move, although Kristain had already fallen twice today, so we thought our quota was in.
We then lost the trail. One moment it was there, and the next we were wandering up and down the creek bank, jumping across it, and back again, searching the ground for a sign. Eventually the guys joined us in the search and Kenny found the trail. Camp came quickly, but we saw bear prints by the water source- a big paw and some small prints. We're hoping mama bear won't pay us another visit. Our tents are rather close, on the one spot of flat ground the camp has to offer, and we're thinking a bear is most likely to get Kenny- because he keeps his food in his tent.
Our campfire and our book keep us warm and happy tonight. (Halden even got mad when we were going to stop reading before he got to read his chapter). While the cold nights of late August remind us of the coming fall.
Day 6.
We worked both ends of the avalanche mess we found yesterday. Our game for the day was 'Who can get covered with the most pitch'. Kristian won hands down. The sap and branches were a mess, but it smelled like Christmas while we worked.
In the afternoon we hiked above our camp to clear the way ahead. The guys left Kristain and I to wrestle with a tree, only to return shortly with good and bad news: we weren't going up the pass today- it's ridiculously steep, and they found a perfect flat meadow spot for a 'Safety Meeting' Kenny says as he whips out Watership Down.
There is a fire over the next ridge (every time we check in they ask us to leave our radios on for updates) and the smoke is filling up our valley. The view we might have had as we hiked up into a basin was smothered by a haze of smoke. We found alpine blueberries today- very small plants with amazing berries. The smoke and chill in the air that comes as soon as the sun leaves keep reminding us of fall. As soon as we leave the campfire ring, the cold surrounds us, each breath seen in the night air.
Day 7.
There was frost this morning. Packed up, paused at the bottom of the pass, then steeled ourselves and climbed. The general remark when we were all at the top was 'that wasn't so bad'. We enjoyed a few alpine blueberries as we triumphed over our victory of the pass. Kept hitting work as we moved thru 10 mile basin. It's annoying to find a lot of logs when we're moving with our packs and we have a goal in mind. The general idea was to hit the junction to Devoure and bushwack over to 10 mile creek trail and bump down to Holden for dinner.
We finally hacked our way to the junction, then had a quick pack rearrangement as we assessed what we really needed to take with us in our brains for an overnighter- tevas were necessary, but sleeping bags were not.
The bushwack wasn't too bad, part of it was an old trail, and only one tree bit me. Then we sprinted down to Holden and made it just in time to eat the scraps from dinner. We lived it up for our one night stay: toast, raided potty patrol for clean clothes, hot shower, icecream, chatted w/ some people in the pool hall, popcorn, we found an empty media room and finished watership down, then at 2300 put in the movie Swiss Family Robinson, and fell asleep inside w/ some sleeping bags we found at the Hike Haus.
Day 8.
Didn't sleep too well, the movie had an annoying kid in it that you couldn't tune out, but I took a body pillow from a couch in the hall and it made the night better- although I was wishing for my big agnes.
Got a wake up call from Halden early in the morning, pancake breakfast, then hung around waiting for the guys to be ready to go back up the trail. Eventually, Kristian and I just left. We weren't looking forward to the steep hike and bushwack ahead of us, but once again, it wasn't so bad. Made it up the 3.5 miles in only 1.5 hours.
Once again we found more work than we wanted. We were hoping to get to camp early at least once this trip. Our campsite was in a small clearing, and for once we were camped where we could see the stars. Saw a porcupine in camp-it was pretty cool, rather large, first porcupine I've seen over here. Kristian started reading Of Mice and Men and it was great to listen to her and stare up at the sky- knowing we'll be out of the woods tomorrow.
Day 9.
Woke up this morning and Kristian asks 'Ready for a 9 mile birthday hike?' Downhill the whole way- feet, calves, and shins are now in mutiny. The first bit of the hike was rather pleasant, we were clearing as we hiked, and then the trail got really brushy w/ lots of switchbacks.
We made it to Weaver Point (which is at the lake) by lunch and I made upside down trail cheesecake. I've been waiting all tour to pull that out of my pack. It was rather delicious.
A park service boat picked us up and took us across to the Stehekin landing. We get to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. A couple hikers shared their six pack with us- they said we looked like we needed it when we rolled in w/ our big packs and covered in dirt. Made dinner reservations at the landing restaurant, ran into Barbara who we saw at Holden yesterday. She was sent on a fire assignment as the public info officer. Funny thing is they closed Company Creek trail for potential danger from the sable fire. We were just there and had no idea how big the fire was, but no one called us.
On our boatride across, we got a little tour, and the driver showed us some pictographs on a cliff wall above the water. That was pretty neat.
Dinner was amazing, complete with rhubarb pie, then we went to a party with the parkies. A couple was celebrating their birthdays, and they celebrated mine as well. It was a fun triple threat birthday party I got to tag on to. By the wee hours of the morning, only the trail crews and one lone ranger were left standing. Bizarro with the trail crews. We each have a counterpart. Mine is Gretchen- who is the girl on their crew, with curly red hair. The only difference in our crews is that they get to use chain saws.
Best Birthday ever, more than I expected from being out on the trails.
Day 10.
Woke up at 630 and went on a morning 1.5 mile jaunt with Kenny to the bakery. Fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee!
It's weird that this is the end of the summer and I'm returning to civilization. Stehekin is very peaceful. Now that the trek is over, I would very much like to just stay out her in the wild. It's amazing how quickly we forget the painful parts and only remember the good.
Napped on the boatride (after finishing knitting a sleeve to my knitting project), filled out my exit paperwork at the office, returned all my gear (I had two piles going 'mine' and 'not mine', my pile was tossed haphazard everywhere in the car) then The Boss took us out for milkshakes as a farewell birthday send off to me.
And then it was over. just like that. I dropped Kristain off and said 'see you later' and it felt like we were just on another four day weekend and we'd all be back at the station on Tuesday with stories of our adventurous weekends and ready to play in the wild again on our next trail mission.
Instead, I went back to Aunt Kathryn's, enjoyed an amazing send off dinner there, and got ready to leave Chelan for good in the morning. But I hope to be back next summer. The Boss asked me 'did you like it?' I said yes, 'well if you want a job again it's here'.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tour 7
(Sent into Agnes Creek again. 2 days ahead of a horse pack group led by the Courtney's- a big name in Stehekin- it's called hike it and like it. The hikers go, their stuff gets packed. And we unfortunate ones get to haul ourselves and our stuff ahead of them to make sure the horses can get through)Day 1. Office Day
Apparently we needed to sharpen tools and bs for a day. By 1100 we had everything done and all of our trip prep complete so our boss took pity on us and let us go home early to pack. - I get the suspisionthat they give us an office day every so often because they think it's good for our health.-
Whole afternoon to pack, so I read a book, went swimming, started a knitting project, got groceries in the evening, read some more, and finally packed around 10 pm.
Day 2.
Stopped by the Stehekin bakery on our way to the trailhead. Hitched a ride from a park service ranger. Pizza and a stehekin sticky bun made an excellent lunch. Our boss wanted us to hike 12 miles this afternoon- we're supposed to clear the trail (which we were just on the trip before last) for a horse pack group. Felt like we were being sent on a fools errand.
Ran into a huge mess 4 miles up. We get angry when we're hiking a trail that's been cleared, aren't expecting work, and find a lot of it.
This huge tree had broken apart right down the middle of the trail. Giant sections of tree obliterating the path. A couple hikers passing by lent a hand and helped us move one section. That was pretty awesome- wouldn't of moved it otherwise. Axed through another chunk to move it. 3 hours to clear one big tree. Around 7, when we finished, we made it only one more mile and made camp. So much for the boss's plan. That tree kicked our collective ass.
Day 3.
Kristian's on vaca this tour so it's just me and the guys, and I wouldn't necessarily call what they do as work.
We slept in today after a 13 hour day yesterday. That was fine with me. But they really meant sleeping in. camp was packed by noon and we were just hanging around reading. Halden volunteered to clear one easy tree we left yesterday solo. So Kenny and I sat by the creek and read a couple more hours. Had a really late lunch, then at 3 they decide its time to go the rest of the 12 miles to camp at a place called Hemlock where our work starts. 7 mile evening hike.
The Lyman volunteer wilderness ranger, Tressa, was sent to help us work the PCT and we met her at camp this evening. Enjoyed conversation with a new person, and at our campfire tonight she read a story from her book 'Desert Solitaire'. We enjoy campfire readalouds. We also amused Tressa as Halden bartered some freeze dried veggies for some of the pudding I had brought (I don't think she thought it was an equal trade, but it definitely was.)
Agnes has many berries on the trail which tempered the hike, as I walked I had to pause every now and then for some huckleberries, some thimbleberries, and I found some salmonberries (although those aren't very enjoyable). I actually enjoyed the hike this time- my pack only weighed in at 50 lbs w/ out tools -yay!- and for once I don't have the saw strapped to my pack. It's rather nice. (Kenny's pack only weighs 45 lbs and I don't know how he does it. I'm determined to eventually get my pack that light). No real complaints on the trail aside from the pulaski trying to hit me in the head from where it was strapped to my pack.
Day 4.
We moved camp around noon- 2 miles up the PCT so we'd be closer to our work. Talk about a nonmotivational day. It was nice to hike w/ Tressa. We took our time enjoying berries and swapping stories on our hike up.
Kenny had the brilliant idea this afternoon to go on a 'family' fishing trip to some lakes that looked like a good bushwack over a ridge. We talked about it for a while, and all the results were negative: it looked steep, there might not be fish, we might not find the lakes... but we are young and crazy and decided to go for it.
It was a very steep climb up the mountainside. Jumping from tree to tree, hanging on to willow branches, scrambling up dry creek beds, at times crawling on all fours. One false summit, then a snowfield and a boulderfield to traverse, and we were on top of the world.
It was amazing up there. We could look down into the basin and across where clouds were rolling over the lip of the peaks and hanging there suspended like a foamy waterfall.
We hound our lakes-Banock Lakes- but were stopped from climbing down to them when we ran into a cliff. Sheer drop down to the lakes.
Kenny dropped his pack and fell into the heather, and within five seconds all three of us (Kenny, Tressa, and I) were sprawled in the meadow, staring up at the blue sky with a sweet breeze flowing over us thinking 'This is not a bad life'.
We lay there in the evening sun for awhile, dreading the steep climb down, but eventually, we knew we had to leave our spot of heaven.
The climb down was just as adventurous as the climb up: skiing down a snowfield, falling from one tree into the next, letting go hoping you'd catch the next branch, slipping and sliding down the duff, belaying down facing the cliff, lowering yourself from one handful of willows to the next. Miraculously we traversed far enough across the slope that we slid right into camp, thoroughly pleased with ourselves.
We once again enjoyed our campfire, exchanging adventure stories (Tressa had many good climbing ones). Halden had someone new to tell all his stories to. Kenny and I would start giggling at the start of each story and Tressa, by the end of the evening, started predicting the end of every story. With Halden, it's like going on a long roadtrip and after driving a ways, realizing you only brought one cd to listen to and you have hours of road ahead of you.
Tressa and I were lying right next to the fire listening to the sounds of the woods and Kenny's ipod- earphones dangling in a pot amplifying the tinny sound, with Kenny and Halden adding their musical overtones to the mix. I started stargazing, but the moon was so bright you couldn't see any starts, so I was just gazing, up at the deep sky, just enjoying being in the woods.
Day 5.
Work? Oh right, that's why we're out here. We moved a couple boulders, then took our packs with us as we worked our way across the PCT and over cloudy pass to Lyman Lake. Tressa and I took a short cut (or at least we cut some switchbacks out of our lives) by staying up on the PCT and cutting across Suattle pass trail over to Cloudy. From there it was a quick drop into Lyman where we jumped into Tressa's 6 man cook tent to hide from the cold chill.
We sat around drinking tea, reading, and planning a dinner party while we waited for the guys to show up. They found us there a couple hours later curled up in sleeping bags cozy as can be.
Our dinner party was amazing. It took a little more effort and thinking than we really wanted to put into it (we were tired from the trek) but it was worth it. We made a stir fry compiling all the dried veggies we had, mixed in some beef jerky and chicken in a pouch, threw in some Asian noodles, and topped it off w/ soy sauce and peanut butter. We were quite pleased with the result, and for dessert we mixed up pistachio chocolate pudding. We can be quite creative with the limited supply from our packs (aided greatly by Tressa's cache of food). Then we enjoyed the evening w/ another chapter from Desert Solitaire- one man's rant against industrial tourism, and of his love of national park gems.
Day 6. Camp Day.
We hung out w/ Tressa for another day. Woke up late. Made a pancake breakfast. The boys surprised us by cleaning up the cook tent, so we left them to it and went to rehabilitate a
campsite.Wiled away the afternoon reading, knitting, fishing, and enjoying life. Tressa's front yard is a pond, a grassy field and a lake. What a life. I sat by the lake edge knitting, watching Kenny fish and Tressa wade out to join him for a fishing lesson. I was just enjoying the rhythm of life at the moment: the needles flowing, the cast of the line, the reel in, a happy bee buzzing in a mountain bog flower, the sunshine, the cool breeze, sitting by a glacier lake with a waterfall on one side, completely surrounded by peaks. This is life. This is how it should be. To enjoy the simplest things and our only serious thoughts are planning a meal with fish and figuring out what ingredients we can conjure from our packs to make a feast.
I can see why Tressa volunteered to be a wilderness ranger, she has an amazing job- just living by a lake for a few months and chatting w/ hikers who pass through.
I went fishing w/ Tressa again in the afternoon. We didn't catch anything, but we still enjoyed wading out into the lake and casting. It's like sitting on the bank throwing rocks into the water- you're not accomplishing anything, but it's still enjoyable.
Kenny caught 3 fish and we made a feast: fish cooked on the fire w/ polenta cakes and rice w/ veggies as sides. We took everything out to the campfire and enjoyed the night by the flame. We made an amazing apple pie over the fire for dessert too! It's awesome compiling our food w/ Tressa's stores and being creative with our concoctions.
Day 7.
We did a bit of work. Spent the day brushing the Lyman trail. Did all of the work in one long day. We partially explored an old mineshaft, and ate lunch on a giant's staircase. A couple of hikers we met at Lyman met us at the bottom of the trail and said they appreciated our work. At least this time I was not miserable gardening in the woods- it was cloudy and there were occasional berries to pick. Of course- right when we finished the rain poured out from the clouds that had been creeping over the peaks for the past few days.
It rained all night. We hid out in Tressa's cook tent reading and listening to the patter (Tressa had moved camp down to Hart Lake and Holden village a day ahead of us, so we were chilling in her camp w/out her).
Day 8.
And it rained.
We were out of work and it looked like the guys were just going to sit there all day inside the tent, so I said I'd rather sit at Holden. They were fine with me going by myself, but by afternoon decided they wanted to hang out in the village also. We waited till 3 so that we could sneak past Barbara- who was camping at Hart Lake.
No need to be sneaky though, as she was already back at Holden, so we had to deal w/ her anyway. We had grand schemes to meet up with Tressa again and have ourselves a party at the guard station and eat all the toast in Holden.
We did get a hook up to make ourselves banana boats in the village kitchen. Raided their supplies and created a masterpiece of marshmallows, bananas and chocolate butterscotch. Enjoyed too much toast and camped on Patti's porch (at the guard station).
Day 9.
The rain came at 630 this morning. The three of us on the porch exploded into the guard station- giving Patti a good shock and a good laugh. We sprawl out on the floor to sleep more, but Barbara soon came in, so no more sleep.
Tressa left for her days off in civilization, and Barbara proceeded to give us too many options of work to do. We already had a plot though, but while we listened Kenny wrote up a list of the things she was saying along w/ a few other ideas which included among other things: arson, hiking to Stehekin for the bakery, and escaping to Canada.
Our original plot we carried out however, which was to climb up Copper Basin. We heard the views were great, so Kenny and I headed up there, we had a plan to scramble up Mount Furno- we were also sort of brushing the trail. It was a nice hike- however, the peak was shrouded in clouds and we decided against trying to kill ourselves summitting in the rain. Instead we spent the afternoon back at Holden, enjoying their hospitality: hot shower, toast, tie dyed t-shirts, mexican food-it's Mexican week at Holden- a mariachi band, tea, and plenty of time to hang out reading and eating toast in comfort. We also got to hit up the icecream bar and hung out in the game room, reading the walls, eating popcorn, the guys played pool, and we watched an open mic show.
Day 10.
Back to the world again. Barbara drove us down to the dock early in the morning, so we went over to the Lesmeister's (they are caretakers of the Lucerne landing and live in a forest service cabin by the lake). Their cabin is gorgeous! It's homey, and comfortable. Built by a CCC crew sometime 50 years ago or so. They have a lovely green lawn w/ a garden. A little haven in the woods. We enjoyed conversation with them while waiting for the boat.
The boss tried to talk us to death when we got back to the station, but eventually, we were released home to large meals with lots of meat and Fresh vegetables as well as hot showers with Soap and being able to lean back in a chair that had a comfortable back to it.
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