Vesper Peak Pain

My friend, Heidi, is going to summit Mount Rainer in less than two weeks. In doing so, she will accomplish her goal of completing the 5 volcanoes of Washington before turning 60. Maybe we were drawn to each other because of our mutual obsession with age related goal making? Regardless the reason, we are now hiking buddies; and I needed to help Heidi get in another hard workout to prepare for the big Rainer day. 

It's been 20 years since Heidi did Vesper Peak, and it's been on my list since I've known her because she bragged about how amazing it was...and difficult. So hey, Heidi, you want a tough work out - let's hit it! 

I've often said I tend to ignore elevation gain information before doing a hike. In fact, I made a comment on an Instagram account for a 3D route planning tool saying "I personally like to live in complete denial of elevation gain so I can experience maximum suffering" that currently has 541 likes. But this time I looked Vesper Peak up beforehand and saw that it gains 4,000 feet in 8 miles. "Okay, that's not so bad," I thought...stupidly not considering it's an out and back, so the gain is acquired in half those miles. Maximum suffering achieved!

And though of course I'm trying to be funny, it is actually true that I find satisfaction in finishing a hike and feeling like I want to die. I haven't felt that degree of suffering all summer; so thank you Vesper Peak - and may we never meet again. Happy "pleasure in the pain" trails. "Things to Know" list below for those interested.

Vesper Peak Info:

1) The forest road has potholes, but it is better than most, which may be why we saw a forest service truck heading up at the end of day as we leaving, our guess was to check for NW Forest Passes; so make sure you have one. 

Prepare for rocks

2) There are places to camp by the lake, above the lake on the ridge, and also past the summit on the other side. But my God, you will work for it. A big "no thank you" for me.

...rocks

3) A good 90% of this trail is maneuvering over rocks of all kinds. You need to stay focused if you don't want to twist an ankle. When I took my eyes off my feet for just a second on the granite scramble coming down from the top, I instantly found myself on my back when I stepped on a loose rock. Poor Sammy took the brunt of the fall. 

Thanks for having my back, Samsquatch

4) Because of all the rock, you really should leave your dog at home, IMO. My heart broke hearing one whimpering as he tried to quickly get across the hot scree field - it had to hurt.  

...and more rock!

Failing is the New Winning

As Julie and I drove from Washington to Oregon on our way to do the Timberline Trail, I wanted to say, "You know, this will be my first actual thru hike," but I didn't want to jinx it. I have never aspired to be thru hiker of the "big" trails - I am quite pleased with my new "500 Miles on 5 National Trails" goal. (I really should change the name of this blog.) But I did intend to finish the Wonderland in one go (took me four) and complete the Trans-Catalina (missed out on the last 13 miles) and though I try not to let that kind of thing bother me, it still does a little. So even though the Timberline is only 40 miles and has never been on my bucket list, I couldn't help but be a bit excited to finally be able to say I actually finished something on the first try. 

Timberline was a last minute pivot, after my painstakingly arduous year long planning of Devil's Dome/Desolation Peak went literally up in smoke. Thankfully hiking partner, Janet, lives near Portland and took the reigns on making the itinerary for our Plan B Timberline adventure. Janet is tall in personality, but not in stature - so she was taking the five major fords on this trail very seriously. "Fords, Shmords" was my thinking...until we hit the Eliot at 1:40 pm on our second day. 

meet Sammy here

My pride really wanted to force me across - "Are you really going to fail AGAIN?" my inner critic sneered. While the turbulent water raged under the skinny log as we watched others teeter over like tight rope walkers, the voice poked again, "If they can do it, why can't you?" (Video here)

Except I couldn't stop looking downstream - imagining the consequences of slipping. Or even worse, having to watch one of my friends bounce off rocks while the water rushed them away from me because I pressured them to do something they were uncomfortable doing. 

Finally the pride clamp loosened as my better self whispered, "What does it really matter if you don't finish? Why is that so important, when you are really here to hang out with your friends?" And so we turned around: went back up to the campground just a half mile away, drank the rest of the bourbon, played cards with fellow hikers, ate spaghetti leftovers from our car camping neighbors, and came up with Plan C on how to finish the loop without actually finishing the loop. That will be explained in the trail log below, but I'll leave you here with a life and hiking lesson that has proven true for me over and over again: relax your grip on what you think you need to have, and you will be free to enjoy something even better. Happy "it's okay to bail" trails! 

TRAIL LOG

Day 1: Started at the lodge going counterclockwise (CCW) so we could hit the White crossing early. Got over pretty easily, as well as the next couple of lesser crossings. Coming to the Newton at late afternoon, we found a bit more of a challenging situation. Just as we were approaching it, we got "man-splained" by a guy going CW. I'll confess my pride flared and I knew I was going to cross it just to prove to him I could. And we did, though with all the time it took to do the crossings (we always removed shoes) we knew we were not going to make our 13 + mile goal to Cloud Cap Camp. Janet had hoped to make the Eliot crossing early next day, but she underestimated my sloth speed. We ended up camping at the first spot we came to at 9.1 miles. (FYI, push up a little further if you can - great views starting at 9.5 miles with quite a few options. But no water anywhere up there, so pack it in.) 

Day 2: Tough couple miles to the high point, but then it was glorious mountain top meandering for the next couple miles to Cloud Cap. This may be the best argument for going CCW. It was SO nice not to be struggling uphill or overheating, but just leisurely enjoying the breathtaking views.

and you know I love my brella to help with the heat!

We took advantage of the privy and picnic tables for lunch once we got to Cloud Cap, then headed down the steep half mile to face the Eliot and then continue on another 5 miles to camp at Elk Cove. BUT...well you already know that didn't happen. 

Julie says, "Screw the Eliot!" ;) 

With the half mile back up to Cloud Cap and also going up to the end of the road to check out the very cool Cloud Cap Inn (no, you can't stay there - but you should Google it; some cool history there) we probably did a total of 6.5 this day. There is some cell service here, so a call to Janet's husband got us a ride out of there early next day. John drove THREE HOURS to rescue us, so he gets husband of the year award for sure. When I told my husband this, he said, "I'm a nice guy; but I would have told you to get your asses over that crossing in the morning." Haha, we did contemplate doing that, as the ford is surely much better early - but the ugly scramble up the other side was our deal breaker. Janet's other reason for picking CCW was thinking the "scree" she read about would be easier to go up than down, but it looked much more like loose sand. Going CW and scooting down on your butt is probably the easiest way; though then you don't have the easy bail out at Cloud Cap. So we were VERY grateful Janet choose CCW. 

Day 3: After picking us up, John drove us at least another hour to drop us off at the Ramona Falls TH. We marched up the couple of miles (after having to cross the Sandy... good log there, so no worries)

my kind of log cross

then we hit the TT again, then hurried down to the Sandy a second time to tackle the more difficult crossing. We really thought we'd go up to see the famous Ramona Falls, but time was ticking and we really didn't want to face a repeat of the day before. Good thing, because the water was already crotch level at noon. Whew, made it, then the relentless upward 3 miles to Paradise Park. Janet used her speed to get there early and secure a spot, as it is a very popular place - especially on a Friday when there is an anticipated big meteor shower show. A total of 7 miles for this day. 

Day 4: Just the 6 miles left back to my car at Timberline. Since we were up at 4 am to see the meteor show, we got on trail early and were able to enjoy the rest of Paradise Park all to ourselves. This was absolute magic - the highlight of the trip.

Wildflower heaven

Then it was down to connect to the TT again, and from there on it was like swimming upstream. SO...MANY...PEOPLE.

get in line

Though I say this is another CCW pro - I'd much rather step aside than having folks passing me constantly. (But admittedly, I'm slow.) We were able to veer away from the masses at the Kiosk, where there is an alt trail that goes down to the lodge instead of continuing the TT up and above the lodge. Yet another reason why letting go of the need to say I did the entire Timberline Trail was a real blessing. Another blessing is the beer at the Mount Hood Brewery, and if you like blue cheese, their BBQ and blue cheese burger is to die for...or maybe I should say, worth NOT dying for. ;) Stay safe everyone.