Backpacking the Duckabush with my Sis

I've hit the double digits! Ten backpacking virgins are now under my belt. Taking someone for their first time is one of my greatest joys - but this trip was extra special. I'm still pinching myself that my sister actually came with me! 

Vicki has been toying with the idea for quite some time. Our walking holiday on the Cotswold Way proved to us both she could hike 11 miles in a day; but could she do it with a full pack?

Gotta have at least one pic of Sammie

 

Though maybe even more importantly, could she face her fears? Getting mauled by a bear or attacked by a cougar, slipping and breaking an ankle, tripping and falling off a cliff - or even getting impaled by your trekking pole - these are all real possibilities. Albeit they are unlikely, our minds like to fixate on them. We play out the whole scenario and imagine every detail so we can be prepared...just in case. 

I learned a long time ago (lesson #55) that this is a mistake. Of course we should have knowledge about survival; but the disaster movie that we play in our head is something else entirely. It takes time and practice to tame the imagination beast. You just need to get out there and have experiences that didn't include the misfortune you were worrying about, and eventually sleeping in the woods becomes a new normal. And the struggles you did encounter during your adventure...well, you got through them...and felt proud of yourself for doing so. 

I'm so pleased that Vicki got out there; and even if she was afraid during the night and slipped and scrapped her knee on day two, I know she still had a great time. It's important that you moderately set your goals when you first start (my first backpack was a whopping 7 miles total) so you can have the feeling of accomplishment that is so vital to overcoming fears and having a good experience. Thankfully Vicki declined my first suggestion of doing 30 miles on the Sunshine Coast, as I tend to get a bit overly ambitious these days. 

Instead we both agreed the Duckabush River Trail was a perfect fit. Number one reason was no smoke (we are really getting hammered with forest fires here in the PNW) but also it's well maintained and relatively easy to get to. The entirety of the trail is 22 miles (later miles are not well maintained FYI) to Marmot Lake (where you can keep going on other trails) but if you are doing an up and back like us, you can do however many miles you want. 

I'll give our specifics below, but end here with this encouragement: the outdoors are for everyone. And though us humans enjoy making goals and pushing ourselves to do ever increasingly difficult things, being in nature doesn't need to involve any of that. It can simply be enjoying the beauty around you with the people that you love. Happy "from your first to your hundredth" trails!

TRAIL LOG:

Day 1: A little over 2 miles to our camp with around 400 ft elevation gain. I originally wanted to go to the camp at 5 miles in, but I'm happy Vicki insisted she would rather play it safe with the earlier spot. There are three along the river; the first one being the best.

It was taken, so we continued to the third, which is the largest. It does not have a river view though, so we went back to the middle one. FYI, I did find a single spot close to the river that is behind the last largest spot when I went exploring the second day; you just have to search a little for it.  

We loved our spot

Day 2: We left our camp set up and did an up and back to the 5 mile camp for a total of around 7 miles and 1600 ft gain. You have to go over what is called the "Big Hump" which feels more like two humps,  and then back down to the river before turning around to do it again.

Five Mile Camp is very nice, but not as private as our spot was. When we were just above Five Mile Camp, I was too far ahead of Vicki for her liking and she called out to me, "where's the fire?"

I saw the men sitting below us having lunch look up at us with concern, and sure enough asked "what fire?" when we arrived. We explained, but they teasingly chastised us for using that word in the backcountry. Everybody is a bit on edge about fire at this time; which is understandable. 

Having a little fun with AI on my IG story

Day 3: Out the 2 miles back to the car with around 400 ft gain. We left camp at 8:30 am and were through the pot hole maze (driving the road was the hardest part of this day) by 10:30 am. This was perfect because we made it to Harbour Public House just before the noon rush, and that place is POPULAR. 

Scored a great table outside

Then we took a little detour to visit Pia the Peacekeeper before getting on the ferry and heading home. There are 4 other Trolls in Washington, so now we have a new goal! 😉 

Mount Rainer looking ethereal from the ferry

 

Monte Cristo and Beyond

The Timberline Trail is just one of the many thru hikes I bailed on. But it's the last one I need to go back and finish. Therefore, I drew up a plan to do an up and back for the missed section, secured the days off of work well in advance, got Julie on board (Janet already got er' done) and so all was set.

But then came the trip reports for that specific chunk of woods with very discouraging tales of dead-fall woe. 350 downed trees to go over or under between Elk Cove and Cloud Cap...and with an up and back, we'd do them twice. Obviously, finishing the TT was going to have to wait. 

So, now what? With four whole days, it seems you should have lots of options; but nothing felt like a good fit. Monte Cristo to Twin Lakes has been on the list for a long time, but four days seemed like overkill. 

Now that it's done, I know this is not a place to be rushed. This area is absolutely stunning - but also rugged, wild and unforgiving. Humans tried to tame and claim this wilderness in the past...the mining and tourism history here is fascinating! Except Mother Nature said "nope" and took it back. We visit with wonder and humility, and hope she is merciful while we are there.

Hard to imagine this was all there once

We were so grateful she smiled kindly on us. I'll confess I was in my head pretty hard over some of the drop offs on these trails. This screen shot of the last bit before getting to the view of Twin Lakes had me terrified; though it wasn't nearly as bad as Alltrails made it look. Even so, as a somewhat clumsy hiker, the thought of falling still made me quite anxious. 

But facing fears is a big part of what hiking means to me - fear of crossing icky, steep washouts (check) fear of walking across high logs (check) fear of looking stupid trying to do a bear hang (check) - The Henry M Jackson Wilderness has got you covered! 😉Happy "stay out of your head" trails. Trail Log below, and YouTube video here. 

Granted, not that scary...but my clumsy self still doesn't like it ;)

 

TRAIL LOG:
Day 1: The abandoned road section is an easy 4 miles, but was harder than I expected; probably because of the heat. We made camp there just before town and hung the food (sorry about that tortuously long video if you watch my YouTube...I do believe I'm done with bear hangs from here on out😜) then took our day packs into "town." 

Julie wisely decided it was too hot to keep hiking, but was okay with me going up and back to Glacier Basin and meeting her back at camp. This is a 4.5 mile and 1,700 ft elevation gain side trail you'll find at the end of the town. The trail reminded me so much of the AT...going up rocks without a switchback in site. I tracked myself for a total of 9.5 miles with 2,228 ft and 6 hours of hiking for the day.

Day 2: I originally thought we'd go to Twin Lakes this day - I mean it's only 6 miles. Thankfully we decided on Silver Lake instead, because the rain hit us right after we put up our tents. (And because we never would have made it to Twin Lakes! More about that on day 3.)

Some mood on the way up

 

Silver is supposedly only 2 miles from Monte Cristo - felt much longer with the 2k gain and obstacle course. (Handful of BIG trees to get over, but all doable.) We had a good portion of the day to stay in our tents...but who cares with this view?

I did later in the day try and follow the climber's trail shown on Alltrails up to Silvertip Peak, but a climber I am not. I could not find that trail to save my life!

As far as I got

Silver Lake from the beach...crazy how the lighting changes the color

Day 3: I could not have underestimated the up and back to Twin Lakes any more than I did. I tracked myself as having done 4.48 miles (and I didn't even go the half mile down to the lake) with 1.5 gain and it took over FIVE HOURS! And this is with a light day pack! 

Though a couple passed me who where going up to Columbia Peak AS A DAY HIKE -- so I guess this is all relative to your fitness level and speed.

The couple on the left. They were actually celebrating their engagement!

 

Celebrating by going up there! People are nuts 😜

I actually heard from an elderly gentlemen that his first backpack was Twin Lakes! 70 years ago when he was like 10...all I could respond was "parents sure raised em' tough back then." If you read my previous blog post, you'll find the story of my grandkids first backpack at about the same age. Three whole miles 😆and they acted like they were going to die, haha. 

Day 4: Another benefit of camping at Silver Lake was our hike out was a shorter 7 miles. An 8:45 am start meant we were at Playa Bonita in time for a delicious late lunch.  

Old Sammy was a post hike beer kind of guy; but new Sammie likes her Margaritas :)

And one last pic because I liked it but didn't know where to stick it 

 

 

Grandkids First Backpack

 

I've gone on a hiking trip over the 4th of July holiday every year since 2022 simply because I know I will have a handful of days off work that I don't have to ask for. This year I was excited to finally see Garibaldi Lake (last year's fail here) and doubly excited that Ken had agreed to come with me. These permits are not easy to get, nor are they cheap...so it was doubly hard to cancel for the second time when the weather forecast once again turned iffy. But hauling ass up that mountain to only look at misty fog would probably have insured Ken never came with me again. Except I still had the days off, so another pivot was in order.  

Being it was the historic 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we decided to take the grandkids to their first big fireworks show - and throw in their first backpack while we were at it. So a very big pivot! From British Columbia to Wenatchee! 

Waiting for the big show

The only thing giving us pause was thinking about the drive over Hwy 2...if you are a Washingtonian you know why. Any summer weekend is bad, but a holiday weekend? Ugh. One word of advice: don't trust Google Maps when it advises you to take side roads to avoid the jam. You may think you are getting ahead...until you have to merge back in. Lesson learned. 

Sammie made a new friend

Another lesson: if attending a massive festival where everyone leaves at the same time and you are staying at a hotel just a mile away, take the bus there and then plan to walk back. That was our plan, but then because we had so much stuff, we just drove and hoped for the best. The "best" was an hour in the car. The trains that go directly through town and block everything compounded the mess. Though the show really was worth it.

But back to the backpack; the Clara and Marion Lake hike is only a half hour drive from Wenatchee; though it is almost a four hour drive from where we live, and we were headed there first. The hike starts right in the Mission Ridge Ski Resort parking lot, but The Chair 5 Pub is also there; and after that horrible drive (which felt twice as long with two antsy kids in the car) we decided a beer was in order. They have lovely outdoor seating, and yes, kids are not only welcomed but catered to with games, coloring supplies and a great kids menu. HIGHLY recommended. 

The hike itself is only a 3 mile up and back, so I don't think many folks bother backpacking it. (Though it does have a near thousand foot gain, so it's a good challenge for kids.) I had read reports that there were several spots "between the lakes" so when we got to Clara Lake we didn't even bother looking.

Instead we pressed on with eyes peeled for the perfect spot. We kept saying "maybe over there"...but nothing. When the trail split I was sure they must be up where it looked to be a flat area, but nope. The split was just another way back to Lake Clara. No camping spots whatsoever. 

The view if you scramble up the scree past Lake Marion

When we got to Lake Marion and saw what looked to be a little island I could tell right away that's where the camping spot was. "Between the lakes" must have meant the two bodies of water on either side - the clear side and the marshy mess that looked to be a mosquito breeding ground. 

But it wasn't!! Hardly a bug to be found...miraculous! We had such an amazing time with the whole lake to ourselves. Both kids caught their first fish - one had the biggest and the other got two, so thankfully we didn't have to deal with too much jealousy. 

For anyone interested, after trying the other lake in the morning, the consensus was that Marion is better for fishing, even though it's smaller. But there are camping spots at Lake Clara; you just have to take a right when you get there. I would say either lake is hard to beat if you are looking for a first time backpacking experience. Happy "generational" trails!

Deception Falls by Steven's Pass makes a great driving break