Friday, July 30, 2021

Good and Bad Decisions on the Wonderland

 


What do you do when you don’t get the permit you so painstakingly planned to obtain? In my determined quest to secure a spot at the most popular camp on the Wonderland, I committed and invested by:

  1. Taking a day off work.
  2. Paying for a campsite close to the ranger station so I could get up super early and be in line an hour before they open. 
  3. Snatching yet another campsite at the trail’s start where I could leave my car and have my support team come and camp before they had to drive another hour next day to pick me up at where I planned to end. 

So when it all falls apart, you contemplate cheating and stealth camping without a permit – if you are naughty like me, anyway. My determination (or you might call it stubbornness) can sometimes get in the way of my better judgement. But I reluctantly decided to be a good girl and just stay at the White River campsite by myself and day hike instead — call Amber and Chuck and tell them they don’t have to make the three hour drive after all. 

“Go with the flow, Kelly, and just be grateful you’re here,”…I tried to talk myself into having a good attitude, even though I was still recovering from seeing the coveted “Summerland” get crossed off the walk up permit list taped to the Ranger’s door just minutes after they opened it. (Sheesh, what’s a girl gotta do to be first in line? I missed it by two people.) 

Then the “flow” took another turn. I overheard two other hikers who were doing the whole Wonderland talking about how they were staying at Summerland that night, and before I knew it I had invited myself along. Who does that? But they were SO welcoming…”Party at Summerland!” they announced jovially. But how was I going to make this work now that I no longer had a support crew coming?

ZERO cell service meant using the “emergency/urgent” pay phone at the campground (yes it will work for a mere $16) and as I was having no luck with anyone answering, my chance at Summerland started walking away.

“Are you coming?” they asked.

I stood with phone in hand, nobody on the other end, and yelled back, “I’m just trying to make a good decision.”

They laughed in unison as one of them called back, “Screw that!”  These were my people! I had to go … good decisions be damned. 

My kinda gals!

Those 19.3 miles were well worth the stress of not knowing how I was getting back to my car. And though my first EVER attempt at hitchhiking could have been worse, I would not recommend it. Standing in the hot sun and getting the “hell to the no” look for over an hour is more demoralizing than I could have imagined. But the trail provided once again, and a young lady road tripping by herself decided to head north instead of south to help me out, and ended up staying with me at that campsite I had snagged back at White River that had been sitting dormant for two days. My good and bad decisions aside – it all worked out in the end. May your happy trails do the same. (More detailed hiking log below if interested.) 

Day 1: 7 miles to Summerland. Passed FOUR rangers, so I’m glad I didn’t cheat! These miles are all up, but it’s not bad until the final mile or so. Funny story–as we were just getting snuggly in our tents, we heard a voice asking “Are you in there?” Ummm…why? Turns out we were being “evacuated” by a fellow camper because he saw a bear roaming through camp. We all gathered around the bear pole like it was some kind of fire drill. But just look at it!! (Pic below) A veritable motherload of jerky and God knows what barely above our heads – no wonder a bear came sniffing. (Though I couldn’t help joking to my new hiking friends that it was actually the aroma of my Smellyeos that had lured our furry intruder.)

Plenty of room for little ol’ me ðŸ™‚
I paid my way in Smellyeos ðŸ˜‰
Maybe a bear would be thinking, “Fresh meat or jerky?”
Morning from our camp

Day 2: 12.3 miles to the Box Canyon parking lot. These are tough miles, though I think they would be more challenging going the opposite direction. The other extremely popular campsites at Indian Bar are just as beautiful, and could also work in splitting this long hike into two days. But if you are a bad ass like Glen, you don’t worry about permits and you just day hike the monster. (From Sunrise actually – an almost 23 miles day!) I would also suggest a key swap would work really well for this hike, and I almost convinced two ladies I met while eating lunch who were going the opposite direction into giving me their keys! (Glen put the kibosh on that as he interjected stories of having his garage door opener stolen out of his unlocked car…thanks a lot, Glen! ;)) And btw, I’m still not done with the damn Wonderland!(First attempt here ) I still have those 5 miles from Reflection Lakes to Longmire. Who knows when that will get done, but there’s dinner at Longmire for anyone who will drop me off AND pick me up ðŸ™‚

Even though I left camp at least an hour before them, the girls caught me quickly of course.
I still love you, Glen ðŸ˜‰
How could anyone say no to this face? ðŸ˜‰

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Royal Basin F-Bombs

 Royal Basin F Bombs

Permit #4 is in the books. Since I’ve got my special “local pass,” I’ve done Bogachiel, Oil City to Third Beach, Enchanted Valley, and now Royal Basin – all in the Olympic National Park. Plus I have four more classic trips booked before the end of the season. (All for $45! Getting my money’s worth!) Fingers crossed they all pan out.

Many of these miles are on the PNT…many are not, including this trip’s miles. I grabbed this permit simply because I could, and because I figured it must be beautiful if it was so popular. (I think it was the last spot available, and I secured it months ago.) 

We pulled up to the parking area after nine miles of some pretty serious potholes and I foolishly drove past the only parking spot thinking maybe it wasn’t big enough. The car behind me did not hesitate to squeeze in. F***. Okay, keep going and see what we can find.

The actual HUGE parking area (room for 75 cars?) is past the first non actual parking area (20 cars, maybe?) and it was full as well. Holy moly, it’s only 9 am!…but it was a Saturday. Thankfully Julie had the brilliant idea to back in at the far end, essentially creating a new row. (Don’t worry, we were careful not to block anyone in. Very nice vault toilet in this lot, btw.) 

When I snagged this permit, I was a little disappointed. At just under 4 miles in, the “creek” spots seemed inferior to the what I was sure would be spectacular camping at Royal Lake or Upper Basin. Plus not having the option of hiking up the 8 miles one day and out the 8 miles the next day meant a whole lot of hiking on day one. But something is better than nothing, so we were going to have to make it work.

Heidi is not afraid! I’ve learned I just can’t let myself think about it

We expected serious crowds after seeing that parking lot, but to our delight we saw only a handful of other hikers. I suppose the majority of people were crossing the bridge at the one mile mark to go across the Dungeness and into the Buckhorn Wilderness where trails aplenty await. (Including PNT miles…next time!) 

We found our lovely creek spot to be far from inferior – besides seclusion (good for the ukulele concert to come) the water was steps away, plus there were NO BUGS! The one thing we could have done without were the obvious pee puddles right next to the fire ring. Is it so hard to point it toward the bushes, guys?

One way to keep bugs off

But now it was time to tackle the rest of the increasingly upward miles – though now thankfully without our heavy packs. I like to think I could have done it with those 35 pounds on my back without crying, but the f-bomb count that last half mile to the lake (with maybe a pound in my little day pack) suggests there would have been serious tears if not for our blessed “inferior” creek spot. 

Take off shoes? Nah…who has time for that?

Though having to return to our camp meant dealing with a bit of a worry if we could do the steep seven-tenths of a mile past Royal Lake (bug infested and not where we wanted to hang out) to the upper “lake” (tarn actually–also mosquito infested) and back the five miles before dark. But no risk, no reward, right?

The F bombs at the end where the good kind…the “are you f-ing kidding me?” kind. After a “happy birthday!” shout to the lucky party peeps across the lake, we quickly took a few pics and turned right around. One thing to always remember is down is way faster than up. Literally I think it took half the time, so it wasn’t an issue. Was it worth the push and the f-bombs and the bug bites and the wet feet and going over the scary log bridges twice? The pictures show the obvious answer. Happy f-bomb trails! (Condensed hiking itinerary below if interested.)

Somebody knows how to throw a birthday party!
Floaties and all 🙂

HIKING LOG:

Day 1: 3.5 miles to Royal Creek camp (there are many spread out over a mile or so) plus the 10 miles to upper basin and back for a total of 13.5 miles. 

Day 2: An easy stroll out of just 3.5 miles. I have to say as much as I LOVED those views the day before, this hike out might have been my favorite part. Going slow while enjoying the stream views and moss and quiet – it was sublime. And an easy day meant lots of time to spend in Port Townsend, which was also glorious. (Thank God we had a reservation on the ferry. We might have been setting camp on the beach if we didn’t! ;))

 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Sedona Bliss

 

West Fork Oak Creek is perfection

Bliss is a word that came up when I searched for an antonym for suffering. Suffering is what a write about most often when I tell my hiking stories, because suffering is what adds interest. 

But there is “suffering” (too many mosquito bites and such) and there is SUFFERING (losing a child, cancer, etc.) and I really struggle with writing about the serious kind. I have a draft on my spiritual blog about suffering that has been there since 2017. Though this post will have neither the lower or higher case variety, because this hike lacked suffering of any kind. So I’m afraid it will be a pretty boring post.

I was headed to Arizona to visit my dad who recently moved there because of his Parkinson’s. (Capital letter suffering that I am already feeling uncomfortable mentioning.) While making the plans (this was early June…suffering would be a major part of this story if I did this hike in July) I remembered my hiking buddy from Oregon had mentioned going there to adventure with our other Arizona native hiking friend.

Can you see the face?

And from there, somehow everything came together seamlessly. I spent time with my family – and I also was able to spend three days with two of the best ladies I know on the #1 rated trail in Sedona. What an amazing time – I can’t think of one thing that went wrong or that I didn’t enjoy fully.

  

I could probably write about how great it was, but the pics tell you all you need to know. Well, except where we camped, which I’m afraid is top secret. So that pretty much leaves me with this short little boring post. Though you know I’ll take bliss over suffering any day, good story be damned! Happy (suffer free) trails!

Sorry, you’ll never know!
I love hiking, but family is everything! I will be back, Arizona!

Monday, July 5, 2021

Smellyeos!!

Arizona Smellyeo

I have discovered the BEST backpacking treat ever, and I wish I could patent and market it somehow, because who doesn’t want to eat a SMELLYEO, ha ha!

Smellyeo on the beach

Okay, maybe the name is not so appetizing – but it’s funny, which is even better. When you add Smore+Kelly+Oreo, you get a Smellyeo, and trust me, it equals a party in your mouth. But the key is using the THIN Oreos, and if they are a little stale and chewy, it’s even better. (And you HAVE to burn the marshmallow a little – the char is everything!)

Cheers to Smellyeos for everyone!

My daughter and her boyfriend helped me come up with the name, so I need to give credit where credit is due. They have been my support drivers on several hikes, and some of my favorite memories are the long drives with them. I have raised my kids to have my sense of humor, so it makes sense that we easily volley back and forth with our often morbid and dark jesting – but what a relief that their chosen partners never bat an eye, and often jump in with the best inappropriate joke. (My DIL is the master! But Chuck is right there with her.)

Chuck is a nut and I love it

And so the three hour drive to Mt. Rainier was filled with laughter as usual, and I had high hopes that I could knock of 10 of those 30 miles I skipped on my Wonderland attempt two years ago. Late June is not exactly the time to do anything on Mt. Rainier, but I found a little jem called “Steven Canyon Waterfalls” that quickly gets you on the Wonderland (.7) and to a camp spot (1 more mile) and from there I could just keep going clockwise to Longmire where we had abandoned ship last time. (see https://www.slowesthiker.com/blog/wonderland-fail/ ) Chuck and Amber could hike in and camp the one night, then back out to the car in the morning to drive to Longmire to pick me up and we could all have a lovely late lunch. Here are some things to know if you’d like to do this hike:

  1. A picnic lunch at the large parking area at Stevens canyon with nice bathrooms and tables then a half mile to a nice little waterfall to take a pic, then another couple hundred feet to turn left on the Wonderland which will take up to a DIFFERENT parking lot (Box Canyon in just a mile – I should have just started there, but I did squeeze it in) then a road walk back to your car would make a nice little day hike loop of about two miles. 

    First little falls
  2. You need a permit to camp at Maple Creek Camp, even though nowhere on the trail description on WTA does it say you need a permit to camp. We avoided getting ticketed, but it was a stressful night. Just stop at the ranger station and get your damn permit! (And no fires allowed…we cooked the marshmallows on the stove fire, which works great.)
  3. You’ll see warnings of a trail washout at 4 miles in. I scoffed thinking it couldn’t be that bad if the trail wasn’t closed, but it is indeed pretty sketchy.  I absolutely would not take kids on that part and would not recommend for anyone who is nervous about that kind of thing.
  4. If you want to go past Martha Falls to Stevens Canyon Road (just a half mile past the falls for a little thru hike) you have to go over a rickety old “bridge” that is sketchy as hell! At least at this time of year when there is a ton of water raging down. Not fun.
  5. You won’t make it to Longmire in late June, unless you want to navigate through a lot of forested snow mounds which are horribly icy. Maybe in a different year and maybe in a week, but not now. Thankfully Chuck and Amber found me waiting on the side of the road a little past Reflection Lakes.  

  

So there you have it. Now I have to go back to finish that little bit between Longmire and Reflection Lakes, then skip ahead somehow to get to Box Canyon to complete the Wonderland to White River. But that just means another fun road trip to look forward too! Happy trails and trail treats!

We at least got lunch at Paradise Lodge…which is nowhere as good as a burger at Longmire and just as expensive