The Ever Changing Quest for a Memorial Day Weekend Plan

Memorial Day weekend could be considered the kick off to the summer backpacking season. Problem is, it's not even June yet, and so options are quite limited here in the PNW. 

We had been trying to come up with a plan since February. Plan A: Carbon River to Ipsut Falls...then the Fairfax bridge failed and wah wah, that one is out indefinitely. Plan B: Desolation Peak. Yes, it's early to attempt it, but I read trip reports of others doing it on Memorial Day; plus I felt we could handle a little snow travel after our successful Cow Heaven outing. Only after getting our permit did I realize this was also a big "wah wah" because the Ross Lake boat taxi is not operational until June. (The TR I had read involving a boat ride must have been a personal boat...the devil is in the details!) Plan C: Iron Bear on the Teanaway Ridge, but that got nixed too because Heidi had a last minute scheduling conflict and couldn't leave until late afternoon on Saturday, plus she also had to work Monday. 

So I had pretty much resigned myself to yard work over the beautiful weekend (biggest wah wah of all!) but then Heidi had read a TR of an Eastern Washington hike that was busting with wildflowers (she is an addict!) and thought we could at least make a day hike out of it. This plan meant Julie could make it too, and it would be great to have the three amigos back together.

But a day hike in Eastern Washington meant driving 2.5 hours to hike for 5-7 hours and then driving another 2.5 hours back. Yes, I've done it before...I don't love it. Maybe we could find a car camp spot somewhere along Hwy 20 on Saturday night? On the best weather Memorial Day weekend we've had in a decade...yeah, that will be easy! (Sarcasm intended.) 

We stopped at every campground along the way, and you guessed it...wah wah. But I had a back up plan. I thought about sharing, but I kind of want to keep this on the down low. But if you are really interested to know, you might be able to figure it out if you read this story.

So after an amazing night of having this "secret" spot all to ourselves (well almost, two guys slept in their car, but we didn't even hear them come in) we got an early start and drove another hour to our destination of Driveway Butte that starts right across from the Klipchuck Campground, our last resort back up plan to camp. But you guessed it again - totally full as well. Thank God for the secret spot!

We'll never tell! ;)

Funny enough, Driveway Butte got it's name because it used to be a "driveway" for herding cows, and we had to once more wonder how the hell these cows made it up these hard ass trails! (See Cow Heaven story.) Actually this trail is kind of like my last two adventures had a baby - massive incline meets massive flower show. 

At the half way mark we had a decision to make. Keep pushing on the official trail to the official view where the fire lookout used to be, or just go about a quarter mile further and turn right on a informal trail that would take us to views that were "nearly as good" (quote from ranger who stopped to talk to us) and save 2 miles and 500 feet in elevation. Well, you know I've always said I'm a hiking cheater ;) Happy "ever changing plans are better than no plans" trails!  

More babies coming soon?

Things to Know:

1) Both the Driveway Butte and the cheater "to the Southeast Viewpoint" can be found on Alltrails. The first option is 8 miles with 3K gain and the second is 6 miles with 2.5K gain. Either one will kick your ass! 

2) I'll quote a review from Alltrails because she said it well: "if you have a low threshold for a fear of heights/vertigo triggers, there is a rather steep, exposed hillside where the trail is thin and sloping as it cuts across". Julie could relate, and she turned around last time she tried this trail. But both Heidi and I tend to push her past her comfort zone...I think she loves us for it ;)

3) The first quarter mile after turning on the unofficial trail is very overgrown, then very exposed. Pants will save the scratches, but then you risk getting overheated. We went with scratches - they weren't too bad.

4) Drive another 15 minutes into Mazama for your burger and beer. There's a new place called Mazama Public House which we really enjoyed. 

 

 

Thank You, Beautiful Flowers

I've been struggling with wanting to write up this trip report - I've actually been thinking about quitting altogether. When life and it's sorrows come knocking on your door, it's hard not to see this kind of thing as trivial. Why am I doing this? What does it even matter?

Walking in a field of flowers is not going to change the fact that life is hard. But I believe that finding a little joy in a moment of golden light surrounded by blooming glory is what gets me through the everyday grind. I'm sorry that this kind of "Instagram famous" hike can feel like a competition for the best picture. I get it, and I get why people take issue with it.

I don't want to add to the problem. But even though there were too many people and not enough parking, I saw everyone finding joy in the flowers. We need it. And we need to find patience and grace to deal with each other in all our imperfections and self serving ways. (I gratefully paid my parking ticket - I deserved it, but I do maintain it was a safe spot.) 

I'm not going to feel too guilty about this trip report because I doubt it will make a difference in the throngs that are going to go searching for the super bloom. And besides, I am part of the throngs; so judge me as you will. The flowers gifted me their beauty regardless. 

Things to know:

1) Both of these hikes are found in the AllTrails app, so it's not like they are some secret. The first is under "Olalla Canyon Ridge" and it's only about a 3 mile up and back with just 500 ft gain, so it's no wonder it's a madhouse. There is room in the "parking" for like 3 cars, so how can you not expect folks to park along the road? As far as I could tell, this was legal, as there is plenty of shoulder space. I know the locals don't like this, but it's not like you are parking in front of people's houses. I live with tulip traffic in my neck of the woods...it is what it is, and it's only while the flowers are blooming.

2) We stayed at the Leavenworth KOA so we could get to the hike late in the day and avoid some of the crowds. It's tough to pay $50 just to put up a tent, but I will say the bathrooms are exceptional. 

3) We should have left earlier for our second hike of "Cashmere Canyons Preserve" but when you are paying that much to camp you kind of want to stay awhile. This hike's lot has room for about 20 cars, and at 9:30am it was full. There was shoulder room for about 3 cars on either side of the lot, so I squeezed myself in. I felt bad about it, but I swear I would not have done it if I couldn't get my entire car completely off the road. But I agree that I was still naughty, and I got a parking ticket to prove it. 

4) This area has many miles of trails with awesome signage. It never felt crowded at all, but it could handle crowds because it's basically a road with two lanes. It's funny how we naturally made the left lane the "passing" lane, even though it was not often needed. But because of this, it would make the perfect place for trail runners.

5) I would recommend doing the "Spring Canyon Loop Trail" (as named on Alltrails) which is a left turn at the intersection at the ridge, and then CCW to Little Bear and back around to the intersection. This makes a very pleasant 8 mile day with about 2K feet in elevation gain. The side trip to Sunrise Peak is nice, but you get the same view at Little Bear.  If you want a better workout, do the loop CW. 

Switchback Hell at Cow Heaven

"The best training for hiking is to go hiking," is the one piece of advice I gave my sister when she asked me how to prepare for our future trip together. (It is happening! But I'm still not going to tell you about it just yet.) My friend Heidi is in training for future plans as well, and her go-to hike is Mt Si. I did it with her last year, and it is now in the "one and done" pile for the rest of eternity. But I wanted to hike with her, so I told her I'd find something that was just as hard but not as crowded. Boy did I ever.

Putting in the filters for 8 to 9 miles with 3 to 4 thousand feet of elevation in the trusty Hiker Finder Map on my favorite WTA website gave me shockingly few options...though one trail did come up that is only an hour's drive away from us! Only barely off of Hwy 20, no big forest road to worry about, looked to have some decent views on top...weird that I had never even heard of this trail before. 

 

Reading the trip reports started giving me an idea why. Sketchy stream crossings and of course the punishing incline...but that is what we were after, right? And I knew Heidi would never let a little sketch get in her way. So Cow Heaven it was.

 

Knowing that in late April you can expect snow around 4,000 feet or so, we understood we'd be running into it at some point. Hoping that the recent good weather had melted enough to at least get us near the top, we brought our snowshoes and spikes and decided we'd just see how it went. 

 

Last minute we both agreed snowshoes are too heavy and awkward to carry, so we only went with spikes. (I have easy to use crampons and she has good micro spikes.) This was a great call, because the last quarter mile or so in the snow was so steep I don't think snowshoes would have worked very well. 

The snow showed up just as we were nearing the 4 mile mark and we started following a lone set of prints. Heidi kept saying "I hope he knows where he's going," and then quickly corrected, "or she" - so from then on we referred to the person as Pocahontas. Of course we'd check in with our GPS to see if indeed we were headed the right way, and for the most part we were. But Pocahontas definitely decided towards the top that switchbacks were no longer necessary.

This is out of my comfort zone and made me slightly uneasy, but it was also thrilling and fun. Plus you only get views at the very end, so we had to make it!  We actually enjoyed the adventure so much we chatted about coming back again to see it without snow. 

 

I've always been on the "up is harder than down" team, but the incline did not feel as bad as I feared on the way to the top. The forest is actually quite pretty, with several stunning waterfalls and so much mossy wonderfullness - the four-ish miles flew by. We really expected going down was going to be kind of a cruise. 

 

"Do you remember all these switchbacks?" Heidi gruffed as we hobbled down that God awful last mile. No...no I did not. They felt endless. My body is still mad at me. But we both feel better prepared for our future hiking plans; though none of which will include another trip to Cow Heaven. Happy "one and done" trails! (Video of the hike can be watched here.)

Sammy loves his new daypack! Read about my old one I had for 12 years here

THING TO KNOW ABOUT COW HEAVEN:

1) When I say it's less crowded, I mean be prepared to see no one. We did see one couple heading up with ropes just as we were headed down; I'm guessing to climb up Helen Buttes? This is Big Dog territory for sure. 

2) The trail is just past the Marblemount Ranger Station and does not have much parking...but like I said, that shouldn't be a problem.

3) That first stream crossing is the only bad one, and it looks worse than it is. Thank you to whomever retrieved the board, because it really is helpful. (Last report said it had washed downstream; but it is back!)  

4) We saw no cow spirits, though I guess they really did let cows roam the upper meadows in the good ol' days...but we had to question how they got them up there? It's hard to imagine a herd of cows going up that steep trail!

5) We did not get to the end...maybe a quarter mile more? WTA has this trail at 9.6 miles and Alltrails has it at 8.7? I guess it depends on what you consider the end. We got the views, so it was good enough for us to stop at about four and half miles with 4,100 elevation gain. Even harder than Mount Si. 

6) I love the Upriver Grill and Taproom! It's now my place to stop when coming home from the North Cascades. 

 

Hello Arizona Trail!

 

It feels weird writing a trip report about anything outside of the Pacific Northwest, even though I have done it before a few times. (The Dolomites, Utah, Grand Canyon, California and of course my book about the Appalachian Trail) But I had better get used to it now, because hiking in Arizona is about to become my new normal.

Last year I completed my goal of 500 miles on the Pacific Northwest Trail, so now it's time to start working on achieving that magical arbitrary number on my fourth long distance trail. The Arizona Trail is 800 miles in it's entirety, so my percentage will be the highest yet. Though 62.5% of a trail does still not a thru hiker make. I'm hoping to gain my elusive thru hiker crown when I move on to my 5th trail in Colorado. It's 500 miles total to hike from Denver to Durango (give or take) and feels like it will make a nice buttoned up package of goal making...if I ever get there. For now let's start with my first section on the Arizona Trail.

My first backpacking section, that is. I tried to do an ambitious 10 mile day hike in Flagstaff in February 2024 that was kind of a disaster. Lots of short cuts to avoid snow; but I'll still be counting the 5 miles I did manage to do towards my 500 mile goal.

Last year's trip - Flagstaff is quite snowy in February...who knew, haha

 

This early April trip was much less of a disaster...I may even call it perfect. Of course "perfect" in the hiking world means: sharing a tent in a lumpy cow poopy field in a windstorm/ swearing into the sky on mile 13 of your 15 mile day as you ascend a near thousand foot gain you were unaware of (or in denial about) / wondering if you are going to freeze as you camp at your highest elevation during a surprise snow storm...all of which you know I wouldn't have had any other way! The complete deets are below for those interested, so I'll end here with my trail blessing of:  Happy "suffering perfectly on completely new and unfamiliar but still breathtaking" trails.

Trail Log:

First day was a travel day to Tuscan, so it doesn't count. My friend, Janet, flew into Seattle where we boarded the same plane at 8:30 pm. It's always a stressful mind game waiting for your pack to appear on the conveyor belt. We were so glad they finally showed up and we did not have to come up with a different vacation plan that excluded backpacking! 

Day 1: Thankfully we thought to call our starting point of Colossal Cave a week ahead to ask if they sold stove gas, which you cannot fly with or ship ahead. They do not, BUT they said they had a hiker box full of left behind partials; and so Janet packed her flip-fuel and we made do. Therefore we were able to get an Uber straight from our hotel next to the airport and get to our 10am tour appointment without risking a trip to Walmart. (I highly recommend the cave tour, but do make sure to get advance tickets.) We stuffed our faces full of their boneless chicken wings while we transferred our fuel and then hit the trail straight out the back at noon. Only 7 mostly flat miles to our spot just outside the National Park boundary, but my feet were screaming! With four liters of water and 6 days of food, my pack was the heaviest it's ever been! So five hours of hiking at slowest hiker speed for the day. 

Day 2: Good thing we packed so much water, because it was another hot one. We thought we could top off at a water source at 3 miles in, but it was dry. Thankfully the next one had a little you could filter, because we were totally out with 2 miles to go and lots of elevation gain left. A permitted spot at Grass Shack campground was waiting for us with a beautiful little stream, bear box and privy. (Just $8 at recreation.gov and you must camp at one of the two camps available within the Saguaro National Park boundary.) This was nearly 9 hours of hiking, even though we only did about 8 miles - but that 2.5k of elevation with the heat was making me slower than slow! 

The sloth club mantra is "we will get there when we get there"

Day 3: Started hiking at 6:19am and ended sometime after 6pm, so this is what you call a long ass day. We had about 11 miles with 3.5k of elevation - all gained in the first 5 miles. We stopped at where we hoped would be our camp at a nice water source outside the national park at 5pm, but the sandy ground made putting up our tents impossible in the wind. So we made dinner and then continued on until we found a hard, flat spot, which was not too much further. In spite of being cramped in one tent with wind, and grass lumps under us, we slept well because we were so exhausted! 

Beautiful and horrible decent off of 8668 foot Mica Mountain

Sung as bugs ;)

Day 4: I normally try to avoid planning a 15.4 mile day, but it had to be done. "It's mostly flat" was my rally cry, even though I knew we had 2k of gain. "It's all spread out" was the lie I convinced myself and Janet of, but we both agreed it was a necessary deception...we would have been obsessed with that last bitch of a hill if we had known about it. We met "Stumbles" (now that's a perfect trail name, btw) at our 13ish mile break and he tried to warn us about what was ahead, except I still didn't believe it. But his "one mile straight up and then straight down" information was spot on. The trail angel's public water cache at both Reddington Road and Molina Campground was our saving grace for this day. If I could hug and kiss them all I would. A little over 10 hours of hiking in total, which would have taken much longer except I was really trying to keep up with Janet.

Keeping Janet in my sight on the flat parts

Day 5: Molina Basin Campground is HUGE, but we took the first empty spot we came to. It turned out to be a great choice, as it was right where the trail passed through. (Lucky #13) This is when you realize a table is a luxury, and we took full advantage as we sat eating our breakfast and watching the "thru hiker parade" all morning. "Disaster" actually stopped to chat for awhile and it was such fun to hear a little trail gossip.

Disaster does look like trouble though, doesn't he ;)

 

Today was an easier day of only 1.5k of elevation in 9.6 miles, so we were not in a rush. Though a local day hiker we ran into midday made it sound like we were a couple idiots who were in over our heads and would "never make it." Then after running into our third mansplainer of the day, Janet simply said to me "why are older men the worst?" Well, probably because they are a little stuck in their ideas of what women should and shouldn't be doing. And yes, it is frustrating. But then we came across a twenty something guy who was such a breath of fresh air. Seeing women doing ALL the things is normal for that generation - thank God. Anyway, this section did have a stretch of sketchy downhill, so it was slower going than we expected. But we found ourselves at "Hutch's Pool" after about 7 hours of hiking, and it was everything we had read it would be. 

Dream Spot!

Sammy thought so too

Day 6: We knew today was our biggest elevation push with 3.7k in our first 6 miles to get up Romero Pass. There was for sure water at the 8 mile mark, and that meant we wouldn't have to carry it all. But it didn't sound like there were camping options at the water. We read of a "big, beautiful but dry" spot at about the 7 and a half mile mark, so we opted to stop early. We only carried 3 liters and hoped it was enough, cause damn water is heavy. It turned out to be more than enough, considering we were not drinking much as it was freezing cold. Literally.

This was not in the forecast the week that we were packing, so both of us had opted for our lighter summer bags. Ugh - one of my coldest nights, but we survived. Thank you Nalgene and boiling water!! Just over 7 hours of hiking for this day, so a steady mile and hour pace. (Janet could have done it quicker, for sure.)

Day 7: Man, we really hoped to cruise these 6 miles into town quickly - we only had about 1k of gain after all! But this was the "Wilderness of Rock," and so cruising was not in the cards - it took us almost 5 hours!

Simply amazing rock formations in this area

SO beautiful though; neither of us expected so much diversity and gorgeousness from a hike in the desert! Arizona does have its surprises, and I can't wait to go back. If you would like to see my videos of this trip all put into one "movie" you can find it here.

Ended at Sawmill Run Restaurant - right on trail! 64.7 miles with 14454 ft elevation total

Sammy says, "I'll be back AZT!"