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Almost everything has been packed, shipped, photocopied, and readied for my trip to hike the John Muir Trail, which begins on Saturday. And just now I am starting to wonder if I have mentally prepared myself adequately. I know it is just a hike. I am not going to the moon, hiking the length or breadth of a country, or exploring unknown or completely unpopulated country. But I have a feeling that my mind and my conceptions are likely going to be changed drastically by this experience. It will be a physical, mental and possibly spiritual challenge. Just as I was pondering this in the last week I came upon my horoscope which seemed extremely prescient:
While I was out in the California wilderness doing a vision quest, I came upon a painting in a cave that I immediately sensed was an oracle for the current state of your life. In the painting, there was a hunter who had dropped his bow and arrow on the ground. He appeared to be dancing inside a circle of eagles. The birds were also at ground level and had their wings spread, as if dancing with the hunter. I encourage you to come up with your own interpretations of this oracle, but here's how I see it: You need to commune with wilderness in a way you never before imagined. The best way to proceed is to empty your mind of all the thoughts about what you can get out of the experience, and instead cultivate the free-wheeling, no-expectations attitude that comes when you're dancing uninhibitedly.
Now I am not a big believer in astrology or vision quests and I only read the horoscope on the rare occasion that I browse through The Stranger and come to the last page with the horoscopes. That being said I've gotta wonder if this 'advisor' might just be on to something. Either way, the advice seems sound. So I have begun trying to empty my mind of expectations and prepare myself to live in the moment.
This non-planning might actually be the hardest part of the journey. I have spent countless hours already planning out every detail of this trip, including dehydrating foods, mixing and making freezer-bag meals, creating miniature maps, emailing trail forums, buying gear, getting permits, sending food packages and on and on. Can I do an 11-12 day 220 mile hike in the California wilderness without constantly rationing my energy, strength, time and food. Can I free my mind from constant worrying about whether or not me knee will hold-up, obsessing about getting from point A to point B, cooking dinner #1 or #2, hiking for 3 or 4 hours between breaks, etc. When I step onto the trail, will I be able to free myself from the future and enjoy my present. I sincerely hope so because in fact, this is a major reason why I will set out on this journey. One word seems to encompass my primary goal: Freedom.
So I will try. I will empty my mind, put my feet on the trail, and start walking. Life doesn't get much better than that.
By the way; That free-thinker at the top of the page, is John Muir.
On saturday afternoon I finished up all my errands and chores early and was a little bored so I decided to try and watch a bit of the Cascade Crest 100 mile race. I was hoping that if I timed it right I might be able to see some of my friends in the race. The trouble was that I wasn't totally sure of the course directions and I also wasn't sure how fast most people would be running. So I made an educated guess and decided to hike the Twin Lakes trail to the PCT then continue south to see who I would run into. The other smaller problem was that it was raining off and on and daylight was fading fast.
I hiked up a truly steep and overgrown trail a couple or three miles to get to the PCT just aways south of Olallie Meadows. Then I hiked to Yakima Pass/Twilight Lake before stopping to eat dinner and wait for the runners. About 20 minutes later the first place runner came running by and sarcastically commented on the stellar conditions (wet , dark and slightly windy). Twenty cold minutes later the 2nd place runner ran by and appeared somewhat surprised to see a fan so far out on the course! I stuck around for awhile longer watching the first 8 to 10 runners pass, including the first place woman, but it was getting dark and nasty so I started back. I ended up seeing a couple more runners before leaving the PCT but didn't get a chance to see most of the pack. The only person I saw who I knew by name was Ralph Pooler, who recognized me and said hi. There is Ralph (below) with his head down.
I hiked out in a truly miserable cold rain just as it became pitch black under the forest canopy. It was obvious to me that with approximately 60 miles of cold and wet running to go, all the runners were going to have a rough night. Based upon the results some people appear to have had amazing races, despite the rainy weather. Congrats to Arthur, Alison, Shawn, Van, Wendy, Eric, Glenn and everyone else!
On Sunday I went kayaking and saw this sunken upside-boat. I wish I knew more about the boat and why it sunk. But I don't. Someone probably just neglected to take care of the boat and left it tied to the mooring buoy when it should have been repaired. Just thought it was cool to see the bottom of a boat sticking up out of the water!
Lately I have been a little bit obsessed with my planning for my upcoming vacation and worrying about my knee injury. Unfortunately this has even carried over to my blog, where my posts have been truly self-obsessed. I was recently reminded of this by a couple of friends, Cindy and Chris (C & C), who felt left out of my post on the 2nd White River training run. Ok, so here is my addendum to that post: I ran into a couple of friends pushing their bikes up the road to Suntop during the run, Chris and Cindy. They appeared to be tiring of the hill already and were wondering how much farther it was to the top. I told them it was probably two to three miles (and then comes all the downhill) and that they had a lot of riding ahead of them (or bike pushing!), being that it was already around 2 pm. They asked how far I had run and I guessed that it was somewhere over 20 miles and that I was looking forward to a soak in the river, at the bottom of the hill. I left wondering, how can they be so relaxed about their recreation? Starting out after noon?? Slackers!
Last week I got to hang with some friends and see some great music. Here is a synopsis:
Wednesday: Went to an Old Crow Medicine Show concert at the Woodland Park Zoo with Ana, Chris and Cindy. I had a great time although I am regretting the fact that I didn't dance nearly as much as I should have! Thanks to Ana and Cindy we ate a delicious picnic dinner on the grass right before the show began. Ana thought Ketch Secor was making up his accent. I wondered why peaches have fuzz. We had tons of fun!
Friday: Went to Ana and Keith's for dinner with Chris, Cindy, Brielle and Beezer. The two young'ns are Eli (Ana/Keith) and Mabel (B&B). This was the first time I had met Mabel. She sure seemed feisty for a 5 week old. The burgers were great and the company was fantastic. It is too bad I don't own a teleporter so that I can visit B,B and Mabel in W2 every weekend.
I have a new camera so I am going to test putting a video of the OCMS show here (if I can ever get it to work):
In anticipation of my upcoming John Muir Trail hike I took off last weekend (8/4 & 8/5) and tested out the ol'body and gear for the trip. I left early Saturday morning thinking I would hike deep into the Cascades on a trail originating near Leavenworth; a trail I had never been to before and one which was likely overgrown. But when I got to Leavenworth I stopped by the ranger station and found that they were just about to start the Enchantment lakes lottery drawing. So of course I couldn't resist entering. Lo and behold I was the first one drawn and was awarded a coveted permit to camp in the Enchantments. So I changed plans.
I took the Colchuk Lake / Aasgard Pass route and was strolling into the upper Enchantment Lakes basin just before noon! I can't believe how much easier this route is than hiking all the way up the Snow creek valley, like I usually do. Before I had walked even a 1/4 mile down into the basin I spotted 10 mountain goats, several of them kids. They were not all together but came in groups of 1 or 2. I've seen many goats in the Enchantments before. But there were so many at one time that I was starting to wonder if they were looping around behind me and walking by again! It was a blue sky near perfect day to wander through that wonderland of granite, sapphire lakes and twisted gnarly Larch trees. I was in heaven!
I stopped at the first lake with fish, about halfway down the basin, and started waving the ol' wand. I caught two fish on my own hand-tied Elk Hair Caddis fly within 5 minutes. Even though I broke the tip off of my fly rod on the hike in, I was still in heaven! The fish were small like usual but they fought like true cutts and were exciting to see thriving in the cold clear lakes.
I wandered over to one of my favorite lakes, Crystal Lake, hoping that I could do some fishing here and camp at one of my favorite spots. Unfortunately a large group was already there so I decided to head for the hills and a bit of seclusion. I hiked up over Prusik pass and wandered down to secluded Shield Lake.
I have explored this area before and have been wanting to camp here for a long time. Fortunately, most of the Enchantment hikers are too lazy to climb over Prusik Pass so Shield lake and the lakes below it almost never get visitors. For me, walking down into this basin is like walking into a forgotten land, a near-perfect wilderness, the garden of Eden. The trail becomes ever more overgrown, to the point where in the meadows, the trail is barely recognizable. The entire valley seems to be alive with the songs of birds, the constant thrum of bugs and the pitter-patter of fish riseing on the lake. During my stay at Shield lake I was startled on more than one occasion by a large splash on the lake. I would quickly look out over the lake to see an Osprey rising from the lake with a fish.
I wandered down to the lake and took up my spot on a point of land near the outlet stream. The outlet stream is more like a canal since it soon enters another lake further down valley. Because of the large amount of water which comes directly off the melting snows of the surrounding ridges, the valley was extremely lush this year. After catching a fish or two I camped at Shield Lake and had the entire valley and lake to myself. I was in heaven!
The stars were out that night but I setup my Tarptent since I needed to test it out and I need the practice setting it up. This time I was able to set it up well and actually got the feeling that it will work for my upcoming trip. Until I woke in the morning and noticed that the bottom part of my sleeping bag had been soaked by condensation on the inside of the low end of the tent. Because the tent is so low at the foot end of the tent my bag rubs on the ceiling thereby picking up condensation. I am not sure how I will deal with this on my trip, but I am not too worried.
On Sunday I did a bit of fishing in the morning then ambled back up out of the valley just in time to see a couple of rangers dropping into the valley. When they checked my permit I am certain that they were surprised to find that I was legal. I have to admit that I have considered visiting Shield Lake to stealth camp on many occasions. They said they usually don't patrol this valley but that they would head down valley and work cross-country to the Snow Creek drainage. They indicated that they had never tried it before. I told them how I had tried the same thing before and never found the correct route.
After leaving the rangers I stopped by Inspiration Lake and did some fishing before heading toward the car. On the way out of the Enchantments I ran (not literally) up Little Annapurna and caught some awe-inspiring views. Little Annapurna mountain really isn't nearly as grand as it's name sounds (named after the Himalayan peak) but it does have a cool summit. On it's summit a few large heavily weathered rocks project out over a couple thousand foot chasm on the south side. I like to go out and sit on the rocks where I can get the feeling that I am suspended in the air; my own little magic carpet ride. Usually after a few minutes I start to get characteristically paranoid that there will be an earthquake! If there was any sort of earthquake I am certain that I would be taking a fast trip to the bottom of the valley. The rocks on top look like they are ready to topple over at any time!
My knee injury was ever present on the hike out but it didn't slow me down and it seems to be slightly less painful/sore. All in all it was an awesome trip and it made me even more excited to take a long walk on the John Muir Trail next month!
