Transcription of journal page photos can be found below. A more traditional blogpost of this hike can be found HERE along with lots of pictures. Trail Map Says: 9.2 miles Laura’s Watch Says: 10.59 miles Elevation Gain: 2,777 feet (2,864?) Elevation Loss: 1,286 feet Start Time: 8:15 am End Time: 3:57pm 3:37? Active Hiking Time: … More Laura’s Journal: AT 4, or, how I got into Hobz’s pants
Transcription of journal page photos can be found below. A more traditional blogpost of this hike can be found HERE along with lots of pictures. Trail Map Says: 8.4 miles Laura’s Watch Says: 10.72 miles Elevation Gain (Cumulative): 2,042 ft Elevation Loss: 2,598 ft. Start Time: 9:42 am End Time: 5:36pm Active Hiking Time: 6:14 … More Laura’s Journal: Hobz death-marches us “8 miles”
Transcription of journal page photos can be found below. A more traditional blogpost of this hike can be found HERE along with lots of pictures. Today was so tightly scheduled, we had to conduct the morning hike in a manner completely contradictory to my preferred mode of hiking: get to the end as fast as … More Laura’s Journal: out of the Smokies, back to the AT
Back in the car we ate sad peanut butter sandwiches and stared glumly at the list of hikes we wanted to do.
“It’s going to be tough to hike ten miles to Grinnell Glacier here, drive thirty miles, then do another three-mile hike to sleep,” I said, resenting the seven miles I’d already hiked today.
We considered other hikes nearer the campsite. We considered other campsites nearer the hike. No combination worked in a satisfying way.
“This is really stupid,” I concluded. “I want to go home.”
We sat in the car, staring at our tent in bemusement for a few silent moments.
“Huh,” one of us finally said.
Our tent sat in the middle of a perfect circle of standing water, as if it had decided to grow its own moat. It was perfectly centered. I judged the moat’s depth at about two inches.
… More North Cascades National Park, where contradictory things went awry
My efforts to plan a great four-day trip to Olympic National Park left a little to be desired. In hindsight, I totally give myself a pass because this park is complicated, and without ever having visited before, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the huge number of places to visit, trails to hike, and completely different experiences to try out. You can be in a rainforest one morning, on a glacier the next afternoon, and wading through tidepools the next day. Ridiculous! Awesome, but ridiculous. … More Olympic National Park: Camping on Third Beach
“I hear you have nice mountains out here. When’s the last time you saw them?” I asked. Yes, I’m that tourist. I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. I even know I’m not very funny, but I still always seem to think it’s a good idea at the time. … More Olympic National Park: Smoke Jokes & Banana Slugs
This, then, is what the love of glaciers means:
Yesterday, you hiked Mt. St. Helens. You climbed up 4,500 feet over the course of four miles, clambering over sharp boulders and loose scree. You then turned around and picked your way back down 4,500 feet of the same.
You woke up this morning with every muscle in your lower body wailing, suggesting maybe you should be a little kinder today.
You arrived at the Mt. Rainier National Park wilderness office, because backcountry camping was your only plan for finding a place to sleep tonight, and asked if there were any sites left that did not require a strenuous or lengthy hike.
You listened as the ranger ran through a list of unappealing options – seven miles is too many, 2,000 feet elevation gain is too many, 2,000 feet elevation lost is WAY too many, three miles might be okay except half of it parallels the highway?
And then you listen as the ranger kindly offers to check for available group sites, since those could be given away to a non-group at such short notice.
You listen as she says, “the Glacier Basin site is open, oh, but that’s four miles in and nearly 2,000 up-“
And you hardly let her finish the sentence before you say “WE’LL TAKE THAT ONE.”
“There’s not a lot of shade out there. You’re welcome to stay with us tonight if you don’t want to fight the heat.”
A sparkle of doubt crept into my exuberant plan. The hike to our camp site would cover about four miles. We’d have to wear our big packs. It would be hot. Relentlessly hot.
But… but… I wanted to be one of less than a hundred people! Also, there were volcanos back there I wanted to collect.
“We don’t have to go right away,” Dustin said. “Why don’t we go do some of the frontcountry trails, see some of the caves, then we can start out for the wilderness when it starts to cool off?”
This plan sounded eminently sensible, so I sent a note to his highness confirming my enthusiasm for hiking in three-digit temperatures, and we set off for the loop road. … More Craters of the Moon: extreme hot, extreme cold, extreme solitude, and extreme awesome
“You want some mostly warm tea?” he asked, holding the pot out.
I held out my bowl with the teabag in it. “What about my ramen?” I asked, mournfully.
Thither & Yon 