| Pacific Northwest Exposure log (2006-06-20 -> 2006-07-10)
Leaders: Adam Baxter and Anna McDonald
Students: Harrison Tucker, Ellie Thiemann, Davis Elliott, Anne Rutledge, Jane Strader, Ben Siegel, Jess Martin, Henry Davis, Hatcher Williams
June 20, 2006
All have arrived and are making preparations for Sea Kayaking the San Juan Islands. Will update soon. Stay tuned!
June 24, 2006
By the end of the first day, we had driven to the northwestern most part of the continental U.S., taken our van on a giant ferry to Lopez Island, set up our own campsite, cooked our own meal on a backcountry whisperlite stove, cleaned it up (no small feat), memorized each other's names, and gotten our frisbee stuck in a tree. Ellie amazed us all - she actually takes joy in doing dishes. It's not taking us long to figure out that she takes joy in doing almost anything new. Harrison has a knack for remembering obscure bands and song lyrics - we're all really anxious to hear him sing. And Ben is clearly a Moondance alumni - he shares his cookies - and out here, cookies are a luxury. Keep in mind most of us are coming from the east coast, so 10:30pm felt like 1:30am!
By the end of the second day, we had prepped our own hot breakfast (bacon and eggs), met with our awesome Outdoor Adventures outfitters (Bucky "call it good" Klein motivated us all with his boat safety instructions), learned how to stuff all of our essentials into dry bags, and carried, paddled and steered hundred pound kayaks on a 12 mile route from Lopez to Jones Island. Jess and Davis powered their two-man boat with teamwork - we could hear their laughter from five boats away; Hatcher and Harrison powered a three-man boat (full of heavy food in the center hull) with stamina and athletic prowess. Our campsite on the north side of Jones Island looks right over the bay. It's one day to summer solstice, so the light reflects off the bay until nearly 10pm. Hatcher puts it best the next morning: " This is a pretty cool place to wake up to."
Day three starts with an exploration of marine life on Jones at low tide, led by a most sea-knowledgeable Blair. Jess finds a giant purple starfish; other people find suckerfish, sea anemone, crabs, sea cucumbers and tiny eel. We too are coming out of our shells - everyone is finally comfortable with one another - and we can feel our sense of community and fellowship developing. We all practice a wet exit roll out of our kayaks in 52 degree ocean water! At Moonup, Anne is filled with wonder and amazement that we can actually be out here in a remote place - that we paddled ourselves here - that we prepared and provided food for ourselves - and that we hardly knew each other just 48 hours ago. We end the day with a sunset paddle.
We break tents at Jones on the morning of day four, fill ourselves up with cream of wheat, and paddle six miles to Shaw Island for a relaxing beachside lunch. Henry and Ellie - blonde on blonde - paddle their kayak with force and muscle. Jane's boat, which had dragged in the back heavy with foodstuffs for the first few days, catapults to the front of the pack for the rest of the trek. She is a silent, mature leader, and serves as a motivating leader of the day. We find a paddle that we had lost on our trip out and call it a miracle. We return to Lopez Island, our disembarkation point, and celebrate with a cookout. Over watermelon, we realize that our group has clearly formed a bond. We stay up laughing about our water pump fight, especially at Hatcher, who can take a joke just as easily as he can give one. We articulate our personal and group goals for the trip - some of us want to get into good shape; stay safe; feel comfortable with being un-showered for days on end; and learn to get away from it all. We've almost already forgotten our computers and cell phones. With such a great crew and an amazing couple of weeks ahead, it's not too hard to do. We give each other nuggets", or nods for a great few days work - to Anne for never complaining, even when she had a headache; Jess and Davis to each other for such an awesome boat trip; Harry and Hatcher to each other for manning the speediest and most rambunctious boat; Anna to Henry for helping her pump water out of her boat; and on and on.
Today we drive from Anacortez all the way to 25 mile creek. We're in awe of Mt. Baker and the other white capped mountains in the distance. We're looking forward to the backpacking section, which we all agree will probably be our greatest challenge on the trip. We await this challenge with bravery and excitement!
Wish you were here!
Anna and Adam
July 2, 2006
On day five, we ferried back to mainland Washington, drove through North Cascades National Park on Route 20, arguably the most scenic drive in all of Washington, arrived at our front country camp, packaged and prepared food for seven days of hiking, and checked over all of our gear and clothes - understanding that our backpacks will serve as our closets, kitchen cabinets and home holders for the next seven days. Hatcher cuts great butter; Henry minces some mean garlic, and Anne mixes great GORP!
On day six, we ferried up Lake Chelan on a three hour Lady of the Lake boat to Shehekin, a town of only 95 residents not accessible by car. We spoke to the rangers who issued our permits and forewarned us that very few hikers had hiked parts of our nearly thirty-mile loop this season and to watch out for snow. (It turns out that NO hikers had hiked the second and third days of our section this season! We were the first snow tracks made by humans!) We took a local shuttle from the ferry landing to the Upper Rainbow Loop trailhead and started moving around 4 pm. The hike was almost entirely uphill and with lots of switchbacks. Jane set the pace up front. We passed tons of waterfalls and took a cool break over Rainbow Falls. Hatcher established himself early as the group photographer. Later, and still uphill, we crossed a daunting swing bridge, and made it safely to camp, exhausted but upbeat, by 10pm.
Day seven brought another relentless uphill hike. We encountered an untouched snow forest around Bowen camp and snow hiked for hours. Adam navigated like the true outdoorsman he is and we relocated our trail later that afternoon. It took all of our collective strength to hike up to the pass at High Camp. Some of us spoke at moonup about having had one of the hardest and amazing days of our lives. All of our feet were pruned from so many river crossings, which Davis lynch pinned with his strength and steadfastness. Ellie took every one of her five snow falls with grace and grins. We camped out in an alpine meadow among the glacier lilies.
We greeted day eight with fresh faces and booked it downhill for four miles. We arrived at Fireweed camp exhilarated and relieved that the two hardest hiking days brought forth such moderate hiking bounty on the third! We napped. We played games, cooked a meal of quesadillas, doctored our blisters and called it a night.
Day nine's trail section was lush and overgrown - we had silkworms crawling all over us. We walked among tiger lilies, columbines and indian paintbrushes. We arrived in good time to Six Mile Camp and set up for the next two days. We celebrated Ben's fifteenth birthday with a brownie cake, and hoisted a giant bear bag up a tree. It took all of us pulling the rope to leverage it!
Day ten brought what we had earned - rest. Anna led a yoga class, Adam taught map and compass navigation skills, and we relaxed near the river. We also took a night hike and realized how different the trail feels without sunlight.
We realized on day eleven, when we passed some of the first other hikers we'd seen, that civilization was looming. Our valley hike was pleasant and we were all very reflective - in good, thoughtful hiking moods. We got to Bench Creek early and had an iron chef dinner challenge - men vs. women. The men prepared a saucy pasta, brown sugared carrots and chocolate/vanilla pancakes. The women made pan-fried cheese tortillas, tomato soup and sweet fried flatbread. The judges were hung on the winning group, so we called it a tie.
We awoke with the sun on day twelve, got ourselves quickly organized under Henry's leader-of-the-day guidance, and hiked out to High Bridge. We waited for the shuttle back to Stehekin and laughed at how dirty and smelly and proud and tired we were. We napped on the long ferry ride and arrived back at 25 mile creek last night.
We are thankful for campsites close to water, chap stick, maps, jolly ranchers for the trail, and each other. While hiking, we talked about all of the things we miss most - our beds, our parents, carbonated drinks, running water and bathrooms, and our animals. But the backcountry served us well - we are a group thick as thieves and comfortable in three-day-worn clothing. The hiking week made us tough - and it was worth it!
July 7th, 2006
Happy 4th of July! The PNW II crew made it through the rafting dry, rejuvenated, and unscathed. We are now staying at Smith Rock, our site for the final days of the trip and our final adventures here in the Northwest. We had a nice little BBQ to celebrate our great Nations day of independence. There is nothing better than cheese burgers, home-style potatoes, and cookies to make you feel right at home on the 4th. Enough with that, lets get into the rafting trip.
We woke up early on the 3rd to pack up our dry bags and help our illustrious guides (Jamie, Dallas, and Bethany) pack up the raft for the overnight excursion. We than set out on our 50 mile journey down the Deschutes River of northern Oregon (30 of which we did on the first day). However, nothing is too daunting for this Moondance crew. I started out the day rafting with Davis, Hatcher, Ben and Ellie, while Henry, Harrison, Jane, and Anne took to the second boat. After the initial safety talk, Bethany stepped out of the Captains seat and gave the students a chance to guide. Hatcher stepped up first. He was the first of many to find out that there is a bit more to rowing a raft than one might think, but he soon got the hang of it. Ellie decided to step up next and see what she could do in the driver’s seat. Her positive attitude always shines saying that it was "definitely awesome.” Davis was the next to step up. His modesty is really unbelievable, as he quickly picked up steering and directing the boat, but also stepped down to give others the opportunity. Ben, Moondance alumni from the Blue Ridge, took the oars next with a smile. After a few minutes on the oars, his apprehensiveness faded and his calm, focused attitude led us down about a mile of water.
After everyone did some guiding, Bethany set a rope up on the boat for a little Raft Rodeo! One person stands on the bow of the boat while the others spin the boat trying to buck then off. Everyone took a go at it and everyone took a swim. We soon came to our first rapid, Whitehorse, an intense class 4! Our crew got hung up on a rock and had to jump to the high side of the boat in order to get unstuck. Talk about extreme. We cruised through the rest of the rapid clean and got the all safe sign from the other boats. I then jumped into the other boat to find Harrison as the Chief in command. He was doing a great job guiding, such that the guides had many compliments on his natural ability. He told me later that he could see himself being a raft guide one day. We ended our first day on the river with a smile. After unloading all the gear and setting up camp, we got a gourmet dinner courtesy of the raft guides. Couscous, chicken, peppers, veggie sauce consisting of fresh tomatoes, zucchini and onion, and fresh garlic bread. We topped that off with creamy Mud Pie. We were soon snoozing in our tents while an evening shower lulled us to sleep.
The next day, we woke up at 7:30 to get packin'. It amazes me everyday how much more efficient, responsible, and mature these kids - more like young adults - get everyday. I can honestly say that they have earned my trust and respect. Our entire camp was broken down within thirty minutes and we were warming up to sunshine, French toast, fresh fruit, and hot sausage. We were soon on the river getting ready for a day filled with whitewater. We were allowed to swim our first rapid, a class 2+, due to the lack of rocks in the rapid. This was exhilarating and cold. Everyone, I am proud to say, took the opportunity to swim. I then jumped into the boat with Jane, Henry, Anne, and Harrison. When trying to transfer boats I got attacked by Henry, causing me to flip head over heels into the water, taking 3 oars with me! Henry is always the prankster. Jane, Anne, and Harrison were busy having a water fight and throwing each other in to the Deschutes. We then came upon what we found to be the most intense rapids - Mr. Snappy and Boxcar. Mr. Snappy proved its namesake by snapping our guide out of her seat! Jane nearly took a swim but saved herself by trying to take me with her. Anne was all smiles. After two more light rapids, we lounged for about an hour on flat water all the way to the take out.
All in all, the rafting was the perfect mix of intensity and relaxation. We are looking forward to the next few days of climbing, as well as a little sad to see are trip coming to a close. We will definitely be going out with a bang at Smith Rock
- Adam
|
|
