August 31, 2011--Where did my August go? Somewhere over the rainbow!

I had lots of big plans for today--too many plans, really.  And mother nature had a few plans of her own!

What I did manage to do was hold today's cross country practice at Iller Creek.  I have turned the majority of the team into dedicated trail runners.  When I said we were going to the top, the girls cheered!  That's a tough run, so I'm thrilled that they love it so much.  In fact, several of the girls who were just introduced to the trail in the past year through cross country practice have told me that they have returned with their families in order to share it with them, too.  One girl told me that when she took her mom, her mom couldn't believe that Iller Creek was public property (and so close to home!).

After the run I had a few errands to take care of, and then I intended to either go to Coeur d'Alene or Mount Spokane for another hike.  In fact, I already had my day pack stocked with lunch, snacks and water and it was in the back of the car, ready for anything.  Then I came out of a store to a downpour.  There seemed to be a break in it, but I decided to hang out in the garden for awhile just in case.  I got distracted by my veggies and spent a couple hours harvesting things (until I had about 50 pounds-worth in the wheelbarrow!).  By then the storm clouds were moving in and it looked like a thunder storm was on the way.  I decided that perhaps my knees had had enough.  I started hike-a-thon by camping in the biggest thunderstorm ever in the Wallowas, and I ended hike-a-thon by watching a relatively tame thunderstorm from the comfort of home.  Mother nature even rewarded me with a gorgeous double rainbow in my front yard: 

So I fell a little short on my mileage goals...okay, a lot short.  But hey, rainbows are there to remind us that things will be better in the future, right?  Next year I'll hike more (and avoid illness and hopefully funerals!).  Besides, Hike-a-Thon is really about the fundraising, and that has gone better than I could have possibly imagined!  Donations are still coming in, and I have far surpassed my original goal!  I'm calling this H-A-T a huge success!

Total mileage = 5.5

Hike-a-Thon 2011 grand total = 252.8!!!

August 10, 2011: Sullivan Lake hikes

After the Salmo Loop I drove to Gypsy Meadows to spend the night.  That place brings back good memories of trailwork parties with Conservation Northwest, the Mountaineers, the Backcountry Horsemen, and the North Idaho Saddle Mule Club.  Doing trailwork with the BCH and NISMC is the best!  It's not just that they pack the trail tools in for the hikers--it's that those guys know how to cook!  Every time we did trailwork with that crew I actually gained weight despite the tough work. 

This time there were no horse or mule people camping in the meadow; it seemed pretty sad to see a jeep near the creek and the high-lead lines empty.  I climbed in the tent soon after it got dark and the next thing I knew it was morning!  I couldn't believe how soundly I slept!

I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed down to Sullivan Lake to hike the lakeshore trail.  I started at Noisy Creek, hiked to the far end, followed the Sullivan Lake Interpretive Trail Loop, and then returned on the lakeshore trail.

Today's mileage: 9 miles
Lakes visited: Sullivan Lake

August 9, 2011: Salmo Loop!

The Salmo Loop is a hike-a-thon favorite; I do it every year, and last year I did it twice!  There aren't too many loops like this one: an inland temperate rain forest with huge old growth trees; a river to follow for miles; a ridge with views of Canada, Washington, Idaho, and Montana; wildflowers everywhere; and a chance to see wildlife, including rare wildlife (still no sign of the elusive caribou, however).

Jeff J. was the brave soul who joined me for this year's loop in a day.  He had never hiked it before, and said that this was only his second trip into the Salmo Priest Wilderness.

We hiked down 506 first so that we wouldn't have that steep three mile section at the end of the day.  The river crossing was really tame this time, and we spent a long time admiring rocks after we crossed the river.  I wish I could remember more from that geology class I took in college; the rocks up there are so pretty!  We went to the Salmo Cabin, spooked a moose (well, we think it was a moose--we only heard something BIG run off into the woods and saw its obvious bed next to the trail).

Once we made it to the ridge we went up to the Little Snowy Top Lookout, where I saw the strangest juxtaposition of reading material ever assembled: a copy of Playboy next to a copy of the New Testament.  Nearby were some dice.  Also a compass:  not a moral compass!  Somebody had a sense of humor.

The wildflowers on the Shedroof Divide were spectacular.  The lupine were just starting; the tiger lilies, larkspur, and columbine were in full bloom; and there were a lot of flowers that I couldn't even identify.

Today's mileage: 21.5 miles
Rivers visited: Salmo River

Good things come to those who get lost

I also wanted to get in some lake hikes this weekend.  I decided to head back toward Republic before going home in order to see what hiking trails I could find near some of the lakes on the Ferry County side.

The first lake on my list was Curlew Lake at Curlew Lake State Park; I figured that a State Park was bound to have some hiking trails.  Well, Curlew Lake is definitely developed more for the RV camping and fishing enthusiasts, but it did have a short interpretive loop hike.  I estimate that it was about 1 mile.

After that I headed south of Republic--Aaron had told me awhile back that Swan Lake had some hiking trails.  At first I was really disappointed--a kiosk at the lake said that the Swan Lake Loop trail was only 1.5 miles.  I put on my running shoes and decided that I'd better run it both directions to get in at least 3 miles, but I wasn't really looking forward to it.  Then I got about a mile in and saw a side trail that was labeled Ferry/Swan Lakes Loop!  That looked a lot more promising--a loop! and two lakes instead of just one!

Things went well at first.  I was afraid I'd lost the trail a few times, but then I'd find another directional marker (and once I was charged by an angry mother grouse!).  It was obviously not a heavily used trail.  After 40 minutes of running (and feeling pretty good for a change) I arrived at Ferry Lake.  Then I couldn't find any more markers.  I saw someone at the boat launch, so I decided to ask if he knew where the trail went from there.  He was standing in the lake looking at some ripples several feet farther out in the lake--and then a loon popped up from under the surface!  I have never seen a loon except in pictures!

The guy didn't know where the trail went, however.  He said he did it years ago, and that he, too, lost the route.  I went down what looked like the correct trail, but it was quickly too overgrown to follow.  I had no choice but to retrace my steps.  I never intended to go for a 10 mile run today, but seeing the loon made it all worthwhile.

After I made it back to Swan Lake (which included a run-in with the local bovine population plus my first lake swimming experience of this chilly summer) I drove back to Ferry Lake, hoping to get a picture of the loon.  I never did see it again, but I could hear it calling from the end of the lake--they are the coolest-sounding birds!

Today's mileage: 11
Lakes visited:  Curlew Lake, Swan Lake, Ferry Lake

Saturday, August 6, 2011: This ain't no cake walk!

Ah, cake walk: the name given to the experience of hiking the entire Kettle Crest in a day.  Months ago we picked August 6th as the date of this year's cake walk.  At one point I think there were 8 or 10 of us planning to do it.  Derrick said we'd better cap it at that so it didn't go too big; it's 43 unsupported miles, after all.  Then the attrition started.

Derrick had a meeting, Deb became injured, Aaron and his siblings bowed out, I got sick, and I don't even know what happened to the others.  In the end, it was down to just Jeff H.; Deb and I were the shuttle, and I would get in what mileage I could along the way.

Jeff got started at 5am; I was going to join him as far as White Mountain, but I slept through my alarm and decided I'd better just join him for a later section, instead.  Deb and I got to sleep in, then we packed up and drove to Sherman Pass to wait for Jeff.  I joined him from there as far as the Columbia Mountain Trail, and then I did the loop and went up to the summit to check out the rebuilt lookout cabin.  My morning mileage was 8.

After that Deb and I drove to Republic for lunch and to check out town, and then we continued up to Boulder/Deer Creek Summit to set up camp and wait for Jeff to arrive.  I felt pretty good on the morning hike, so I decided to try an afternoon trailrun.  At first I was just going to do an out-and-back on the Kettle Crest trail, but on the kiosk near the trailhead I found a sign describing the Deer Creek Summit Loop--South, 7.1 miles, and I decided to run that instead.  Well, it was really more like wogging--at first I just walked all steep uphills plus whenever I had a coughing fit, but after awhile I was just taking periodic walking breaks.  I was a little tired!

When I got back Deb had gotten the campfire started, and we spent the evening roasting sausage for dinner, having s'mores for dessert, and watching the stars and meteor showers (no light pollution!).  Jeff finished just after midnight with a very sore knee but no other problems.

Today's mileage = 15.1 (now that's more like it!)

Still sick...

Julius Caesar, Act II, scene i:
Marcus Brutus: O, what a time you chose out, brave Caius, / To wear a kerchief!  Would you were not sick!
Caius Ligarius: [...]I here discard my sickness! [....] Now bid me run, / And I will strive with things impossible; / Yea, get the better of them.

If only I could discard my sickness!  I tried to run, I tried to strive with things impossible, but they got the better of me instead.  I returned to Mount Spokane this morning to attempt an easy trail run in the Nordic area.  I was very quickly reduced to walking all but the downhill sections (and I even had to walk some of the downhills).  My nailbeds turned bluish again, but at least my heart rate remained at 10-11 on a 6-second count (in the Wallowas I checked it one morning upon waking and it was at 15 on a 6-second count!).  I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do once I'm over whatever this is.  At least I still haven't needed a zero-mileage day.

Today's total: 3.9 miles

It's started...slowly

Last spring I planned the trip that would start my hike-a-thon: a Wallowas backpack trip that I would co-lead for the Spokane Mountaineers.  But no one signed up for the trip, and then my co-leader got an injury that would keep her at home, too.  So I scrambled to salvage at least a portion of the trip.
Instead of the 95-mile route Deb and I had originally planned, I moved the trip to the Lakes Basin.  Jeff agreed to join me for the weekend, but he had to be back to work on Monday...so I decided to go solo for the rest of the trip.
Everything started out well:  Jeff and I left town late Friday morning and drove to the trailhead, and then hiked in 2-3 miles and camped along the East Fork Lostine River that night.  We hiked to the lakes basin Saturday morning, set up one tent at Mirror Lake in order to stash our excess gear, and then took day packs to hike up Eagle Cap (9572').  There is still a lot of snow up there, and the trail to Horton Pass was pretty much entirely snow-covered.  We kicked steps up to the pass, but the ridge was mostly snow-free and we were able to pick up the trail to Eagle Cap's summit.  Then we hiked (and glissaded!) back down and picked up our gear in order to move camp to Moccasin Lake.  On Sunday Jeff packed up to leave and I hiked with him as far as Carper Pass (around 8500'), then returned to Moccasin Lake, packed up, and started hiking to Glacier Lake--I wanted to wake up to Glacier Lake for my hike-a-thon start!
Things went downhill from there.  I was feeling really, really tired by the time I got to Glacier Lake.  The trail over Glacier Pass was between 50-75% snow-covered, so I had a hard hike up with a full pack.  The pass is at about 8400', and the lake is at 8166'.  I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out I had overdone it.  A lot. 
That night there was a huge thunder storm--probably the biggest storm I've camped through.  Of course I couldn't sleep while that was going on, and then even when it ended I couldn't sleep: I had developed a hacking cough that kept me awake all night long. 
Monday morning and the start of hike-a-thon found me feeling fairly miserable after a completely sleepless night.  I even skipped the usual morning coffee in favor of three cups of tea.  I thought I had come down with a cold (now I'm not so sure).  I was supposed to hike out via Frazier Lake and the Wallowa River trail and move camp to Ice Lake (I have wanted to see this lake for years!), but I felt so awful that I decided it might be a better idea to just return to the lakes basin to camp and do a day hike if I felt better in the afternoon.  I didn't feel better.  In fact, it took me about three hours to do the three miles back to the lakes basin.  I set up camp in a different spot at Moccasin Lake and took a two-hour afternoon nap in the shade.  I still didn't feel like hiking when I woke up, and I started to suspect that something worse than a cold was wrong with me.  I started drinking Pedialyte and decided to go to bed early (influenced by another approaching thunderstorm!). 
I had no more than gotten into the tent when a very, very large group came up the trail and decided to camp right next to me!  I hadn't seen anyone else all day long, I don't think there was anyone else camping at the entire lake, and these guys camped so close I could have tossed a rock and hit their tents (and I'm not a very good shot when it comes to tossing rocks).  I counted at least 12 of them, and group size in the lakes basin is 6.  Nice.  The joke was on them, though.  I had the same hacking cough all night long, and I'm sure they enjoyed listening to me.
It was Monday night when I realized that this was something worse than a cold.  I began to suspect HAPE, which is weird considering that it isn't exactly super high altitude up there, but I did go from my house at about 2400' to over 6000' the first night, then hiked to 9572' and slept at 7473' the second night, then hiked to 8500', down to 7473', back up to 8400', and slept at 8166' when I first started to feel symptoms (and I talked to Jeff about this yesterday and he said I started coughing Saturday night--I hadn't even noticed it then).  At any rate, all of my ideas about dayhikes were out the window following my second sleepless night.  I needed to get back down instead.  I got up at first light on Tuesday (it's not like I was sleeping, anyway!), packed up and hiked out.
The farther down I got, the better I felt, but I still needed frequent rest breaks.  I just couldn't draw a full breath, and I still had the terrible cough.  I went to Enterprise to pick up some cough medicine and drove home.  My hike-a-thon starting mileage is terrible!  I need to get lots of sleep and drink lots of water and try to get caught up!
There was good news waiting for me at home, though: I was on the wait-list for the Cutthroat Classic, and I got in!  Now there's some incentive to start running more!
Stats: 
Monday mileage--3.5 miles (parts of trails 1806 (Glacier Pass) and 1810A.  Lakes visited: Glacier Lake, Moccasin Lake.
Tuesday mileage--9.3 miles (parts of trail 1810A and 1810 plus 1662.  Lakes visited: Mirror Lake, Upper Lake.  River visited: East Fork Lostine River.

Less than a week!

The Wallowa backpack trip keeps getting shorter and shorter, but at least I'm hopeful that I won't have to cancel.  The 95-mile route to see the Minam Lodge and better understand a little family history (my aunt and uncle used to own it) is now on-hold until next year.  I think I can at least get to the lakes basin for a 40-50 mile route.  I'll have to figure out a few more long day hikes later to make up for lost mileage.  That shouldn't be too much of a problem, as I have a vast collection of guidebooks with multiple bookmarks for dream trips.  Anybody want to explore?

I am realizing that I'm still out of shape, however.  I did an easy 8-miler on the roads yesterday, and an easy 5-miler at Mount Spokane this morning, and I am so sore!  I'll have to mix my trail running with hiking, at least at the beginning, if I am to survive the nearly 11-mile per day average I'll need to reach 325 miles for the month of August.  Well, if I managed 306 last year while injured, I'm sure I can tackle this while merely sore.  So long as I don't end up re-injured!  Now I just need more sponsors!  Pretty please follow the link at the top and give the WTA some money for me!  :)

Hike-A-Thon

I found out how I did for this August's Hike-a-Thon:  I raised $469.38, hiked the most total miles at 252.5, hiked the 2nd most miles in a single day at 28.6 (the most was 62!!!), and hiked the most miles on a trailwork party at 20.3 (although for some reason it's only showing as 9.1 on WTA website).  

I wish I knew how some of the participants raised so much money.  The most was $3,465, and he had 59 sponsors!  I need to brainstorm some ideas for doing better next year.  The hiking part is easy.  I'm contemplating parts of the PCT through Washington and the Wonderland Trail in addition to my usual trips to the Kettle Crest and the Salmo Priest.  I have also been thinking about doing a long trailwork party for the last couple of years.  I'd like to take the Shedroof Divide out to Little Snowy Top, then drop down the trail that leads to the Upper Priest River (I hear it hasn't been cleared in several years), then follow the Upper Priest to the trail that leads back up through Cabinet Pass and back to the Divide.  It would be a long trip, and I fear that we'd encounter so much downfall that would wouldn't be able to finish it, but it would be a really good hike.  As for the money part, I think I'm going to start by asking people to pledge a penny or a nickel per mile.  I bet a lot of people would be willing to pledge that much, and then I'll just hike so many miles that it will yield a good total.  I wonder how hard it would be to hit 500 miles?   

This picture is of trailwork

on Crowell Ridge, August 2009.

This is where I got the majority

of my trailwork miles for Hike-a-Thon.

Five people hiking/clearing 16.7 miles in three days -- not bad!