Alpine Lakes Wilderness Day 2

24 August 1986.  Sunday we are considerably more rested and ready to hike.  Lots of up and down but we stay between 5500 and 5000 feet much of the day.  We pass over two ridges and take in views of Alaska Lake, Joe Lake and Edd's lake.  The first two of these are basins surrounded by dramatic, sheer walls.  Our route threads its way along the ridgeline above the lakes.  We walk hoping that we'll not run into horsepackers where there's not room to pass.  We don’t.  We pass under Chikamin Peak and hike out along Chikamin Ridge.  We can see the two Park Lakes as we begin to drop off the ridge.  The descent is steep with many switchbacks.  My legs are sore as we pull into Spectacle Lake.  The day was a long one--10 miles.  The morning's energy gave way to sheer endurance hours ago.

Alpine Lakes Wilderness Day 1

23 August 1986   Saturday.  Greg, Colleen, Gary and I begin a week long Pacific Crest Trail Hike.    We fly in from Phoenix, rig out our packs at the Seattle and locate my cousin, Amy, who will shuttle us to the bus station and stow our excess gear at her mom's place.  Four adults, one 16 year old driver and four bulging backpacks are a tight fit in a Subaru wagon.  We make our bus and head east to Snoqualmie Pass.  The ride is leisurely, offering time to think about the adventures to come.  I always have a sense of foreboding as I head out.  Did I bring enough?  Did I bring the right stuff?  Am I missing anything important?  Yes, yes and no.

We disembark at the pass at 3:30.  During winter this is bustling ski area.  In late August, it looks almost abandoned.  The bus pulls away and we are on our own.  My pack is full and damn heavy.  This is the first long trip for this pack, an internal frame pack that I began using in April.  It seems to carry the load well but I am seriously weighted down.  The trail heads straight up.  We move sluggishly, trying to establish a rhythm.  At this stage, all we can do is push on.  We've got 7 miles to go before dark.  We catch some great views of Mt Rainier in the distance and sheer rock ridges closer by.  Gravel Lake comes into view not long before dark.  The day has been a long one.  Horizontal time is most welcome after a 2700 foot climb.

Tolmie Peak Day Hike

Hiked the Tolmie Peak Lookout Trail in Mount Rainier NP on an overcast and foggy day.  Started at Mowich Lake which was totally socked in and not visible even where the trail skirted just above shoreline. We passed under sheer rocky palisades, across some small scree slopes and over Ipsut Pass, continuing on to Eunice Lake and then climbing to Tolmie Ridge and the lookout.

The route is known for spectacular views but this day is more sweeping banks of clouds across the high ridges and in and out of the spaces in between.  We make do with the views we get, which are mainly of Eunice Lake.  Our first view is from  the south.   We see the a shallow outet and the larger larger lake beyond the channel.  On the far side of the lake Tolmie Ridge is a near vertical wall of rock, massive in form, sheer cliff and tenacious forest.

Climbing the final half mile from the lake's outfall (pools but no running water) we see Eunice Lake as a whole, a sparkling blue gem surrounded by the rugged peaks of Rainier's northwest flank.  That impression is re-confirmed once we reach the lookout.  We catch a couple fleeting views of Rainier as the cloud banks sweep across the cirque that holds Eunice Lake.  At one point the entire cirque is filled with fog and zero visibility.  Other times we can see the basin and surrounding ridges as clouds roll in and out.  Heading back, we got a bit more sun and (sort of) clearing skies but the high places stay in the clouds as far as we can tell.  On a truly clear day this place would take your breath away.  On this day it was simply a fine destination with plenty of interest to make for a good walk.   

This hike was my first using trekking poles.  I rented a pair to try out.  For the most part I was glad to have them.  The poles helped me maintain momentum and stability and were especially welcome on the steep descent from the lookout.  Two poles are far more cumbersome than the one pole I have carried ever since I began using a pole in the 1990's.  That took some getting used to but overall the effect was good.  I'll start looking around to see what I might want to buy.  The rentals were pretty basic.  My hiking partner has a very nice pair with features that would certainly improve the poles' comfort and use.

Some photos:

 The palisades

 Eunice Lake

Eunice Lake again

Eunice Lake again

  Tolmie Lookout

 

Tolmie Ridge

An August Hike

Seven days into a Long Trail almost thru-hike: 

8 Aug 1991.  Very short day today.  We made it into Barrows Camp about 1:00 today, a nice, early finish to a short four hour hike.  We left Corliss Camp about 9:00, climbed over Laraway Mt at 2700+ feet, dropped 1500 feet into Codding Hollow and back up 300 feet through a pass--7 miles according to the trail signs.  Laraway offered some good views:  a small road winds through a valley dotted with farms and open fields, all backing up to wooded mountains.  I could even see sections where trees had taken over old pastures and the foliage looked considerably different.  Crossed an old stone wall south of Codding Hollow, a remnant of the pre-Civil War hill farms that were common in Vermont.  Most of the state was logged during the 19th Century, any and all space being used for agriculture.  But those farms began to fail as larger farms in the lowlands began to produce more cheaply.  Thankfully, the forest has made a good comeback.  It may not be old growth but it is thick and isolated.  We also passed through a maple sugar orchard north of the hollow.  But instead of buckets hanging on plugs driven into the trees, the taps are connected with plastic tubing to a PVC line that runs all the sap to a collection point. 

Barrows Camp is an older building with an upper and lower bunk that stretch the length of the cabin.  It has a wood stove made from a cylinder, four windows and a large dial thermometer with a deer scene backdrop over the door.  Water in the spring is flowing slowly but we can catch it in Bill's milk jug.  

In all, I am in great spirits.  The woods are pretty, the camps have been comfortable and the walking has been easy (or relatively so) since Tillotson.  The forest today offered some spectacular rock walls covered with moss,  an unusual spruce forest ecosystem and a wonderful waterfall just north of the ridge before Barrows.  I've had the chance to just just let my mind wander--no stress, no worry.  I spend my time on the trail thinking about how great it is for me to be here and what a good decision I made to come here.  I'm also congratulating myself for having the sense to scale back the trip so that I can enjoy rather than suffer through what I am doing.

 

Today is our last day before heading into Johnson for R&R and B&B.  We've covered about half the distance we planned in this first week and the fact that we won't hike the entire trail still gnaws at me a bit.  Part of me says that I came to hike the entire trail and anything less is not acceptable, by god.  Fortunately, I don't have to buy into that line of argument and can accept that what I am doing is far more fun than what I had planned.  So today we are just whiling away the afternoon, killing time before knocking off the two miles into town tomorrow.  We need to resupply to cover the five  days till we get to our resupply drop in Jonesville.  I need to repair or buy new boots.  Both of mine are blowing out at the welt; I'm surprised that they've made it this far.

Book Review: Truth in Advertising

Fin Dolan is a bright advertising copywriter in New York who is sufficiently uncertain about himself that he canceled his wedding on short notice.  “I was more in love with the idea of being in love than actually in love,” he says.  Two days before Christmas his client— a maker of disposable diapers—informs his agency that it has developed the first “fully biodegradable disposable diaper that can be flushed down a toilet instead of piling up in landfills.”   The client wants to announce this amazing breakthrough in a high-profile Super Bowl ad in a mere six weeks.  Along with the insanity and pressure of that assignment, which ultimately requires some qualification of “fully biodegradable” and “flushed”, Dolan also confronts his uncertain feelings about life and others, especially his estranged father whose violent behavior led him to abandon his family and contributed to his mother’s suicide.  His two brothers and a sister are distant and, like Fin, hostile to the family memory and maybe more so.   

Despite the ominous backstory, author John Kenney offers a gentle, believable, sometimes absurd story about life in the New York City advertising world which he knows well from his own copywriting career.  The book includes much detail of the business--from brainstorming, to production, to post-production--all of which adds authority and provides generous opportunity for to create supporting characters and scenes.  Kenney fills the required positions with lively personalities and engaging subplots that move the story along at a good pace.  He tells the story with humor—at times laugh-out-loud funny—and understanding.  Fin Dolan is a real human being with all the flaws of the human condition and then some.  Truth in Advertising is one man’s story but Dolan's story has lots of interesting company and compelling circumstances along the way. 

Truth in Advertising by John Kenney

Two Writers Talking

One of those writers is poet Larry Kershner, author of Grave Lines.  The other is yours truly.  We are speaking on "The Veterans Hour" program produced by the Rachel Corrie Chapter 109 Veterans For Peace here in Olympia.  The video also includes a tribute to our recently deceased comrade, Ken Schwilk.