Thanksgiving Hike 2010

Most people like to spend holidays with family. I am not anti-family, I just need some time on the mountain to refresh and recharge my batteries. Holidays make a great time for this as the rest  of the world is usually inside with their families. Gena and I took this year as an opportunity to go play around in the snow on the coast.

Don't get all worried that we didn't get our vitamin T (turkey). We had done that the night before and even had left-overs to come home to after our hike! Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without a few of the traditional fixings after all!

We thought we would hike from Keenig Creek to Elk Creek but learned that would have been almost a 20 mile day. In the snow, we were pretty sure we wouldn't make that so we aimed instead for Jones Creek. The snow got pretty deep at about 1200 ft so we didn't make that either, but it was a great hike just the same. I am not sure how far we went, but we walked for about 4 hours. By our pace, that's pretty close to 10 miles with breaks.

Looking West

My mother-in-law was worried to no end when I told her I was getting a Pitbull. "Pitbulls eat children. They are only good for eating faces of people!" OK, that might not be a direct quote, but it's pretty close. Jane was to bring the horsemen of the apocalypse to here her tell it.

Now, years later, she likes Jane, despite not being a dog person. It may be the fact that Jane is a big softie who lets the cat beat up on her. To add insult, she can often be seen sporting a baby blue backpack. On rare occasion, specifically in the winter, she may be seen sporting a pink knit sweater. The other dogs in the neighborhood laugh at her, but she is in our pack, not theirs.

Big Bad Jane

 We were the only human tracks on the trail. We weren't the only tracks on the trail. Early in the hike we stirred a pair of deer so watched them spring up the side of the valley. On our trail were many tracks of deer, elk, and several spots of bunnie tracks like these..

Be Very, Very Quiet...

 Hiking around Tillamook anywhere near hunting season can be a bad idea. Gena thought it would be a good idea to carry a sidearm. I thought I should carry a rifle. Having never hunted for recreation, I have no idea what the laws are and didn't want some ODFW officer harassing me for something I had no intention of doing. So I kept with the pistol hoping that if some inbread idiot thought I looked like a deer or elk and shot me that he would not get a kill shot and I would be able to fire a few rounds off to let him know I am not a tasty and delicious woodland creature. Usually deer and elk don't carry Glock.

Big Bad Jane and Me

 As it turned out, there were no tracks anywhere near us. I didn't feel the need to worry after about an hour on the trail.

Cool Frozen Stuff

Nice View

Pretty New Boots

 Jane is such a good puppy. She lets us dress her funny and even put boots on her, thus limiting the effectiveness of her naturally evolved feets. After getting her new boots on she would run and run. Once or twice she couldn't stop but rather would plant her feet and slide with her front legs sprawled like a child learning to plow his skiis to slow to a stop.

At one point, one of her boots fell off. I decided to let it remain off so she could have one good connection to the earth. This seemed to put her at ease a little more which I felt was good for the training. I am not sure if I will use this tactic on volcanic rock but it is worth considering to rotate paw protection while letting your dog maintain a feeling of connection to the earth.

The boots we are currently testing are Barkin Boots Grip Trex. We picked them up at REI when the last pair wouldn't stay on Jane's feet around Three Sisters. Two things I have noticed so far. The first pair had no grip. The bottom of the shoe was a sort of synthetic leather. Grip Trex has a Vibram sole on them with lots of grip. The other thing is that the size was wrong. I had looked at the fit scale on the package before I bought the first set and thought I had the right size. On Jane they fit like a glove and seemed perfect but kept falling off. The velcro closures just didn't seem to grab high enough on the leg. This new pair seems too big around the paw but stay on way better. I believe the reason the one fell off was due to the sock we had on her that had gotten wet in the snow. This had happened to one of the other paws also so I removed the sock and the boot stayed on just fine after that.

Another thing to watch for is where the thumb or dew claw is on your dog. On Jane's front paws, there is a thumb that rides a little high. I had to make sure the velcro strap was above this joint to keep the boots on just right. Before I figured that out she was slipping all over and didn't want to put her foot down. This was due to that claw rubbing on the top of the shoe. Contact me if you have questions, I will try to keep on this.

Prancing

Beautiful Ice

All in all, it was a wonderful, beautiful, quiet day.

Eagle Creek’n’Kids: How to Poop in the Woods

Last weekend we loaded up the gang and headed over the river and through the woods to Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River Gorge. In addition to our two girls, our good friends Keith and Erin joined us for Erin's first overnight hike ever. Jane had to sit this one. After weakening her paws on the Three Sisters Hike, she was playing fetch with my oblivious daughter and tore the pad on one of her front paws. With all the chaos on this hike, I was glad for her to be resting at home with Granno.

Eagle Creek is located about 40 miles east of Portland on Highway 84. To get there from Portland, take Exit 41 after coming out of the tunnel. The off ramp starts just as you return to day light, so don't let it sneek up on you! If you are coming from the East, you will need to take the Bonneville Dam Exit 40 and turn around. Likewise, when leaving Eagle Creek, East is the only option. Turning around at the very next exit (Cascade Lock) is easy.

This trail offers a bajillion waterfalls in the first 7 miles. I am not sure there is a trail so close to Portland with so much bang for the buck if you like waterfalls. The trail is very easy and has several spots where you can walk down to the creek to cool off in the summer. For these reasons, it is very popular. Most people turn around at about Tenas Camp, though, so it gets more serene after that.

Day 1

At 6 am we had only to pull some food items out of the freezer, toss them in Gena's pack, make like a tree and leave Tillamook. The kids suddenly had to do this and that and forgot to pack this, that, and the other thing, but we made it out of the house only a few minutes late. We hadn't finalized the decision to leave Jane until Saturday morning in case she was well enough for the easy hike that Eagle Creek offers so we still had to drop her off before we could really get out of town. After dropping puppy with Granno, we got to the main Eagle Creek parking lot just before 9 am.

The safest parking lot is on the left as soon as you get off the ramp and take a right in front of the hatchery. This is the lot where you pay for day use if you don't have a NW Forest Pass. If you are headed up overnight or for several days, you will want to leave your car or truck here as it is closest to the Park Host and therefore has much lower rates of vandalism and theft.

For a day hike you can drive further up the creek to park at one of the two lots closer to the trail head. Note the signs on both sides of the street that say, "No Parking Between Signs." You will also notice little pull-out spots in the road where you may think you can park. YOU CAN'T. The signs should say, "No Parking This Side of Street." On our way out of the forest we have seen Park Ranger Boy writing dozens of tickets. This can turn a $5 trail visit day into that plus $125 for illegal parking. Don't be that guy!

So we got geared up and hit the trail. When we planned this trip several months ago, we thought we would be able to camp at Wahtum lake with the girls on this trip. Last year we had camped at 7 ½ mile camp for their first-ever overnight hike. This year we planned on taking them on several more leading up to this one, building them up for almost double the distance. Being a blended family, our kids are gone about every other week in the summer and stay very busy. This business, however, seems to include a lot of couch time and not enough fitness time so we didn't think them ready for 26 miles in two day. There are some campsites about another three miles up trail 440 towards Wahtum Lake along the tributaries of the East fork that we thought we would be able to push them to.

This was Erin's first ever overnighter!! As such, she was new to her pack and her shoes, while she had been wearing them on walks, were also new to the trail. For the first little while we were stopping every 15 minutes or so to adjust her pack looking for that sweet spot that every backpacker knows. I don't think we ever found it, leaving me to con clued that hers is the wrong pack for her.

We stopped at the overlooks to several of the waterfalls including Metlako, and the Punchbowl twins, but we didn't hike down into them. These can be done on a day hike, so we decided to save our calories and push on as far as we could early in the day.

About Tenas Camp (3.7 miles), we were ready for lunch and knew the perfect spot on top of a waterfall. There are two ways to get to this fall and one is through a campsite. Some people were resting at this campsite but we figured we could walk down through the site to our chosen lunch spot. NOPE! They had a buddy who had to use a tree! Understanding the urgency when nature calls, we gave their friend all the time he needed and waited for him to come back up the hill so we could walk down to the falls. It seems we gave him enough time to take care of the business and the paperwork but not enough time to bury his own scat! Thinking back, he was without a shovel or trowel and looked urban enough to forget that our ancestors knew how to use fancy tools like sticks to accomplish certain tasks. There on the edge of a campsite were his poop and paper for the world to see! How special.

We didn't let it get to us as we are sure the world is full of people who need to learn certain facts such as: When on a trail frequented by thousands of people every weekend, you should bury your turds. If half of the visitors here didn't do that, this would be a shitty trail instead of the piece of beauty I am sure he came here to enjoy. Don't ruin it for everyone else.

So we had lunch on INSERT NAME OF FALLS which consisted of a variety of jerky, cookies, and trail mix. Without close scrutiny, the kids went right to all the things they wanted NOW with no consideration to what they would eat tomorrow. You have to learn some things the hard way, so I let'em! I figure they aren't going to learn if I never let'em fail. Tomorrow they would have no cheese and cracker packets. Sad.

We were collecting our things, about to leave our lunch spot so Gena took Nicole up to use a bush. Carefully using her experienced eye, Gena found the perfect tree for little miss Nicole to hide behind to leave a tinkle. When Nicole had finished, I guess she didn't want to pull up her pants near where she peed, so she hobbled around the tree and stood up. Gena told her, "Um, the trail is right there!" Panic stricken, Nicole froze. I think this is residual instinct from when man shared the earth with larger predators who might not be able to see you so long as you didn't pull up your pants… I think tyrannosaurus was one such predator. Gena reminded Nicole, "Well pull up your pants!!" Nicole complied.

Nicole is learning more every hike. On the Tamanawaus Falls hike she peed all over the bag containing the toilet paper. I guess our residual instincts on this skill are patchy at best. At least the roll of TP was in a plastic bag so the rest of the crew could avoid using leave, branches, and pine cones.

Some of you may remember I thought I was fighting a case of the Beaver Fever through this hike. A couple miles after lunch, nature was giving me a call. "Who has the paper?" Wouldn't you know we were on a segment of trail with no easy way to get off the trail and behind some suitable concealment. Keep walking. Flex cheeks. Keep walking. There!

Gena tells me, "You know as a girl, that tree looks like a great spot to squat behind."

"Good eye. I will catch up with you soon."

I had to scramble up a fairly steep hill to get behind an old dead piece of old growth that would likely not benefit from my fertilizer. My stomach was starting to sound like an old percolator coffee pot so I decided the trowel too slow and dug a hole with my boot, dropped trow and hunkered down. Burying my work with several inches of dirt and rotten old growth, I donned my pack and started hiking at a trot… or should I say jog.

I was just whooped. I suddenly felt tired, dehydrated, winded, and in a state of general malaise. I caught the team at Tunnel Falls. Gorgeous. Just around the corner from Tunnel Falls is a little section of creek bank perfect for resting already tired feet. Seems all the girls except for Gena already had tired feet. It wasn't my feet that were tired, but I took the opportunity to catch a quick power nap.

As we were getting to 7 ½ Mile Camp it was clear that there were many pairs of sore feet. Gena and I decided that for social reasons, and in pitty of my rotting gut, we could go ahead and camp here for the night. After exploring what all campsites there were in this area, we settled on one close to the water with enough room for some room between out three tents.

I had to lay down again.

When camp was set, we decided to walk up stream for a while. Keith, Natalie and I decided this meant jumping from rock to rock trying not to fall into the drink. Eventually, I fell into the drink… It was bound to happen. I seem to push it until it happens!

For dinner we tried something new: we packed in hot dogs and buns. Not a great use of space, but since we were only doing one night, we thought it would be fun.

This weekend was also Erin's birthday, so we hiked in an apple pie courtesy of Granno. I mentioned the Freezer right? Freezing a baked pie and a bag of wieners worked out very well for an overnight hike like this. I wouldn't likely do it for a longer hike where weight was more of a concern or if we needed the pack space for more important gear. For this, though, PERFECT! The dogs were still cold and the pie was even still lightly frozen in the center! Were it a hotter day I am sure Gena would have appreciated the ice box on her back!

I was starting to feel more ill. The rest of the team sat down to play some Yahtzee but I decided just to watch as I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to last a full game. I was right.

Bidding a good night to the crew, I went to bed early. That night I would sweat through my clothes and my sleeping bag, wake in the night to pee, stumbling like a drunken sailor by the red l.e.d. of my headlamp, and fall back to sleep to dry my clothes by body heat. With a chance of rain forecasted, I was not surprised to find our tent wet in the morning. I was surprised to find mine the ONLY WET TENT!! I had sweated so bad that our tent was wet! There was no rain. I felt better in the morning.

Day 2

Waking in the morning when you are hiking with kids is always an adventure requiring more work than if you were with self-sufficient adults. Little hands lack strength to do things like tightly rolling sleeping bags, stuffing those bags into tight little mini-backpacks, and properly folding and stowing tents. That's the usual that you can expect. You can also expect to call them when hot cocoa is ready, then have them doddle until it is cold, complaining that it isn't hot enough. Of course, if they don't doddle, it's too hot! A battle I am finally laughing off. J

Aside from the usual, you may expect there to be minor issues with biological functions. On the Tamanawaus Falls hike, Natalie woke in the morning, whispering to Mom to, "Come'eer!"

"Closer."

Mom Crawled closer under the awning of the orange Hiker Biker tent the kids were in.

"You see that wet spot there? I peed there last night."

The "spot" was right where Gena was standing. In the night, Nat couldn't make it all the way out of the tent. While she swears she didn't pee ON the tent, it took two washings to get the smell of pee out of the fabric around the door! Similar story of the sleeping bag… Some say, "Don't pee where you sleep." I thought this was basic common sense. Not So! You aren't born knowing these things!

So back to day 2 of the Eagle Creek hike!

Knowing that the kids had "laid some brown eggs" nearby, she set out with the trowel to make sure all was properly buried. When doing this, it makes sense that you should be able to look for the obvious white paper atop melted eggs. Knowing about where to look, she scoured the area… nothing. Finally she looked up; paper hanging from a branch. Little Bits had apparently wiped and tossed the paper behind her with no concern for where it would land. Perhaps she thought the squirrels would like to see their trees decorated with brown stained white paper? Not sure. Can't get a straight answer through the giggles on that one!

Gena did her best to swat the paper off the branch with the little orange spade, then buried it but couldn't find the actual poo… until she got back to the tent where I was tearing down. First she thought she smelled it on her hand. Then she thought she was being paranoid. She smelled it again. Look around… Human poo seems harder to get out of boot tread that the usual dog or cattle that most people step in. It would take her a half hour to fix that mess.

I would like to take this opportunity to promote a handy little field guide called, "How to Shit in the Woods" by Kathleen Meyer. She covers these and many more points in much better detail with many points from many rafting trips, hikes, and other outdoor adventures.

After all of these shenanigans, the hike out seemed very fast. I don't think we stopped for food or water. Gena had thoughts of hiking the kids the mile in to Wahclella Falls south of Bonneville Dam. As we neared the bottom, however, Nicole's feet were sore so we decided to head to Red Robin to reward the kids with just about their favorite restaurant.

Gathered outside Red Robin's after eating a good burger, Nicole thought she heard a song she liked back inside so she hastily opened the industrial door. Her calculations of the door's swing must have been off because the door opened on a collision course with her foot. This might not have been a problem but for her non-protective flip-flops. Right away it was noticeable that the door had partially folded the toe nail back on her big toe and removed a few layers of skin higher on the same toe.

"BLOODY MURDER, BLOODY MURDER!!"

I would have cried too! That looked painful!! Fortunately the first aid kit was just a short carry to the tailgate of our truck where we got her patched up. She really handled it like a trooper once we got some Neosporin +Pain Relief on it and a couple of bandages.

So this was year two of my kids' backpacking education. We have some things to work on still, but I think they are going to make it. Hiking with kids is far from easy (I suggest ear plugs) but if you like hiking and backpacking, then the sooner you can get them into it, the more you can do it WITH THEM! Remember that they will not know many of the things you take for granted. They will take baby steps all over again.

 

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Three Sisters Hike 8/13-16

    For Gena's Birthday weekend we got away to hike around Three Sisters in Oregon. The hike was long but had a very manageable elevation profile and many more mountain formations to view than the ONE other mountain loop hike we have done (Timberline Trail #600). In hiking this Three Sisters Loop, you can expect views of all three sisters (Faith, Hope, and Charity) as well as Little Brother, The Husband, The Wife, Jouse Rock, Kaleetan Butte, Devil's Hill, and Broken Top. From a distance you can see Mount Washington, Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, and even Mount Hood. If you have strength enough to make this hike in a few days, do it! If you have time enough to do it in a week, do it. This is a great hike for anyone able with as much to see per mile as Eagle Creek to Tunnel Falls.


Day 1


    Friday I had my last final exam for organizational behavior at 1pm in Portland so we got a late start. At 11am, gear all packed, I left it all in Tillamook to drive to Portland State University for my last exam of summer term. By 2pm I was finished and headed home, eager to hike a new area. Traffic home was either harsh, or my excitement made me sensitive.
    Friday afternoons with the summer nearing an end on Highway 6 are a huge pain. Everyone and their brother is headed to the coast to do some sort of recreation and more than half of them are in RVs or pulling trailers full of motorcycles, quads, and trikes. Any of them lacking the power needed to pull the hill exhibit what I call RV Manners:

• If you are doing 30mph less than the posted speed, have over 12 cars behind you and won't pull over to let them pass, you have RV Manners.
  
• If you have to slow to 30mph less than the posted speed for the turns, but can hit 75mph in the straits to keep from being passed, you have RV Manners.
  
• If a tire on your trailer blows out and you would rather pull it to town on your rim than pull off to fix it, you have RV Manners.
  
• If you drive an RV or pull a trailer and think you have as much right to the road as anyone, you're right! But please have some manners and courtesy.
  

    I got home about 3:30pm and snarfed down some left-overs so we could hit the road to Sisters, about a four hour drive. My brain was mush; it always is at the end of finals week. Still, I grabbed a book for the drive. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend "The Slight Advantage" by Leo Weidner. I toggled between that book and checking out our maps. Since the North Sister, Faith, is closest to Tillamook, we decided to start at Lava Camp Lake. For one last visit to civilization, we visited Ray's in Sisters, Oregon. Gena had a turkey and cranberry wrap and I had some little turkey and sweet onion sandwiches made on some sort of pinwheel bread that I am sure was loaded with fat and dripping with buttery goodness. The special sauce on it was some sort of mustard and may mix that was so good… only permissible to my diet since I would be hiking for the next three days!! Yum. Tomorrow starts the freeze-dried and dehydrated diet…


    Driving from Sisters to Lava Camp Lake is a fairly narrow road winding through central Oregon forest and lava fields. Watch for RV Manners on the turns. Some of them seem not to know that they are in your lane! Lava Camp Lake Parking Lot is Red!! This sort of caught me off guard. 
From there we found the sign to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or as many signs in this area call it, the PCNST (Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail?). The sun was almost down. We hiked in a mile and a half by headlamp before finding a suitable campsite. We were half a mile north of North Matthieu Lake. We set camp fairly quickly to get some sleep after a long and weird day of driving, testing, driving, hurrying, driving, finding our starting point, and a short walk in the dark.


    As we climbed into our sleeping bags for the night, we thought we heard wildlife outside out tent. Climbing out to look, there was nothing. Back to bed. There it is again… What was that? A rustling noise in the blackness. Outside again. Still nothing. No eyes staring back from the edge of the forest as I panned the area with my headlamp. Back to bed. Morning. No tracks around our camp. What was left of Jane's food was still on the ground. We never heard crunching or sniffing. We figured it was the wind which blew in from the north.

Lava Camp Lake Parking Lot by Flash

Day 2


    Day two would be our longest day ever for Gena, Jane and I. At first light we were striking camp and walking south on the PCT towards North Sister. North and South Matthieu Lakes were gorgeous and would make a great spot to camp if not for the fact that several other people already knew this. Fortunately, they were the sort of campers that were still sleeping as Gena and I were already a mile into our day.

N. Matthieu Lake

N. Matthieu Lake

S. Matthieu Lake

S. Matthieu Lake

    The next few miles were desolate lava fields with occasional views of Hood, Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, and North Sister.

N. Sister

View North

    Soon we were back into our mountain prairie that we love. 

    And occasionally back into pre-historic lava fields…

Jane in Boots

Such cute little boots!

N. Sister

    About 10am we were getting into the Obsidian Wilderness. Can you guess what gives this area its name? If you guessed "It's because the area is littered with Obsidian!" You Win!! At first there was a little creek where we started noticing shards of Obsidian. As we continued in, the glassy black rock became more and more dominate in the landscape.

    The views from this area were among the most majestic. To hike this area as a day hike, you may look into Obsidian Trail #3528.

Hot Dog Cooling

Obsidian Falls

Obsidian Falls

Obsidian Falls

    Leaving the Obsidian wilderness, we were back into scattered volcanic fields that had shifted from dark rock to light colored with patches of flora popping up through. The views down much of the west side of the Sisters included Faith, Hope, and Charity (North, Middle, and South Sister) as well as Little Brother and Husband.

N and Middle Sister

Middle and S. Sister

Husband

    At 4:30 in the afternoon we had gotten to Mesa Creek, our last likely source of water for another 6 miles. Mesa was a beautiful prairie with a creek running through it. When we got there some Horseback campers were letting their horses walk the field and play in the creek. Mesa Creek was crystal clear but it is worth noting with all the horses around, the area is ripe with Giardia lamblia, a nasty intestinal parasitic organism that can really ruin a hike. This area is so horse friendly that hikers around here seem to greet each other with "Don't forget to filter water!" as opposed to "Hello!" or "Howdy!" I generally consider my gut to be near bulletproof. Over a week later, showing all of the symptoms of giardiasis or "beaver fever," I am seeking aid. I will let you know!

Mesa Creek and Horse Play

    On the SW corner of South Sister, Charity, the forest opened up to a rolling plain with lava flows just north of the trail. Views opened up of another formation known as The Wife which we got to see as the sun was lowering to the west.

The Wife

    As we got to the east side of this little rolling plain, we came upon a group of scouts who had to be headed to the same Moraine Lake camp area that we had heard was fairly crowded. Fortunately the Scouts don't seem to be teaching P90X or Insanity for any of their coveted merit badges. Even after 22.6 miles through the long day's heat with 30+lbs still on our backs, we passed more than 12 scouts and their dads like they were standing still, nearly running up our final 1.4 mile, 600 ft climb to ensure ourselves a fair campsite. Take that Chub Scouts!


    Near the top of this climb our views opened to views of South Sister and a new rock formation such as Mount Doom in Mordor. The eye is gone and we saw no signs of Orks, but this mountain, locally known as Broken Top, would haunt us for the first half of day 3. Really it was a fascinatingly beautiful monument.

DOOM! Aka. Broken Top

At camp, we were dirty, but Gena still likes me when I am dirty.

Dirt = Sunscreen

    We were glad to be done for the day. We had started at 6am, 25.3 miles north from where we finally rested for the night. The wind had been from the North where it shuffled our camp the night before. This night, it was picking up as we were descending into Moraine Lake. It continued until about 2am and had to reach gusts of 35mph. Sleeping was hard even with half a dose of Benadryl and Jane, sick of getting beaten by the side of the tent, eventually climbed up between Gena and I. Some of the pictures below are intended to show PETA that Jane is no tortured pack animal.

    Moraine Lake is also a wonderful area as long as you don't want a lot of green grass and pesky foliage around. There are about 18 camp sites around so way too many people, but if that's your cup of tea, have at it! The lake empties into a pretty little creek that is hand for dish washing.

 

Day 3


    Starting day 3 was a work of beauty that I look forward to snow shoeing one day. Mount Doom.. I mean Broken Top watched over us as trail runners speeded passed us on their way to and from Green Lakes, one of the most majestic alpine lakes I have come across in my short few years of this hobby. Green lake had many campsites marked out also and they were positioned to mirror the South Sister in a beautiful fashion. There were even some rocks floating on the water so be careful if you are considering diving… I guess hitting your head on a pumice rock is different than hitting your head on granite, but you may consider being careful just the same.


    We had a snack at this lake and loaded up on water to make it over our highest point of the climb at 7000 ft which we made it to by 1115am right about the 7 mile mark for the day. The views up to the point were worth every sore little piggy… that means toe. Views from the 7000 foot elevations again revealed Faith, Hope, Washington, Jefferson, Jack, and Hood. Oddly, I don't remember what the view to the south showed other than that looming Doom… Broken Top I mean!

Floating Rocks!!

Mt Doom! I mean Broken Top

    From 7000ft we nearly jogged our way to Park Meadow at 6200ft. This meadow was breathtaking. The hills were alive with the sound of music!!! And the smell of horses and mules. Were I a sillier person, I would come here in a Bigfoot suit and sneak around the edges of the meadow when hikers are visiting from bend. After being sited, I would have to be able to disappear into the woods in a hurry… that just struck me as a fun idea.


    Our toesies were burning from the downhill so we rested them in this super-cooled Park Creek. Resting our feet in this creek was like dipping them in a bucket of ice. Any swelling went way turbo-fast. We were multi-tasking by feeding the horseflies of our flesh! OUCH! More fake bug spray! See below.

    Gena was getting tired and sore near the end of the day so she needed a song. Since it was her birthday, I sang her this little ditty:

    Happy Birthday to you

    T'morrow you'll get a brownie treat

    But today you're still walking

    So to hell with your feet!

We did get the brownie treat the following day, it was overly rich, and well deserved. Check out the deli at Ray's in Sisters, OR.
 
    There wasn't a lot else to see for much of the day. Much of the east side of the sisters was cased in by pesky trees! Many of them were dead silver allowing the sun to bake the sand beneath. Jane started hopping from shadow to shadow so we started jogging to get down to Squaw Creek where we rested in tall, soft, green grass.

    By this creek we met another scout troop; first two boys. One of them had long hair and we weren't really sure he was a boy! Jane seems to really not like guys with long hair. She growled at two males with long hair on the hike… found that interesting. 


    Eventually the scout leaders showed up; belly first. These poor guys were huge. How they had the muscle or will power to drag themselves around these mountains was a mystery. They were obviously dying but they pushed on. Since they were headed south and we were headed north we asked them about the water availability behind them to find what we suspected. They asked where we were coming from and were shocked to hear how far we made it so far this day. Then they asked what we hiked the previous day. The fatter one sat down at hearing our 25.3 mile day. He was happy to make 7 miles in a day. Turns out the Scouts aren't teaching P90X or Insanity! Hehehe... Chub Scouts... :^)


    Here at Squaw Creek, we had about 7 miles to Alder Creek where we were going to camp. This would make for a 19.7 mile day. 


    Our last water on the way to Alder creek was soap creek, after which we would have another serious climb before rest so we kicked off the packs, elevated the feet, and changed socks again. When I went to put Jane's pack back on her, she turned away and laid back down. I gave her a few more minutes while I finished packing and tightening my laces. Then I gave her the order, loaded her up, and we moved out.


    Along the way we found a cute little lizard and numerous squirrels. Jane chased off after one squirrel that outsmarted her by running up and around the backside of a tree. It then looked down on Jane and us as Jane looked around like a monkey doing a math problem; wondering where that magical little animal could have gone. Aside from that little burst of energy, Jane was fading. When we got to camp, she was done.    

Day 4


    The last day was a quick if dry and tired 7.4 mile hike back to the truck. Much of the trail was blown down and no one as made it in with a chain saw yet. This was the core workout I hadn't even been thinking of! I guess it was useful… climbing up and over all this junk after so many miles of packing. Huff… whatever: we made it to the truck, had a baby wipe wash-down, and headed to Ray's for some fresh food in the form of some really good salads augmented with some chicken strips… and Gena's desert which was so rich that we could only finish half.

Dog Tired

New Gear Tested


    We gave a second shot at boots for Jane to keep from wearing her paws out which has been a problem on many of our hikes. She takes about 5 minutes to get used to the boots, then I think she even starts to enjoy them. The problem is that they fall off after a while and I couldn't get them to stay on. We are looking for a new pair that work better for her and will also be trying some new preventive lotions designed to toughen paws leading up to hunting season. I will keep you updated on what I find. Jane's paws have paid for many of our hikes. Fortunately this trail was more mild than Hood on her delicate tootsies and she came out of it just fine this time.


    This trail had a high bug populace that we fed as much of our blood as we could afford. The seemed to prefer me early in the day, but liked Gena better as the day progressed. Our bug spray was a natural stuff made with Lemon Eucalyptus instead of Deet or other chemicals. This stuff was great for about 15 minutes. We burned through the entire bottle on this trip and then ran out!! Thankfully we had a Bite MD Stick to help manage the pain and itchiness after the bite. We are waiting for signs of West Nile Virus… Get Deet! Take Enough!


    Tillamook Smoker Jerky Strips make a great dog treat, have plenty of sodium, but are not as good as our favorite jerky, Werner's Honey Glazed. Sorry Tillamook Smoker! So everyone knows Werner's is Tillamook owned and operated also so we are still supporting our local economy! You have to try new things from time to time. If you go Tillamook Smoker, stick with their steak chunks. I seem to remember they were pretty good. I haven't compared them to Werner's Steak Chunks yet…


    Dehydrated apples were new to this trip also. They were great to tear up and toss into the morning oatmeal. They were also great to just snack on.


    Cliff Mojo Bars. Gena has traditionally hated energy bars as she feels she needs a gallon of water to eat one. These Mojo Bars are breaking that model. We very much like both flavors. They won't replace my P90X bars, but they are a great addition to the mix!


    Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy—Delicious Gravy, dumplings are sort of like biscuits. The problem is that I pack an itsy bitsy pot and a stove that will not simmer. Result, huge mess and scorched pot that is very difficult to clean. We will be sticking with Oatmeal. We had a similar experience on our last Wahtum Lake hike with chicken and dumplings. Point: watch out for these two part meals that are more than just adding water. Clean up is harder than just closing the foil bag and stuffing it in your trash sack. Fortunately we saved the for our last morning meal so as to not ruin every other meal on the trip.

  
Lessons Learned


    Water shoes were a must for the Mount Hood Hike as there were so many dangerous water crossings. That was not the case on this hike. We packed our water shoes based on the assumption that in looping around mountains we would have the same sorts of crossings to manage. This was simply not the case with Sisters. Still, at the end of the day it was nice to take our swollen poodies out of our boots and slip on some lighter poodie-wear. 


    Parts of the trip water sources were scarce. I generally carry a 20oz bottle and a couple 100oz bags. I only fill the bags if I think it will hard to get water by the end of my 20oz. Looking at the snowpack on the mountain above the marked creeks on my topo map gives me a good idea of whether of not I can trust that source. This takes practice but is a good way to keep from carrying unnecessary water weight.  

Conclusion


    In comparison to the Timberline Trail Hike, this one was easy. I should call Timberline Trail with the Elliot Washout and all the extreme elevation changes a triple black diamond. That would make this Sisters loop hike a Blue square except for the distance and water considerations.


    That said, this is a great and beautiful slice of the Cascades that should not be missed by any hiker. Get in on it and hike this trail. Let me know how I can help. I won't carry you.

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• Wahtum Lake Hike 5/29-30 (pushalittleharder.blogspot.com)
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