Corey G's Jibber Jabber: First 2009 Cascade Hike

A Nice "Unnamed" Alpine Lake

It was August 29th....and it was my first major hike of the summer. Let me repeat that: August 29th?!?! Is that pathetic or what? Summer of 2009 will always be remembered in infamy for the simple fact that the "summer" didn't really start until the end of August!

A crappy July? I can accept that, but an even worse August?! To look at my calendar is to look at a complex football play of X's & O's: I can work this "graveyard shift" up the middle as long as this "salsa practice" goes long & "time for sleep" sneaks its way along the sideline. That's just plain sad.

With that said, everything's not totally dire. Summer ends on 9/22. Being the eternal optimist, I can envision squeezing a summer into a paltry three weeks...well, maybe not a total summer. Enough of one to atleast make it not as embarrassing as its already turned out. This gives me three weeks to cram for a real summer. How can I make it happen?? More calendar calculating & time-management magic? It's do-able.

I had a free Friday: August 29th. No matter what was going to happen, I was going to get out of town. My destination: Chinook Pass & a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. This could only be a day hike, so I packed accordingly. Instead of lugging a 50-lb backpack, I had a much lighter cargo, namely water, lunch, bug spray, and a fleece top. I was packed and ready to hit the road in minutes early on Friday morning.

As usual, my resolve was tested. Something always try to act the monkey wrench. That morning it was plumbing. Like clockwork, the plumbing to the house I rent backed up into the basement: oh joy! I don't know how many times this has happened at times when I was just about to venture out the door. On this instance however, I had to say, "screw it". I had to go. The mountains beckoned.

The dogs were thrown into the back of the car, and we were on our way.

The drive to Chinook Pass was about 2.5 hours. I left the Tri-Cities at about 7:30. Made a quick stop at the Ranger Station in Naches, WA to pick up a Wilderness Pass and find out conditions up in the mountains. Like clockwork, I made it to the trailhead around 10am. This was a new hike. I have a tendency to repeat hikes. Repeat them monthly, annually, cerebrally. This time I was hiking a completely new hike. This was a trail I was entering blindly. I briefly looked at it via Google Earth months ago, but I didn't know what I was in store for. I didn't know where I was going. Surely there would be an awesome lake on the agenda. Fields of wildflowers must be on the menu. Huckleberries? Yeah, they will be sirening me. Gunner & Gomez? They just wanted a new place to go pee.

A Fork

We were on the trail, and I had a spring to my step. We wanted to get away from the parking area and WA-410. It's funny how trails can clear slates. Within a few switchbacks and the passing of a few batches of trees, we were gone.

Almost instantly, we stole our first view of a scene subconsciously hoped for all summer: a clear & sunny sky and a sky-blue alpine lake surrounded by craggly mountain ridges. This is the medicine I needed. I don't know the name of this lake, but it offered a nice "welcome back" to the mountains. I lead the dogs down to the water, and they, of course, sauntered into the water. I think they thought we had reached our destination. "Sorry guys, this is just the beginning!" I know they were calling me a "bastard" in their corgi brains.

We got back on the trail and continued south. We passed a few hikers just starting their multi-day trips down south and other hikers finishing their long trips north (why can't I be like these people!?). Overnight backcountry trips are nothing. I dream about what a 3-4 day trip would be like, or a 4-6 month trip along the entirety of the PCT---from Mexico to British Columbia. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like. Daydreaming is part of the drill when hiking.

Flowers Amongst Huckleberrie Bushes

Ha! It's funny about hiking. When you're out on your own, your mind has this uncanny ability to wander. It's always nice to think about your life. Think about those you are close to. Think about hikes in the future. Think about all that's happened since the last time you were in the mountains. It's amazing. My brain can hopscotch from topic to topic and before I know it, miles have been walked. Daydreaming is not a bad thing.

Ok, so I was at the top of a ridge, and I could see a huge lake below: Dewey Lake--the lunchtime destination.

On the way down, I had my first mosquito bite. I'm phobic about mosquitoes. I've been up to these mountains before and have had ounces of blood sucked out of me within minutes. Taking trips to the mountains always start with questions about the "mosquito situation". After this bite, I immediately sprayed some bug spray on. You know, the illegal kind---the stuff with DEET in it. I'm about as eco-friendly a person that you'll find, but if I can find something to repel mosquitoes away, I'm all for it. (It seemed to do the trick, because I would only have one bite the whole trip).

Finally made it down to the lake. This was a huge lake. It was beautiful, and it was big. We sauntered up to the water, and walked along the "beach" for a little. It would have been nice to hike a little more...but it was lunchtime.

Lunchtime (and yes that Widmer was ice cold)

After eating I then went about some of the business which was on my agenda: huckleberry-pickin'.

During the hike to the lake, I spied quite a few huckleberry bushes. They looked yummy, and it looked like I was going to have my fill for pickin'. Huckleberry bushes are generally pretty low. They are in areas where they can get sun and they usually are in bunches. They're a bit elusive, in that they sort of hide under their leaves. So, at quick glance, their dark purple yumminess is easy to miss. But if you are able to see one, there are sure to be more. My technique was to spot one, and then get on my knees and start looking for others. Much like looking up a skirt (or so I've heard), if you look at the bushes from below, you'll find that the huckleberries are there just waiting for you to find 'em.

Now I think this is where my indigenous genes kicked in. For the Siksika, our berries of choice are saskatoons and choke cherries. With these berries I know of tricks to quickly harvest the berries, but since I'm not Yakama, Colville, Nez Perce (or any northwest tribe), I don't know of any harvesting techniques other than picking by hand.

Ummm...Can I Get A Yum?

I have to say berry-picking was addicting. There were so many, and my eyes were scanning bushes like a mad man. I was able to get fairly adept at picking, but it was a bit overwhelming. I could have easily spent the whole day getting my fingers purple, and filling my bags with huckleberries.

As my hands and arms motored their way through the bushes, bees were busy humming alongside me doing their work in the wild flowers blooming for them. Instincts were propelling us both.

After picking one area, I'd tell myself to get a move on, but then I'd walk a few steps and then see another stand of even bigger huckleberries and would have to stop. I ended up spending about an hour looking and picking berries. When it was all done, I came away with about 11oz of berries in my little ziploc bag. I was going to have some yummy smoothies this week!

The dogs and I finally wade our way out of the Dewey Lake basin. I felt a little bad in that Gunner and Gomez were really starting to look bushed. It wasn't too hot, but their tongues were practically draggin' on the trail (several people we walked by commented on their sorry state). They were troopers though. Once we made it back up on the ridge, their spirits were lifted, and I kept telling 'em the water was close, and they could go swimming---I think they understood me because they started to scamper with resolve.

Dog Nose & Potato Chip In Alpine Scene

Before we knew it, we were back at that first little alpine lake. Gunner & Gomez knew where they were and bee-lined it down the trail and went right into the lake! Gomez is part fish because he basically just hung out in the water for the next 30min. I'd throw sticks for him and he'd paddle out to snag 'em and bring them back to me. He could have done this for the rest of the day. (it's amazing how skinny he looks when he's wet.)

I should have brought some swimming trunks. Swimming in this gin-clear water would have been so refreshing. I thought of skinny-dipping, but this lake is too close to the trailhead, so there were quite a few people around for an audience. At any rate, this little lake (not been able to find the name of it) served as a refreshing dessert for the day's hike.

Finally, A Swim

So, after waking up at 5am, quickly packing, getting out the door at 7:30, and getting to the trailhead at 10am, we ended up getting back to the car at 2pm. The hike to Dewey Lake is 2.5 miles. Then drove home and chilled before making it to salsa practice at 8pm (had an awesome practice and learned moves for our new choreography). After that I ended up transitioning to graveyard. Which meant staying up until 7am (that's being up for 26 hours, son!). So it was a full day. I think if I manage to have a few more of these jam-packed days, I might be able to salvage this summer!