That Canoe Trip

Posted on June 4, 2017 June 5, 2017

That Canoe Trip

It was the end of Spring Break. One last chance to get outside before I was back to fictional adventures from the past. Thursday, I borrowed the canoe and life jackets. I finalized the menu.

Friday was beautiful. Somehow, I wasn’t ready as early as I had hoped, but we got to the boat launch at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and paddled out into the slough/bay.

The early evening canoeing was everything I dreamed about except not being absolutely sure of how far we had gone until I turned on my GPS and confirmed we had already arrived at the area of our campsite.

We saw the outhouse, but finding where to land was a challenge. If you miss the tide window for landing, you are in trouble. We didn’t quite miss it but landing was still a challenge involving wading through mud about a foot thick. To leave on the morning high tide, we awakened about 4:30, loaded, and left by 6. I dressed lightly so as not to be too warm. It was still dark and it was misting or very lightly raining.

Fear started to set in. Paddle gently so as not to hit a submerged object and capsize. Leave headlamps on in case of a motor boat. Stick close to shore to avoid ending up in the middle of Willapa Bay or the Ocean. Out of small slough, rain increased, accompanied by wind. Feeling colder… Still dark. Wet. Cold. I had planned to eat breakfast on the bay. Cold and wet and low blood sugar. Huddled in the bottom of the canoe and only occasionally helping to paddle.

Still dark. Decided that 12 hours in the canoe was not a good idea. We turned to head back to the only boat launch available at low tide… back at the parking lot. Now we’re paddling against the tide (a tide that changes by 12 feet between high and low), cold, wet, hungry, but at least the dawn is breaking. A motor boat goes by. The driver waves and is gone. I dream of a ride. We paddle, paddle and paddle some more but are making no progress against the tide. We ground ourselves and I add a coat. I’m praying we make it.

The boat comes back by and stops to ask if we’re OK. I say, “Yes, but I’m very cold.” He offers a ride. Even with his motorboat, it is difficult fighting the tide in the narrow part of the channel. ‘Victim’ rides in the front back to dock. After landing, he starts shivering and I am OK. We’re alive. We eat, finally warm up, and take a short hike. Then it’s off to see a historic courthouse.

Posted on June 2, 2017 June 5, 2017

A Spring??? Day Out

Finally, a day to be out. I hadn’t had one since the ill-fated canoe trip when a dark cold rain forced even me to retreat. (Oh I didn’t tell you about that? I’m sorry. I’ll explain about that in a later post.) Where would we go?

My usual victim had two ideas. Maybe the cacti would still be blooming near Quincy, WA, or look there’s a short hike to a waterfall on the north side of Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. I love waterfalls. He said there was a narrow section and I held my breath and still thought, “let’s go,” but then the weather forecast for this side started downhill. OK, the cacti on the sunny side of the state won the toss.

Purple flowers in a gray bush. — Monkshood and Sagebrush

This wasn’t a bad thing. I think we had thought about these cacti for about 4 years. Hopefully, this late in May they would still be out. I prepped food and was nearly ready to go when “victim” arrived. We loaded up, made one stop and headed over to Beezley Hills just North of Quincy, WA, in hopes of hedgehog cacti. This was three weeks after my far more adventurous friend, aka “victim”, had stopped by and thought they might peak in two weeks.

By the time he parked, the scents from the slow cooker and the clock suggested lunch first was a good idea. (TIP: Using a power inverter to run a small crockpot, is a great way to get a hot meal before an afternoon hike.) Finishing lunch and not looking behind, we grabbed water and cameras, left the fleece jackets behind (the raincoats had stayed in Western Washington) and started out.

Success a blooming cacti, but I didn’t, No surely I didn’t, Oh but yes, I did because that was a third little raindrop. Oh well, this is Eastern Washington, it won’t last long. The wind and the rain picked up. Mt. Stuart was gone. Maybe…. We kept walking. I was cold, drenched, and now we decided to turn into the wind, back to the car. Not the canoe trip all over again. In the car, we turned on the heat and decided to explore a bit by car.

Already the rain seemed to be letting up and in a few minutes we were dry enough to try again. Over my t-shirt went a lightweight long-sleeved shirt. Into my pack went the fleece.

Purple, white, and yellow — A hill of flowers.

The sun stayed out. We finished drying and saw many more ball-shaped little hedgehog cacti topped with beautiful pink blossoms, there were yellow flowers, white lupine, and blue-purple lupine. Spring had finally come.

(Oh and BTW, rumors have it that contrary to the usual rain distribution, if we had stayed in Western Washington we would have had sunshine… but maybe we took the rain with us.)

— Mel

Posted on May 26, 2017 June 2, 2017

A Snowy New Year

I love backpacking. More specifically, I love spending nights with at most a thin piece of nylon (and my sleeping bag, etc.) between me and the night sky. What if I went backpacking during every month of the year.

Sheltie mix — Reba – the faithful trail pup

It sounded great. Reba agreed. She clearly stated that the whole year sounded good – outside, trails, maybe snow. It all sounded good to her.

My usual victim consented to accompany us and then came December! It was cold outside. Weekends were in short supply. Oh, wouldn’t it be neat to welcome in the New Year in a tent? Yes, let’s do it. (And while we’re at it, that counts as December and January.)

We headed out to the Lower Skokomish….oops, snow. More snow than my unmodified 1994 Landcruiser could handle…. time spent digging out. Fortunately this was on December 30.

Time for Plan B!

Quincy Lakes. Success! We didn’t go in far. We took in two sleeping bags apiece. We cooked supper at the campsite, but in the morning, we waited and ate breakfast in the car.

(Reba, of course, took some time to make snow angels and thought we were just a bit wimpy!)

Posted on May 25, 2017 June 2, 2017

Vision of the Outdoors

Adventures in the outdoors could have been a blog about something real until I became a Highline student. Now it is more a blog about the imaginary and the past tense. It will also sell imaginary and real advice about specific hikes. The inspiration will be real adventurers / trips I have been on, but I may embellish or change the point of view to spice things up.

Historic Buildings — Taken at Fort Worden near Port Townsend, WA

The topic is just “Adventures in the Outdoors” rather than specifically backpacking, because I like variety and like to get out and do other things like canoeing, car camping, and ranger-led hikes. While the focus is the outdoors, it may include some exploring of historic places, just not my house. (It’s old, but not old enough to count as historic!)

In addition to descriptions of hikes or trips in the outdoors, it may include posts about how I planned for these trips, resources I use for planning, equipment I took on these trips, and also recipes or menus for use while in the out-of-doors. One resource I find invaluable is the Washington Trails Alliance website which you will learn more about in future posts.

rocks and lake — Pinnacle Lake on Mountain Loop Highway, WA

Since the website is about the out-of-doors, it’s colors will reflect the colors most prevalent in the outside, mostly greens, browns, and, here in Washington, grays. The layout should allow for pictures, have balance, but not be crowded or busy. As many of us have expressed, we don’t want a crowded trail. For better and, mostly, for worse, all pictures are taken by me (and may not be begged, borrowed, stolen or otherwise replicated without my permission) unless otherwise noted.

I don’t really have a clue what functions I want to incorporate on this site, but since we’ll have to sell something, it must have that. It should, of course allow people to sort the posts by date and topic. Perhaps, a calendar when of when material was posted would be useful.

I hope my posts inspire you to find your own adventures. Attached are two pictures that may inspire you to read this blog again.

Mel, your hostess as we wander.