Friday, September 30, 2011
more shots....
one of these is a terrible shot, but it's looking ahead to the switchbacks we were about to climb...
more from skykomish to stehekin... river violence
there was an almost mythical river crossing ahead. we'd heard it was incredibly perilous, a log bridge high above a gorge with a crazy torrent of water rushing far below... when we got to it, it was just a log over a river not dissimilar to many we'd forded...
many of the bridges on the rivers had been fully washed out..
many of the bridges on the rivers had been fully washed out..
skykomish to stehekin... some epic climbs...
[so right now i'm actually in seattle, staying with some awesome people jane knows - the savos... i'll have to get a shot of bash (sebastian) and desi (desmond)- their boys, they're great, and desi and i spent today mostly eating berries together, much to his mother's delight (she had to change his nappy)... think we're going to the pub tonight to watch the afl final... )
the hike between skykomish and stehekin was fantastic - really really scenic. we walked around glacier peak, near some glaciers and through some beautiful meadows. think we also walked near an area called snohomish, just to continue the fabulous name theme...
i'm pretty sure this is glacier peak, can't quite remember...
this is headbanger, looking suitably epic...
i believe this (the animal down there) is a hoary marmot... (i learnt this from my mother, who knows an inordinate amount about american wildlife)
the hike between skykomish and stehekin was fantastic - really really scenic. we walked around glacier peak, near some glaciers and through some beautiful meadows. think we also walked near an area called snohomish, just to continue the fabulous name theme...
i'm pretty sure this is glacier peak, can't quite remember...
this is headbanger, looking suitably epic...
i believe this (the animal down there) is a hoary marmot... (i learnt this from my mother, who knows an inordinate amount about american wildlife)
Monday, September 26, 2011
here at the end of all things...
ages ago, i said it would be awesome if we could have some snow at the end of washington; lots of sunshine, then some snow right before we finished. on our second last day we walked ahead of (and through) mist and rain all day. then right as we were coming into camp, the rain turned to sleet, then slightly unconvincing snow. that night i checked with buttercup whether he thought it was actual snow, and when he said yes, i said 'that's perfect'... buttercup replied really sardonically: 'yeh, perfect.... what's wrong with you jimbrick?' (that day we passed headbanger coming back from the border, great to see him finished, but sad we weren't going to finish with him - he was returning to an earlier pass - he's a washington boy)
wiz, buttercup, pounder and i had a fire with sodden timber and huddled under a tree for a cheery dinner, then retired to our tents pretty early. it was only the third time i'd used my tent in washington (although the night before i was a lazy tomfool and slept with my tent pulled over me like a quilt after it started to rain after i'd gone to bed...)... anyway, in the morning, there was a light dusting of snow on the ground... as we packed up (and had a morning fire for coffee), it started snowing again.
the snow grew heavier and heavier as we climbed, and by the time we were a few miles out of camp it was swirling around us in the fierce wind. it was so cool - kind of blizzardy. buttercup and pounder were a few metres ahead, and they would disappear into the white. i kept thinking a rabbit was going to run by saying 'get out of this you fool, get out!', like in wind in the willows (not that it's snowing at that point). it felt incredibly epic. initially i was so excited when i thought it was 2cm deep, but by the time we were over the pass it was 20cm in places.
it was, however, seriously cold. by the time we'd dropped over the other side we were all losing the feeling in our feet, and our fingers were useless painful stumps. it was 15 miles (24kms) to the border, then 8 miles (12kms) to manning park, canada (and a roof). we all envisaged taking a whole lot of time at the border: cooking lunch, writing longish entries in the register, taking a whole series of photos, drinking a celebratory beer (which we'd knocked on a random stranger's door in stehekin to procure because we'd forgotten to get some) and generally making it a significant end to a 4270km walk through the woods, but we were so cold when we got there we couldn't even handle our wet cameras properly.
we were about to leave, when buttercup, who'd been low on snacks for days (too ultralight that boy), dug out a surprisingly heavy bag with a treat for each of us (and a little story to go with it). we rapidly ate those, and shared wiz and buttercup's beers (mine was buried beyond my retarded fingers), and made haste for manning park.
it was the best feeling, turning up there, knowing we'd be dry and warm. but surreal, slightly bewildering and sad as well - knowing that it was all over; a chapter closed, and that even while walking through the doors this life wandering through the american wilderness was already a memory - an experience of the past.
wiz, buttercup, pounder and i had a fire with sodden timber and huddled under a tree for a cheery dinner, then retired to our tents pretty early. it was only the third time i'd used my tent in washington (although the night before i was a lazy tomfool and slept with my tent pulled over me like a quilt after it started to rain after i'd gone to bed...)... anyway, in the morning, there was a light dusting of snow on the ground... as we packed up (and had a morning fire for coffee), it started snowing again.
the snow grew heavier and heavier as we climbed, and by the time we were a few miles out of camp it was swirling around us in the fierce wind. it was so cool - kind of blizzardy. buttercup and pounder were a few metres ahead, and they would disappear into the white. i kept thinking a rabbit was going to run by saying 'get out of this you fool, get out!', like in wind in the willows (not that it's snowing at that point). it felt incredibly epic. initially i was so excited when i thought it was 2cm deep, but by the time we were over the pass it was 20cm in places.
it was, however, seriously cold. by the time we'd dropped over the other side we were all losing the feeling in our feet, and our fingers were useless painful stumps. it was 15 miles (24kms) to the border, then 8 miles (12kms) to manning park, canada (and a roof). we all envisaged taking a whole lot of time at the border: cooking lunch, writing longish entries in the register, taking a whole series of photos, drinking a celebratory beer (which we'd knocked on a random stranger's door in stehekin to procure because we'd forgotten to get some) and generally making it a significant end to a 4270km walk through the woods, but we were so cold when we got there we couldn't even handle our wet cameras properly.
we were about to leave, when buttercup, who'd been low on snacks for days (too ultralight that boy), dug out a surprisingly heavy bag with a treat for each of us (and a little story to go with it). we rapidly ate those, and shared wiz and buttercup's beers (mine was buried beyond my retarded fingers), and made haste for manning park.
it was the best feeling, turning up there, knowing we'd be dry and warm. but surreal, slightly bewildering and sad as well - knowing that it was all over; a chapter closed, and that even while walking through the doors this life wandering through the american wilderness was already a memory - an experience of the past.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
g'day from skykomish...
we've finally hit the infamous washington weather, and happily now we're indoors, dry and warm.
we were night hiking through mt rainier national park, the sunset was great. we walked up through a pass, and the moon was illuminating this lake below us. buttercup decided the bluffy looking mountain beetling (note the classic man from snowy river vocab) over the lake looked like an old man, gazing out over the hills... as we walked further around the ridge he decided it was in fact a woman, leaning back with her arms above her head and one knee up, posing for the man in the moon... very entertaining listening to all of this in broken english with a strong german accent...
we walked out of snoqualmie late (i had a migraine and the others waited around for me to recover), and the mist was descending on the pass... it felt epic walking up these craggy knife edge ridges, cliffs dropping away into white nothingness... at one stage we paused and the mist was rifling up a really steep ridge ahead, and i said 'woh, look at that, it looks awesome - cool and epic', and wiz said 'you think that looks cool, i think it looks like hell'... often i'd look ahead or back and think the others looked like hobbits with their ponchos or jackets silhouetted in the gloom... and when i said to buttercup: 'you guys look like hobbits', he said 'i don't feel like a hobbit, i feel like a cold, wet, hiker...'
this is mowgli disappearing into the mist...
we're at a trail angel's house in skykomish (actually it's in baring, 8 miles down the road from skykomish - but skykomish sounds way cooler - kind of like some vague adjective), and they have loaner clothes for while we're washing our clothes... this is buttercup looking rather fetching...
on the way out this morning we walked past a whole past (and through) a whole lot of pristinely clear creeks tumbling down through washington rain forest. huge trees towered above an understorey of green leafy stuff - still huckleberries and salmon berries, and buttercup kept saying it looked like jurassic park...
this is us earlyish this morning... [mowgli, wiz, buttercup and i]... we got up at 5ish so we could make it to the bavarian theme town cos we thought it would be funny to take buttercup there... by the time we got to skykomish we were cold and hungry and we ate there and came straight to the excellent trail angels place instead...
we were night hiking through mt rainier national park, the sunset was great. we walked up through a pass, and the moon was illuminating this lake below us. buttercup decided the bluffy looking mountain beetling (note the classic man from snowy river vocab) over the lake looked like an old man, gazing out over the hills... as we walked further around the ridge he decided it was in fact a woman, leaning back with her arms above her head and one knee up, posing for the man in the moon... very entertaining listening to all of this in broken english with a strong german accent...
we walked out of snoqualmie late (i had a migraine and the others waited around for me to recover), and the mist was descending on the pass... it felt epic walking up these craggy knife edge ridges, cliffs dropping away into white nothingness... at one stage we paused and the mist was rifling up a really steep ridge ahead, and i said 'woh, look at that, it looks awesome - cool and epic', and wiz said 'you think that looks cool, i think it looks like hell'... often i'd look ahead or back and think the others looked like hobbits with their ponchos or jackets silhouetted in the gloom... and when i said to buttercup: 'you guys look like hobbits', he said 'i don't feel like a hobbit, i feel like a cold, wet, hiker...'
this is mowgli disappearing into the mist...
we're at a trail angel's house in skykomish (actually it's in baring, 8 miles down the road from skykomish - but skykomish sounds way cooler - kind of like some vague adjective), and they have loaner clothes for while we're washing our clothes... this is buttercup looking rather fetching...
on the way out this morning we walked past a whole past (and through) a whole lot of pristinely clear creeks tumbling down through washington rain forest. huge trees towered above an understorey of green leafy stuff - still huckleberries and salmon berries, and buttercup kept saying it looked like jurassic park...
this is us earlyish this morning... [mowgli, wiz, buttercup and i]... we got up at 5ish so we could make it to the bavarian theme town cos we thought it would be funny to take buttercup there... by the time we got to skykomish we were cold and hungry and we ate there and came straight to the excellent trail angels place instead...
Thursday, September 15, 2011
snoqualmie
I think we're getting soft. We managed to make it to snoqualmie pass while the restaurant was still open and have a huge tea despite hitting excellent trail magic early in our 32mile day. (32 miles in Washington is a little harder than 32 in Oregon.) And we were going to head to the chevron to resupply and then cowboy somewhere nearby ... but the weather's changed and it's really cold outside, so we persuaded the desk person to give us a discount on a room in the hotel, and now everyone's showered and sleeping. It's 12:30am, long after hikers should be in bed.
I'm still hiking with Buttercup, Wiz and Mowgli. Buttercup's English is a little hilarious at times (he's German) and I've laughed a lot over the past week.
There is much to tell, hopefully I'll get a chance to write in the morning. We're at 2402mi. Only about 262mi to go; only 12 days. Felt sad today when I realised how soon it was going to end. And like I had to really concentrate on appreciating every moment. Still feel like the most privileged person on earth.
I'm still hiking with Buttercup, Wiz and Mowgli. Buttercup's English is a little hilarious at times (he's German) and I've laughed a lot over the past week.
There is much to tell, hopefully I'll get a chance to write in the morning. We're at 2402mi. Only about 262mi to go; only 12 days. Felt sad today when I realised how soon it was going to end. And like I had to really concentrate on appreciating every moment. Still feel like the most privileged person on earth.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Washington
So far notoriously miserable Washington has been beautiful: fabulous weather, spectacular scenery, and mate, the flowers - astonishing. We're at White Pass, essentially a servo and ski resort 145mi into Washington. We'll eat too much junk food and pick up our resupply boxes and hike out feeling vaguely disgusting thisarvo.
Yesterday we bathed under a snow fed waterfall (major brain freeze), crossed a glacier (actually sounds more impressive than it was, in fact I persuaded Wiz that it wasn't a glacier then read the map), followed an epic knife-edge ridge, saw some crazy looking mountain goats and wandered through meadows liberally studded with lupins, indian paint brush and buttercups. The fields of flowers really do seem preposterously, abundantly, riotously extravagant ... and the berry fields - not sure if I mentioned it but I feel like a kid let loose in Willy Wonka's factory - there are just fields of huckleberries, blueberries, thimbleberries, and the tastiest blackberries and strawberries I've ever eaten. So fabulous.
There are fires about so Mt Rainier has been hazy, however generally the views have been splendid. It's 82° F here which I think is only like 28° or something, but I think it's a record high for this time of year here.
I have an atrocious cold which Ma & Pa passed on from Canada - which I figure is like acclimation training; prep for Canada. Still travelling with Wiz and Buttercup, and for the last couple of days Mowgli. Buttercup got bitten by a dog yesterday and wants to use my phone to check up on rabies info; it's been fabulous knowing him, today's probably his last day on this beautiful earth.
In roughly four days we should be in Snoqualmie, and three days after that at the Dinsmore's in Skykomish, where I might be able to upload some photos... Canada is a fortnight tomorrow.
Yesterday we bathed under a snow fed waterfall (major brain freeze), crossed a glacier (actually sounds more impressive than it was, in fact I persuaded Wiz that it wasn't a glacier then read the map), followed an epic knife-edge ridge, saw some crazy looking mountain goats and wandered through meadows liberally studded with lupins, indian paint brush and buttercups. The fields of flowers really do seem preposterously, abundantly, riotously extravagant ... and the berry fields - not sure if I mentioned it but I feel like a kid let loose in Willy Wonka's factory - there are just fields of huckleberries, blueberries, thimbleberries, and the tastiest blackberries and strawberries I've ever eaten. So fabulous.
There are fires about so Mt Rainier has been hazy, however generally the views have been splendid. It's 82° F here which I think is only like 28° or something, but I think it's a record high for this time of year here.
I have an atrocious cold which Ma & Pa passed on from Canada - which I figure is like acclimation training; prep for Canada. Still travelling with Wiz and Buttercup, and for the last couple of days Mowgli. Buttercup got bitten by a dog yesterday and wants to use my phone to check up on rabies info; it's been fabulous knowing him, today's probably his last day on this beautiful earth.
In roughly four days we should be in Snoqualmie, and three days after that at the Dinsmore's in Skykomish, where I might be able to upload some photos... Canada is a fortnight tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
portland, oregon...
i'm in portland, oregon. buttercup, wiz and i got a ride down with annie and her dad a few days ago. bit of a struggle to upload things here, however i suspect washington might be tricky for net acccess and communication in general.
we'll be back on the trail sometime today, then it's only about 20 days till the end, which is a little surreal.
this is a shot of mount hood as we were climbing it to have breakfast at timberline lodge. amazing breakfast - we walked 44 miles (70km) the day before so we could make it. headbanger's feet were totally trashed (he'd done 42 miles the day before that to catch us, we only did 35)...
we'll be back on the trail sometime today, then it's only about 20 days till the end, which is a little surreal.
this is a shot of mount hood as we were climbing it to have breakfast at timberline lodge. amazing breakfast - we walked 44 miles (70km) the day before so we could make it. headbanger's feet were totally trashed (he'd done 42 miles the day before that to catch us, we only did 35)...
Saturday, September 3, 2011
epic journey into mordor
once again i've managed to make it through a town spot without really communicating. it can be so hard to get onto a computer, especially when you're with others... buttercup, wiz and i are about to leave portland, attempting to hitch back to cascade locks. heading north from here communication could well be sketchier, so it might be occasional brief notes till i get to manning park, soon after which i think i'll be able to do a big catch up... i will write about the epic journey into mordor at some future point (it was truly amazing)... there are a few images from it below - selected from tiny thumbnails...
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