lauralh | last hike (Reply)

IMG_1109 Originally uploaded by lauralhb.

So we did this last weekend. Left "early" Saturday morning (still had to park outside of the TH lot) and got started before noon. It was a really nice day, but a bit too hot. We only saw 3 dogs and 2 were off leash (illegal) the whole day. The guidebooks are out of date b/c the trail was totally redone, so the mileages are a bit off. (Reg went on the other side of the trail, the Talapus/Ollalie trailhead, when he was a kid. The first hike his family did, basically.) Anyway we went a little under 3 miles before we found a rather perfect meadow, and after a nap, right next to it was an old campsite. So we set up our tent, then headed to a lake to have dinner.

Sounded like a nice idea, watch the sunset by Talapus or Olallie Lake while eating a boil-in-the-bag meal. We didn't count on the skeeters and deerflies, though. After Reg explained that those things LAY EGGS IN YOUR EYES, I freaked and we ran as soon as we could back out the trail. On our way back to the wilderness boundary, the temps went up another 10 degrees. Yech.

So yeah, a total of five miles that day, and a little under 3 the next as we just went home. The trail had so much water that we didn't bother filling up our bladders till the 6th-to-last creek. (I counted.) The MSR Hyperflow made that a lot easier. We didn't NEED to fill up, but we like drinking mountain water as long as we can. Hell, I still have some right now at work. We decided for non-eastern WA trails, carrying water is for suckers.

The other pieces of gear that made our trip were the Montbell UL down parkas. We each picked one up, large enough that we could wear all our clothes if necessary underneath. It wasn't necessary. Those things are so very nice and warm, and they weigh 8oz or so. Totally awesome, and used as pillows when not being worn.