WHEN YOUR DOG IS SMARTER THAN YOU...YOU BETTER THINK ABOUT IT

                                                                    04-17-2011 siouxon creek.

 Because there was a break in all the rain Joleen and I got the great idea to try and do a lower elevation over night backpack trip.

 I was anxious to try out the new equipment that I had bought over the winter, so I was down for an overnighter.

When we got to the trail head it was full of cars.  All weekend warriors out there on a Sunday afternoon.  Lot's of trail bike riders and dogs greeted us.

Because it is early in the season several times we found the trail to be actually a small stream, as you can see by the picture below.  Yep, that is the actual trail.

 Again...another section on the trail that is actually a stream bed at this time of year.  This is snow melt off from Mt. St. Helen's.  Did I mention that it is extremely COLD water?

 For me personally, one of the first rules of backpacking is:  Be flexible!  ( This of course comes after don't get lost and die from Hypothermia).  Being flexible in the back country is extremely important because you never know what you will run into.  You make plans, you have an idea of where you want to spend the night, but there are unknowns.

Someone might be already camped where you planned to camp.  Or you run out of day light to go as far as you thought you would.
Or like what happened to Joleen and me yesterday afternoon.....THERE MIGHT BE A RIVER OF ICE WATER BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CAMPING SPOT!

Above is a picture of a redwood tree that we had to slide under to get to our stream crossing.

 This is what greeted us when we arrived at where we planned to camp for the night.  Lots of rushing very cold water running right across the trail.

 Here was a piece of wood that we walked across to get to the other side...problem was once we were on the other side it was straight up the side of a crumbling wet mountain.

 At this point in our trip we ran into a darling couple named Coleen and Greg.   Greg offered to carry our packs across the small log.  I took mine off and while he carried it to the other side I asked Coleen over the sound of the rushing water if they were married.  She told me that they had only known each other for three weeks.  I told her in all seriousness that she should marry this Greg.

 I am a great judge of character, and when a fella as handsome as Greg offers to carry an old lady's pack across a rushing cold stream, who he doesn't know from Eve, he is great marrying material!
Did I mention that Greg had an adorable thick Irish accent on top of being kind and handsome?

***Hey Coleen and  Greg, if you read this and you get married....invite me to the wedding OK?***

 Once we got to the other side we told Greg and Coleen good bye and they took off back to the trail head because they were only day hiking.  We on the other hand now had a mountain side to climb that was straight up.

We tried...we really did, but with heavy packs it was too dangerous.

  We walked back over the log that Greg had so kindly carried our packs over and went back down the way we had come. We figured it was 4:00 in the afternoon and we should just go back down the trail to a different campsite that we had seen on the way in.  Yet as we were going  back down to the trail Joleen said, "I think we can just wade across here...." 

 She took off her shoes and rolled up her pants to test the strength of the water.  She walked across in her bare feet and from the other side shouted back, "It isn't too strong!  You can do this!"  So I took off my boots and put on my water shoes.  I inched my way across the current and got to the other side.

This left Bella standing on the opposite bank from us.
I yelled, "COME ON BELLA...COME ON!"  She made a half hearted attempt to follow us but then backed up and sat down.

 SHE.WAS.NOT.COMING.

Joleen put on my water shoes and went back in to get her.  She wadded back over to attach the leash to Bella's collar...then dragged her through the water to the other side where I stood.  One miss step would have sent them both  over the edge and dropped down into the river 20 feet below.

Above is a picture of Bella safely in our tent with her "snuggy" on for the night.

There was no dry wood in the camp, and after several attempts to get a fire going we gave up and went to bed.  Once the sun went down it got really cold.....really cold.  This is when you are glad that you spent a lot of money on a quality down sleeping bag.

 We squished Bella between us and she was toasty.  I fell asleep immediately (which is what I do when I am backpacking) and according to Joleen snored loudly.  She finally stuffed toilet paper in her ears and drifted off to sleep.  She had a nightmare about crossing the stream in the morning.
 When I laid down I realized that if anything bad happened in the camp that night we were screwed.  There would be no getting back over that stream until morning, but I guess this didn't stop me from snoring the night away.

The next morning we were both dreading the ice cold crossing that was waiting for us, and fear raised it's ugly head for us both.  But fear is something that has to be kept in its place or we would never venture out into the woods.

We both laced up our boots, threw on our packs, and walked down to once again face the crossing.  I went over first and then swung my water shoes back over the water to where Joleen and Bella waited.  I waited at the water edge with my bare feet in the water until they were safely beside me.

By that time  I  put my wool hiking socks on my toes were completely numb.  I couldn't feel them!
After about a mile down the trail my toes finally woke up.

 Did I tell you the water was cold????????!

It was Monday morning. We met no one on the trail.  No bikes, no people, no dogs.  Just us.

 When we reached the truck we had left at the trail head there were no other cars.

So...the 2011 backpacking season has begun with frozen toes, a bit of danger, and kind trail people!


IT ROCKS TO BE ME!!!!!!

Count Down To The 2011 Backpacking Season Has Began!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a fat trail dog sitting by my feet as I type this.  Bella and I have both ate on a few pounds  this past winter....but we are excited to get our boots/paws back out on the trail for the 2011 season.

Speaking of boots~  I took back my old Vasque's....sniff.  It was a sad day when I stepped up to the REI return counter and told them that they were not keeping my feet dry.  But then I slammed a different model of brand new Vasque's on the counter  (I will report back at the end of this season if this pair kept my feet any dryer).

I have been wearing this new pair of boots around town this winter trying to break them in before my first real trip out in the woods.  I have been clomping around the grocery store in them setting a new standard for sexy.  I am trying to get some miles in them before they actually hit the trail.

A new MSR Rocket Pocket Stove is also a new item I have added to my gear, along with.....drum roll please:

THIS !    I took my one person Marmot EOS 1P Tent back.  It was a nice tent, but I realized last season  it was only for sleeping in.  When  Ben and I were being sucked dry from mosquitoes at Dead Man lake  we had to spend more time in our tents than usual.  I dawned on me then that for not much more weight I could get a two person Hubba Hubba.  I would have a lot more space to wait out situations like rain or bugs.  When last years model of the Hubba Hubba went on sale I was again at the REI counter with money in my sweaty little hand to throw down for another piece of new gear.

I hope that you are ready to go out with me this year.  This is a personal invitation to buckle on your pack, lace up your boots, and get ready for adventure!

You never know what might happen, or who you will meet out there in the back country with me.

LET'S GO BACKPACKING!!!!!