thehostelwitness

We Didn't Start the (Mt. Hood) Fire.

I had never been to Mt. Hood, so it seemed like a good time to head down there after Palmer decided to open up his family's cabin for a weekend. Four of us (Palmer, me, Quinn, and Lindsay) all met up - which was great for me, as I hadn't seen Quinn or Lindsay in ages. We discovered that none of us had lost a taste for beer, in which there was copious amounts of in the cabin fridge, and spent a day up at the Timberline Lodge, setting for not only the movie, The Shining, but a soon to be violation of a Smokey the Bear statue (the nature of which will remain a secret for fear of prosecution). As we were leaving, we noticed a huge plume of smoke rising above the volcano's ridge line. No eruption, just a massive forest fire on the other side. Like sensible people, we decided to see how close we could get to it, stopping only when we reached the fire fighters base camp.

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Day 3, The Wonderland Trail: Klapatche to Cougar Rock

My right leg had gone completely numb, prompting me to take a moment to sit down for a break. Mosquitoes, gleeful that their prey had stopped, took full advantage of the situation. I could barely slap the things away, my hands barely opening at this point. I couldn't even untie my boots to get at those blisters I felt forming on my heel.

This was day 3 and I was no longer under any illusion that I was in trouble. 14 miles, we had gone up and over 2 passes. I had lost sight of the group promptly after lunching at the Nisqually bridge, my energy level plummeting, completely ignoring the fact that I still had a full day to go.

I'd learn later on that I wasn't the only one suffering casualties. An hour ahead of me, John had bottomed out and was now sitting on the trail. Jayson had developed a blister that covered his entire heel. Dave, freak of nature that he is, was fine and beat the three of us into camp by 2 hours.

Dave though, was leaving after today. Jayson, John, and I had other things to consider - the fact that this was the easiest of our "long" days weighed heavily on all our minds.

The hardest thing to get over is pride. John regularly puts in 20 mile hikes on the trails. Jayson and I had already conquered New Zealand. Its these things that led us to believe we could do the Wonderland in only 7 days, when everyone else does it in 10. We still had longer days ahead of us - one of them being an 18 mile day with 5,000 feet of elevation gain - we had to be smart.

It hurt, giving up. This trip had been a life long dream of mine. It was meant to be the perfect cap to my year's worth of travel. And we weren't going to be able to do it. We had only put away a third of the mileage and already I had developed a pretty bad case of tendinitis.

This incontrovertible truth hit me as I was finally out of the woods, hiking along the road. In just 2 miles, I would finally be done with the day, meeting up with the support group to end the single hardest day of hiking in my life. Then out of nowhere, a group of 6 10 year-olds and their moms barreled past me. When you have kids passing you up on the trail, its time to re-evaluate your goals.

So next year. We'll be smarter, having been humbled by the mountain.

Day 3 photoset

Day 2, The Wonderland Trail: Golden Lakes to Klapatche Park

A day of contrasts, heavy fog and rain greeted us in the morning but quickly receded to give us an outstanding view of Mt. Rainier. We had momentarily forgotten how close we were to the volcano.

Klapatche was a pristine setting, giving us a beautiful lake reflection of the volcano. Jayson, John, and I went absolutely apeshit with our cameras, loving every minute of it.

The only downside? It was extremely cold, with snow still peeking out on the trail at times. Still, the views made the hike and the chilliness worth it!

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KEXP BBQ, Seattle

Sara, Paige, Mollie, and I hit the KEXP BBQ last Saturday. I just have to say, what the hell Seattle? This is August. August is Greek for "we promise you sun".

The downpour was, excuse the pun, anything but august.  Still - the lineup tried hard to keep us warm. We arrived in time to spy Common Market rip through his set, stopping one song in the middle of it as the rain gushed down all around us, noticing his line, "There's nothing better than a summer in the northwest" wasn't quite applying. Joseph Arthur sounded great and the headliner, The Dandy Warhols, made everyone bounce around in the grassy mud with joy.

Hard to believe, but despite being a financial supporter of KEXP, this was my first summer BBQ. I had a blast - thanks to everyone at the Worlds Greatest Radio Station for putting on such a great show, despite the weather.

KEXP BBQ Photoset

Day 1, The Wonderland Trail: Mowich to Golden Lakes

The crown jewel of Washington hiking is undoubtedly, the Wonderland trail. 93 miles of trail that rings Mt. Rainier like a necklace, it shoots from 2300 feet skyward all the way up to 5700 feet. This first day, we aimed to tackle 11 miles of it and would end up climbing 2400 feet by the end of the day. Sore feet and blisters aside, it was a great day to start a hike.

To say the hike was put together a little rushed would be a completely accurate judgment. High off of a month in New Zealand and looking forward to a summer at home, I fired off a hasty email to friends John and Jayson, seeing if it wasn't too late to book camp sites for the Wonderland. Turns out, it wasn't. Admission though, had a price; instead of having 10 or 12 days to get through all the trails, we only had 7. No problem, I said.

Dave ended up joining the trip, so the four of us met one early morning, piled into the car, and headed up to the trail head.

An estimated 40% of those who begin the hike never finish. This is due to multiple reasons - injury, time, weather, level of difficulty. This year was particularly challenging, as parts of the trail were still completely buried in snow. We knew going into it that Dave was only going to be able to hike for 3 days. The rest of us, who have never not finished a hike, were confident. We were going to blow through this thing like Kobayashi at a 4th of July BBQ and be one of the first to finish this season. We had no idea going into this first day that the mountain had other ideas for us.

Day 1 photoset

Stewart Island Photoset

Stewart Island is perhaps the most idyllic sea-side community I had the fortune of traveling through in my journeys. And by idyllic, I mean small and quaint. Your grandparents would love it there. Except when its raining.

Stewart Island/Rakiura track photoset

Brisbane Photoset

Pretty much all post-card shots of the city, I remember not really feeling up to taking pictures. The Seahawks had just been crushed by the Packers in the playoffs, making my 21 hour bus ride to the city to catch the game pretty much ridiculous.

Still, the city grew on me and eventually I found some really cool places to visit - sans camera, naturalich.

Brisbane Photoset

Falling in love again with Seattle

God, summer in Seattle. Ocean-blue skies, mid-80s temps, and smiles on the face of everyone you walk by. Has it really been 2 years?

These past two weeks back "home" have been amazing, book-ended with a fireworks fourth of July and a great backpacking trip to Stafford Creek. In between, reunions, drinks, and hugs. It does take some adjustment, of course - visiting parents is quite a different experience than trying to find a clean bunk in a new town - but in a lot of ways, its been the same. I'm not working, I'm trying to re-familiarize myself with everything, and I have to master the public transportation system. Walking through Seattle my first week, I was so confused with all of the new building projects that have gone up, I even became lost!

Whats been the most fulfilling part about returning has been all the interest that my past years' travels have generated among my family and friends. They have really become part of this trip and I find myself sharing stories that they've already read about through this blog. The biggest change has been before, when friends inquire as to future plans its always, "so do you have any plans?" or "what are you doing this summer?". Now, the question is, "so what's next?" or "how long are you going to stick around?". The sense of support I've received from everyone has been nothing short of astounding.

Even better has been seeing a brave couple of friends take the same plunge into their own travel adventures and trading stories with them. Jenn Tesch, my friend from NYC (who I met up with in New Zealand), has wrapped up a two month Europe trip and flies into South America in just a couple of days. Cynthia, a fellow traveller from Colorado, took the plunge and started traveling solo and has had some great adventures come of it. Her blog is here.

My plans have always been to return to Seattle and hopefully, stave off work for a couple more months and do something I've always wanted to do - enjoy this town during the best season of the year. Watching the 4th of July fireworks over a rain-free sky in Seattle was a great way to kick start it. I've got some great things planned and hope to keep this space updated with those tales as they come, at least until the travels start again. Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, some local pics from the Stafford Creek Trail, located in Cle Elum, WA. John, Jayson, and Jessica were all able to clear some time to setup what became my first backpacking trip of the summer.

Stafford Creek Photoset

Photos from ZotsandBoo.com

Tokyo photoset

There's no other city - in my humble opinion - that looks better photographed in black and white than Tokyo. That, and it was gray skies pretty much the whole time, but you get what you get.



Tokyo Photoset

Vietnam Photoset

I have to say, hands down, that Vietnam is the most photogenic country I have ever visited. The views were just spectacular and heart stopping. Its worth the hassle to visit, people!

Vietnam Photoset