It’s no secret around here that I love to hike. If I had to choose just one physical activity to do for the rest of my life it would be hiking. Every summer I try to check off as many hikes as possible – both new trails and old favorites. This past summer was a bit different, I wasn’t able to hike as much as I would have liked due to lack of time and an iron deficiency, but I still managed to get out for a handful of wilderness adventures.
While I love to hike, I also love to sleep in my own bed. I love a warm shower after a day of dust, dirt, lake water, mud, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. What I don’t love is sleeping outside. With that said, when my coworker/friend asked if a few of us would go backpacking with him I decided to say yes. I had all the gear, but I had yet to use it. My pal does a lot of backpacking so he took care of all the permit logistics and Caitlin, Duncan, and I just had to pack our bags and show up.
I bought my pack over five years ago shortly after I started working for REI. The deal was too good to pass up, and at the time I swore it was the right fit for my torso/body. Fast forward five years to me actually needing to use the pack and it very much was not the right fit for my body. I made the mistake of packing my things the night before we were to leave, and I had no choice but to suck it up and use the ill fitting pack. I was in so much pain the entirety of this trek that it was distracting. I have since gotten rid of the pack, and I daydream about watching it burn in a fire.
I am digressing, back to the hike.
We hiked the High Divide and Seven Lakes Basin Loop, a 20 mile loop in the Olympics. This is a popular backpacking and trail running trail, and I knew the only way I was likely to experience it was to spend one night in the wilderness. I have hiked 20 miles in one go before, but this was a much more realistic option. My main hesitations with backpacking are: bears, feeling gross, sleeping outside, bears, leaving my cat, lack of food options for me, and bears.
Sometimes I feel the need to push myself outside of my comfort zone, and that is how I found myself in this situation.
The plan was to hike around 8 miles to Lunch Lake where we would set up camp for the night, sleep, and hike the remaining 12 miles out the following day. Our first few miles heading towards Lunch Lake were relatively mild, but about 2 miles in I SAW A BEAR off the trail munching on berries. It spooked me a bit, but it was far enough away that we kept going and everything was fine. Admittedly I was on edge most of this day from the pain of my pack, lack of energy, anxiety about the bears, and missing my cat.
Despite my melodrama, the trail was beautiful and my comrades were in good spirits.
After a handful of hours we arrived at the descent towards Lunch Lake. The weather was perfect on day one, overcast and cool without any rain. It took a bit to find an open campsite (I did like that there were other campers out there, always makes me feel a bit less alone), but we found a perfect spot with plenty of privacy. Shortly after setting up our tents we realized we were not actually experiencing true privacy. There was a bear right next to our campsite, within just a few feet. He was happily munching on berries, and thankfully was also very chill.
I was a bit on edge until he was far enough away, but his calm disposition did relax me a bit on knowing there were plenty more bears out there. We had bear cans for our food, and made sure to keep anything scented locked tightly inside. After the bear left we decided it was time to take a bath. While nothing beats a real shower, we all ended up jumping into the lake before making dinner. This was a peak moment that will be a core memory. Swimming with my pals in an alpine lake is always a good time.
We ended the night with a few rounds of Uno before retiring to our tents. We all woke up around 6 the following morning, and while I slept like absolute dog doo doo, watching the sunrise in the quiet of the back country made the entire previous day worth it. This was a magical experience and I can see why my friend likes to spend the night in the mountains.
Despite barely sleeping I had decent energy on day two, likely because I was excited to get home to my cat. We all had our breakfast and coffee, savored the morning, filled up our water reservoirs at the lake, and set off around 8. We had a slight side quest to Bogachiel Peak because it was just a bit off the main trail. Whenever a summit is an option I am always down. The view from the peak allowed us to see a handful of the many lakes scattered across the basin.
Day two was bear free, and the sun was in full force. I have been hiking in sun shirts for years, but this year was the first time I bought a hooded sun shirt. This has been a game changer. I will never go back to hoodless shirts for full day hikes. The hike out was a long 12 miles that felt like it went on forever. By the time we made it back to the parking lot we were all spent. The final few miles weave through wooded forests which are beautiful, but also get pretty boring after a mile or two.
It’s been two months since this adventure (I am perpetually behind on my blogging), and after I have had time to reflect I think I would do this again. With a few tweaks.
- First tweak being my pack. I do not see myself wanting to do more than one night at a time, and a 65L pack was OVERKILL. I need a new backpacking pack for the next time I want to do this. I was tempted to use my 40L, but was worried the lack of structure for this pack would have been a problem. In hindsight nothing could have been worse than the pain of my 65L.
- Next tweak is a better sleeping pad. Because this was my first trip, I opted to borrow a sleeping pad from Joshua. I didn’t want to buy one incase I really hated the experience. It wasn’t awful, but it could have been better.
- Food. Food is tough for me having so many sensitivities. I can manage a full day hike with a ton of my own foods to ensure I have good energy, but unless I make my own meals (which I can, but they will take up more space and weigh more) it will be hard to fully feel my best. I’m jealous of everyone else on this trip who could eat whatever they wanted to get the calories in while I had to be more mindful.
- Wait until I am fully back to normal with iron. I am happy to report that NOW I am no longer iron deficient, but in August when I did this trip I was still at the tail end of things. Energy was a struggle.
I’m thankful Joshua has a Garmin inReach (which uses satellite as there is no cell service), and he let me text my mom to check on my cat. I struggle with separation anxiety for many reasons, and checking to make sure I didn’t need to guide my mom to make any changes to his eventing routine (and to know he was ok) took some of that anxiety away. When it’s all said and done I am glad I went.
I was happy to get back to a few day hikes after this, I have no backpacking trips planned for the foreseeable future. Likely not until my sweet kitty is running high in the sky. I’m glad I did this, and I’m also glad it’s over.
I’m not alone in my recount however, when Duncan and I were alone after we all parted ways he said to me something along the lines of: “we are never doing that again.” I think he also likes to sleep in a real bed. What can I say, we are a bit higher maintenance than I realized.
Q: Have you ever gone backpacking? If not, would you? The last time I went backpacking was in 2016. It was a HOT mess experience and you can read about it here.
