One of my favorite things is hiking and
spending the night in the wilderness with my two young-ish sons. Now
that they are old enough to carry their own stuff, backpacking is
doable. It still means that I carry the tent and most of the heavy
stuff, but they carry their fair share themselves. ('Why', I ask myself, 'do I carry so much heavy stuff when these kids run circles around me?')
This week, Kai, Lukas and I hiked one
of my favorite trails: Skyline Divide. It's one of my favorite
hikes, because it is so dramatic, what with Mount Baker staring right
into your face once you hike up two miles through a mature silver fir forest.
After these initial two miles, the hiking book states, “At 2 miles
clutch your heart and prepare for visual attack as the trail emerges
onto a grassy knoll, unfurling a backdrop of the Great White One
(Mount Baker), surrounded by some pretty darn nice ones.” I
couldn't have said it better. It's really quite spectacular and mind
blowing.
The hike up was steep and hard. We had
to carry all of our water, since there is none on the ridge so late
in summer. Do you know how much weight a gallon of water adds to
your pack? I was a little worried when, five minutes into the hike,
my butt cheeks went into spasms. Lukas and Kai didn't fare better,
so we took our time and rested frequently, which turned into quite a
spectacle. First, gingerly feel behind you to make sure you will
land on something soft or level, then let your weight fall down, get
caught by your heavy pack, and at the same time unstrap the chest strap so
you won't get strangled. When you are ready to get back on your
feet, pull yourself up with a lot of grunting and moaning, and then
help the person next to you by firmly pulling on their hands.
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This is how heavily packed we were. |
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Steep mountain sides are especially handy for resting, since it's easier to get up when your pack rests a little higher. |
I instructed the boys to clutch their
hearts once we made it up onto the grassy knoll and get prepared for
the splendid view of Mount Baker. Except when we got there, Mount
Baker was shrouded in clouds and stayed that way for most of the day.
All the other thousands of mountains showcased themselves in all
their splendor, but the Great White One played hard to get. It felt
like we played peek a boo with this famous mountain all day, until it
finally revealed itself to us in the evening, when we cooked dinner
by our camp. In the meantime, we had fun, my boys and I, romping in
gorgeous meadows, looking for bugs, staring at the sea of mountains
around us.
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We made it up to the first knoll. |
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Looking at bugs. |
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Waiting for the clouds to lift off Mount Baker. It's getting there! |
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Our camp site, looking at Mount Baker, finally cloud free. |
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Dinner with a view. |
We couldn't have timed this trip
better, because the moon was full that night, and it rose over Mount
Shuksan in the East, while at the same time, the sun set in the west.
It felt like we were at a tennis match as we sat on the ridge and
watched this spectacle. Back and forth our heads swiveled to the
East, where the moon came up over Shuskan, and then back to the West,
where the sun sank into the mountain range there. I cannot try to
convey with words this beauty and the feeling in my heart while
witnessing this ancient ritual while my boys were snuggled around me.
It reminded me of looking your newborn baby in the face for the
first time, or of the way your heart feels open after spending some special time
with your beloved.
I am so grateful for my ever-supportive husband Steve, who is a true wilderness man, and who understands how important this time with my boys and nature is to me. He stays home with little Eva, who can't attempt such a trip (yet), and he takes care of the homestead, the goats, pigs, chickens and ducks while the rest of his family gets to romp in the mountains. Don't worry - I give him HIS time as well, and once hunting season comes around, I will take care of our charges while he stalks through the wilderness with his bow and arrows.
I also feel very blessed to have friends and neighbors that enable us to go away like that. I know that they competently will milk the goats and take care of our critters when we are gone, and I trust them completely. To me, this is worth more than a whole bag of gold!
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