An Ass-Kicking, Backpacking - Backtracking Blast

Our weekend got started with a hike up Mt. Rose by Lake Cushman. In Olympic National Park there is a trail called Wagonwheel Lake that has a warning sign that it is the steepest trail in the Olympics. They would have to move that sign if Mt Rose was in the Olympic National Park.

3727 feet in 2.9 miles to the summit of Mt Rose makes it a formidable trail no matter what shape you are in. Chris, Garry, Brenda, Pam and I headed up on a beautiful day. We arrived in good time and spent time at the top gathering our legs and then headed down. Brenda's favorite camp robber bird visited her and eagerly fed from her hand.

 

Taking the lollipop route down to ease some of the knee stress we completed the 6.4 mile total hike and had some lunch at Puerto Angeles IV in Hoodsport before heading home.

At home we pulled out our big packs and over packed them for some backpacking the next morning. They weighed in at 45 and 50 lbs.

Sunday we headed to The Norse Peak Trail for some backpacking with Garry. We had no set plan other than to start by getting up to Norse Peak. Athena was with us for her first backpacking adventure. She was enjoying the adventure.

We arrived at Norse Peak on a perfect day and quickly realized that we could set up camp in a partly sheltered area less that 100 feet from the peak. We set up camp and decided we should take a nap. Athena was not as interested in napping as us. She busied herself goofing around, licking our faces and sitting on us until we gave up the idea.

 

Aw, Come on! She's a dog and elk poop is a badge of honor.

 

We decided we should head out in search of a water source so we could replenish our supply and headed off the backside of the peak. Within 3/4 of a mile we came to the junction for the Pacific Crest Trail. There was a substantial snow melt going on and we were able to fill our nalgenes and bladders  with water we filtered with my gravity filter and then nuked with Garry's Steripen to de-ionize it.

Our water source.

Cheers to Ray Rodriguez from a special place.

Since we were planning to come this way in the morning and take the PCT around to Goat Lakes Trail and take that back to the Norse Peak trail and out to the cars we felt like we were one step ahead already knowing where our first turn was.

We woke just before sunrise and were treated to fantastic views. We had the Norse Peak Wilderness to ourselves with the exception of many elk and some other critters. We had camp broke down and were packs on and moving by 5:35 AM. Athena found some elk scat and rolled in it - coming back to camp with a huge smile. We used some wet wipes up cleaning her as best we could.  We headed to the now familiar junction with the PCT and headed out.

It was to be about 8 miles, but mostly downhill so the heavy packs shouldn't be a problem. We followed the map and found the Goat Lake Trail and turned. There was quite a bit of snow on the trail and we had difficulty finding the trail taking a couple of wrong turns and eventually back on the PCT. We decided then - some 3 miles in - that the best option was to hike back the way we came and off we went.

It took until after 8:30 before we were back where we started with 5 miles to go. We took a rest and some food and put our packs back on for the final stretch. We made the distance in under 2 hours. I had to goad Athena on the last couple of miles until she sniffed a pee she had left early on our hike in and realized the car was very close. She perked up and then was in a little bit of a hurry.

There may be no better feeling than removing a heavy pack after 11 miles of hiking under the weight of it. The second best feeling is removing the boots that had my feet burning towards the end. Athena could barely wait until I poured her travel bowl with water and then she laid down and panted for the 1.5 hour drive home.

Once home we bathed Athena and then ourselves and headed out for a pasta lunch and a beer. Our backtracking added a little more than 2000 ft of elevation gain to our trip and 6 miles, but also told us that we are capable of handling some of the issues that face you in the wilderness sometimes. We remain committed to hiking the loop we set out to do, but we will do it in the summer when the trail is clear and then we will have better directional abilities the next time we are there in the snow.

Be very well and more soon....