5/30/11 CHS Posting

I just got back from a wonderful five-day backpack trip into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. I went with five friends and we went into the Thunder Creek/Deer Creek area. It was a rugged and challenging route and we were all challenged in different ways.

One of our biggest challenges was an encounter with a rattlesnake on an exposed part of the trail. Our lead hiker, Laurie, passed by the snake initially unaware but heard it rattle its tail after she’d passed by. Fortunately the next couple of hikers had been lagging back a bit looking at the views and Laurie could warn us before we walked in front of it. We could see it ahead of us and it was indeed all coiled to strike! So we needed to figure out how to deal with situation.

Laurie threw a few rocks in front of the snake, trying to scare it out of its hiding place, but that had no effect. We then waited for about 15 minutes to see if it would calm down and slither away, but that didn’t work either. By then we’d christened the snake “Sammy” and we knew we had to think of how to get around the snake without walking on the trail. Did I mention that the trail was a bit exposed? Going below the trail was deemed too difficult, so Laurie and two other group members, Christine and Barb, started investigating hiking above the trail.

This was a bit time-consuming and so being an action-oriented individual I tried to think how I could use my hiking pole to fling the snake off of the trail. I’ve never done this before but I was (stupidly?) willing to attempt it. The other two group members, Michale and Katy, helped me figure out a way to protect my legs from a potential snakebite. We wrapped my legs with our Outsacks (mesh-type food bags used to protect food from small critters like mice). We were busy figuring out other things to wrap around my legs when Laurie (fortunately) informed us that the high route was risky but doable. So I never got a chance to test out my snakebite “armor” and flinging ability.

We have rarely encountered rattlesnakes on Mountaineers hikes, but in the event that you do come across one, the best option is to find an alternate way around them. Some hikers wear higher gaiters when they hike in rattlesnake territory to protect against being bitten. But in the unlikely event of snakebite, follow these directions for treatment.

5/21/2011 Posting

As I get ready to head out on a backpacking adventure of my own on Sunday to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I wanted to comment on the recent plight of a Snohomish County fellow who recently was lost in the North Cascades. Fortunately he was also found the other day without suffering any major injuries, but his ordeal provides lessons to us all whether we are out in the wilderness for just a day or for overnight.

If you aren’t aware of the story, click here to read about it. Short version: Hiker goes out with friends into the snowy wilderness, parts ways with friends and hikes alone, gets lost, loses tent, deploys beacon, eventually finds own way out. What lessons—beyond always carrying the Ten Essentials in your pack (including that map)—can you garner from this hiker’s situation?

• Avoid hiking alone on sparsely travelled trails and routes. Besides the obvious safety issues of travelling alone (more vulnerable to attack by predators both human and non-human, difficulty in getting help if injured, and so on), I find that having another person along helps me avoid making stupid mistakes. For example, when I was hiking with my CHS1 group last Sunday up near Larabee State Park, we were travelling a section of trail that I had not been on before and the trail was not real well-defined. I made an assumption on the location of the trail based on sketchy notes from someone else’s previous trip and gamely started trotting down a steep hill to follow that assumption, falling on my behind and looking like a general dingdong in the process. Another hiker took one look at that steep hill and my difficulties and started looking for an alternate, more likely route that didn’t involve scampering down a steep, muddy hill. And wouldn’t you know? He found it. Sometimes we all need someone else around to tactfully say, “That’s an ill-advised move; let’s check out some alternatives first.” Even smart hike leaders such as myself need that help J.
• If you must hike alone, let people know where you are going, stick to your plan, and bring a rescue beacon with you. For some folks, the allure of being out in the wild alone is irresistible. My brother is that way, so I understand the desire. But my brother always tells someone where he is going and sticks to that plan. He also carries a rescue beacon with him on every trip. If you are occasionally a solo hiker or go on trips to remote places even with company, a rescue beacon is a worthwhile investment. Our hiker in the above incident had a rescue beacon with him, which worked, but would’ve worked better if he had stopped moving.
• If you deploy your rescue beacon, stop moving and wait for rescue. Unfortunately, doing nothing is often one of the hardest actions for people to take. For some reason, we feel very uncomfortable sitting and waiting for help to arrive. Maybe it’s because of the singularly American ethic of being a strong individual and helping yourself. But if you are ever lost and anticipating rescue—you’ve deployed your beacon and/or you let responsible people know where you are and when you’ll be back—then make yourself comfortable in the area you are already in and wait for rescue to arrive. It’s much harder to find a moving target than a stationary one. Tragic stories abound of lost hikers who couldn’t seem to stop and let themselves be found—even when they saw that rescue helicopters were looking for them! If you are cold, then try to build a fire, and get up and move around often.

No one heads out on the trail planning to get lost, but if you follow these simple guidelines, you are more likely to found.

5/15/2011 Posting

Hopefully you were able to enjoy the spectacular weather we had on Saturday to do something you enjoy!

While Saturday was certainly the better day to go hiking this weekend, I led my CHS1 hike today. It was somewhat soggy today, to say the least. Nevertheless, me and nine other hikers decided to brave the less-than-ideal weather and do our planned ten-mile hike. While it rained off and on throughout the day, we really didn’t get any significant rain until our last mile or so. We also had a bit of adventure when our trail was diverted by a recent clear cut. A new trail had been hastily built, but it was pretty soggy and mostly went straight up hill. I was pretty sure we were on the right trail, but since I’d never been on it before, it made me a little nervous to encounter this secondary trail. Well everything turned out okay, and we made it back to where we were supposed to be. I was very impressed with all of the folks I went hiking with today. They had very positive attitudes throughout the whole trip and took good care of themselves in poor weather. Fellow navigation buffs helped me with map reading and using nifty technology to determine we were where we thought we were on the trail. My favorite saying from today was “I have sunshine in my heart.”

So this week’s topic of discussion is knowing “when to say when” on a hike. If the hike is not necessarily dangerous, but you’re not having a good time, at one point do you decide that the fun factor has hit the ground and starting digging? I usually find that if I look at the reasons why I hike—good company, nice destinations, enjoyable walking, and so on—and if the hike is giving me none of the pleasure of these factors, then I turn around and go home. If at least one of them is present—for example, my companions and I are in good spirits and having a good conversation despite conditions—then I continue on even if the weather is foul and there are no views. But if we’re all getting grumpy, or cold, and we’re not seeing anything farther away than our hands in front of our eyes due to bad weather, or the trail has become perplexing, then a warm place with some nice food and a hot drink starts looking really appealing. Don’t feel like you have to complete every hike you start. Sometimes it’s better to bag the hike and come back another day when conditions are better. The only trip you have to complete is the one back to your car.

Have a great week and I hope to hike with you soon!

5/08/11 Posting

Happy Mother's Day! I spent this weekend in Central Oregon with my folks, enjoying Mother’s Day with my Mom. Didn’t really get out hiking, but did enjoy some nice scenery, especially around the Smith Rocks State Park area.

Last Friday night I went to hike leader’s pizza party at the Mountaineer’s Program Center. I had a nice evening catching up with some folks I hadn’t seen for awhile. The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Gary Paull, Wilderness and Trail Coordinator for Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Gary talked about the current snow conditions in the mountains as well as summer road closures in his area. In my blog this week, I want to review some of his comments.

According to SNOTEL measurements taken at Lyman Lake in Chelan County, this is one the deepest snowpacks we've had in the last 11-12 years. As of May 7th, there is still 178 inches of snow up at the Lake, which is at almost 6000 feet. To put that in perspective, at the same time last year there was 141 inches. And 2010 was considered a good snowpack year! Needless to say, we’re going to be experiencing later trail melt out this year—even later than last year—when I was bemoaning the lack of great trails to hike on in June because they were all still snow-covered. Oh well!

Gary also talked about work being done on trails and access roads in his district. Whether you agree with the federal stimulus package or not, lots of that money is being used to work on trails and access roads this year. For more detailed information on projects in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, click on this link. Many prime spots, especially in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area will be tough to impossible to get to this summer, but—Lord willing and the creek don’t rise—will be available to hike next summer.

Have a great week I hope to hike with you soon.

5/1/2011 Posting

Happy May Day! What a lovely weekend we had! I hope you got to spend some of it doing wonderful things—such as hiking! I spent a really lovely Sunday with 9 other CHS folks hiking up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie trail to a bridge over the river. We got to laze around in the sun on our lunch break, soaking our feet in the water and enjoying the lovely sound of the rushing river. It was pure heaven after all of the rain that we’ve had lately.

In this week’s email, I’d like to talk about being prepared for dealing with injured folks on a hike. One of our hikers twisted an ankle and we had to check it out. Fortunately it was not at all serious, and the hiker was back on the trail quickly. If it had been more serious, we might have had to make alternate plans. If an injury happens to you or a co-hiker on either a club or private hike, you need to be prepared to spend a longer time out in the woods than you had originally anticipated.

This means that you bring the Ten Essentials, as well as insulating clothes (fleece, down, wool) and your rain gear. Then if you have to stop, you can pull out this clothing to keep you warm while you deal with the issue at hand. If the injury is very severe and you have to spend the night out in the wilderness, you’ll be happy for every piece of clothing you have, your ability to make a fire if needed, your extra food, and to be able to roll up in your space blanket, or whatever you have brought for as the shelter portion of the Ten Essential.

Even if no one is injured, you still need to bring these items. A hiker once related to me the story of going on a hike where they made it to destination and had lovely views to look at during lunch. It was bit chilly and windy out so he put on his extra clothing and sat down to eat. But some of the other members of the hike had not brought extra clothing to put on to keep warm while they were having lunch and they were cold. So the hike leader had no choice but to shorten lunch and leave so that the unprepared hikers wouldn’t get too cold. Please don’t be this unprepared hiker—either on CHS hikes or your own private hikes. At best, unpreparedness is annoying to co-hikers and cheats you out of spending time at a destination you worked so hard to get to; at worst, it could result in severe hypothermia or death.

So follow the Boy Scout’s motto and “be prepared.”