22 September 2015, Tuesday
We wake at 7 am. The sky is blue, but the sun has not reached the bottom
of the river valley yet. We can see the bright green of the
mountain tops. It is a cool, damp 41 degrees F. We rehydrate our apple
cranberry French Toast for breakfast and have a fairly leisurely
morning. We are packed up and on the trail at 10:30. It’s hard to
take off our extra layers as we hit the trail, but the uphills soon
have us warm. It’s a perfect day for hiking, but we cool off very
quickly when we stop for breaks.
As we hike, K spots a large bear track. S assures us it is a day or two
old. We pass more elk tracks and find some old elk bones alongside
the trail. We are still slowed by old blowdowns. All of the trunks we
must scramble over are moist from the high humidity. The forest is
amazing. Tall Douglas firs that reach to the sky, western hemlock,
red cedar. It would take at least five people, maybe 6 to reach
around these trunks.
We stop for lunch in a large clearing by the Duckabush. The river has
sculpted an intricate pattern into the rocks by the bank. We could
stay all day exploring the area, but we want to make it to Upper
Duckabush Camp well before dark so we can have a more relaxed dinner.
Besides, we have to ford the Duckabush before getting to camp.
The trail finally approaches the ford. We have 2 pairs of water shoes for
4 people. S decides he will just take his socks off and wade across
in his shoes. They are already wet. K and I wear the same shoe size.
K will wear my water shoes across, and S will shuttle them back to me.
His ulterior motive… there is a log just upstream that he wants to
try crossing. K discovers an added complication. The sole is falling
off her beloved six year old hiking boot. We half-jokingly decide she
may need to complete the hike in the water shoes.
S returns across the river with my water shoes. They are cold and wet. K
did not do a very good job warming them up! I put them on and step
into the water. My feet are numb by the second step. It seems
impossible that the water can still be liquid. On the other side we
dry our feet and walk up the trail. Our camp is just up the hill.
O cooks up our bison stew while the rest of us set up the tents. This
site has a bear wire for hanging food and a “building” that will
pass as an outhouse. There is a front door and two sides, but the
rear wall is mostly gone and there is no roof. Ah well, it’s better
than no pit at all.
Dinner is delicious and quickly finished. We decide to sacrifice our Tyvek
cooking apron for use as part of the boot repair system. S cleans
what’s left of the sole and tries some super glue and tape as a first
repair layer, but we are a bit short on tape. He then uses the apron
ties to do a kind of gladiator sandle strap over K’s boot. It just
might work! We’ll see how long the Tyvek strips last – we have 4
days of hiking to go. K thinks maybe this will catch on…the
latest in hiking boot styling.
In any case, it’s getting too dark to see and my fingers are getting
cold.
Good yontif!
Bed time!