Alright! So we went our on backpacking trip. I have decided to get internet at my cabin because i do not get online as often as i like so when i do i end up spending all day at the university catching up on all my internet things and never getting to everything.
So. The backpacking trip was really fun and really hard. I went with these two girls that i met, Jessica and Shirley. This was their first backpacking experience. The trip we were planning on doing was 30 miles, 2 nights 3 days. We got off to a good start. we were on the trail at about 11:30 the first day. it was very hot and sunny for the first 3 miles. not much shade. we were in the trees only it was a burned forest so not much regrowth yet and very little shade. we were really hot and it was mostly up hill for 3 miles. Just past 3 miles was a nice rocky outcrop that was shaded and we stopped there for lunch. we were going pretty slow because of the heat and the fact that it was up hill. I think it took us about 3 hours. Our trail discription told us that from mile 4-7 it was flat tundra with little elevation change. So we thought we'd make much better time for those 3 miles since it was FLAT and LITTLE ELEVATION CHANGE. mile 4 was mostly up hill and miles 5-7 were hilly up and down. we were beginning to think they were lying to us. We did not make any better time the next 3 miles. At mile 7 to 7.5 was suppose to be a steep decline followed by a half mile of very steep incline. in 1/2 a mile we climbed 900 ft. it was literally the cliff of insanity. not only was it incredibly steep but the wind picked up considerably about half way up. when we got to the top i could not believe that we had just hiked up it. it was by far the most difficult thing i've done besides grand canyon.
At the top of that awful hill it was very very windy with no place to get out of the wind. we quickly dressed warmer and noticed the rain clouds blowing in. We hiked another 1/4 mile to this little rocky outcrop and sat down to get out of the wind and get our rain gear on. Only i was the only one with rain gear and water proof foot wear. We were also starving so we managed to eat and get our bags protected from the rain and then it started to rain. Jessica and Shirley got wet and cold very quickly. So i decided to go and try to find a place to set up our tent. I hiked about another 1/4 mile and found a relatively decent place to make camp. It was down the side of the ridge and about 20 feet from a complete drop off cliff. It was a little more protected from the wind but the wind was still really blowing. So we began trying to set up the tent. It was realy scary because the wind was strong we were afraid we would let go of the tent or the rain fly or the tarp or the tent bag and it would blow off the cliff. It was raining and blowing and i had to remind myself how to set up my tent because it's a little confusing and i hadn't set it up in a while. So after we finally got the tent set up and it was pretty we, the rain stopped and we got the rain fly on. JEssica and Shirley got dry clothes on and i was still toasty warm and dry as could be. I have been in their position before. IT was nice to have all the proper equipment.
We had a good night. I was cooked our ravioli on the cook stove. The rest of the night was uneventful. We woke up the next morning and hiked up to mile 8ish and saw the plane crash. It was pretty cool. The plane crashed in 1950. THere was metal and plane pieces all over the side of the hill. Then we went back to our tent and packed up and decided that it was going to take too long to complete the 30 miles. I had to work on THursday night so we decided to go back the way we came. we thought for sure because the way back was almost all down hill that we would make really good time. We did not go any faster. IT was hard going downhill for 6 out of 8 miles. We got hailed on and the wind was really really strong. the last 3 miles which were lower elevation so it was warm again and the sun came out so we got sun burned.
We made it back to the trail head after about 7 and 1/2 hours of hiking and found a cool little spot along the river and camped for the night. We decided we had a lot of food to eat still so we camped and ate our food.
IT was a really fun trip. After we got back, Riana (my sister) told us that we hiked the hardest part of the trail and it was not nearly as challenging the rest of the trail. Also the first time she had attempted to hike that trail she only made it to mile 4. So we were proud of our accomplishment. I think though that i might have to hike the whole thing because i don't like not finishing something. But probably will wait until the end of the summer. Will post pictures later cause i am out of time.
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