Top Left: Michelle, Karen, Bob on bridge over Bubbs Creek (our last sign of human infrastructure for 7 days)Top Right: Joanna's feet after 1 day on-trail (not to be confused with a McDonald's Big Mac)
Lower Right: Crew at trailhead - Cliff, Karen, Gary, Gary's stomach, Joanna, Bob, Michelle
We're up and out of the motel by 5am, just a few minutes late from plan. We were delayed by Michelle having to do her makeup, and Bob having to practice his morning "scream therapy". Apparently it's something he does 5x daily (kind of like praying to Mecca) ever since "the incident". But, it seems to work for him, as it keeps his otherwise whispery voice up to a level that everyone within 200 yards can hear him. I can say with good faith that the truckers and migrants at the motel were REALLY happy when the first "YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYA" came out of Bob at 3:34am. As was his roomate (me), since he didn't bother leaving the room before letting the first yodel out.
After a painful (being kind) drive up to Roads End (yes, the real name of the trailhead. apparently they just stopped building the road at this point in the mountains...maybe WWII intervened or something) we arrive at the trailhead. There's several other groups heading out this morning alongside us, including a set of boy scouts, with their portable nintendos and machette's (to fight off the bear, I guess). Damn, we NEVER got to carry machette's when I was a boy scout.
We leave with the guys carrying ~ 70 lbs each, and the gals carrying ~ 50 lbs (higher % of body weight, except for Joanna who probably weighs around 230 lbs...well, with a 200 lb weight strapped on her waist anyways). This is big weight for a hike, but we have trained hard and, ah hell, I can't say that in good faith. Other than cliff, we're all just slovenly middle age people. That's if end age is 100 years old!
Today's goal was avalanche pass, (up 5,000 feet of vertical, from our 5,000 foot starting point), with a stretch goal of the valley just beyond. We've found over the years that you have to have a realistic goal and a stretch goal for every day, else you tend to meander or break too much. The first few miles of the trail were nice and gentle, mostly sandy terrain, with little vertical to speak of. Then, we crossed the Bubbs Creek bridge. It's call this because sometime back in history, a ranger used to poke you on the shoulder and say "Hey Bubb, what are you a MORON or something wanting to climb this rockface". But, alas, the ranger is no longer there, and we had no clue what we were in for. It was basically 5 miles straight uphill, 4,990 feet of vertical, over rocks, with each switchback getting steeper and steeper. After about 6 hours of climbing, we finally topped off at Avalanche Pass (at 10,000 feet) and nearly dropped over dead from exhaustion. Michelle, who we've now named "Frenchie" (see earlier blog reference to French Canadian Chicks) blows us all away, and is first over the top. Unfortunately, she stops there to refresh her makeup and do her toenails, and Karen passes her and wins the "first up the mountain award".
We're all carrying bear bells, which are basically little bells that ring continuously while you're hiking, ostensibly to ward off bears. We run into a fellow from Alaska while ascending, and he tells us "do you know how you can tell it's bear scat (poop)? from all the bear bells in it!". Apparently, the bear bells just let the grizzlies know where you are so it's easier for them to eat you. Plus, it provides nice dinner music to accompany your screams.
So, we get to camp at days end, only to find out that (1) Joanna's feet have turned to hamburger (apparently wrong socks), (2) a bear stole Karen's new pair of sunglasses (I bet there's one damn cool bear out there somewhere, (3) Cliff felt he wasn't carrying enough weight, so he added a sequoia tree to his pack along the way, and (4) Bob REALLY likes cous-cous (which is a grain made from the exotic Cous plant, found only in northern minnesota). We get dinner prepp'd only to find out that we have enough cous-cous for 60 people, not 6. And that's if they eat it morning, noon, and night, with cous-cous shakes for dessert. After taking inventory, we decide that we have to shed some food sometime soon, or we will all die from exhaustion. Our bear cannisters (big round plastic jug-like things) are packed, and we have to hang some 50 lbs of food from ropes in the trees. That takes the rest of the evening till nightfall, when we all fall dead asleep in our tents.
To minimize tent weight, Joanna had the pick of the litter guywise (3 tents for 6 people) to bunk with. She, unfortunately for her, choose bob. I think she was a bit shaken up when he did his scream therapy on Day 2 morning... As did cliff, but I think it was from waking up with my socks on his face.
Quote of the day (from Karen): Gravity's a Bitch...
Lumpy out
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