At the very end of August, Kevin took the older boys (including his awesome cousin Porter Draney) on their yearly high adventure. This time they had decided to do a 30+ mile portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, starting at White Pass by Leech Lake and ending at Tipsoo Lake.
This hike is at a decent elevation to start, as most or all of it is in Mount Rainier National Park. They also chose to take the continually ascending path each day since the views were supposed to get more spectacular each day as they progressed upwards! That said, we knew just before they left that it looked like they would probably have some rain, but didn't realize at all just how much rain and cold they were soon going to experience. Let's just say it was an amazing trip, but probably not a terribly fun one.
I'm just going to use Kevin's notes from the trip to give a run down ..
Oh and here's my name key;):
Kevin: K
James: J
Porter Draney: PD
Porter Dueck: PJD
Day One:
Lows: PJD was flu sick all day, K realized he had forgotten his boot insoles; no fish in Beutsch Lake; went to bed without the rain fly on and K and J had to get up in the middle of the night when the rain started to cover tent and gear; K's 65lb. pack is heavy!!
Highs: It was sunny and beautiful when they started out; ate melted Reese's PB Cups; got bear bags hung successfully; had fun discussing Destiny (a video game!).
In Betweens: We saw a guy swim naked in Deer Lake to get his snagged fishing line and came back with the snagged hook and even had a fish on the end of it!
Lessons Learned: snag in fishing line, but got untangled with a reward at the end...such is life; we can all do hard things...and there's a great sense of accomplishment that comes from that!
Day Two:
Highs: After giving PJD one Motrin and a priesthood blessing we decided to press on, and about an hour later he was feeling great!; K and J caught fish at Snow Lake; ended the evening playing Phase 10.
Lows: Late start after the night's rain; had to make a tough decision to go back or keep going forward since PJD was still sick; K found a wasp inside the tent and got stung.
In Betweens: a huge storm coming so find a good "hunkering down" spot and get both the rain fly and a big brown tarp set up for protection.
Lessons Learned: we're always journeying to a destination and most of the time the journey is tough going. Such is life, and the true key is doing whatever is possible to stay optimistic and enjoy those journeys...life is just too short not too!
Day Three:
Highs: Blessed with a patch of dry weather for a bit so were able to pack up quickly, dry off some equipment, and head out to hopefully find a somewhat dry spot for the next night.
Lows: Very tough start!, right after leaving camp it started raining hard again; moving kept everyone warm but all were exhausted and soaked with rain and sweat by the time Crag Lake came into view (6 miles later) so were seriously concerned about hypothermia, especially with how cold it was--cold enough to see breath while in the tent; K was still cold two hours after getting into tent and worried about everyone not having dry clothes.
"Long story short, I told everyone that as soon as we got to our camping destination, we needed to immediately get the tarp setup to have a place to pitch our tent somewhat protected from the constant rain...then, once the tarp and tent were setup, we were to get out of our wet clothes, into some dry ones and then climb into our sleeping bags!"
Lessons Learned: Pray and put your trust in God--he always takes care of us (like finding a perfect--probably "miraculous," fairly dry camping spot once arriving to Cragg Lake, or prompting K to throw in that huge tarp right before leaving on the trip); fear and faith can't coexist.
Day Four:
Lows: The rain came down in buckets all night--still relentless at 7am, rain even started coming under the tent; PD's air mattress popped in the very early morning hours leaving all four guys to squish together on the remaining three pads; decided it was pouring down too hard to hike (and everything was too wet), so stayed in the tent all day.
Highs: Managed to stay in good spirits with Phase 10 and a hot breakfast (cooked by opening the front zipper of the tent and cooking very carefully under the vestibule); staying in the crowded tent managed to warm everyone up--especially on only 3 sleeping pads!; had found a slightly sloped tent spot so that the water would run through rather than pool up underneath the tent; they were happy to have brought plenty of rope so clothes could be hung all over inside the tent to dry; very brief brake of sunshine in the afternoon; K randomly found a leather belt around camp (which was great since his wet pants were starting to slip off;); read a church book together, shared testimonies, etc.
In Betweens: The "Draney Curse" :-) proves to still be in full force (Year 1: Mildred Bacon Swim, Year 2: Ross Lake Bathroom Lockout, Year 3: PCT Air Pad Blowout)
Day Five:
Highs: K gave each of the boys a Priesthood blessing to encourage them and give them strength for the hike out; "Operation Fix Poncho with Duct Tape Part 1" succeeds; they start out warm and in good spirits; saw a mother elk and kid and a mother deer and her two fauns; had just what they needed from K's first-aid kit.
Lows: Knew they had to hike 13+ miles because of being confined to the tent the day before with the non-stop rain, meaning we also had to get up by 6am to get to our pick-up point on time; “Operation Fix Poncho Part 2” doesn't work out so well and end up tying things together to make do; the hike out was very arduous--13 wet and cold miles with a lot of elevation gain; shoulders, feet, and pretty much everywhere else are completely exhausted; K's phone glitches and can no longer track trip statistics or be used as a GPS (fortunately had an emergency "hard" map)
A very nice friend dropped the guys off at their starting point, but I was designated to pick them up at a certain time at the location outlined. I had been a little worried about them throughout the week (based on the rain and wind we were experiencing at our home; supposedly it was the worst storm at Mt. Raineer in 30 years), but I really had no idea how bad it was until I arrived at the meeting point.
It was super foggy and really really cold. I had Joseph with me and we were both bundled up in the car and were still very chilly. As if that didn't worry me enough, they were late arriving at the meeting point--probably only by about 30-45 minutes or so, but I began to really be concerned for their welfare.
Of course, it turned out that they were fine, and once they finally came into view we were all pretty excited to see each other. They definitely looked totally wasted, but were pretty calm, excited to update me and take a picture or two, and were especially content to take a seat in the comfy car.
On the way home, we stopped in Buckley at an old mom-n-pop restaurant called Wally's. PD and J got the Waltimate burger which was huge!! Of course they were probably extra excited to have such a yummy, hot meal; but man, these boys can eat!
I do think K decided that if he would have known just how bad the weather was going to be, he never would have risked taking the boys on this trip. That said, I'm sure it is a high adventure they really will never forget.
Great work guys!!
General Stats:
Name:
|
PCT Survival Adventure
| |
Start Date:
|
Aug 27, 2015 2:23 pm
| |
Map: (valid until Feb 27, 2016)
| ||
Distance:
|
30 miles
| |
Elapsed Time:
|
~11 hours
| |
Avg Speed:
|
2.4 mph
| |
Max Speed:
|
7.5 mph
| |
Avg Pace:
|
24' 42" per mile
| |
Min Altitude:
|
4,043 ft
| |
Max Altitude:
|
6,100 ft
| |
Start Time:
|
2015-08-27T21:23:01Z
| |
Start Location:
| ||
Latitude:
|
46º 38' 41" N
| |
Longitude:
|
121º 22' 59" W
| |
End Location:
|
Anderson Lake – However, really at Tipsoo Lake
| |
Latitude:
|
46º 49' 54" N
| |
Longitude:
|
121º 28' 27" W
| |
Comments
Post a Comment