Winding Stair Backpacking Trip

Winding Stair Backpacking Trip
Ouchita National Forest
Oklahoma

Josh and I planned a 21 mile backpacking trip in the Ouchita National Forest in Oklahoma on the border of Arkansas. We left work around three, got to the trailhead around six and made it about 3 miles before it got dark. We had salmon parm for dinner and called it a night around 8. We were definitely worn out after our week.

The next day we needed to hike about 14 miles to be on track since we got a late start. We hiked in the worst humidity of my life, but got some beautiful views and we finally got to see some fall colors! We saw some animals and walked through a lot of poison ivy. It took me a while to realize that we were supposed to cache water. It didn't mean there were going to be hidden caches of water for you to pump from, it mean that you were supposed to hide your own water. We were really worried we weren't going to find any water and we'd be s.o.l. Fortunately we came across a valley stream that was on the verge of being dried up. There was some still water but we pumped it anyway and hoped for the best.

We finally found a place to camp next to a pretty nasty pond. Fortunately there was water in it, and we were able to pump and boil it to make sure we didn't get sick. We made dinner - we were both exhausted and sooo sweaty and sticky so we laid down and fell asleep early. The next thing I know I'm in the most outrageous thunder/lightening/rain storm of my life. It lasted for about 4 hours (or what seemed like four hours) and I'll admit, I was pretty shook up. Apparently the whole area, Anna included, got rained out. Fortunately we didn't get puddles and the water didn't seep through my tent. We were safe, warm and dry. The next morning I couldn't really believe that we were dry. Everyone else that we passed on our 5 mile hike out seemed to have gotten soaked during the night. 

We hiked out in the muggy weather, both ready to be done with the hike. We got to the car and headed to the nearest ice cream place. Dairy Queen treated us well. Once home I fell asleep and ended up not being sore! All in all, it was a great trip, except I wish it were closer. 

After a 3.5 hour drive we finally made it to the trailhead.

We finally saw autumn in Oklahoma!

A lookout. Before we started running out of water. 

Autumn

Uinta Highline Trail

Two days after I got back from Washington, Mariah, Jose, my dad and I were leaving for a 60 mile trek through the Uinta Mountains. We filled our packs with the essentials: sleeping bag, mat, tent, stove, rain jackets, toilet paper and water purifiers. I was in charge of the food for the trip. We ate like kings and it ended up being pretty lightweight - about 6 lbs. per person!

We drove to our trailhead on Sunday, tried to wait out the rain, ended up hiking in the rain anyway and made it about 7 miles before we called it a day. I'll admit, at this point I was not a happy camper. I wasn't really expected what I had gotten myself into, but I'm not usually one to quit something I know I can accomplish so I kept on.

The beginning of the trail - rain gear on!

Food for four people for 5 days.

On top of Dead Horse Pass.

Dead Horse Pass was the first and I'd say the worst pass. It was nearly 3 miles of climbing and down climbing through a boulder graveyard, heavy rain and entirely sore feet. The lake we camped next to was beautiful and made it kind of worth the drag.

Lunch on day 3

Entering the Wilderness Area

After the hail and rain, playing dice games in the tent

On the top of Anderson Pass - Kings Peak (tallest peak in Utah) is in the background.

On top of Anderson Pass. We thought it was our last, but we had one more small one to conquer.

We hiked as far as you can see here.

On top of Dead Horse Pass. I'm not pleased with the situation.

On top of Rocky Sea Pass (day 2)

At the end of the trail - we made it!

What our trip pretty much looked like the whole time.

Dead Horse Pass. So Epic.

We hiked 60 some miles, camped 5 nights, hiked 6 days, went through a bajillion bandaids and tylenol, ate like kings, almost ran out of toilet paper, got rained on a lot and had an EPIC ADVENTURE! I doubt I'll be able to top this trip any time soon. 

My Visit to Forks

After I decided to move, I put in my two weeks notice and planned another trip to Washington to spend some time with Jake. 

I flew into Seattle and spent the afternoon with Steph (my bike riding buddy). We had clam chowder, walked through Pikes Place and spent some quality time together in the city. 

Clam Chowder!

Gum wall at Pike's Place

I then took 3 buses to finally meet up with Jake in Port Townsend, about a two hour drive from Forks. I was so exhausted that night and it was raining so badly that I just called it a night. Jake had to work the next couple days so I just spent some time seeing Forks and applying for jobs.
That evening we went out to first beach (It's in the twilight books). It's a beautiful place on the Quileute (kway-lute) Reservation. 

First Beach

Twilight Central. This is a real place.

The City of Forks DOES welcome me! Such a small place, but beautiful!

Building a sand castle on First Beach

We spent the 4th of July on First Beach with some of Jake's friends from Portland. We barbequed and watched the longest firework show of my life. The next morning we headed to the Hoh River to Third Beach Backpacking Trail.

Hoh River meets the Pacific Ocean.

This trip was amazing. It was 17 strenuous miles on the Pacific Coast. We waded through mud for miles, were soaking wet but had beautiful weather. I've never hiked anywhere like it. 

We had numerous overland passes where we had to either climb muddy cliff faces or skid down dirt paths. It was really hard, but amazing!

Our campsites had incredible views. Our second night was spend right by these sweet tide pools and sea caves. We saw all kinds of cool creatures including anemones and sea stars.

We had awesome fires, great food and great company. This backpacking trip may have made it into my top 10 trips! 

After the trip we got back to Forks and Jake had to go back to work. I spent time hanging around the city and applying for jobs. It was a great vacation and I'm really glad I got to go up there this summer. 

Death Hollow

23 miles, three days, lost once and a whole lot of fun!

Just an overlook before we got to the trailhead.

Apparently we hiked on the 'old mail trail' and right through the Bolder "airport"...

Beginning of the trail. Or so we thought.

The mile 'detour'. This was a pretty stop right before we realized we were lost and turned around.

My mom and I

Just the landscape.

Cooking dinner, night one was my turn to plan and pack the meal. We had salmon pasta made with orzo pasta, fresh spinach, salmon packets, parmesan cheese and lemon. If you'd like to know more about my dinner visit recipe virgins!

Everyone enjoying dinner!

Doing dishes after it got dark. :(

If you look above my head you'll see a pile of rocks. The pile was bigger, but we pushed them off the side of the mountain...

Just another landscape shot - we were making memories.

Our first view of the canyon after dropping down.

This was our footwear for 2 days. Neoprene socks and chacos.

Just a pretty picture.... plus Jake.

One of the thousands of river crossings

Playing in the water. I fell in the water shortly after this, taking my camera with me. Needless to say, I had to let it dry out before using it again, and by that time we had reached camp for the night. Just imagine some really beautiful photos of me and some red rocks.

Orange pack = mine. I love it.

My family at the Escalante/Death Hollow confluence. Aren't they just so fun.

Escalante Natural Arch - Chalay and I in the last few miles on day three.

We made it to the finish line!

This was a really fun trip. We ate well, hiked a lot, and laughed even more. I wouldn't recommend this hike for the feint of heart seeing as it was a lot of bush whacking and water. We had to crawl under rock outcroppings and swim through chest high water with packs over our heads. I slept great, enjoyed cards, the stars and a full moon. I love to backpack, but I'm always glad to be back in my own bed!

High Creek Lake

I went backpacking to High Creek Lake. It's in Cache Valley, past Richmond and up the canyon. If you didn't know what you were doing, you'd probably get confused. Anyway, its about 5 miles up to the lake 3.5 of which is a nice leisurely climb. After that its death. I'm not even kidding. The climb is up the mountainside, not even switchbacks, and it seems like the destination could be around every corner, but it's not. However, getting there was well worth the climb. It was beautiful, especially with autumn sneaking up on us.

This is me trying to push rocks off of cliffs. It wasn't my idea, but it was fun.

High Creek Lake

Jake and I at the trailhead.

That's me at the trailhead!

Made it to the beaver ponds.

Both of us still looking happy because we don't know what is coming.

Beautiful landscape.

We set up camp, made dinner and hung out before we fell asleep around 10:30. The wind didn't stop blowing through the night, and the morning was no different so we cooked breakfast (omelets) in the floor-less tent. Awesome! Jake convinced me to climb the cliff/mountainside and push rocks off. I know, it seems like something a fifth grader would do right? I can't even tell you how much fun it was! I laughed so hard every time one would fly off the cliff. I hope people on the trail weren't too annoyed with us. We headed down after that and enjoyed a Subway sandwich and called it a day!