I hit the road walking west out of Northport after a nice lunch. The whole day today was spent on forest service roads (Big Sheep Creek Rd to be specific). As it was a Friday, there was a fair amount of traffic, and lots of little camps set up along the creek.
I met two real nice guys, Perry and LJ (maybe?) who gave me my first trail magic! On a hot afternoon, they came through with a cold beer, and we stopped to chat for a while. I almost wanted to take a picture with my first trail magic, but figured it would be weird. They invited me to come stay at their camp down the road. They'd set up for the weekend and were doing a little gold panning and just hanging out. Unfortunately, it was three miles back in the wrong direction. Looking back, it would have been a blast. Next time, I'm going to say "yes" even if it puts me back a few miles.
Anyway, I set up camp at Elbow Lake and spent an hour watching a helicopter fly over and pick up buckets of water, presumably to put out a forest fire. Pretty cool to watch them fly in right in front of me, but fires are bad news for hiking. Let's have a good rainstorm on my night in Republic!
Day 21 - Elbow Lake to Mystery Camp Daily Mileage: 30+ ??
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| The only picture I was inspired to take in 3 days |
Unfortunately, I missed a turn and ended up 6 miles down the wrong road. The topography matched up exactly, except I was heading NW instead of WSW. When I finally realized my mistake, I was already feeling down about the boring walking, and then to figure out that I had to backtrack 6 miles just hurt. I turned around and walked two miles back the way I had come cursing the road, trees, streams, and any animals within earshot. I set up camp right in the middle of a road, just because I knew that I was so far out no one would ever come this way.
At least I got my 30 mile day!
Day 22 - Mystery Camp to Neff Spring Daily Mileage: 28.5
This must have been my first campsite of the trip that was exposed to the east, because I woke up at 6am to the sun in my face. I packed up quickly, cursed the road, nearby forest, and campsite one last time, and then headed back down the way I had come. As I had hoped, it was only about 4.5 miles back to where I took a wrong turn, and I started the boring climb up the correct road this time.
I reached the end of the road walk and the start of the Kettle Crest trail around noon. My celebratory granola in a dusty parking lot didn't really hit the spot, but it was pretty much all I had for food. I started up the trail without a lot of fanfare, hoping that my spirits would improve. It did help quite a bit to finally be on a trail that was a little more engaging, but after about three miles in, the path became choked with small alders that kept dumping bugs all over me. Between patches of alders, spiderwebs crisscrossed the trail, all seemingly at eye-level. It didn't take long before I was frustrated once again and questioning why the hell I was even out here.
Luckily, the bad section only lasted about a mile or two, and I was finally treated to a decent view out to the west. It was nearing 5:30pm by this point, and the sun was throwing some beautiful shadows over the rolling hills below. I realized that this was the first time in almost 4 days that I'd had a reason to pull the camera out. Neff Spring, almost 29 miles in was a welcome sight when I finally arrived around 7:30. I plopped my tent down, used my cookpot to take a bucket-shower, and got some tea going. I took my cup of tea and some strawberry cheesecake (made from a dry mix) out to watch the sun go down. Life can be rough out here sometimes.
As I walked back from my spot on the hill, I started a moose who had set up between me and my tent. He gave me an annoyed look and then sauntered on up the hill. When he got a safe distance away, he turned around and watched me go about my business of tidying up camp before bed. Better than a grizzly bear, I guess.
Day 23 - Neff Spring to Sherman Pass Daily Mileage: 15
I got a decently early start, even with a leisurely breakfast, and hit the trail by 7am. Most of the walking today was along broad, grassy slopes with nice views out to the west. I made good time, and covered the 15 miles to Hwy 20 in about 6 hours. Though there was plenty of traffic, it took me an hour to get a ride into town.
My spirits were much higher on the walk today than they were yesterday. Just having a few nice views and some interesting walking really makes all the difference in the world. From now on, any official roadwalks will be hitched if possible. I can't stand another gradual 8 mile climb on boring gravel!
Not much else to say...Republic seems nice, if a little overpriced. I'll spend the evening relaxing and enjoying a beer or two somewhere in town.
This must have been my first campsite of the trip that was exposed to the east, because I woke up at 6am to the sun in my face. I packed up quickly, cursed the road, nearby forest, and campsite one last time, and then headed back down the way I had come. As I had hoped, it was only about 4.5 miles back to where I took a wrong turn, and I started the boring climb up the correct road this time.
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| My first views in days... |
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| View from my campsite |
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| Oh! Well hello there! |
Day 23 - Neff Spring to Sherman Pass Daily Mileage: 15
I got a decently early start, even with a leisurely breakfast, and hit the trail by 7am. Most of the walking today was along broad, grassy slopes with nice views out to the west. I made good time, and covered the 15 miles to Hwy 20 in about 6 hours. Though there was plenty of traffic, it took me an hour to get a ride into town.My spirits were much higher on the walk today than they were yesterday. Just having a few nice views and some interesting walking really makes all the difference in the world. From now on, any official roadwalks will be hitched if possible. I can't stand another gradual 8 mile climb on boring gravel!
Not much else to say...Republic seems nice, if a little overpriced. I'll spend the evening relaxing and enjoying a beer or two somewhere in town.
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