These Boots Were Made For...Hiking?!?!?!

Caution: Long post...pictures totally worth it though, I promise!

This past weekend for me was absolutely fabulous…I feel like I rolled everything there is to do in Seattle into 2 days!  I experienced the city, the sports teams, and Sunday took a hiatus from the city life to experience the raw wilderness that is the Cascade mountain range.  Some parts were comfortable and easy…others were exhilarating and exciting…and some were just down right CRAZY! 

So, without further ado, I will start with the comfortable and easy…Friday night Katie, Chris, Kristen, and Neil came over to my apartment for a nice relaxing night of dinner and hanging out.  They introduced me to the delectability of FRESH Dungeness crab cakes, and I introduced them to reality TV – “Toddlers In Tiarias”, “Say Yes to the Dress”, and, my personal favorite…”My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”.  (Hey, we all have our priorities…don’t judge!)  We were all too tired to make it to “Desperate Housewives”, but they would have been in for a real treat!

Party of 5...First dinner party at my new place!

Saturday was a different story…I made a last minute trip to R.E.I.’s flagship store which is located here in Seattle.  That place is truly awesome.   REI is a just a “slight” change from the stores I normally shop at…Katie and Chris introduced me to this store last week, and although I didn’t buy anything at the time, I knew I would be back.  Now, I won’t lie to you…I like to describe myself as a city girl with country roots.  I know how to fish, and I will even take the fish of the hook and bait my own hook.  I know how to cook some fierce fried chicken, and I’m not afraid of a little dirt.  BUT, I wear pearls 24-7, my nails are always painted some shade of pink (the brighter the better), I can sniff out a J.Crew store from a mile away, and the closest I’ve ever been to camping is tailgating in the Grove at Ole Miss.  Let’s get real…I’m about as granola as a donut.  So, it’s safe to say this whole outdoor store is a fairly foreign concept to me.  Nonetheless, I was hooked the first time I saw this place.  With waterfalls cascading near the entrance and more than 3 stories of pure tree-hugger heaven, this is definitely the mother of all outdoor equipment stores.   

So Saturday I set out to add to my newly acquired hiking gear and stocked up with a pair of hiking pants (that can zip off into capris…fancy shmancy!) and a water bottle.  Having visited REI just 2 days prior to purchase some hiking shoes and socks, I didn’t need much to complete my true hiker get-up.  Much in the same way freshmen dress up for the first day of school--trying so hard to fit in they actually stand out--I knew that my squeaky clean Teva’s would definitely give me away on the trail.  But, hey, I was ready for my first REAL hike…or so I thought!  I finished off the day with a night at SAFECO field watching the Mariners lose to my beloved TEXAS RANGERS!  (Just because I live here doesn’t mean I have to root for their teams…)

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early to this beautiful sunrise…

You know that saying that goes “Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morn’, sailors be warned”??  Yeah, well, I think you can replace “sailors” with “hikers”.  This little gem of a sunrise should have been my first sign of what was to come!  But 5:30 am couldn’t come soon enough for me, and I was so excited to finally set off to meet the rest of the crew for my 2^nd hike ever, and first REAL hike!  Once I met up with Katie, Chris, Kristen, and Neil at the Beverly Turnpike Trailhead, we dropped the other car at the Stafford Creek Trailhead and began our trek.  The plan was to traverse about 6 miles up to Earl Peak.  Then, following the ridge between Earl Peak and Navaho Peak, we would summit Navaho and follow the Stafford Creek trail all the way back down to civilization.  All in all, the trip was supposed to end up around 13 miles (round trip).   

 Cell phone pic of the early morning fog on my drive to the hike

Well, we got a little bit of a late start finally shoving off around 10:45 am and we headed up through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.  Serenaded by Katie and Kristen’s rendition of “Goodbye Earl” by the Dixie Chicks, we crossed  a stream that led us to a canyon where we saw natural waterfalls, and eventually led us out into a gorgeous field of wild, mountain flowers as far as you could see.

 Waterfall right next to our trail...no big deal

 Beautiful mountain flowers

Neil, Kristen, KTC, and me! (Thanks for taking the pic, Chris!)

Annnnd then we really began to climb.  (Seeing as this was only my second hike ever, I would be lying if I told you I didn’t have any trepidation about keeping up and being able to last 13 full miles) Well, I didn’t have any trepidation about keeping up and being able to last 13 full miles!...NOT.  I was cautiously excited for the trip, because I knew I was going to have to push myself to the limit and I certainly didn’t want to be “that girl” that slows down the whole gang.  But the whole group was so encouraging…taking turns spurring me on as we slowly, but steadily made our way toward Earl Peak.  Finally, after what seemed like climbing forever (and a few out-of-breath “Are we there yets” from me), we made it to the top of the ridge and took a slight break before heading to the summit.  The views from this point were like nothing I have ever witnessed…we ate lunch taking in the fresh mountain air and admiring the trek we had just made while standing in complete awe of the breathtakingly dramatic views of the Stuart Range.  The rocky cliffs seemed so close and so ominous, but so beautiful and alluring all the same.  And, if it weren’t for me breathing like a T-Rex trying to catch my breath, the quiet stillness was truly a somber experience.

 KTC enjoying the view!

Stewart Range in the background...

Left a $2 bill at the summit of Earl Peak...Hopefully somebody will find it and share the love!

Quick, everybody look hard!

Crazy to think we came from all the way down there...

More Stewart Range

3 days ago I would have called myself a poser...Now, I call this totally legit!

After 2 lunch breaks at the top, we decided it was time to move on…so move on we did.  Things started out nicely as we made our way down the ridge of Earl and headed toward Navaho.  Then things got a little rockier…literally.  As we traversed the ridge, we began to make our way over/around/between/and through huge boulders.  Being much more experienced, the boys seemed to scale these with ease, but we ladies were a little more apprehensive.  For the most part, we had rocks on either side of us, but there were some parts where we were exposed to the open face of the mountain.  One slip, and we could have been off that mountain.  I don’t think I stopped praying the entire time.  The boys were so encouraging and they really felt bad for not realizing the “trail” would be this treacherous, but all of us realized we had no other choice but to continue on.  We could not go back the way we came, because a descent on that trail would have been too steep to attempt, so we just kept going….and going…and going…and I kept praying…and praying…and praying...After 2.5 hours of scrambling the boulders on the ridge (that’s a real hiker term—look it up!), we finally began our descent.  Being mentally, emotionally, and physically drained we decided to forego the second summit of the day and head toward the trail.  Finally after some slipping and sliding we found the Stafford Creek Trail…our path to freedom!  When I saw that trail, I felt like it was a mirage in the desert.  And, once I put my feet on that trail I just KNEW we would be sitting in the car eating pretzels and heading back home in 20 minutes.  Boy was I wrong!  6 miles and about 2 hours later we reached the car.   

 Hiking down from the peak

 This was the easy part of the ridge...

 This was one of the hardest parts of the ridge...You can't see, but I'm pretty sure KTC's face is white as a sheet.  Mine was too at that point.

Looking back at the treacherous ridge that we traversed...This picture definitely makes it look tame.

 A close-up view of the jagged ridge

Tired, sweaty, stinky beyond belief, we had done it.  We had travelled almost 9 hours and 16 miles on the day, and had some scary and amazing experiences along the way.  Sitting here on my living room couch, alive and happy, it doesn’t seem so bad.  But, on that ridge scaling the boulder and trying to figure my next hand and foot hold was so unbelievably intense.  I am so glad to say that I have done it, and I am so glad the crew was so skilled, brave, and encouraging!  I am convinced I could not have done this with anyone else!  But I can say that I finished (even though I never want to scramble boulders on a ridge again)!  With my pearls on too I might add!  (Hey, like they say…you can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl! :))

Let me remind you these were brand new when I started the day...Lesson of the day: The dirtier the shoes, the more pure the experience!