Deepwoods Damnation

I am exhausted. I didn't sleep last night till 3:30am, which for me (and probably most people) is ridiculously late. Why am I exhausted you ask?

Because I was rocking the fuck out.

Last night was Deep Woods Damnation. My friend Marietta decided that for her birthday she was going to rent a couple generators and her band Audrey Horne (no website sorry) was going to play in the middle of the woods. She also got two other bands to come out (Don Peyote and Sioux City Pete &The Beggars). We drove out into the National Forest just East of North Bend and out a public access road. We helped unload band gear, set up our tent and then began the hard task of drinking.


I decided not to bring my good camera because I really didn't want anything to happen to it. There were going to be lots of people I didn't know not to mention the very real possibility of drunken negligence. I think it was the right choice but I am incredibly bummed that I don't have decent pictures. The pictures I do have do not do it justice. The colors in the sunset were incredible, the mountains were gorgeous but I just really wish I could have taken some shots of the bands playing. If there are some photos that appear later via facebook I will add them.

However! I did manage to get a video of Audrey Horne playing. Watch it! they are awesome and my phone actually did a pretty decent job.

The sound must have carried for miles. I have no doubt that there were other campers in the area and that they were absolutely furious with us. I certainly would be. However, I'm willing to take that in exchange for the memories from last night, though they got increasingly hazy. There are moments in everybody's life where you know that you are going to remember it forever. Most people think that about lots of things and don't necessarily remember them, but you know when you truly will remember because you feel it. You feel that moment burning into you, rattling your bones like a bass guitar.

I won't remember the names of the people I met. That Chris and I laughed about how metal trash and constellations are. Or how I rambled on and on to this poor girl about how I really want to make a sweet risotto with almond milk and coconut water. But I will remember the way the light illuminated the band, and the way the sound seemed to be a living thing tearing it's way across the mountains.

I am physically drained, but I don't give a shit. My life is fucking incredible.

Trail Review Greenwater and Echo Lakes

Greenwater and Echo Lakes May 4th and 5th

14 miles (including Echo Lake)

1600ft Elevation Gain

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, near Enumclaw

Good for Dogs

NW Forest Pass 

Rating: Easy

We did this hike back on May 4th and 5th, but then got really busy with my birthday and a bunch of other stuff and I got distracted. Chris, our friend Katie and myself left Seattle around 8:45 and drove out the Greenwater Lake trail head. This was our first real overnight of the season, and unfortunately Chris and been having really bad acid reflux, so we were moving pretty slow. The hike out was lovely, it was warm but not hot, and while there were quite a few people on the trail it didn’t ever feel crowded.

We got to the end of the second of the two Greenwater Lakes, and a man with a struggling campfire told us he had tried to get to Echo lake and had been unable to go the entire way due to snow. Being the stubborn, independent types we are we decided we needed to see it for ourselves. After all, this man had a tea-cup sized dog, so obviously he was insane, not to mention he had shorts on so maybe the “snow” was just slush that was 100 yards long and we’d be able to cross it easily.

We could not.

We went another 1.5 miles before we hit the snow. It started out manageable enough, the trail was easily spotted, but after about ¾ of a mile of increasingly deep, often slushy snow, we were done and decided to turn around.

Luckily just after we had passed the guy who said there was snow ahead Chris spotted a campsite that he said looked amazing. I couldn’t see it through the brush, but after we turned back we decided to head for that spot. The campsite ended up being on an island where two forks of the greenwater river converged and dumped into the lake. We had to scramble across some fallen trees, but oh man. BEST. CAMPSITE. EVER.

We spent the night drinking wine we had packed in, and playing camp Disney trivia (that’s where we bring some Disney trivia cards but not the whole board game). Then as we went to bed we listened to an audio book of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and recordings of Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone reading selections from Edgar Allen Poe. In all a pretty awesome evening. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.

WTA Link: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/greenwater-lakes

Deception Pass State Park: Part 2

This post is going to go up a day early since tomorrow promises to be a bit hectic. 

I woke up after dozing off for a bit and thought to myself “Hmmmm there’s no dog in my sleeping bag. Where the hell is Jaxx?” He usually sleeps in my bag when it’s cold, because he’s spoiled and I don’t mind the extra warmth. I woke Chris up to make sure he wasn’t with him. Turned out he’d nosed his way out of Chris’ door. Shit. Shit. Shit.

If you’ve ever had a pet disappear, you know it sucks. It’s especially awful when you’re in an unfamiliar place and your dog has a particular affinity for cars. I ran out of the tent and started whistling from him. Got about 50 yards from camp and this woman came around a building and asked “Did you lose your dog? Is his name Jaxx?” Oh thank god. He had just wandered into a neighboring campsite where people were still up. My dog likes to party. Needless to say we’ll be investing in some small carabiners to seal the tent zippers at night. But everything was fine, although I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night, first because I was totally afraid that I was going to lose Jaxx again, second because by this time the tent was slowly beginning to collapse.

For me the tent wasn’t really a problem. I like small spaces and it wasn’t completely collapsed so I didn’t have tent material on my face. The nice thing about your tent collapsing is that it’s really toasty. It’s a general rule of thumb that the less space inside a shelter and the lower the ceiling the warmer it’s going to be, since warm air travels up. This goes for primitive shelters as well. However, Chris is a lot bigger than me and he had damp tent on his face. Not pleasant. He didn’t want to move to the car, so poor guy ended up rolling up his sleeping mat and using it to prop up the center of the tent. Around this time I finally passed out. 

Ko-Kwal-alwoot

Next day we struck camp pretty quick and went up to the north end of the park (Fidalgo Island) to do some additional hiking. It was warmer and even prettier out. On the way we stopped and took some pictures from the bridge (Above). We started out at Rosario Beach, which WTA had mentioned as a very pretty spot. My favorite part was this gorgeous carved Samish (Native Americans indigenous to the area) statue of Ko-Kwal-Alwoot, also known as The Maiden of Deception Pass, who ended up marrying the family that rules the sea. The carving is beautiful, but really I love the story, you can read it here.

Day two was short, we were both pretty exhausted from the previous day’s hike and the long night. Only hiked about miles total, but it was a beautiful day. The Olympic mountains were out in the west (click on the photo below to see them a bit more clearly). One thing that struck me (on both days), especially being from a coastal region myself, is how clear and empty the water is here. I’m used to surging surf, tons of kelp and sea life. In the area I grew up in California the water and sea life is pretty similar to what you find in Washington marine areas, tide pools and rocks seem to be alive with all manner of sea urchins, crabs, starfish, different types of sea plants. Here it was just empty which, while a little jarring for me, does make for some beautiful water. I could almost pretend I was in the Mediterranean.

Overall definitely go visit Whidbey, but I would recommend going during the week, or off season to avoid lots of groups. Unless you are one of those people who love car camping, because you're very social and inevitably make friends with everybody in neighboring sites. Good for you, you damn alien. 

WTA Link for our second hike here. It's also highlighted in red on the map of the park in Part 1.

Deception Pass State Park: Part 1

 

Location: Whidbey and Fidalgo Island

Difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium (couple of short steep sections)
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Mileage: Variable
Fees/Passes: $22 for drive in $12 for bike/hike in sites

Season: Year round, but I recommend off-season

This past weekend Chris and I really wanted to get out of the city. The first camping trip of the year always seems to end up being car camping. Probably because we don’t have our gear assembled yet and are just generally not prepared (as you will see). So this year we went out to Whidbey Island and camped at Deception Pass State Park. We were suppose to go with a goup of hikers we are friends with but the date ended up getting moved to this coming weekend, at which time Chris and I will be in Olympia visiting family. Since both of us were looking forward to the trip we decided to go a week early on our own.

The trip was kind of a mixed bag.

First thing we were in a state park campground. Which means it was noisy and we were jammed up against neighboring campers. Luckily it was still early in the season so it wasn’t completely packed, we only had neighbors on one side and there was some decent brush giving us some privacy, but still it sort of ruins it if you can hear somebody’s radio. There are some bike/hike/kayak in spots that are a little more secluded which I’d like to check out sometime. Especially the boat in ones since they’re on smaller surrounding islands.

When we arrived we decided to set up our tent so we’d have less to do when we got back from our hike. It also gave the marine fog a little extra time to finish burning off. I pulled out the fly, the tent, the..... oh shit. No poles. Chris had forgot to check the bag before he packed it. Luckily we have a Subaru Forester so if things like this come up we can always sleep in the car, but Chris decided he was going to fashion some tent poles out of sticks and some zip ties we had in the car. So what should have taken about 3 minutes took about 45. While it wasn’t the prettiest tent in the world, I have to say, he did a pretty good job.

By this time it was absolutely gorgeous, about 70 degrees and clear as a bell. We hiked around the outside of the southern part of the island (outlined in red above). From West Beach up around the perimeter of Goose Rock. All the trails we hiked on were in very good condition. The trail around West Beach is at least partially paved, and then the rest are well maintained, with only a few spots that were muddy. We saw some very pretty views. Including one stunner with some islands and Mt. Baker all virgin whiteness standing in the distance (yeah that’s totally not a cloud in that picture below, that’s a mountain). The tidal flow that goes through Deception Pass itself is super scary. It’s just boiling surging water. I’d love to kayak around the island sometime, but I’ll definitely not even get close to that area (there will be a picture of this in part 2).

After our hike we went and had a couple beers on the beach (in non-glass containers thank you!). Going through winter in the Northwest always leaves me, and pretty much everyone, wanting to soak up the sun. Also, we forgot to bring board games. When we came back to camp and had camp Indian food (which I will post on at a later date), enjoyed our campfire and went to get some sleep. Or so we thought...

Continued here.