July 8, catching up from the weekend

I need to back date this a few days, I’ve been traveling and haven’t had a chance to stay current here. I had not originally planned to go to Smith Rock, but a friend of mine in Tucson told me about it and insisted I take time to hike to the top. Also, one of my companion lighthouse hosts had hosted there and my friends at Timothy Lake also had hosted there so I had great encouragement from all to fit this into my travels. I am so glad I did. 

Stunningly beautiful and views all around.

I was advised to go early to beat the crowds and the heat. I made it to the trailhead by 6:15 a.m. as the sun was peeking up over the hills. It was comfortably cool and short sleeves and pants were welcome. 

The trail I hiked is named Misery Ridge and I was advised to follow the river and go up the west side. There’s a lot of loose gravel and it’s much easier to walk on going up than trying to come down on that. It’s about 4 miles round trip, up one side and down the other. When on the trail I have a couple of nicknames, one being Mountain Goat, the other FTL, or Fearless Trip Leader. It just felt good to be on the trail and I took my time stopping to take in the vistas. I even had a treat of a hot air balloon rising in the distance.

As I began my descent on the east side, the sun was in full force against the rocks heating up the trail. The parking lot was full and so was the trail. Many of those hikers were coming up on the east side, panting, sweating, and a few OMG’s on the way up. I was so pleased that I listened to the advice of my friends for that early start, to have the trail mostly to myself and the quiet of the dawn to enjoy the beauty all around. Brownie did too.

I was off the trail around 9:00 and back to my friends house for processing the wool. I packed up and was on the road to Timothy Lake by 11:30.

A late night around the campfire with friends led to sleeping in. I tried to write some, but was so distracted by the call of the lake, the sun sparkling on the water and a trail for a mountain bike ride. I got motivated and unpacked the bikes so Scout(that’s my mountain bike) and I could get some miles on. I thought 13 miles would be easy to manage in an afternoon. 

I had my map and some instructions from Teak on how to go to avoid the PCT, the Pacific Crest Trail, so I set off with a snack and water for a nice ride. 

The first 5 miles was groomed along the edge of the lake with some rocks and roots to navigate around. Then I crossed over the dam on a road, joining the trail again on the other side. It was still pretty smooth sailing for another mile or so, then there started to be more tree roots, bigger and longer spanning the width of the trail. And if it was close to a curve, there were bunches of rocks to get around. I was really happy that I had decided to take off my clip pedals, otherwise I likely would have crashed many times as I was stopping a lot to dismount and walk around some of the obstacles. I was concentrating so much on the pathway that I didn’t think to take pictures. 

After a few wrong turns up side trails where I thought I was supposed to go, I had stopped at an intersection and a hiker asked if I needed directions. Yes, please! I know where I want to go, but I’m not sure where I am. The signage was confusing and I was having trouble getting my bearings, and I was getting tired. My legs were reminding me that I had hiked Misery Ridge just the day before and that maybe this ride wasn’t such a good idea. A walk along the lake with a nap in a hammock might have been a better choice.

The hiker said, as she pointed to my map, go this way, on the PCT to take you where you want to be. I really wanted to make the effort to avoid that section, but it was shorter than the bypass trail and at that point I knew I was going to have to walk, pushing my bike, and wanted the shortest route. And if the bypass trail was as rough as what I had just come through I knew I would be walking more than riding. As it turns out, I walked more than I rode on that 5 mile section of the PCT. It was full of roots, and large rocks for long stretches. Some parts were narrow with rhododendrons crowding the sides of the trail. I finally made it back to camp, completely tired and ready for an adult beverage.

Next morning was an early get up so the three of us could go for a paddle on the lake before the wind came up. They have stand up paddle boards and a kayak. I got the kayak which is what I preferred. We set out across the lake, the surface like glass, misty tendrils rising above the surface, snake like as the reach to the sky.

Pauline would call out, ‘osprey alert’ when she would spy one in the sky. We paddled close to a cove where Teak had seen otters the week before. Then further on into another little cove where, if you sit in the middle, you can sing and it sounds like being in an amphitheater. The surface of the water began to show ripples. Time to turn around Teak announces. We’ve been out about an hour, she knew the wind would pick up, and it came a little earlier than expected. As we moved out into the main part of the lake we were paddling into the wind and had to work hard to get back to shore. It was fantastic!! My body feels strong, not sore from the ride or the paddling. A good fatigue that earned me rest once I got to Terrebonne.