We started with about a dozen interested people and were off to a pretty good group of participants until the more advanced hikes were planned over the major holiday weekends of Father's Day and Independence Day. Both of these holiday weekends caused nearly everyone but my wife and I to fall out. Most people responsibly accepted that they were not yet in good enough shape to make this hike and they sat out for this brutal contest of man against nature. In the end, we finished with four people and a dog.
The Players
I am Jeff and I guess you could say I am the leader of the band. I got into hiking a couple years ago after my first round of P90X convinced me I could do just about anything. While I served in the Navy for a good while, they didn't really teach me anything about backpacking and all the military gear I ever used was way too heavy for this sort of expedition.
Gena is my wife and best friend. She too started hiking with me after P90X. She is one of the two toughest women I have ever known. Gena can take a 50lb pack to the top of any mountain and back and usually do it with a smile... as long as there aren't snakes or excessive snow!
Chuck served a tour in the Air Force then found his way to Alaska where he worked for a guide outfit. He was the most experienced person on this trip and I valued his knowledge greatly. Beyond technical, he is a caring leader and teammate who is always ready to place the needs of the team before his own... I am not sure the guy has needs, really... he is just always up for a good time!
Keith is the newest member of the group. In his early twenties he is the father of a gorgeous little girl and a mechanic for a large trucking outfit. On top of all this, he is attending college to become a nurse. It seems important to Keith to make a difference with his life. He is well on his way! Keith was one of the people who got into hiking this year when we set this plan in motion. He took to it like a duck to water.
Jane (aka GI Jane) is my dog and friend. She is some sort of a mutt pit-bull but the sort that lets my cat, Donut, beat her up. She is great with the kids and able to carry her own weight on the trail so she usually comes with us on every hike.
Our two most significant challenges seemed to be the wash-out at Elliot Creek and the crazy elevation at Lambertson Spur. In case we couldn't make it, we decided to hit the washout first thing. To do this we met at Starbucks in Hood River and drove to Cloud Camp Trail Head. The downside of crossing Elliot Creek first was that we would be saving the highest elevation of the trip for the last day.
We started on a Friday and I forgot to calculate weekday traffic into my commute plan. Since I was driving from Tillamook to Hood River, I drove right through Portland during the morning rush hour. We didn't get moving until about 10:30am!
Day 1: Here Lies Jane
Jane was a good dog. Always kind to children and cats. She never complained and was the best friend a guy could ask for. She died on Mount Hood Friday morning after falling through the ice. Her body was not recovered.
That's how I thought the day was going to end.
Less than two hours into our trip, Jane fell through the ice into Elliot Creek. She had stayed pretty close but wandered over a bluff sniffing around like dogs do. All I heard was a blunt sort of crash when my heart sank. I looked over the bluff and could see no paw prints up the other side. I looked around the hole in the ice quickly and realized it was a deep hole and that Jane would likely blow out at an opening in the ice several yards back down the mountain.
When she didn't pop up from there in a couple minutes I ran back to the initial fall-in. Keith had heard something while I was down-stream and was pretty sure Jane was in the hole still alive. The four of us talked options quickly and realized we had a good length of 550 para-cord and some other rope we could use to send one person into the hole. As I have some rescue experience with the Navy and Law Enforcement, I put on my rain gear, knotted up, and taught the guys the O.A.T.H. rule for rope-rescue communications:
O- On Belay - One Tug
A- Advance - Two Tugs
T- Take up slack - Three Tugs
H- Hold - Four Tugs on the line
Then I belly crawled to the edge of the hole where Jane fell in; it was a small hole that I couldn't trust. Looking in, I couldn't see her but there was a larger hole down stream just a few meters. I slide back and crawled over to the other hole in the ice.
This hole was larger and allowed me a view upstream so that I could judge the thickness of the ice that would be over my head. I still couldn't see Jane so I made eye contact one last time with my crew and stole a glance at my wife balancing Jane's life and suffering against the risk I was undertaking.
Some may judge me for what I am about to say... A smart person weighs the risk in this situation. I had to hesitate and ask myself if what I was doing was worth the life of Jane the family pit bull. As I compared this against my value system, I consciously decided that I could not knowingly let an animal suffer to death while I had the power to prevent it weather that animal was mine or not. I climbed off the ice, onto the rocks and into the subterranean creek.
The cave had about a five foot tall ceiling through most of it with two to four feet of ash covered ice between me and my friends. The creek washed from side to side like a giant water slide cluttered with boulders and large rocks. The water was as deep as a foot in places but I was able to walk on a few boulders and stick to the edge of the creek to work my way to Jane.
Jane was perched on a rock only large enough for her four legs. She was shivering from cold and from fear. There was signs of blood around her paws which I assumed was from her clawing her way up onto the rock. She had been washed about 30 feet down stream and if she had not caught this specific rock, she would have been sucked into an area where the water went into the ice and rock with not enough ceiling to keep her nose above water. She would have undoubtedly gotten hung-up on her pack and drowned. The amount of debris in and on the ice suggested she would have been forever buried.
I got close to her, called her name and told her to come. This got her attention but one cannot rationalize with an animal in panic. I had to get closer. Her leash was lashed to her pack so I looped it around my chest and shoulder, then grabbed her by the handle on the pack and tossed her upstream to a larger rock. Relocating further upstream, I repeated the process until we were at the opening of the black and blue ice cavern. I picked her up like a sheep with her hind quarters on my left arm and her chest against my right with my chest against her side and tossed her out of the cave, landing on all four paws. As she ran to get away from the cave the leash tugged on me, helping me out of the cave.
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| Keith and Chuck on Belay |
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| I guess I was going in...? |
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| Getting Off the Ice After Rescue |
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| Cold and Scared, but ok |
Gena cried just a little, but don't tell anyone.
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| Got'er |
After assessing her injuries we determined she was shaken but not stirred. She could finish the trip if we babied her just a little. We took the weight out of her pack and pushed our way up Elliot Glacier. Eventually we had to stop for lunch... about 100 yards from the blue glacial crevasses. Then we finished our way over the ridge and navigated our way back to trail 600 somewhere below Langille Crags.
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| Hiking up Elliot Glacier |
Day 1: Late start. Got on trail at 10:15. Right off the bat we see Elliott Glacier. Go down to the bottom via a very well used rope. Tried to scramble up a huge cliff side that was ash and loose rock. Keith is sliding. I’m out of options for places that my feet can go without killing myself. I kept hollering for Jeff who was way ahead. Finally Keith whistles. Jeff looks at me and my response was “What the [explicative deleted]!!” Jeff looks at Chuck and says “That’s her way of saying she’s done”. Ya think?! Chuck has never seen me mad. Well we can check that box.
Coe Branch Crossing was a little rough... there were some sticks down between rocks that we were able to crawl across. To get Jane across, I laid down and had her walk across my back. When she kicked my hat, my sunglasses fell into the creek. Fortunately Keith had spares.
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| Coe Branch Crossing |
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| Coe Branch Crossing |
The views were beautiful and we were all happy to have Jane alive. Along the north side of the mountain we could see Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens. From Elk Cove we got some great shots of the team. Elk Cove seems like it would be a great place to camp.
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| Mt. Hood From Elk Cove |
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| Jane at Elk Cove |
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| Gena, Jeff, and Jane |
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| View North from Elk Cove |
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| Chuck at Elk Cove |
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| Keith and Jeff at Elk Cove |
Cairn Basin was partially covered in snow but there were plenty of campsites available for the three hiking parties up there. As the sun dipped over the horizon, the mountain glowed.
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| Shelter at Cairn Basin |
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| Jane: Ready for Bed |
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| Hood Evening Glow |
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| Wild Flower |
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| Camp Set at Cairn Basin |
We had to make up some time and mileage on day two after losing so much of both on day one. By our quick math, we had about 32 miles to go so we had to clear at least 16 miles; anything after that would be subtracted from day three. Fortunately we had many miles to drop down the mountain from Cairn Basin (5640ft) to the Ramona Falls (2800ft) area. Unfortunately, after this area we would have to climb back up to about 6000ft in the heat of the day.
To avoid a reported wash out at the Muddy Fork we decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Bald Mountain to the Sandy River Crossing where it rejoins with trail 600.
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| Hot'n'Goofy near Sandy Crossing |
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| Beautiful Falls Pouring Off Yocum Ridge |
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| Lunch at Lower Muddy Crossing |
Basically he hiked 19 miles on character alone. The first few times you hit that wall where you can't get enough water, your body tells you it can't process calories, and everything around you sucks, it's hard. He made it to just before Timberline Lodge uncertain if he would finish the hike.
Keith ate two banana chips before hurling. Chuck and I were getting blisters. Gena seemed to be ok. I was sure that if we could get Keith to a safe place to camp, and his feet were ok, he could finish after some food and rest.
Day 3: Get Me Off This Mountain!
Trails by the Timberline Lodge were pretty easy. Then we came across a swift moving river that didn't have rocks I could jump. I had already fallen in one river. So here was my second breaking point. I did not want to cross the river. Jeff had already thrown my pack on the other side. I was pissed and pacing. Everyone else has longer legs to jump it. Finally they threw some rocks in to keep me from getting swept in the rapids and Chuck threw me his water shoes. Looking back, it probably wasn't that bad. When I didn't think I could make the jump my fears escalated quickly. I made it but was moody about it. Not my finest moment.
The next, God only knows how many miles, were brutal and all up hill. We still had about 5 miles or so when I twisted my left knee. Then I strained my tendon again on the right. Both legs were killing me with every step but I didn't want to take a Percocet because I still had to go through slick snow. Finally when we were about 1 1/2 from the bottom I had to and Jeff took some weight off my pack. He would have taken all of my pack but I have stubborn pride and damn it, I was going to cross the finish line with my own pack. My pride does get in the way of logical sense some days.
After stopping by Timberline Lodge to wash up and drop some trash weight, we dropped down to the White River crossing. Here's a surprise, another crossing that's washed out!! How refreshing.
When you cross this, remember that you want to walk straight across the river to the trees on the other side. The trail climbs out of the valley pretty steep here, quickly opening to more views to the south.
Warnings
The trip was not that physically challenging (with the exception that my toes ached). My struggles were with my skill level and controlling my fears. I suck going through snow, especially slick snow. I don't like loose rock. I don't swim well, so I don't like crossing swift rivers and I have not mastered balancing on logs with a pack on. I'm sure all of that goes in the category of lack of experience and lack of confidence. This hike highlighted all of my short-comings and that frustrates me. But it also has built a fire in me. Now I'm mad and ready to go back and conquer that mountain again. It kicked my [explicative deleted].
So yes, as crazy as it may sound, I want to do it again. It was just a few weeks ago that I told Jeff that I haven't felt challenged in a long time. Our hikes have been too easy. I feel like the bar has been raised and I'm back to being at novice status. Next month we have another 3 day hike. We just haven't committed as to where. I'm looking forward to the next challenge and hope that the lessons learned on Mt Hood will help me improve.
There's my version of it. Jeff will be blogging about it in a few days. I'm eager to see how he viewed the trip.
Here's what I thought:
AWESOME!!
It seemed as if every river or creek crossing was a daunting challenge.Water-shoes are a must. I also recommend rope to use a buddy as an anchor. You don't want the last thing you see to be a beautiful white waterfall pouring out of glacial melt upside-down as you fall to your end.
Several crossings and washouts seem like they would have been easier had we hiked the trail clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. This holds for the White River, the Eliot, the Coe, etc.
Ice crossing also presented challenges. Rope would have added a layer of security as would crampons. Here in a few weeks, crampons will just be added weight, but remember that I mentioned it.
Shoes for puppy. This trail had many spots that were more than a little rough on Jane's paws. Her feet are a little swollen and raw and this could have been prevented. In consideration of all the crossings, I would even recommend leaving the dog at home.
I had a lot more to say and more pics to post but Word crashed on me and I lost them. I may update this blog a little over the next couple days but for now I need to get to work!
Go take a look at the pics yourself here.
In the end, we all finished stretched. Keith had endured the hardest physical taxing of his life. Gena had made it back to the truck injured, but ok. Jane nearly died. Chuck and I had our leadership and wilderness skills tested.
We all finished...
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| ...Dog Tired... |
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| ...Sunburned... |
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| ...Blistered... |
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| ...As One. |
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