Walks with Moss: Just one of those days on Mount Walker

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Just one of those days on Mount Walker

I was not super excited about going hiking today, but I get so bored sitting at home and my wrist hurts when I spend too much time on the computer, so I forced myself out the door. The driver on the Brinnon run whose driving makes me sick is off duty for the next four weeks, so I knew it was safe to take the bus up there and to bring Patches with me. Patches only throws up when that one driver is on duty.

I was wearing the wrong color of pants for a long bus trip on this particular day and that had me worried all day long. Maybe this trip was just one big mistake? I did not have any other pants that both fit and were the right color and were not made of cotton. Also I did not have my rain pants with me, because I had just plain forgotten to pack them and I only had a flimsy rain jacket.. maybe I would die of hypothermia up there! Or not.. as it’s only five hours between buses.

When I got on the bus in Shelton I saw that it was a driver I had never seen before. This driver did not like Patches and she caused quite a ruckus that only ended when she called her dispatcher and the dispatcher said that Patches was kewl to ride the bus. I had to argue with her for about five minutes, and even though I won in the end and got to ride the bus with Patches my mood for the day was ruined, not that I was in the best mood to start. I was following the law to the letter (not the spirit) for service dogs, so I stood my ground and won, but still it was a horrible thing to have happen.

The bus driver was very friendly after that nasty business was over with.

Bus driver who started a big argument about Patches,calling
in to dispatch to see if Patches is allowed on the bus after I
argued with her about it for about five minutes

In Brinnon I transferred to Jefferson Transit. On Jefferson transit all dogs are good dogs, so there is no stress about Patches. But the driver was the same grumpy one who I had last week. I got on and said hello and told him I was getting off at Mount Walker. As a courtesy, I always warn the drivers about my stop because it is in a 55 MPH zone without a lot of room to slow down. The driver just glared at me.. Sheesh.. so when I got off the bus I just ignored him instead of saying thank you like I always do. It felt so weird for me to do that on a small town bus.

Anyway I was finally off the buses and free to hike and improve my mood in nature. But what trail did I want to go up? The crowded Mount Walker trail or another more peaceful trail that is nearby? I opted for Walker in spite of my anti-social mood because I knew that the gate to drive up Walker would be open soon and then going up walker would no longer interest me. So one last hike up Walker I decided.

When I got to the gate I saw it was open, so I knew there would be cars driving up, but maybe not too many on a weekday? No there were lots of cars and lots of people and none of that cheered me up at all.

Then at the top there was no view, so I went to the other lookout for some peace and quiet but ended up dodging cars. Once I was at the other viewpoint I noticed that my backpack was falling apart due to fabric fraying and I cannot repair it this time.. What else can go wrong today I wondered?

I soon found out. My pocket knife, my favorite pocket knife was missing a screw and I could not close it and then two really loud young women showed up while I was still trying to get it closed. Yep, not a good day.

Lunch was six ounces of brie from the Grocery outlet, about 20 generic wheat thins, some dried garbonzo bean flour "trial mix" and a cup of vina cafe.

I headed back down half an hour early with the plan to stop and have another cup of vinacafe at the closed campground. As soon as I got stopped the rain started coming down hard. It was not supposed to rain more than .06 of an inch according to my weather forecast that had never failed me before this week.

While making my tea I suddenly had to go dig a cat hole.. but wait there are closed outhouses in the campground, maybe they just say they are closed? Maybe I could use one of them? Nope, no luck they were boarded shut and I had to go now! No time to dig a cat hole.. oh yeah, it was just one of those days.

With that horrible business settled I had my tea in the rain and worked my way back down to the bus stop. I felt bad because Patches was so wet and would be sure to stink up the bus with wet dog smell, but at least it was Jefferson Transit where all dogs are good dogs.

But what about my transfer back to Mason Transit? Would I get another new driver and another big argument. Would I be stranded in Brinnon? These thoughts filled my mind as I waited for the bus in the rain. I hid my face whenever a car went by, since to me each passing motorist was a potential kidnapper or rapist and having Patches there to protect me did not help my mental state much because I was so stressed out at this point.

Luckily the Mason Transit driver was one who knows me, a super nice guy named Bruce and the ride back home was just fine. But still, I was depressed by the time I got home. I had started my hike a bit depressed but I knew a hike would cheer me up.. but not this time, too many bad things happened and I ended my hike just as depressed as I started.. sigh..

I don’t have many pictures because the light was just awful for photography… (of course)

6.5 miles with 2,170 feet elevation gain