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| Hoarfrost |
It was the day after Christmas so there was not a lot of
daylight to work with. I got up early
and was on the road by 7:20. I found the
washout before the washout and I decided that a Jeep Wrangler could get through
it. Maybe even a Jeep Cherokee could do
the job if not for two big rocks sticking up waiting to catch the differential.
I walked to the old closed car campground and had my lunch
and tea there. I cooked my lunch as I
still have plenty of food left over from my PCT planning. This was my first time using my new purple
titanium cup. The purple coloring on it
might be fragile, so I don’t know what will happen the first time I put it over
an alcohol flame. I’m hoping that the gentle alcohol flame will not discolor
it.
My lunch was rice with dehydrated hamburger with a few
spoons full of powdered beans and dehydrated bell peppers. I get huge cans of minced dehydrated bell peppers
at Wal-Mart for about $12.00. My coffee
was Vinacafe brand 3 in 1 instant. I
love that stuff! I packed chop sticks because I saw them in the store and I just had to buy them.
On my way out just before I reached Elkhorn camp my legs
began to hurt with each step, so I knew I was near the 12 mile mark. It never fails, when I hit 12 miles I start
hurting. I took a break at Elkhorn to
have a second cup of coffee even though I knew it meant that I might be
hiking out in the dark.
The second break did my body wonders and I hiked the rest of
the way out without pain. I used my USB
hand warmer during my breaks and during the last hour or so of my hike. My hand warmer worked out really well for me it kept my hands warm and I was able to avoid having to dig into my
pack to look for my headlamp because my hand warmer has a small flashlight built in.
As I approached the parking area a car drove up. I hoped that nice people were in the car. I saw the movie “Wild” just before Christmas
and there were enough creeping rapey scenes in the movie, that I might be a
little bit on edge for the next few hikes.
A man got out of the car and asked me how to get to Dosewallips State
park. Poor guy, he was a long way off
track. He had seen the signs for the
National park and turned off the highway about ½ mile too soon. I gave him directions and he took off in a
hurry hoping to reach camp in time as the sun had already set.
I don’t like driving
in the twilight, I’d rather drive in the dark, so when I got to my car I had a cup of tea from
my waiting thermos and I sent a text message home. The tea in my thermos was still hot, but not
nearly as hot as it was when I first brewed it.
I’m going to call
it
13.5 miles with 1,100 feet elevation gain.
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| The washout before the washout |
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| Sunset |
2 comments:
That Snow Peak cup is anodized purple, that color coating will hold up to anything your alcohol stove can throw at it! Unless you throw the cup at the stove, maybe that will scratch it...
The instructions on the box say not to put it on a flame because it might get discolored. But I have found that only flames from fires or my big home gas stove will make titanium change colors. I don't think my alcohol stove gets hot enough for that.
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