Black and White Lakes Dayhike

I decided to give my body  good test before setting out for Mount Adams.  The debilitating pain I had after hiking to Upper Lena Lake left me unsure of how I would fare on Adams.   I did not want to find out if that was going to happen again while actually on the Mountain.

I looked for ideas for somewhere new for me to go in the Staircase area.  Black and White Lake looked interesting and very difficult.  I started my hike at 7:10am.  I brought lots of food with me, I was not going to try to lose weight on this hike.   I usually pack less food than I need for a hike because it forces me to lose weight, but it also makes the hike a lot less fun as it saps my energy to be hungry.

I made to Big Log and the junction of the Black and White Lakes primitive trail at 9:30.  I hiked strong and gained 1,000 feet per hour on the way trail.  I reached the lake at about 12:45.  The lake was not terribly exciting, but it was nice to see something new.

There was no snow on the trail and the trail was in good shape.  There were only a few small to medium sized trees down over the Black and White Lakes trail.  The worst tree was on the section between Flapjack lakes and Black and White Lakes.  There was a log too big to climb over and too low to crawl under with a pack on.  I took my pack off and just fit under the log.

At about 1:30 I started the hike back to my car.  I kind of hit the wall about 11 miles into my hike and I was suffering a lot.  But once I hit the main trail my spirit lifted and suddenly I felt almost no pain.  Hiking really is mostly mental.

I made it back to my car at about 6pm.  I did not have any scary hip pain.  I survived the hike just fine.  Next week I will climb Mount Adams for the second time.