Walks with Moss: Ten mile dayhike with an overnight load.

(I'm going to make a video like this for the Cedar tree in my back yard too)

I'm was feeling pretty distressed when I learned that the beautiful cedar tree that has graced the view from our back window is about to be cut down. Also a bit distressed about a work situation. So at the spur of the moment I decided to do a short overnight backpack trip.

I did this trip two years ago at about this same time, and there was no rain in the forecast so I though I was good to go. I packed only my 6 ounce cuben fiber tarp for shelter from the condescension. I needed to save weight since I was packing two cameras and and external flash unit.

This is a destination that is not a secret but still, I don't care to advertise it at all. I could easily turn into the tourist nightmare that is Lena Lake.

My plan failed. It started to rain and I was not prepared for rain. I had to stop and repack everything that was on the outside of my pack to keep it dry. Then I hit snow. I was not afraid to camp in a little bit of snow, but then it kept raining and raining. The snow was getting deeper and I was getting tired. The though of hiking through the grey rain on the cold snow and then camping in the snow and the rain was demotivational. Trudging through snow with a 25 pound pack was demotivational too.

I turned around just half a mile from my goal and that is something that I rarely do. The rain kept coming down for a while after I turned back and I knew I had made the right choice. I stopped at a popular dispersed car camping spot and had a nice lunch and I had some fun flying my camera on the way out.

In spite of being turned back and having to do a day hike with a full overnight load, I enjoyed the hike. Mentally I felt much better. I'm perimenopausal and I have an emotionally liable personality at the best of times, so I'm really suffering lately. Hiking is the cure though.

Now the day after I almost managed to go all day without thinking about the beautiful tree in my back yard that is about to die. I was told that it will be cut down before they start construction on a title company building.

We are not looking at all forward to losing our open view to a giant commercial building, but at least it is going to be just one story tall and it should be a fairly quiet neighbor. At one point there was talk of building a fast food place with a drive through window back there and that really would have been hell for us.

9 miles with 1,000 feet elevation gain