Kamilchee Ridge AB

With a wet and cold forecast I decided to head for Kamilchee Ridge.  I was hoping that getting high on the ridge would get me out of the rain and into the snow.   I've been having a lot of anxiety and I really needed to get out of the house no matter what the weather.

Trailhead breakfast

When I got to my parking location I remembered that I had forgotten to eat breakfast, so I went to grab a ration bar from my car, but my car has been out of those for a month or more.   I grabbed a can of corn to eat instead.  Canned corn is not the best breakfast, but at least I had a nice hot lunch planned.  Oh no, my lunch.  I had left my lunch at home. 

Since the start of this hike is pretty close to home, I was able to go back home to get my lunch.  I am so tired of being this disorganized and forgetful.

My walk up was mostly in the rain but there was some mixed snow that was not really sticking.  I noticed foot tracks in the snow, so someone had been up the hill recently.   Maybe a brush picker or a timber worker I thought.

Once I was at the top of the hill I was ready for my lunch but Sage was too cold.  I could not sit and cook lunch while she shivered.  We went back down the hill a little ways to have lunch.

I had my husband's cell phone with me and I was trying to figure out how to get it to work when I was started by another hiker. 

I've never seen another hiker up here.  I said "Hi" but he did not answer me.  Did he not hear me?  He said something about going to the top of the hill as he walked by.  I just looked at him since he had not responded to my saying hello I was shocked to see someone else out there on a weekday in the rain and snow.

Maybe I have blogged this hike too many times and thus destroyed the solitude I used to have here?  It is not a nice hike when Greed Diamond is dumping chemicals over head.  It is a dumpster dive hike I save for days when I don't have much time or the weather is too foul to go for a long drive.  Kamilchee Ridge is not a destination.

I hiked out via the power line and my friends horse pasture.  This was the first time I had seen my friend since my husband died.  He laughed and said he knew when I told him that my husband had died.  Perhaps he did not hear me correctly, he is hard of hearing.  I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

This was a cold hike and at one  point my hands were really hurting from the cold, even though my torso was warm enough.  I put on all my layers and made my torso too warm until the extra heat started getting sent out to my hands.

When I finally did have lunch, Sage got as much of it as I did.  I hope my hot lunch warmed her up.  It probably tasted really good, but I could not tell since my nose was completely blocked up with a cold or something.

8 miles with 1,000 feet elevation gain