In preparation for a 6 day backpacking trip to Olympic National Park our leader “V” scheduled a training hike at Waddell Beach near Santa Cruz to test our stamina and teach us things we’ll need to know for the trip including:
- Knot tying: Bowline, bowline on a coil, alpine butterfly, and double fisherman. This will be essential for safe glacier crossing.
- How to treat blisters (I got to be the volunteer for this as I had developed large blisters on both my feet)
- What kind of gear to back (bottom line, don’t bring a pillow…with everything else we have to bring, you won’t have the room or be able to carry the weight)
- Better break in those boots now or risk being in pain the entire trip…good advice. I guess I’ll be wearing mine to work tomorrow. 😉
Waddell Beach-a cool breeze and beautiful surf. Awesome...
I prepared my gear Friday night and then packed 25lbs of it in my backpack for the hike on Saturday. “V” said we should pack at least 20lbs of gear for the training hike and although I’ll probably be carrying closer to 35 for Olympic I wasn’t going to overdo it since I figured the hike we would do Saturday would exceed any single day trip on the Olympic hike. I also decided to try out a new pair of 3/4 length hiking pants and a sun hat to see if that would help combat my problems with heat exhaustion.
My hat.. it kind of gives me tunnel vision but at least it spared my face from getting totally sunburned.
The pants and hat worked out really well however it was still extremely warm. It didn’t help that we took a trail clearly marked as “Recommended for horse use only, steep climbs” but that was ok. I’m always down for anything. Had it been overcast, the climb wouldn’t have bothered me at all but with the sun beating down it was definitely a challenge. Still, I was the 4th person to arrive at the top (and the first one with gear). Go horse legs, go horse legs, go, go, go horse legs! 😉
Ok so it felt great to get to the top of that climb however either because of how fast I hiked it or just the fact that I wasn’t used to my boots yet I got HUGE blisters on both feet. Fortunately “V” had a nice big knife, some gauze pads and medical tape to relieve the pressure and get me going again. You should have seen the look on some of the other hikers faces though when “V” pulled out the knife. I don’t know why I wasn’t nervous or grossed out. For some reason I just totally trust “V” so I knew it would be all right. Thank goodness he has a steady hand though or that could have ended poorly. =)
During lunch I ate carrot sticks, sucked down some luke warm water (least apetizing backpacking lunch I’ve had in a long time), and listened intently while “V” taught us how to tie knots four important knots. Ilya then demonstrated how to use a nylon sling to fashion a lightweight harness that can be used to secure yourself to a tow-line for glacier crossing. Here again things could have gone horribly wrong when “V” let go of the carabiner that he had been pulling on to demonstrate how the harness works and nearly missed hitting Ilya in the…well… let’s just say it would have hurt really bad and I probably would have laughed, not because I don’t like Ilya but because that kind of thing cracks me up. I know, I’m tewwible.. =)
The rest of the hike was pretty easy compared to the climb at the beginning. We hiked to Berry Creek Falls which I had visited earlier this year on a hike from Big Basin park and then hiked back down to Waddell Beach via one of the easier trails.
"V" and me at Berry Creek Falls. Oh and I'm not that much taller than "V". I was just standing on the incline. =)
The only real problem I ran into besides the blisters was that I ran out of water. Fortunately Craig who had come to the aid of my buddy Mike by giving him a banana when he got really bad leg cramps on Rose Peak was now coming to my aid by giving me a nice cool bottle of water that he had carried the whole trip. He also shared some electrolyte tablets for Mike and me to try to see if they stop his cramping and help with my heat exhaustion. What a nice guy. I can’t wait to try them out. Thanks Craig. =)
Craig sets down his gear in the shade to snack on a banana and share some water with me. What a nice guy. =)
At about 6:50pm we reached the parking lot again and shed our heavy boots in favor of more comfortable shoes. I put on my new pair of Keen water shoes and felt amazing. It’s so nice hiking when you have the right gear.
Before we left a nice kite-surfer dude offered to take a group photo for us. Most of the group had already left so this is just a subset of our whole crew. It’s still a nice group photo and includes my favorite hiking buddies so it was all good. =)
Back row: Craig, Ilya, Rita, Kim, Suji, (?-Dipak), Me - Front row: "V" (not sure what this guys name is, we'll call him Henry) 😉
So my goal for the next few weeks before Olympic is to make sure I break in my boots really well and work on lightening the load. I bought a foam sleeping pad to use instead of the heavy self-inflating one I have. I may also use the regular sleeping bag sack instead of the compression sack since the buckles on the compression sack make it heavier. Little things here and there. I mean, I’ve still got to be able to carry a flask of vodka right? You know it! 😉
Alright, I think that will do it for this post. Thanks to “V” and the crew for another fun hike and I can’t wait for the next one. Jettagirl, out. =)
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