Day 1 Details: 50-Miler Backpacking Trip Complete!

Wow! What an awesome adventure as I was fortunate enough to accompany Troop 202 (including 2 of my sons) on a 50 mile, 5 day backpacking trip in the wilderness around Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens.

Day 1 10.05 miles, 4:07 hiking time, Creeks waded: lost count!

It was very difficult work.  I had a pack that weighed around 45 pounds.  Our scoutmaster’s pack was even heavier.

We faced challenging obstacles like hiking on snow, wading through cold and fast creeks, maneuvering over faster-higher creeks on logs and boulders, steep up and downhill trails, rain, mosquitoes, sore muscles, blisters and more.

All waterways were swollen by a still-melting snowpack and the melting water flooded many trails.

I hope you’ll forgive the very lengthy post but hopefully it will give you a real feel for the event.  I will provide most information in chronological order.

We started with a group of 18, 8 adults and 10 scouts.  The trailhead was just outside Trout Lake.  We hit the trail before noon and headed west.  Right away, the melting snowpack was evident with muddy and puddle riddled trails.

Only 100 yards down the trail, we paused to filter water and catch frogs in a large puddle.

After the frogs got back to the water, we hit the trail.  Several of us spent the early steps adjusting backpack straps and hip belts.  Some tents and sleeping bags had to be resecured and another pest started to materialize as we broke out the deet to fight the skeeters.  With all the standing water trailside the mosquitoes were ubiquitous.

As we hiked on, it became apparent this journey would be tough but it would be more difficult for some than for others.  It was a challenge which has many parallels to life and the difficulties we each face on our daily journeys.

I was fortunate to feel well enough to hang out around the lead group of scouts.  As side trails branched off, we made sure to design arrows out of large sticks to help others follow (we would either get to our destination together or get lost together!)

We took a lunch break along the trail with a few large tree stumps to sit on.

While we saw plenty of signs of wildlife, we didn’t get a glimpse of much more than a few snakes, lots of frogs and insects.

There were deer and elk tracks and we even saw several bear tracks.

Most of us brought water shoes or sandals, which was good because we had to wade across several creeks on day 1.  Some people rated this as the hardest day on the hike and water crossings was a big part of it.  The most difficult crossing was Cultus Creek.  It was running cold, fast and deep threatening to wash away some of our smaller scouts.  Little did we know that our support team (Brother Slaugh and Bishop Ewell) were having their own challenges at Cultus Creek but they were upstream, trying to drive in through snow.

They were up to the axles in a snow drift.  They said a prayer because they knew the only way out was with a shovel.  Just a short walk up the road and they came across a forest service worker who willingly shared his shovel to help them get out.They were able to dig and then run and gun and work their way out of the snow with a little 4-wheeling!

While the creek crossings were, at times, treacherous, the water also provided some beautiful scenery.

It was interesting to interact with the scouts along the journey.  While we strongly cautioned them to keep their hiking boots as dry as possible, some of them exercised their ability to choose and hiked much of the day with soggy socks.  Maybe the lesson was learned by the end of the day with blisters and discomfort, maybe not.

There were also many prayers said that first day by adult leaders and scouts.  I don’t think many of the participants realized how hard this hike would be.  With the strength of faith in a spiritual basis in most of our lives, prayer provided a much needed boost to our day as our supplications were answered and we were lifted up the trail.  This same prayer served us many times on our way, I’ll share other examples as we progress.

Though we were in the shadow of Mount Adams most of our trip, day 1 was the only time we caught a glimpse of the beautiful peak because we were in such heavily forested valleys and trails.  One place on the day 1 trail we got a good view and it was spectacular!

Towards the late afternoon, the whole group was kind of dragging.  That’s when a long, steep uphill portion of the trail hit us all in the face.  We got to what looked like a high point and a fork in the trail.  We were relieved to see two familiar faces coming down the trail, our support crew.

Bishop Ewell and Young Men President Ryan Slaugh worked to shuttle vehicles and they hiked in to our camps on most evenings.  They assured us our destination was only a half mile up the trail.  We headed on while one of them provided support for those yet to make it up the hill.  As we crested and even higher point, one of the Surprise Lakes came into view.

As the hikers all arrived, we worked to make a fire to greet those still on the trail.  Then, we set up tents.

As we made camp, we got water on the fire and started making dinner.

We opted for MREs (Meals Ready to Eat from military origin).  The MRE main course choices were: Penne Pasta, Vege patty in bbq sauce, cheese tortellini, beef ravioli, sloppy joe filling, chicken fajita, spaghetti (spicy), chicken with feta cheese, etc.  Some in our group had to just lay down and take a break after the big, day 1 hike.

After dinner, we gathered around the campfire for a brief song and a scoutmaster minute.  Prayers of thanks for surviving day 1 were said and we bedded down for our first night.