23 june 2011

ok - so i've been off by a day or so. it's amazing what happens when you don't HAVE to know the date and time, even in your own time zone, 24 hours a day. plus, when you get to pack so much into one 24-hour time period, that 24-hour period can seem like a week. i can't believe it was just yesterday morning that i was in moscow. and here i am in portland with my friend aimee. and i've been with lisa and her family in ellensburg . . . driven the white pass around mt. rainier . . . found a place to stay in packwood when all of my campsites were - big surprise - closed due to snow . . . and hiked the lewis & clark forest in washington in the meantime.

the theme of this trip so far has definitely been earth wind and fire - one of my least favorite groups from the 70s - but, truly people, it's not nice to fool mother nature and we have definitely been thinking we've done so for far too long. i told my friend laurie earlier today that if i pass one more snow plow going in the opposite direction i am going to scream. not literally, of course, as i'm trying to maintain the "no expectations" agenda but, really. june 23 now and not just campsites closed due to snow but snow flakes still falling from the sky?

consistent with the 'learn one new thing everyday' that my dad ingrained in me very early in life (not that i always followed through), this trip has made up for any lost time exponentially. i already knew to never say never and not to ask "can it get any worse?" but now i also know not to say 'i've seen/ heard it all.' a new "weather-related" term that i never thought i'd be familiar with in the first person (added to 'avalanche' and 'landslide') is "ash." as in stopping at a gas station in a town with a population of 12 (or any size for that matter) and asking, "what is that white stuff? cottonwood down, snow flakes, what?" and having the reply be "no, it's probably ash from mt. st. helen's but it was snowing earlier." i, in my ignorance saying, ' i had no idea the ash residue was still that prevalent' and he said, 'you're not from around here, are you?'

i bet that, at this time, the national forest service has a tag relay going whereby they are alerting the next ranger station once i've stopped at theirs. the office on the eastern side of mt. ranier told me that chinook pass was closed and that white pass was open. they did not, however, tell me that there was a chance of snow continuing through the evening NOR that most of the campgrounds were closed to other than 4-wheel drive vehicles. on one hand, it would have been good information to have. on the other hand, i might have passed on the white pass and have missed one of the most spectacular moments of my life . . . rounding a turn after sunset when all of a sudden there's mt. rainier with a white light all around it and having to pull over to make sure that what you think you're seeing, you're really seeing. it was like it had a light source all its own and had fused with this massive cloud and i really don't know why i'm trying to describe it because it's just not possible. i am just so incredibly grateful to have been able to be there at that moment. just like the rainbow in custer national forest. i'd heard that when the inhabitants of some of the islands first saw the european ships they didn't really "see" them because they were so foreign to anything they'd ever experienced before that they couldn't see them. i don't know if that's true or not (like, who's alive that had the opportunity to interview them?) but i can at least get my head around the possibility after last night. i truly had to pull over and shake my head and blink my eyes a few times before i realized that what i was seeing was really what i was seeing. and, while i tried to take some photos, none could possibly do it justice.

my friend paula says that if you want to make god laugh, tell her your plans. i totally, totally get that now. it's almost as if i can be guaranteed that if i tell someone what my plans are for the day's journey, they will be totally different and, so far, the alternative has been a blessing. not even a blessing in disguise, just a blessing. so, when i stopped at the ranger station in randle, i wasn't the least bit surprised when he told me, "nope, all the FSRs (forest service roads) from here to oregon are closed other than 28 but you probably can't get to 28 unless you've got 4-wheel drive. your best bet is probably to hike the lewis and clark state park about an hour or so from the oregon border. and, so much for my taking the scenic route from highway 12 around mt. st. helen's to portland. road closed due to snow. that said, when i got to the turn-off for mt. st. helen's, the "warning, road closed" sign was not flashing so i decided to try it as, perhaps, the alert had lifted since i left the ranger station. i promised myself that if it looked the least bit worrisome, i would turn around immediately. immediately turned out to be at mile marker 11. . . passed the snow plow going in the opposite direction at mile marker 8. i thought that was promising. wrong. i don't know if the mixture was more ash or snow at that particular moment but i knew better than to think about it and focused all my attention on how best to turn around. thankfully, due to the heavy RV traffic in a typical summer, there are a fair number of turnouts along the road.

i made it to the lewis & clark state park (washington) and stopped in the park office and asked the usual, "anything in particular i need to know before heading in?" only to have the park ranger ask, "like what?" i said, "like anything . . . bear . . . snow . . . volcanic eruption . . . " (i think the forest service in randle had radioed ahead that i might be coming). she did everything possible not to burst out laughing, i'm sure, but simply replied that there were always bear but black bear and not aggressive and that if i saw one it would probably just be a cub. well, i know enough from texas to know that if you see a baby snake, the mother isn't far behind so i went ahead and took my bear spray with me on the hike - hike being a great injustice to the word. it was more like a lengthy walk. there was very little change in elevation whatsoever other than personal elevation as in my having to duck to avoid branches, vines, etc. (i just learned something else - i always thought the word "hike" meant some significant exertion was involved like a difficult walk but webster's says no - hike (v) to walk for a long distance, esp. across country or in the woods or (n) a long walk, esp. in the country or wilderness.) so, technically, i got a 2 hour hike in today.

that said, as tired as i am of seeing things named for lewis & clark as well as custer, i will say that this particular park seemed aptly named. in fact, i don't think anyone has been there SINCE lewis & clark. i told cory i took my bear spray but that i'd have been better off with a can of deet and a machete. it was pouring rain when i first arrived. i sat in the car for awhile debating whether or not to just put the REI rain jacket on and get on with it or to let the storm pass. mother nature made it easy - the rain stopped, just like that. i added a layer or two of clothing to my upper torso, put on a thick pair of socks, a ball cap and my hiking boots, made sure my REI rain jacket was in my backpack along with a flashlight and the other accoutrements my "outdoorsy" family and friends have recommended and sent an email to cory that i was "going in." as my phone said, "no service" i didn't expect he would get it until much later (when i was out of the forest and back on the road) but, when i got back to the car, i had an email from him about not getting my socks wet. by then, of course, they already were. how did my kids get so very, very, very much smarter than me at 1/3 my age????

anyway, as i was saying before i so rudely interrupted myself, i didn't think this qualified as a "hike" as it was pretty much flat most of the way and even involved seeing the state park road at one point - not to mention a pink (swear) tent about a mile into the woods. even though the elevation changes were minimal to say the least, i did have to duck, climb and maneuver in other ways to make my way through, including one fairly aerobic act not to fall on my arse but i got 2 hours of exercise which was really nice. it's amazing how, once you get used to exercising every day, you really miss it when it doesn't happen. as it turned out, i needn't have worried about bringing my rain jacket as there were leaves back there that were big enough to serve as beach umbrellas but, i'm sorry to say, there are no photos of hanes on today's hike. he flat out refused to join me mumbling something about me being ape sh . . .

back to last night and the unexpected inability to camp anywhere along white pass OR to go more than 15 mph along said pass . . . i had just about decided around 11 that i was going to have to pull over at the safest turnout or shoulder and sit out the weather and moonless (or hidden moon) evening when all of a sudden i saw a light up ahead - and it was not an oncoming train. it was the sign for the mountain view lodge in packwood. lilly, the wonderful proprietess, had information about the roads that i told her she could sell to the forest service and she just laughed. but she also gave me an absolutely lovely room for next to nothing and i was able to have a good night's rest and hit the road again early this morning (even though it feels like it was at least two days ago).

after my hike, i headed down to portland to see my friend aimee. later we went to dinner at a place she likes called "kin." i can honestly say it was perfect. the food, the drink, the service, the place . . . everything. they even had fernet branca on the wine list which was the perfect inside joke for aimee and me. of course, they ran out having just served the last of their stock to another guest just before us but all that really mattered was that it was on the menu. if you haven't already read, 'cooking with fernet branca' by james hamilton patterson, well. . . just know it's out there, in more ways than one. i loved it and i sent it to aimee a few years ago. she's the only one i told about it and tonight was the first time i'd seen it on a wine list so it sealed the evening.

unfortunately, when we got back to aimee's apartment, we got some very sad news from one of our friends whose mother passed away unexpectedly this evening. this friend also lost her husband in the past 13 months and my heart just aches for her. her mom was only 69 and she died from the very same thing my mom almost died of in 2008 - an aortic aneurysm. life is so fragile and precious.

it may sound corny but the only sight i've seen that is more precious than the ones i've mentioned above and in previous posts is the "sight" of each of my children at the moment of their birth - and over the years. this trip is wonderful . . . i know how very, very fortunate i am. but the greatest gift i've ever known is one i've been blessed with 4 times over - and they continue to bless and amaze me over and over and over again.

and now, it's time to call it a day . . . or 24 hours. hanes is thrilled to be here with aimee; dry, warm, cuddled and i'll need to check twice to ensure he's in the car tomorrow before taking off. he seems awfully comfortable right now.