Arkansas
The pilot did not look happy as he exited the jetway. His short conversation with the gate agents ended with frowning and some shaking of heads. Then one of the agents picked up the...
Category: OHT
One Week To Go
I had a copy of the regulations in one hand as I approached the counter. The small package in my other hand had the proper DOT Hazardous Material sticker on it. I had even...
Leaving The Mortal Coil
My dad was a doctor. He used to tell a story about an elderly Native American man he took care of in the hospital. Dad referred to him, with some affection, as Chief, and...
This and That
I was on the PCT somewhere in Northern California and 3 months and 1,800 miles into my journey when I walked out of the forest and into a small meadow. Sitting on an Ottoman...
Bumbershoots
The bumbershoot, paraplule, gamp, Robinson, paraneige, brolly, parasol, or umbrella, as it is sometimes known, has been shielding humans from the elements for over 4,000 years, probably longer. Almost every culture throughout history has...
Overnight in the Cascades
Bonus Post The weather report for the cascades was not good. Rain was predicted for much of the day, possibly mixed with snow and sleet, along with high winds. The temperature would be in...
2 responses to “Overnight in the Cascades”
SlowBro! Your hiking world is so different from the day hiking in mostly good weather that we do. We did hike a new trail that you might like when you visit your sib in Santa Barbara – the newly opened Arroyo Quemado. Since you are looking for messy weather, you’d be right at home in the mud of the trail and crossing streams by plodding through six inch water. Which brings me to my question? Do you just plod through rushing streams or look for stones and logs to cross un-soaked? Which is what Hannah and I do. Yet, after crossing the Arroyo Quemado on the Gaviota coast, I found I wasn’t sloshing in my hiking boots or uncomfortable at all. I have a new appreciation of just stepping into the creek on the shortest line to the other side.
Hey Dan, when I first started backcountry hiking, I would always stop beside the stream, take off my shoes and socks, cross the stream, dry my feet, and then put my footwear back on. (Assuming, of course, that I couldn’t find a dry way across.) This is quite time-consuming and on more than one occasion I cut or scratched my barefeet on rocks in the stream. Then, my friend, Scatman, took me to the Gila Wilderness. We hiked the Middle Fork of the Gila River, where you cross the stream 30 to 50 times in 10 miles. we just hiked through with our hiking shoes and socks on and kept on going. And guess what? No foot problems, no blisters, no cuts or scrapes, anti-climax. Since then, anytime I come to a stream with no dry crossing, I just walk on through with my shoes on. If it is a bigger river or a dicey crossing, I will stop and figure out a route as I described in a prior post. But once I have a route, I do it with my shoes on.
On a different topic, unfortunately, I will not be visiting my sister in Santa Barbara this spring. The schedule just worked out that way. So I will miss hiking with you and Hannah. And I was looking forward to that, but maybe we can do it next year.