She Ventures Goes Backpacking

So this is what it feels like to carry 35lbs of weight on your back.

I have to say, it was that single idea that worried me the most when I signed up for this 5-day trip to the North Cascades in Washington State. Forget the fact that I pretty much have no experience with camping, it was the idea of carrying a heavy pack up and down mountain passes for miles on end that concerned me. Especially seeing as I signed up only four weeks in advance and pretty much had no training time. It would, I knew, come down to how good my base fitness level was. And to be frank, that was also a bit of an unknown, having lost some of my mojo during the Summer months. How experienced would my companions be? Would I, with what I knew would be my slow pace, annoy the heck out of them and my guide? As it turns out, I needn’t have worried.

North Cascades National Park

If you’ve never heard of the North Cascades National Park, don’t feel bad. Not many have. Set in Northwest Washington State, pretty much alongside the Canadian border, the North Cascades is one of the least visited parks in the country. Not because of its lack of beauty. It’s stunning out there. The North Cascades comprise a vast wilderness of pine-, spruce-, and fir-laden mountains, glaciers and lakes. And the most delicious blueberries you will ever taste. But I digress. While the trails are relatively well maintained, this is rugged backcountry. On each of the first four days we never encountered more than four other people along the trail. Each night we had the designated campgrounds entirely to ourselves. It was like having your own personal national park. No problem social distancing here. It was perfect. 

Spread out over the five days, the hike itself was about 35 miles long, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. I signed up through Wildland Trekking, a travel agency focuses on organized treks in the National Parks. They pretty much take care of all the logistics. They will even provide you with a backpack, tent, sleeping bad and pad if you don’t have your own. You just need to show up. For me, it was the perfect choice, as I sought out an introduction to backpacking, which in this age of Covid seems like one of the few realistic and responsible vacation options out there.  

Group Dynamics

Speaking of social distancing, while we were removed from civilization, we couldn’t of course remove ourselves from the group. That is always the risk when you sign up for a small group trip like this where you don’t know who the others will be. If you don’t get along with your companions your experience can pretty quickly turn into a bad one. When I arrived at our pre-departure meeting I was surprised to find there would only be four of us. Five, including our guide, Ron. The others were a pair of sisters, who live in the area and a guy from Cali. Uh oh. How will this work out? The answer: pretty darn well. 

I’ve always said that barring any crazy personality traits, the benefit of specialized travel like this is that you start from a common base. In this case, a shared love for the outdoors, an active lifestyle, and a willingness to ‘rough it’ for a few days is what brought us together; Nikki, Amanda, Steve and I. Everyone was light-hearted, supportive, well grounded, and just happy to find a little slice of peace amid the craziness that is 2020. 

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace. From the very beginning, that was the one thing that Ron, our guide, sought to instill in us. Yes, we have this amazing National Park nearly to ourselves, but that doesn’t mean we can treat it carelessly. Quite the contrary. Take nothing with you. Leave only footsteps. That is what it boils down to. And no. You can’t just throw away an apple core, because while it is organic, apples are not endemic to the park. Absolutely all garbage must be carried with you and disposed of at the end of the trip. 

Long drops and bear hangs

The North Cascades National Park covers an area of 500,000 acres. But as with all National Parks you can’t just set up a tent wherever. There are designated spots set at regular intervals along the trail. These are not to be confused with the relatively developed campgrounds at other parks with power outlets, bathrooms, showers and even restaurants. The set up here is rustic. All are reasonably close to a water source, but not alongside it. Because well, bears. All have little “kitchen areas” identified by a small fire pit. All have a couple of flat-ish spots that are good to pitch a tent, and all have long drops, i.e. ‘toilet’ areas. That’s pretty much it. 

The routine is as follows. After a long day of hiking and upon arrival at our designated campground for the night, we remove all food and toiletries from our bags and leave them in the common area, along with our backpacks. In the evening, the food and toiletries get hung on a tree branch at least 15 feet off the ground. The bear hang, as it’s known, is an alternative to carrying bear canisters, which can get quite heavy, not to mention bulky. Setting up a bear hang keeps our things safe, and more importantly us safe. Bears as it turns out have an amazing sense of smell, able to detect odors several miles away. And while the Black bears that inhabit the North Cascades are vegetarian and basically live off of berries (I did mention they’re delicious right?), we can all agree the last thing anyone wants is a Bear turning up at your tent in the middle of the night. That would be bad. Rule of thumb, the only thing that comes with you to the tent other than your sleeping pad and bag, are your clothes, a water bottle and maybe a couple of squares of toilet paper. 

But while all campgrounds are similarly set up, not all campgrounds in the North Cascades are created equal. We definitely had our favorites. The first one was awful. Not because of the campground itself. I’m sure it was fine. I wouldn’t remember. The mosquito factor was so bad it was hard to focus on anything else. That first night, we were all relieved when, after dinner, delicious as it was, it was time to go shelter in our respective tents. That was the exception however. I would say we enjoyed different things at different sites. A beautiful mountain view at one. Proximity to a small creek where we could soak our tired feet at another. The highlight in all of them however were our morning and evening meals. Ron impressed us daily with his careful and thoughtful menu planning. From a baked brie appetizer and a green coconut chicken curry on day one to blueberry and almond pancakes for breakfast on day four, meal times were a delight and a wonderful way to wrap up long, and sometimes arduous days of hiking.

Speaking of Hiking

The North Cascades are not for the faint of heart. That’s for sure. It’s not overly difficult or technical either. And it’s definitely doable for a first-time backpacker….IF, you’re fit. As in pretty fit. A background in endurance sports definitely helps. That’s the caveat. I was, unsurprisingly, the slowest in our group. That’s pretty much par for the course in my life. Whether I’m racing a marathon, hiking or cycling up a mountain, I will always be the slowest one. Even when I do have months to prepare and train. And that’s perfectly fine for me. I’ll get it done eventuallly. I do these things not to be the best, I do them, to both challenge and humble myself. It’s good for my ego to not take myself too seriously.

As for the surroundings, as I’ve said previously, it is truly beautiful out there. Not in the “take your breath away” manner of places like Iceland, New Zealand or the Himalayas. It’s much more subtle. The rainforest in which we spend much of our hiking is lush and varied, changing ever so slightly as we go along. Sometimes the trail is clear, sometimes there are obstacles to overcome, downed trees, water crossings. Nothing too serious. On day four we have a fun cable car crossing over the Chilliwack River.

The most important part is having a good pair of hiking boots and to keep an eye on the ground. Our biggest challenge lies in the two mountain pass days. The trail narrows, hugging the mountain, becoming ever more treacherous. But while the climbing hurts, stressing our calves and hearts, it is the downhill where you really have to keep your wits about you. Particularly when it starts to get rocky and gravely.  Small steps and “nose over toes”, as Ron tells us. Eventually we get it done.

Postscript

I truly enjoyed this trip. After seven months of no travel, it was a relief to get away for a few days. To truly get away. Having no cel service for five days may sound like an impossibility in this day of being glued to our phones. But it was, in every sense of the word, a treasure. I come back, not on that high that’s characterized some of my more “epic” travels, but with a calmness and a peace that I’ve been missing recently. As 2020 continues to test us…and 2021 promising to be much of the same, I look forward to doing this again. To continuing the exploration of our beautiful country, which truly has so much to offer.