Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26

I went for a walk in the woods this morning. The sun was bright. The air was crisp.I wore my layers of hiking clothes - flannel, wool and nylon.

As I approached Lake Sawyer, I noticed a rock that had been written on. It said, "Sex Rock". It brought a smile to my face. I imagine there is a good story behind that one!

There must be a good story here

Soon, I wandered the trails following Ravensdale Creek and I began to think about how blessed I am. My hike on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) really gives me a new perspective.

I am thankful for healing. After finishing the hike in late August, I found that my feet ached all the time. It took three months for the pain to subside. At night, I would have to take pain killers to be able to fall asleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night with painful throbbing feet. That is gone now. My toenails are still healing. The nails on my big toes will probably take another two months to fully recover. But they are healing.

I am so thankful for clean and abundant water. On the PCT, water was often a major concern. Where was the next reliable source of water? Sometimes, the reliable source of water would be gone. And, if there WAS water, would it be clean enough to drink? Now, I am so thankful for clean and abundant water. I have a new perspective.

I am thankful for an abundance of food. On the PCT, I often thought about food. I dreamed about going to my favorite pizza restaurant and eating a slice of pizza and downing a cool mug of beer. When I got home, I went back to that restaurant and ordered pizza and beer. Tears flowed down my face as I ate that food, remembering how often I had dreamed about it while on the trail. The taste was amazing!

Tonight, I think my family will be thankful that my hiker hunger is gone. Otherwise, there might not have been enough to go around! But seriously, we are so lucky to be able to obtain and consume delicious food. It is everywhere. I now have a new perspective.

Finally, I am thankful for family and friends. Alone and without phone service on the trail, I walked for days in the middle of the wilderness. And yet, to my delight, when I finally got phone service again, I found messages left for me on my phone! I especially enjoyed the messages left by my "hiking buddies" back home. They left me funny stories that made me laugh, and let me know that they cared. In addition, I got wonderful comments on my blog posts. I often go back and re-read them. I will treasure them forever.

As I headed home on my walk this morning, I saw a beautiful "frost flower".

Frost Flower

Although I have heard that it is rare to see one, I have seen many of them recently. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the world.

As I neared my home, I walked with a lighter step and a smile on my face. I have so much to be thankful for. And I have a new perspective on life.

5 Months before start - Training, researching, worrying

I just realized today that it is about five months before I will be starting my adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Five months.
It is both a long time and a short time away.

It's been a long time preparing my body.
I have been walking EVERY DAY for the last seven years.
Walking before work.
Walking during my lunch break.
Walking on weekends and on holidays and vacations.
Walking up steps, hills and along wooded trails.

Enchanted sun rise out on the trail

The trail around Oak Lake as the sun rises.

This year, I have averaged 14 miles per day; half the distance of a good day on the trail.
I am happy with my progress.

This morning I followed my normal weekend "walking routine":
I arose early (very early) and walked on the treadmill for two hours.
I set the speed at 3.7 miles per hour on a slope of six degrees.
By the end of my work out, I am drenched with sweat.

I take a short break and remove my shoes and socks.
My feet feel hot to the touch!

After my feet cool off, I put on a new pair of socks and switch to my trail runners.
I grab my pack and hiking poles and head out to meet my walking buddies.
I am fortunate to have friends who like to walk on weekends, rain or shine.
We meet just as it gets light and head for the trails near Lake Sawyer.
My walking buddies have a good pace, and we cover just over six miles in the next two hours.

By 9 AM I will have walked my fourteen miles.

The trail was flooded this morning. I am getting used to walking in wet shoes.

But five months until the start of my PCT hike is a short time as well.

I still need to get the rest of my gear: a light-weight warm jacket, rain pants, and windbreaker.
I need to decide where my resupply towns will be.
I need to determine where to send food, and where to buy it.
I need to decide on my start date.
I need to get food and pack / label boxes.

There are permits to obtain, a plane ticket to buy, and lists / reminders to make.
I need to have my wife take over paying the bills and helping with my blog.

So many things yet to do.

Five months.

Lake Sawyer Park and Trails

Total Training Miles walked today (6/14): 21.5 miles
Total Miles walked last week (6/9 - 6/13): 73.6 miles

Lake Sawyer offers an amazing number of walking trails. It is one of my favorite places to walk.
It has a lot to offer: lakes, streams, wildlife, views of Mount Rainier, and easy access.

There is a fairly accurate map of the trail system, created mostly for the biking community, but very helpful for those like me who enjoy walking. A link to a printable map is offered from the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance web page, or click here for the map.

Today I parked in the parking lot just off of the Lake Sawyer Road SE. The road and parking lot is about 100 yards south of SE 312th street. It is not well marked, so look carefully. If you are heading north and get to the Lake Sawyer Elementary school, you have gone too far.

The trail to Lake Sawyer is about 1/3 mile, and then it is a short walk to the lake.

Start of the trail to Lake Sawyer Park

During the summer there is good swimming and folks like to fish from the shore. If you follow the road around the lake, you will pass by Frog Lake (on the right). Just after Frog Lake you will notice a trail heading up the hill. It leads up to an unpaved road used by Palmer Coking Coal. About half of the trails are on Palmer land, and you need to stop by their office in Black Diamond and get a permission card. It is good for one year and allows you access to all of the trails.

On my walk today, I detoured over to Oak Lake. This lake is fed by runoff and the water table. There is no entrance or exit streams. Several weeks ago, the lake was so full that the trail was under ten feet of water. Today was no exception. It will probably be another month before the trail circling the lake can be used again.

Oak Lake is still flooded.

 There are lovely fields of foxgloves growing near Oak Lake.

Field of Foxgloves

 I chose to return to Lake Sawyer and then walked the periphery of the trail system. I even followed a few of the trails at the far north end of the trail system before returning to the trail that follows the old train track that led to the Black Diamond coal mines many years ago.

Main trail that follows the path of the old train track leading to Black Diamond

On the way, I noticed that someone was camping in the woods. Their tent was set up on top of a large rock.

Tent in the woods.

The main trail led me to a spur trail that eventually led me back to Lake Sawyer and my car. I spent just over two hours on the trail today, and saw several folks walking their dogs and a few having fun on their bikes.

If you want some new trail adventures, check out the Lake Sawyer trails!