Day 5 - Terrible End to the Day

Start Time: 5:55 AM
End Time: 8:00 PM
Start Mileage: 2511.90
End Mileage: 2524.50
Distance Walked (Miles): 12.6
Elevation Gain (Feet): 3750
Descent (Feet): 2549

We had camped right beside a raging river last night at Baekos Creek, which caused us all to have fitful sleeps. We had to cross a broken bridge to begin our journey but only got as far as the other side before stopping to get water for the morning ahead.

Once we got started, we enjoyed probably the finest walking on this edition of Walking People Out of Poverty. We were in a deep, dark forest that was bursting with life wherever you looked. Unfortunately, we were also surrounded by death at every turn, as there were dead trees everywhere. Such is the circle of life!! The temperatures were also in our favour, as it’s very cool when the sun can’t get into the forest!

Within 30 minutes of setting out, we hit upon a blowdown—which was to be the first of many we were to encounter through the morning. Some are very simple to navigate, as you merely step over them. Some, you have to take your pack off and crawl under the tree. Then there are others that are very tricky, and you may have to scramble downhill, walk around the tree, and then climb back up the hill to rejoin the trail. We hit one blowdown that was severe, and it took us a good 10 minutes to finally put it in our rearview mirror.

After a fair bit of climbing, we started to head down—but if we thought the trail would get any easier, we were way off the mark. In addition to the scrambles, there were places where you literally could not see the trail ahead of you. It was on one of these occasions that my foot caught a root and I was pitched forward. Thankfully, I had a soft landing, and Huckleberry was on hand to pick me up.

We eventually came to Kennedy Creek, and we now had to figure out a way to get across. Woody, who is an expert at this type of stuff, found two logs and, placing one foot on each, inched his way across. Next up was my turn, and I was laser-focused to get across—which I did safely. Then it was Huckleberry’s turn, who also made it across safely.

Now we were back in the forest, and because we had descended to the bottom of the mountain, it only made sense that we would now be climbing. So up and up we went. The hike was very reminiscent of yesterday, with big climbs and lots of descent.

The afternoon in particular was hard, as we were heading up in the heat of the day, but it was made all the better when we met a young couple with their dog. It was 3 parts wolf and one part Akita, I believe. I’m not sure if the dog’s name was Miyogi, but it was a lovable thing and loved attention. After a brief visit, we said our farewells and started back up. We had a climb of 1100 feet over a distance of 1.2 miles ahead of us.

We finally made our goal before starting the descent to Mica Lake. It was not a nice trail, as it was a lot of rock and scree and tricky to navigate.

Upon reaching Mica Lake, it was time for Huckleberry to do his thing—and he was in the water quicker than you can blink. Woody and I think Huckleberry should be called “Water Baby,” as he just loves spending time in the water.

Whilst Huckleberry was doing his thing, Woody and I decided on an early dinner. That way, it would free me up to do my blog once my tent was up.

Tonight’s dinner was a Peak Refuel Teriyaki Chicken, which I’ve had before—and it’s quickly becoming my favourite.

After dinner, we set off for the short walk to where we were due to camp and were less than 100 feet from our campsite when disaster struck. We were crossing a rocky area with water trickling through it when I had an accident. One of my hiking poles snapped, causing me to be pitched forward, face first to the floor. I ended up with a nick above my eye, bruised ribs, a bruised face (and ego), and broken glasses.

As I was lying in water and somewhat in shock, Dan came over and hauled me up. We made it to camp, where I assessed myself and promptly started to put up my tent, as I needed to get into dry clothes. I found the shorts and T-shirt I sleep in and put them on. Once I had everything sorted in my tent, I climbed into my sleeping bag to get warm and to work on my blog.

It had been a terribly disappointing end to what had been a most enjoyable day.