I'm REALLY Going Hiking this Time

Shrek's Swamp to Tunnel Falls via Historic Highway trail and Eagle Creek

18 miles

On Sunday, after recovering from the grand opening of Thunder Island tap room the night before, I tried to go hiking again. I got to the Eagle Creek parking lot and my phone vibrated. "Can you come out and help now for a little bit?" it says next to the new brewery co-owner, Dave Lipps' name on my phone. "Yeah, I was just starting Eagle Creek, gimme 15 min and I'll be there" I replied. At least I know he appreciated my sacrifice, as he's an avid outdoor enthusiast himself. "Oh man" he said, and reassured me I didn't have to come in to help out. The full parking lot at Eagle Creek made me a bit reluctant to start hiking, knowing I would run into all those carloads of people also taking advantage of the unseasonably beautiful October weather, so I decided to put off the hike for another day.

Tuesday I finally made it into the woods. I left a bit later than I planned. It was already 11 when I walked out the front door with my day pack with snacks, water, and my puffy coat in case it got cold.

 Walking along I had as much fun crunching through the leaves as I did when I was a little kid. In the fall I would get "hired" by my parents to rake the leaves for some extra allowance money, and spend twice the time doing it as it should have taken because it was so satisfying to make a pile and then kick it everywhere.

Some as big as my head!

I had a really hard time getting out of my head on this hike. I thought a lot about last fall in Boyer Chute (near Omaha, NE), and the whole last year in general. About people and places I missed. My birthday is this week, and it makes me realize how much I've done to find myself over the last year. Last October was an amazing month with all of my favorite folks. Over the last year I fell in love. I finished my Master's degree. I quit my good stable job in Nebraska for an unknown existence somewhere I actually wanted to reside.

I got to the parking area and cursed the school buses that made me certain I'd be fighting for space with a bunch of noisy, obnoxious children. I walked faster, hoping to make it to the trail before the line of children snaking towards the trail. After passing them by, I realized that there were groups of children gathered all along Eagle Creek, and grownups explaining different salmon behavior and things to look for. They weren't getting on the trail after all, just staying down by the half of a mile of creek bordering the parking lot. I felt a little guilty for hating the kids for a minute. "A misunderstanding," I reassured the universe, lest it smite me for my unkind thoughts.

I spent time doing lots of math. At first the math seemed great. I had reduced my living expenses so much in the last month by paying off my car, moving, and deferring my student loans for the time being that I felt awesome. Then I started worrying about whether I would really be working enough hours to make the money I needed to get gear and have enough money for the five months I'd be on the trail. Everything went from seeming amazing to seeming unattainable.

I made lists of things to do. I thought about things that irritated me. Things that hurt my feelings. I had self-centered thoughts about how no one cared it was my birthday and wanted to celebrate my awesomeness. I had conversations with people in my head about why their actions hurt me, composing snarky retorts for their defenses.

I wrote pieces of this. I revised, edited, forgot, deleted, reworked, and unraveled my telling of the hike.

On top of all of that going on, I had "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show stuck in my head, playing in the background, and coming to the forefront whenever I managed to focus on the trail instead of everything else. Only a few lines of course: "But he's headed west, from the Cumberland gap to Johnson City, Tennessee," and "I'm a-hopin for Raleigh I can see my baby tonight," along with snatches of the chorus. So I'm out in all this beauty, on a gorgeous fall day (Gorge-ous, har har har), and I can't even pay attention. I smiled and said hello to passing hikers, but I felt like a phoney. I took pictures for the blog, and felt like a phony because they were cutesy.

"C is for cookie!" (stone placed for water crossing)

 And because they were of beauty that I wasn't even really appreciating.

Punchbowl Falls

Loowit Falls

Eventually I made it to Tunnel Falls. By then, I had hit my stride, and was singing along to "Wagon Wheel" which made the fact that it was stuck in my head seem less obnoxious. The falls were stunning and powerful. As I waited for another hiker to come back through the tunnel, a breeze stirred leaves so that they floated above and below me. It was surreal. I finally got caught up in the beauty.

After I crossed through the tunnel myself (and managed a picture with a genuine smile) I met up with a girl I had been leap frogging with and hiked back with her. Lindsey and I chatted about what brought us to the PNW, and our shared experiences working in Darden restaurants. She told me about her adventures in South Carolina, we talked about waterfalls and birds. We saw Stellar jays and American dippers in the creek. they're becoming one of my favorite birds here. I love how they drop head first into the water from a rock, then pop up and do it again. She wants to hike the PCT some day too. It was good to have someone to listen to, and to talk with. The trail flew by as we compared stories and talked about hikes we'd done, ones we wanted to do. We made plans to hike together some time.

It was dusk by the time we got back to the trailhead. The salmon were still doing their salmon thing. I even got to observe two males fighting. I did some fast walking back the 2.5 miles into town even though my feet were sore, because I was looking forward to a night with a friend. I averaged 2.25 mph, including a 20 minute stop for lunch, which was slower than I was hoping, considering I was slack packing. But I walked through the tangle in my head, and ended the day feeling tired, a little sore, and much more sane. The speed will come, I'm sure.