Since we are friends, I am going to show you my favorite bare butt photo....but not until later in my story. So no peaking ahead! If you have been following along, you know that May is the month when I am full out on a quest to find the very best fields of wildflowers. The sunflower like Balsamroot flowers are my very favorite, but I also love the purple Blue Lupines and so many others. Now, most folks who live in the Columbia River Gorge all flock to a place called Dog Mountain this time of year. It is infamous for its Balsamroot covered hills. In fact, this place is so popular that you have to get a special permit this time of year and usually take a shuttle bus to the trailhead. So that is enough to have me running in the opposite direction. I mean, can you imagine the wolf on a shuttle bus?? It would be terrible.
Luckily I spend a great deal of time researching trails, pouring through old and new hiking books, reading online trail reports and maps, always searching out the unknown flower locations. I will even look at maps and based on elevation and open meadows, go on the hunt. I have never understood people who hunt to kill innocent animals, but I suppose this must be what they feel. The wildflower hunt consumes me this time of year. I have found some very special places over the years. But what is fascinating to me is that each year, they will be different. You can go to one high elevation meadow that is covered in flowers one year, and the very same week the next year, you won't find a single flower. It is part of what makes the hunt so special and invigorating to me. Like Forest Gump would surely say, wildflower fields are like a box of chocolates....you never know what you are going to get.
This week's hike was going to be on a mountain that I have done in all seasons, except, surprisingly, in spring. I just had a feeling that the wildflowers were going to be amazing this year on my old friend and so I chose to make it one of my limited flower hikes of the month. Words cannot explain to you the pressure I feel to pick the right hikes in May. One bad choice and I miss a week of flowers! May only has so many weeks in it and my life sadly only allows for one hike a week. What I wouldn't give to hike every day in May!!
What is funny is that this particular hike today is actually within view of Dog Mountain and I drove by it's trailhead on my way. Their lot was packed with no spot remaining, even early in the morning. When I got to my pull over spot, I was the only vehicle there. I smiled to myself about how all those folks were climbing in droves and I had my mountain all to myself. Now technically my mountain is taller than Dog Mountain, but by less than 100 feet. Nevertheless, that meant that when I would summit I could peer over to Dog Mountain and be looking down on her. Luckily I am far enough away to not see any of the people!
We hit the trail and instantly felt the heat of the day. It was going to be in the mid 80's today and our bodies had in no way adjusted to warmer weather hiking yet. I was sweating buckets almost immediately. We were all panting within our first mile when we were also pulling our first ticks of the day off ourselves. We found a shady spot to look back down toward the Columbia River where we parked the truck and could see our progress up the grassy hills here that switchback up into the trees. Thank God for trees and shade today was all I could think!
As we climbed and climbed and climbed some more we made a fabulous discovery. Josie the wolf had walked right past it without noticing and Nova and I almost did too. But then I noticed this thing at my feet that looked like a rubber toy snake. It was long and somewhat flat, looking exactly like a toy that must have been lost by some intrepid child hiker. My first thought was what kind of a kid does a 3000 foot climb on a virtually unknown trail. But then my second thought was that I was going to take this rubber toy snake back home with me so I could use it to pay back a girl at work who put a toy snake in the deposit box outside my office door. (That toy snake, which still lives in the box, truly looked like a toy....but this thing was way cooler). I figured I would sneak it into her locker to brighten her day. Luckily, however, before I picked up the rubber snake, I took a second glance at its face. In that moment I saw the flickering tongue going in and out toward me. No way!! This thing is real?? It was completely solid brown and thicker than you would expect. I kept thinking that maybe it was a weird garter snake, but they are usually striped. This guy had no markings and seemed to be playing dead. I instinctively knew he was not venomous, so was not worried about him hurting us. He was so flat and wide in places that I thought he had been squashed by something giving him the rubber toy appearance. While Josie was still occupied with something else, Nova and I got a quick selfie in with the snake. Then I played with him a bit and got him to coil up into a ball. He silently buried his head and then finally deciding he had had enough, he very quickly slithered off the trail into some brush. I couldn't believe how docile he was. There was no hissing, rattling, raising up into the air or play striking at me like other snakes have done. Here is our new friend, "Brownie" to the right of Nova.
Of course, curiosity, got the better of me. The next day I started to search online to figure out what kind of snake this was. I was utterly gobsmacked to discover he was a Rubber Boa! No wonder they named them that with how much he looked like rubber I thought. These guys are found in Western North America and are generally considered fairly rare to see in the wild. Everything I read about them and every picture I could find was exactly our new friend. I was so excited to have seen a rare snake.....a Boa, nonetheless. I only regretted not picking him up after reading how they constrict around your wrist if you do. They apparently don't really hurt, but that would have been a pretty cool bracelet to wear for our hike!
We continued climbing and crossing one of the only creeks in the area on our way up, weaving in and out of sun filtering through the trees. The forest here is made up of both evergreen and deciduous trees, making an impressive filter for the rays of sun to come down through. The thing that struck me most was just how green everything was! The scent of all the new plants pushing up through the warmed spring soil was intoxicating. You couldn't really pick out one particular scent as they all came together in a wonderful symphony of smells. It was a salve to our souls for sure. We had been having a bit of a stressful week and some very sleepless nights, so we needed this salve to soothe us for sure! Not by choice, but I had been awake for almost a full 48 hours shortly before this hike during which I had done two separate 2.5 mile runs on a treadmill to stay awake (and sane) and had to drive long distances several times. It reminded me of my college days during finals week, minus the buckets of Mt Dew I use to drink before making the choice to live caffeine free. But I was half my age back then and it seemed so much easier to pull all-nighters!
Before long, we switch-backed up the section of trail before the first meadow. There are two great meadows on this mountain....the first is about halfway up and the other is on the summit. Both have stupendous views over into Oregon, down to the Columbia River and to all the mountains surrounding us. From this hike, you can see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, of course Dog Mountain, Mt. Defiance (which still had snow on it) and so many others. On a clear day, you feel like you can see forever. I like to imagine I am watching Lewis and Clark coming up the Gorge on their great adventure when I am up here. Just as we crested the rise into the first meadow, I could see yellow everywhere and my heart leapt within my chest!
Yes, this meadow is a bit steep, but it gets great sun exposure. I will also say it is one of my favorite places to sled down in my snow-pants in winter! Although one winter I lost a flashlight off my tactical belt in the deep snow here on one of our many runs. Nothing is more exhilarating than feeling you are sledding off a mountain straight into the river below! You have to be really good at self-arresting on this glissade I can tell you that! As we got up into the flowers and carefully stepped around and through them, we felt like we were literally drowning in my favorite color yellow! It was a very Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz moment!
We looked down all the way to the river from where we started and were giddy from all the flowers in one of our favorite spots in the gorge!
This hillside meadow is so steep that if you want to lay down in it, you really just kind of lean back and there your backside runs into the ground. It feels more like leaning against a wall than laying down, but I love it. That being said, laying here in spring is far warmer than laying in the deep snow of winter. We were in full sun as all our shade was gone now. The girls were panting non-stop so it was hard to get a picture of them with their mouths closed.
I couldn't help but feel that dreams really do come true as this meadow was so perfect. If I had been on Dog Mountain, every picture I took would have strange humans in the background. Here we could lounge around and goof off doing whatever we wanted all alone up and down the cliff-side meadow. There was not even the slightest stir of a breeze and the heat was reverberating off the very flowers themselves. It felt like we stood amongst a thousand suns. I thanked God for this day while immersed in the flowers that were surely a gift from His Son.
Reluctantly, I knew it was time to leave this first meadow and continue our climb to the summit. I knew there would be more flowers there, but more importantly there would be shade as we would duck back into high forest for the final climb. The girls were overheating and I needed to cool them off. This upper section is one of the steepest sections of this trail and it feels like it will never end. Part of me dreaded it today as I was so hot. Since I had not acclimated to the heat any better than my panting girls, the climb felt harder than ever today. I could feel sweat pouring down my back, filling my sports-bra and boots. It was terrible. On top of that, we kept picking ticks who were so happy to see us! But I reminded myself if there is no pain, there is no gain! There was a part of my brain that reminded me of how long my week had been and that I could surely end the hike at the first meadow before reaching the summit. But I felt that I was sailing my ship through deep waters today and would make it if I just focused on each minute, on each switch of the switch-backs, on a few more steps before taking a swig of water. By breaking everything down to slow motion and small goals, we kept moving and kept focused on our main quest. Then before long, we broke out on the summit and had views to die for!
We could see huge thunderheads covering up Mt. Hood's face, only allowing her skirts to peak out below. A nice gentle breeze started to blow that made the Balsamroot heads dance and sway to imaginary music. I spread out our hiking blanket and we set up a picnic. We figured this would be the perfect place to eat some supper. I had finished the Navy Seal book I started on last week's backpacking trip and was anxious to start my new one. This one is written by a man who decided to walk the entire coastline of the UK and found a doggie companion to join him in the process. What could be better for me to read I thought! I even had an autographed copy sent to me from the UK! But don't get me started on my love for books! I feel that people don't really read anymore so I am trying to make up for everyone else!
You might be wondering what it was that I was eating for supper after seeing our picnic picture. In what was surely one of my strangest hiking meal choices, I had a leftover homemade Quesadilla and an orange to eat today. I had rolled the bean and cheese Quesadilla into the side pocket on my pack so it could heat up in the hot sun as we hiked. Figured it would either kill me or be incredible on the trail. Luckily it was delicious with no ill effects from lack of refrigeration. We laid down on our blanket to eat and rest. It was hard to take my eyes off our surroundings so I alternated watching the views, reading, talking to God and napping for hours. That is until we heard the first of several large booms. Those thunderheads to our south had found their voice! The wind instantly whipped into a violent frenzy, which you can see from the wolf's hair! Check out these clouds!
We enjoyed feeling the booms through our very bodies lying on the ground. I was thankful to see, however, that the storm did not seem to be heading in our direction and we could safely watch it from our peak. But before long, I had to put a hoodie on and wrap the quilt over my bare legs as it was so cold from the wicked winds seeming intent to blow us from our mountain.
As we finally and reluctantly decided to pack up, leaving our normal quick summit territory marking, we turned in time to see Mt. Hood completely peaking out of the clouds to say hello. Although the way the clouds were positioned, it almost looked like the mountain was exploding. How that moment filled every corner of my soul with peace, joy and gratitude! Hiking has truly become my best medicine. I was grateful that I had kept going today to make it to our summit no matter how worn down and exhausted I was feeling. You know, people often think money is the most important thing in the world. But I am telling you now, no amount of money can make you feel the way I felt on this mountain tonight. It was priceless.
Our loop hike back down to the river was incredibly fast. We were hauling butt and practically running for most of it. Partly this was to stay warm in the wind and partly just for fun as we found our second wind. I could feel the beginnings of a sunburn on my irritated and raw exposed skin. Every branch and leaf that rubbed against by newly reddened legs caused quick pain. But we just kept moving as quickly and silently as possible. One thing the three of us do very well is hike in stealth mode. We use hand signals to communicate most of the time and are careful to not break any branches or make any sound at all. We often sneak up on humans and animals very easily this way. I love stealth mode, but never more so than tonight!
As we came around a corner, Josie and I saw something at about the same time that brought us to a dead stop. We were about 100-150 feet away from a new friend. He was not, however, paying attention to us at all. He was very focused on digging with his feet and messing around with something on the ground. We all three quietly stood and stared just upwind of him. My first instinct was to unzip my camera bag on my left hip as quietly and slowly as I possibly could. Then I silently pulled the camera from its bag, removing its lens cap in slow motion and switching it on. As I lifted the camera up and snapped one photo, the camera made what seemed like a deafening click-click sound. That is when our new friend looked right at us and made direct eye contact. He blinked once staring into my eyes. Then he looked at the wolf in the backpack and blinked again. Then he looked at the little redhead princess in her tutu and blinked once more before returning his gaze to me. I took another photo of his adorable face with some food still in his mouth. I was completely in love after only moments in his presence. See what effect a handsome guy has on me!! Here is my new beloved friend with his strange wrist conformation.
Now I had to name him Brownie too since that was the theme for all our new brown friends today! We had a conversation about how much I loved him and only wanted to take some selfies with him and the dogs. I promised we would cause him no harm and that he was very photogenic. As we drew closer to him to get the girls in position to take those photos though, Brownie 2 decided that he was feeling camera shy and turned to jump over the branches behind him and run away. I couldn't believe how fast he could move! He turned into a virtual blur, but not before I got my favorite bare bear butt picture that you have been patiently waiting to see!
I am not going to lie, it did kind of hurt my feelings that he wouldn't stay to visit and take more pictures with us. Josie must have been feeling the same way as she decided we should all chase him down and tried to run after him. I caught her before she could pull me off my feet in hot pursuit and told her he apparently needed space. Maybe he already has a girlfriend I explained to my hiking partners who were clearly as smitten with him as I was.
As we hiked those final miles back to the truck, I got to thinking about how bears are the most dangerous in spring when they are hungry and grumpy and it is often mating season. But no part of me felt scared to come face to face with him. I felt as comfortable as if I had run into a friend at the grocery store. It was the most natural thing in the world. I have run into bears twice before on the trail, but always when I was night hiking without turning on a torch. So this was the first time I really felt like I could enjoy the experience. Funny that no part of me even thought about reaching to unsnap the holster on my right hip, even though he quickly could have charged us. Later I wondered if Brownie 2 had another bear friend or family member watching us. That would have been funny if we had turned to have seen that! I also found it interesting how Josie the wolf kept positioning herself to always be between myself and our new bear friend. What a good girl she was. The only thing that would have made today better was if I had gotten that selfie with a wolf and a bear. Can you imagine??
Now if I have been rubbing off on you at all with my spring flower quest, I am sure you will want to see some more photos. So please enjoy these! I took over 700 photos on this one hike, so I can assure you it was very difficult to pick which ones to share.
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