There may be a few times a year I get dressed up and go out on the town with the girls (as in go to dinner and karaoke) but more often than not, when I say I’m going out with my girls, it means OUTDOORS.
I talked about the great group of hiking and backpacking women from my church that I joined for outdoor adventures about 8 years ago in my post, Definition of Courage. We were a mix of novice and experienced hikers and often our group met the limit on size for parties in the wilderness.
In 2012, three of us ventured off on our own for our very first trip without our hiking mentors and we haven’t looked back ever since.
My friend Anne and I have teamed to bring girlfriends backpacking on trips every summer. Some have been doing it awhile and others are friends who Anne and I have brought into the fold as newbies but now hold their very own.
Last year was the Enchantments, and previous trips have included Goat Lake to Snowgrass Flats, Boulder Creek Campground to Appleton Pass and others.
This year our trip was on the PCT. We started at the Meadow Creek TH to Fortune Ponds and hiked into Pear Lake to base camp two nights. We day hiked the second day to Benchmark Mountain and then on the third day hiked out along the PCT to Stevens Pass stopping at Lake Valhalla one night. This is one of my favorite sections and I have actually now adopted the section from Pear Lake to Janus with the PCTA trail steward group, the 350 North Blades.
The gals went up in the morning and did the leaving a car at one TH thing and I joined them later in the afternoon after church. Getting to Pear Lake via Fortune Ponds is totally doable within a 4 hour window, I’ve done it before after work.
As always, our trip was wonderful and filled with memories and laughter. And maybe a few tears.
Some of the highlights from our trip were:
- Discovering I had left my poles at home on the drive to the TH, but in enough time to make a quick stop at the Big 5 in Monroe,
- Thinking I had locked my keys in my car at the TH (with everything locked inside) for about three complete freak out minutes only to find they were on the ground near my “potty break”,
- Someone starting their period the first day without any supplies and laying in her tent crying for several hours thinking she would have to resort to socks and such,
- Me showing up with extra said supplies because I roll like that (she joked she would now name a child after me),
- Discussing the benefits of the Diva Cup and Soft Cup,
- Sitting by the lakeshore and enjoying a guided meditation at sunset,
- Collecting sticks and moss to keep away the bugs,
- Someone actually carrying a SAT phone her boyfriend gave her,
- Refining my hammock sleep system to include a homemade bugnet,
- Making popcorn in a JetBoil (way to go, Liz!),
- Meeting and chatting with both northbound and southbound PCT thrus sharing trail intel,
- Collecting more sticks and moss to keep away even more bugs,
- Taking my friends on the PCT to one of my favorite perches in the North Cascades (and seeing the look on their faces when I pointed to it as we approached and their look of dread at the idea of getting there),
- Hearing them tell me it was all worth it while we sat and ate lunch on the mountain top with Glacier Peak as a backdrop,
- Said person with period not having enough wardrobe changes to keep up so she wore her rainpants out the last day,
- I wore my huarachas on the last 6 miles and then blew a strap at the end ,
- And most of all, giving them a taste of what I love about hiking the PCT.
Priceless.
Do you have a group of gals you can get OUT with? As in OUTdoors?
Click here for more hikes on HWY 2. Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty Please.
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