Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Hike One

So, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

Now what?

Try hiking, something easy but fun.

So I headed into the wilds of Lacey, WA, and tackled the mighty Chehalis Western Trail.

Preparation: minimal — after several weeks of hiding in libraries I was ready to explode, so I thought I'd try living dangerously and tackle this route "naked".

Start. Plenty of parking. Water. (See background.) All-weather surface. Looks good.

I started about a half-mile (0.8 km) in from where I used to when I lived here. To the railway and back was about 7 miles instead of the former 8-ish miles I used to do mornings. No pets to pick up, so I skipped a pet pickup-bag and didn't pack anything either in or out. Bold!

No motor vehicles. Always reassuring. The woman at upper left was wearing an odd dress with a piano-keyboard print on it, and large headphones (I don't know how she communicated with her companion), but other than that, she didn't seem overly dangerous. I decided to continue.

Blossoms. Must be spring, at least up in the trees.

There was some wildlife blocking part of the trail, but I was able slip by unnoticed while it attacked an elderly man approaching from the opposite direction. When I returned, it was still occupied feeding on the body, so no problem with that either. My lucky day.

Signage was plentiful though confusing at times. I guess this means that if you are on foot you should be ready to run for your life, swerving unpredictably if necessary in case of rogue bicycles. Again, no motor vehicles. And as for obstructions, I did notice some light dust, but managed to make my way around that, and I did see a fallen leaf or two, but again, forewarned is forearmed, and since I was prepared, I managed to climb over them (even without trekking poles), so no loss, though the effort did slow me down a bit.

Typical native huts. Nicely separated from the trail by a thoughtful chain link fence. I didn't see any beggars on the trail, or even near it, so I suspect that the fence may have been electrified. Nice touch.

Freight train. Near the end of my section. I hid behind a tree until it was past. I don't think it saw me.

Whew! At this point I'd gone 3½ miles (5.64 km). For a while I wasn't quite sure if I was still on-route, despite the 12-foot-wide asphalt paving, but once I caught sight of this sign I was mightily relieved. I knew I'd be able to make it back without too much trouble.

And what do you know? Another arrow, although without text (maybe the batteries died), pointing back the way I had come. A second reassurance.

I stopped to look at the tracks but had to scramble away quickly after hearing another train approaching in the distance. I don't know what might lie on the other side of the tracks. I'm not sure anyone has ever been over there. I'll let someone else go first and then think about it later.

This southern end is boggy too. You never know what's going to happen around boggy areas. In Europe they find dead bodies in bogs. Thousands of years old. I'm not that old yet but I don't want to push my luck, you know? I stayed on the pavement and grabbed a couple of shots of the grass while it was looking the other way, then moved on quickly.

Ah. Color. Comforting at first sight, but then it began quivering on its stalk, as though reaching for me. Some say it's just the breeze but better safe than sorry.

I can't say for sure if anyone has ever thru-hiked this route, but the guy on the right could be a good candidate. He didn't stop to talk, and didn't look really happy, both of which only added to my suspicions.

Lakeside rest area. Homeless guys have been known to use this area. I wouldn't doubt that.

Greenery. And to think that only a week ago this was all a wasteland of mud and gray skies and endless rain.

But the ditches on each side of the trail are still full to the brim with black water.

And who knows what might be living down there? Luckily for me, although the day was growing late it was nowhere near dark yet, so I made it all the way back to the parking lot without incident, and then left immediately.


Comments? Send email to sosayseff@nullabigmail.com