"Don't you realize? The next time you see sky, it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what's right for them. Because it's their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here. That's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket."
This was our time, to get away from it all and just relax. No real time lines or scheduale, just one common goal. Thompson Peak.
AFter some salmon analyzing we made it to the turn off for Paleface Creek and parked. We slowly geared up and got ready for the journey. The first 2hrs was on the logging road which becomes more grown over the further you travel along it. Its got a pretty steady grade to it but nothing tooooo crazy. We passed what looked like a dead canary and then what looked like a dead woodpecker. This started giving me a bad feeling. A few years ago when I was in the Galapagos I visited 2 different islands in one day that were full of death, and when I arrived back in internet land I recieved some pretty upsetting news. So I was hoping this wasn't going to be a repeat. But enough of that, the views from the road were pretty good.
Once at the end of the road the bushwacking starts. Devils club, thick alder and blueberry bushes are your new friends for a little while. Once out of that mess, then it opens up a bit and we were under the forest canopy, but now the grade was very very steep and slippery. We slowly make our way up. The flys and mosquitos were out and keeping us company. Right after I passed a squirrels tail I hear Jenn call out "i think we are here!" Suddenly my slow pace turns into a flollick as I get a burst of energy!
Once at our camp spot we drop our gear and check the place out. Shortly after we start to make camp
After an awesome dinner (thanks Jenn) we make a small fire to relax near as we watch the stars slowly appear.
The next morning we had a bit of a sleep in, made breakfast then waited to see if Jenn's friend Glen was going to be able to join us. While they were radioing eachother I wandered and warmed up in the sun and did some exploring
more death
It turns out Glen wasn't going to be joining us, so with a bit of a late start we geared up and headed for the real destination, Thompson Peak. You first hike up throug a boulder filled valley and try to gain the ridge above camp.
Once on the ridge the colors from the blueberry bushes were quite something to see, we couldn't help but take some pics
We continued up the ridge a bit further before dropping down into a bowl/gully. This is where Jenn showed me the magic crystals that keep the bugs away ( Well I came up with the magic crystal part because at this spot where they were, the bugs did stay away)
From here on we could see the peak and all that was in front of us was the uphill. Along the way we encounter a lots of little gullies, so just when you think you are making uphill progress, Bam! you gotta drop back down a gully then back up. There were tons of giant boulders that look like they have been randomly placed. It was pretty neat to see and made me question where the heck did they come from and how did they get here?
Somewhere along the way up, Jenn's camera committed suicide. This is when I started to get a bad feeling....about the Tercel. I kept my negative thoughts about what I was feeling to myself and we continued on the journey.
We did eventually make it to the peak!
WE hung out up top for a bit. I let the lady bugs crawl all over me and Jenn gave me some camera tips. After a bit of a break we made the journey back down. It was pretty uneventful.
Looks like we might even still get a bit of light back at camp
Hung out and snapped some more photos on the ridge
On the way back down Jenn found the remains of some old party balloons, Happy Birthday Jenn!
Once back at camp we wandered around and tooks some photos while the sun set.
The next morning before we headed out Jenn was on a mission to stock up on some alpine berries, Nice score!
Some more photos before we make the journey back down
After the long trip back down through the bushes we made it back to the car and I stil had a bad feeling. I was eager to get in and start it up, but nervous aswell. And with my luck, it didn't want to run, then it didn't want to start anymore. The battery didn't seem dead to me but I did crank the crap out of it so it was quite possible I fried the starter. Like Jenn said, a really nice guy helped us bump start it down a hill and once it was running I knew it would be fine unless I turned it off. The whole way home Im tryin to trouble shoot in my head, a multimeter would have really been nice on this trip lol!! In the end it turned out to be something so dumb and feel pretty embarassed that I didn't think of while we were stranded. Very badly corrodide trigger wire going to the starter, I guess the logging road fatigued it. Had I just reached down and wiggled it, we would have been good to go! Ohwell, lesson learned.
Thanks Jenn for a really great trip! Im hoping in Nov when I get my shift change I will be able to get out on more of these adventures with you.
Nikki
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