Trail Journals

Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 7

December 19, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Saturday, August 4th 2018

It’s 6:15 am. I’m in my sleeping bag in Upper Paradise Valley. I can hear the stream that hooks around the campground, as it approaches from the north, water molecules traveling west.

In our campground are more people than we have seen our whole trip. As I peer from under our tarp I can see scatters of colored tents tucked under the fir tree canopy. The air is cool. A hammock hangs near the river, and I notice as other campers begin to stir.

As we arise from our camp and get together, Rachel looks aghast at me.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 6

November 17, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Friday, August 3, 2018

Today we will emerge in the parking lot. Not any time soon. But, eventually we will wind our way through the trees, down thousands of feet of elevation, past the JMT-Rae Lakes junction, below granite cliffs, past a ranger station and to our car. Although our emergence from the wilderness will only be temporary, there’s melancholy in the morning air.

The river alongside our camp massages our ear drums awake. I find the air is cool and damp. It’s not just due to the presence of water rushing by, but there’s a foggy layer hanging. I pull over my head the green prima loft coat that my brother made me years ago. There’s a hole in the armpit, where the white prima loft is visible through the green thin outer layer. It warms me, and prods me from my slumber spot.

Today is calm and quiet. Our minds feel less alarmed. It’s been over 36 hours since we last hunkered under a tarp in a thunderstorm. Our minds can wonder elsewhere. Although, for me, that’s not always a good thing.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 5

September 11, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Through Palisades Lakes and Over Mather Pass

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Forgive me the cliche. But I slept like a baby last night. And today I wake up feeling elevated. Maybe it’s because I’m on a ridge looking into a valley, granite peaks to my left and right. Maybe it’s because we survived two days of thunderstorms, and I’m awake, dry and alive.

I look down to the valley to a patch of trees that surround the river. Steam and myst hover around the edges. Somewhere nestled in the trees are our fellow hikers, shaking dew from their shoes, and tents. Burrr…. I do not envy them.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 4

July 31, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Nothing Left to Worry About

Middle Kings River — All is right in the world.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

I am alive. For now, that’s all I need.

I awake refreshed to the sound of water. I inhale the smell of dew on sand, and my heart is put at ease. The sun is hitting our tarp, preparing to dry the tiny drops of moisture that have settled over night. I watch them roll from our shelter’s peak, and collect upon the bottom seam. Soon the moisture will evaporate, and return to the clouds that drenched us yesterday.

I wonder if it’s possible to be hit by the same exact molecules of water, two days in a row.

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Spider Gap – Buck Creek Pass Loop – Day 2

July 21, 2019 by Rachel Lanman Leave a Comment

I wake after almost 10 hours in my sleeping bag. In my mid-30’s, I’ve noticed I need a ton of sleep to recover from the first day of backpacking. It’s 5:30AM and I stretch inside my warm sleeping bag. I twist the knob on my NeoAir sleeping pad and listen as the cozy warmth escapes into the damp, cold morning air.

The stress and worry from yesterday washed away by a good night’s rest, I’m feeling good and ready to hike deeper into the backcountry.

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Spider Gap – Buck Creek Pass Loop – Day 1

July 10, 2019 by Rachel Lanman Leave a Comment

glacier peak wilderness — The Glacier Peak Wilderness

Mele and I wake up in the van at 5:30 am. It’s chilly and damp and I didn’t sleep well – not normal for me. Usually I sleep great in the van on my comfy little futon mattress. Last night our exodus from the Seattle metro area went as good as one could expect. I caught the 4:30PM ferry from Whidbey Island and met up with Mele, my hiking partner, at 5:30PM in the Safeway parking lot in Everett. We said our goodbyes to Jason, Mele’s husband and my former coworker. She mentions something to him about hiking a glacier, and we scoot off.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 3

July 5, 2019 by Jon Lanman 2 Comments

At the Mercy of the Mountains

Big SEKI Loop Day 3 — Another day, another vista.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

There’s nothing like sleeping on a ridge line. I love it. You get the last of the evening light, and the first light of the morning.

As the sun hits me this morning, I’m awoken to a beautiful sight. Compelled by what I’ll see today, and a back as stiff as the stone I slept on, I leap up to attention. It’s time for coffee and breakfast.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 2

April 7, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Welcome to the Backcountry

Monday, July 30, 2018

Today, I’m not an early riser. I have no job to do, no commute to fight, no homework or bills to pay.

At home there’s a mailbox. Inside it perhaps are envelopes… pressing business that won’t receive attention for at least two weeks from now. In my backpack is a cellphone with airplane mode switched on. I imagine there are messages funneling in from someone, these beacons I cannot see.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 1

March 31, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Where the Road Ends, the Trail Begins

breakfast-at-roads-end-big-SEKI — Rachel enjoys some Muesli for breakfast at a picnic table at Roads End trail head.

Sunday, July 29th, 2018

I woke up on the ground. The first of many more, except today I’m in a campground.

Squirrels scatter across the campsites, corkscrewing up the pine trees. They chew pine cones then dismiss them, from the tree tops down to the dry and dusty ground.

The neighbors are getting going, breaking their camp down to fill their car. I assume they have a long drive today, and work tomorrow. I feel fortunate for my time here, and that it’s just begun.

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Big SEKI Loop – Trail Journal: Day 0

March 18, 2019 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Leaving the Comforts of Home

Strap on your dust wagons. It’s time to hit the trail.

Saturday, July 28th, 2018

I took a shower and now it’s time to put on my clothes that I will wear for the next 3 weeks. Excitement fills me up.

Oh wait, change of plans. Rachel’s bringing a small bag to leave clothes in our rental car. When we reach the car we can exchange the soiled stinky clothes for clean and fresh. Good idea. It will be nice to have clean clothes awaiting us at the end of our adventure.

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