Start point
Lemah Creek, mile 2416.5
End point
Creek at mile 2437.3
Miles hiked
20.8
Wilderness area
Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Wenatchee National Forest
The day on trail
I felt pretty refreshed after sleeping well. I’m still feeling the effects of not having rest in a while. It’s okay though. I’m enjoying putting my body through this.
My tent site was nice.
You can see the small valley the riverbank sits down behind my site. It was super close, but not so close that I got condensation from the water.
I sat around, enjoying a nice, slow breakfast. Around the end of breakfast, some ground wasps came in and started stinging my legs. One I managed to swat. The others I couldn’t get. I quickly packed up and got out of the site.
These wasps, man. I can’t stand them, and that seems mutual on their part.
I crossed another branch of the Lemah Creek, this one had a bridge. The one from last night was a rock hop around some old bridge foundation supports.
I continued on. The trail went up a mountainside which gave me a bunch of gorgeous views.
Along in the forest I found the cutest snake.
And came to another trail crossing.
I was moving slowly, especially with my slow morning. Really, I was dragging. It was a slow day and the afternoon was getting late.
But the views were still gorgeous.
I got to the Waptus River, which had a cool bridge across it.
All these bridges are so cool. Looking down, I was glad this one still stood. The banks were steep and it would really have sucked to cross.
Honestly I mostly just had to keep my head down and hike. It was hard to make it. But I had a goal to reach and had to push. So I did. I pushed and focused. I’m learning what I can push my body through.
Thinking back to my time in Seattle, getting more into bouldering. I was climbing with someone I was seeing, Michelle, who I’d gotten into climbing. I saw a bunch of people trying to figure out a V4, something that was previously outside my skill set. Somehow I sent it without a problem. This was after giving the people trying to send it a disclaimer that I’d probably not make it. Instead I just kind of sailed up it.
This kind of hiking reminds me of that. I just underestimated what I can do. It’s a habit of talking myself down from the strength I have, learned from a mother who convinced me I was ineffective, weak, and incapable of anything but the most mediocre of achievements.
Boy how I’ve changed.
I kept on after the sun went down. My plan was to stop at a campsite by a creek that I saw on FarOut. The creek comes off of Lake Vicente. I got to that creek and it was beautiful. It wasn’t in a carved out area, rather the area was relatively flat. There was a super easy rock hop to cross it. And, best of all, there was a large deer drinking from it.
He didn’t pay too much attention to me, but he did avoid me.
I found a little nook among the trees as it started to rain. I set up quickly and got my stuff inside the tent. After getting everything set up, there was a lull in the rain. I used that opportunity to brush my teeth. Then I went to bed.