A weekend away from it all

I decided to take a break this past weekend from the monotony of gmailing Dan and riding bikes to go on a 2 day backpacking trip to Waldo Lake, situated in Central Oregon. Don't get me wrong, I like gmailing Dan and going on bike rides, but every so I feel as if I should change it up. The plan was simple; do nothing but enjoy the great outdoors, poop in holes that I was to dig out with a shovel, and possibly get some sun on parts of my body that otherwise have been obstructed by cycling clothing. We (3 girls and myself) drove up Friday afternoon to Waldo lake, which prides itself as one of the clearest lakes in the nation, with over 100 feet of depth visibility due to pure snow run off.  A group of 4 was to join us later that night, which consisted of 3 guys I didn't know as well as one other girl that I had briefly met before, bringing our total to 8 people. We were to backpack in the Friday night (not terribly far away from the car), hike quite a bit away on Saturday, spend the night as far away from civilization as possible, and return on Sunday. That was the plan, and it went mostly according to schedule, but of course there were many things unaccounted for.

For example, did you know that Waldo lake has one of the highest concentrations of mosquitoes in the Oregon? I didn't. And I found this out the hard way. Pulling in to the campground, Ashlin (my Alaskan friend) opened the door and immediately let in over 15 mosquitoes in to the car. Within maybe 8 seconds we shut the door and realized the amount of trouble that these insects would cause. Luckily, I recently went to REI and purchased 98% deet spray (in comparison, OFF! is approximately 8% deet), to ward off the bugs, but I could not apply that carcinogen fast enough before I suffered ~10 bites. Balls. And it's not that I was conservative with this spray either; I applied it everywhere that I could reach, but there were so many mosquitoes that they would end up in the smallest of spots that I missed;  their main target being my shoulder blades and sides of feet. 

Once we had coped with the skeetos and set up camp the first night, it was finally time to appreciate the view and enormity of the landscape we were in. It sure was beautiful, and virtually no one else near us the first night (mostly due to people knowing about the bug issue)  made it all that much more pretty. 

The other group of 4 joined us just before sundown. Smores were made, beers were had, and we were all feeling pretty excited to go hike the next day. Quite a bit of that icky sticky stuff was smoked that night as well (I was the only one that didn't partake), but we'll get to more of that later.

Waking up for day 2, we were instantly greeted by mosquitoes hanging on the edge of our tent. The 8% OFF spray had absolutely no effect on them, and many of them seized the opportunity before I could get more of the real deet on myself. Once packed, we planned our route and took off for what seemed to be somewhere between a 7-9 mile backpack. The other 7 partook in some more Mary J that morning, and we were off by 10:00 am.

The hike was a quick pace, until we reached the first of many hills. The percent grade was somewhere around 20% if I were to guess, which caused some mild discomfort, but allowed us to take a break while grabbing some food and smoking some more (count up to 3). We were at ~6000 feet elevation, which surprisingly still had some snow on the ground, and quite a bit on the trail we were on. 
After about 6 miles and some decent pitches and one more smoke break (4), we reached a sign that indicated we were going the right direction, but the trail was extremely difficult. No problem for us 8 athletic 20-something-year-olds.

Just kidding. I failed to get any pictures of how steep this pitch was due to my intent focus on not falling down it. The trail was covered in approximately 85% snow and somewhere in the 30-35% pitch range for maybe a mile. Downed trees provided a false sense of solid footing, as if you were to step inches to the side of one, your foot would sink through the top layer of snow and you would fall flat on your face.

This was on the easier section. No pictures were taken during the 30-35% portion of the hike. 

Isn't it mid July?

We eventually reached Island Lakes in total isolation. No one or thing is anywhere near us, and we decide this is where we were camping for the night. We drop off our stuff, threw our food in the snow to cool it, and the group decides to smoke quite a bit more (#'s 5/6/7). We soak up the rays, swam in the 2°C water, and relaxed for the rest of the day. The evening was filled with wieners on sticks, more smoking (#s 8/9/10?) and some good ol fashioned game of cards. No computers, no cell phones, no Dan. 

Final location

Fun place for a swim

Logistical wiener spiral cutting. Able to cook thoroughly.

It also holds your condiments (in this case, avocado) in place

We went to bed with a false presumption of solitude. However, it turned out a little critter decided to pay Carrie a visit that night (she slept under the stars), and took a nice little chunk out of her foam sleeping pad. 

That couldn't have tasted too good

After a solid nights sleep, the dawn of the third day rose and the adventurous tone had slightly dimmed down, but moral remained high. Not as high as half of the people on the trip, but still pretty high (they had #'s 11 and 12 in the morning). Everyone remained friendly throughout the trip, regardless of bugs, chaffage of many sorts and locations, and the wear and tear from the weight of the backpacks. We hiked down the 35% slopes at a record pace, and covered the 8 miles back in approximately 3 hours.

The entire group

Once back in the car,  we analyzed the damage of the mosquitoes and sun, had a good laugh and were ready to head off.  Our last visit on the trip was to the Oregon Lava Fields, which occured ~6000 years ago (dangerously close to around the time the Earth was created, but it checked out). 

Life uh, finds a way

Lava overwhelmed a tree 6000 years ago, leaving this hollow shell once it crusted around it.

The trip ended with a beer from a local brewery, an Elk burger, and a content smile, knowing that I would return soon to my monotonous life of research, bike riding, and gmail chat.