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Devil’s Dome Backpacking Loop

August 9, 2018 by Jenna

Michael and I did Devil’s Dome backpacking loop in North Cascades National Park and the Pasayten Wilderness last week. It was 43 miles of steep uphills and downhills and some gorgeous views.

Securing the Permit

Similar to Glacier National Park you need to get a backcountry permit for North Cascades National Park. The permitting process is much less competitive in North Cascades because there are not nearly as many visitors (3.3M/year in Glacier and 30K/year in North Cascades). However, it’s still wise to be flexible with your plans and come prepared with a few route ideas.

There are a few different backcountry ranger offices that you can visit to get permits, but the main one is in Marblemount. It took us just shy of 2 hours to drive to Marblemount from where we were staying in Winthrop. Unlike in Glacier where we showed up at the Ranger Station at 6:00 am, an hour before it opened, we got to Marblemount at about 11:00 am, 2 hours after it opened. We weren’t as worried about getting permits and were really flexible with the route, plus we didn’t really want to wake up at 5:00 am.

We told the ranger a few of the different routes we were thinking about trying, our first choice being the Devil’s Dome Loop. Since most of that route takes place outside of the Park’s boundaries we really only needed a permit to camp at one site within the Park. Fortunately, the campground was available for the next night. Wahoo!

From what I’ve read it seems like most people hike the loop counterclockwise, but we signed up to do it clockwise. Doing it this way give us more flexibility with the miles we hike per day. We only need a permit for the first night in the Park and then will be in all dispersed camping areas for the rest of it.

You can read more about backcountry permits for North Cascades National Park here.

Devil’s Dome Loop Route

Devil’s Dome Loop is a 43-mile backpacking loop. The trail starts at the East Bank Trailhead. It goes north along Ross Lake then heads east up to Dry Creek Pass and Devil’s Pass. Afterwards it heads south along Jackita Ridge and ends at the Canyon Creek Trailhead.

Our goal was to finish in 3 days.

This is the best map I could find online.

Devil’s Dome Loop Day 1

Michael and I left our hotel around 8:00 am and stopped at Rocking Horse Bakery for a breakfast sandwich (they are so sooo good!!!). We drove to the trailhead and put on all of our gear. We started hiking just after 10:00 am. There was some slight confusion regarding where we actually started hiking and then ended up doing a 3-mile road walk from Canyon Creek Trailhead to East Back Trailhead. Not the most fun way to start out a hike, but I’d rather do it at the beginning than at the end!

We got through the road miles pretty quickly and then got on the real trail at 11:20 am. From here it was a 13-mile hike to our campsite at Devil’s Creek. The trail was nice rolling hills through forested area with tall, beautiful trees. The bonus of trails like this is that the path is covered in pine needles. It’s like walking on cushy carpet.

During the last few miles we were hiking right along Ross Lake.

We took small breaks here and there and made it to our campsite at 4:30 pm, just as some thunder was rolling in. Luckily, we got our tent sent up and filtered water before it started raining.

Normally we sleep in Michael’s Zpacks Duplex, but we decided to try out a free standing tent and got the Big Agnes Tiger Wall.

It didn’t rain too long or too hard. We waited for it to die down and then cooked up dinner and headed to bed.

Overall, the day’s 16-mile hike wasn’t too strenuous; however, 16 miles is 16 miles. That’s a lot for me at this point! I’m still pretty out of shape and was hiking with a full pack, so it felt challenging, but wasn’t the worst.

16 miles in 6.5 hours of hiking.

Devil’s Dome Loop Day 2

We woke up at 7:00 am so that we could get an earlier start on the day. The weather report said 92 degrees and we wanted to beat the heat.

We made breakfast, packed up our gear, and headed out on our way.

We wanted to hike around 16 miles again, so that we had a shorter day for our last day. We weren’t exactly sure what the terrain would look like aside from a big climb right away in the morning. We would be leaving North Cascades National Park and be entering the Pasayten Wilderness. We know longer needed permits for this area, which is nice because you can hike as much or as little as you want and don’t have to get to a specific campground. However, the downside is that you don’t actually know where all the campsites are, which can be tricky if you really want to stop and there isn’t a campsite near by.

As I mentioned we had a climb right away in the morning. I didn’t know how steep or how long we would be climbing, so I took it real slow. Maybe a little too slow, but I didn’t want to run out of gas an hour into our hike. The trail was very gradual switchbacks up through the forest.

While rounding up one of the switchbacks I heard a loud CRACK, like a tree branch breaking. I figured it was a bear. As opposed to backpacking in Glacier National Park there isn’t a huge grizzly population here that you need to worry about, so we weren’t doing any “hey bear” yelling. There are black bears though and when I rounded the corner and scanned each side of the trail I stared straight at one! He was in a tree hanging onto a branch. We looked at each other for a split second. I backed up to Michael and the bear slide down the tree like it was a fireman’s pole and ran down the slope a little bit. We watched him for a little bit to make sure he wasn’t going to charge us. I think he was just as scared as we were! It definitely added some excitement to the monotonous switchbacks.

I didn’t get a great picture. You can just barely see him through the trees.

At approximately mile 3 we hit a big stream and decided to take a snack and water break. We weren’t exactly sure where all our water sources were going to be, so we made sure to take advantage of anything we came across.

From here the trail was a little more flat. We were starting to get out of the trees and saw our first glimpses of Jack Mountain.

The Devil’s Dome loop basically circles Jack Mountain, so you get gorgeous views of it for most of the hike.

We found lots of ripe huckleberries along the trail. Michael couldn’t resist.

From here the trail started to get pretty steep and we climbed for another 4 miles. Oofdah. It was exhausting. We had climbed up about 4000 feet so far. It started to level out a bit, so we took our lunch break. From here we had really great views of Jack Mountain.

Looking at our map we only had a little more climbing left to do to get to the top of Devil’s Dome, the highest point of the hike, which is just to the right in the picture below.

The views from both sides of the pass were absolutely stunning.

And guess what?! After this it was downhill! Woohoo. We could finally start doing some faster mileage. We hiked down and along a ridge and went through some more forests and meadows. We took a break around mile 12 to take in some more water and calories.

At this point we wanted to hike about 4 more miles, give or take a bit depending on where we would find a campsite. We climbed up a little bit more and then started the gradually descending along a ridge where we came across a stream 2 miles later. We chugged some water and filtered some more.

From here is was directly downhill for about .5-miles. I seriously mean straight downhill. At the bottom we ran into 4 guys hiking the opposite direction. They told us about a nice campsite that was in a meadow near a stream and said it was up a little bit over a ridge and then down in the meadow about 2 miles away. Sounds perfect!

It was about 5:00 pm by this point. We figured 2 miles would take us about an hour. Then reality set in. When they said “up over a ridge” they failed to mention that it was STRAIGHT up over a ridge. It took us an entire hour to slowly climb that mile. Considering my legs already had 15 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain on them didn’t make it any easier. It was almost comical how straight up the trail was. But we finally made it over and had a short bit to hike down before getting to the campsite in the meadow.

We rolled into camp at 6:30 pm. We set up the tent, grabbed some water from the creek, and started making dinner. As we were boiling the water we heard a bunch of loud noises, like big branches being broken. It was another black bear! Great. Just in time for dinner. He was up the slope from us about 100 yards rolling around dead trees looking for bugs. We yelled and him and made sure he saw us. He could have cared less. We continued to watch him as he went along his way away from our camp.

Two black bears in one day!

After dinner we hung up our food and toiletries (we didn’t want that black bear digging through our tent at night) and headed into bed.

I’m so proud of what my body accomplished! With all the miles and elevation gain it was not an easy day, but my body felt good the whole time and my spirits were high.

17 miles in 10 hours of hiking.

Devil’s Dome Loop Day 3

Our last day of hiking and only 10 miles to go!

We woke up around 7:30 am, packed up camp, ate breakfast, and hit the trail by 8:45 am.

The morning started with a bang. It was straight up over a short ridge, down slightly, and then straight up another pass. Again, I’m not kidding when I say “straight up”. We were walking up scree field that was so steep. It was like one step forward, half a step back since I was sliding back down the rock.

You can kind of make out the trail in the picture below. We started on the opposite side of the lower ridge to the left.

But then we got to the top and sat down to rest and take in this view.

From there it was a gradual downhill to Devil’s Park, where we spotted this old hunting shelter.

We walked through a meadow and then found ourselves back in the forest. It was 4 miles and 3300 feet down to the trailhead. There were a lot of switchbacks and those switchbacks were steep.

We basically hiked as fast as we could until we got to the car. It was hot and we were ready to be done.

And then we made it back to the car!

We also figured out how to get on the East Bank Trail for the Canyon Creek Trailhead. You follow the signs from the Canyon Creek Trailhead for the Jackita Ridge Trail. Once you cross the stream the second time (both via bridges) you take a left so that you are walking west along the stream. This will lead you to the East Bank Trailhead. OR you can road walk it.

10 miles in 5 hours and 15 minutes.

Devil’s Dome Loop Thoughts

We hiked 43 miles in 3 days. It was a doozy!

The exact mileage and elevation gains that I mention above are estimates. We didn’t use exact GPS maps, but used our best guess based off of the maps and the mileage on our phones. Everything should be within a mile.

The route itself was gradual hills to gradual switchbacks to steep switchbacks to the highest point. From there it was a gradual downhill to steep downhill to straight up to down to up to down to straight up to gradual down to straight down. So fun!

Despite all the reports I read about going counterclockwise I really enjoyed going clockwise. Either way, you’re doing big climbs and big downhills.

We seemed to hike Devil’s Dome Loop on the faster edge of the spectrum at 3 days. Most other groups we came across were planning 4-5 days. I suppose it’s a personal preference! You get all the miles and the views in either way.

It’s awesome to be able to do this type of stuff again. I thought my body would be so sore and worn out, especially after a 5-day backpacking loop in Glacier National Park a few days earlier; however, I felt so good. Don’t get me wrong, when I got back to the hotel after the trip I felt pretty stiff, but nothing too uncomfortable or unmanageable. I’ve just missed this all so much and am so excited to be doing some backpacking again!

Overall, I really enjoyed the Devil’s Dome backpacking loop. There are some difficult climbs and monotonous sections, but those views of Jack Mountain are entirely worth every bit of it. The pictures don’t do it justice at all. I was in awe of views with every single glance.

Now we are off to Colorado to hike the Four Pass Loop!

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5 Days In The Glacier National Park Backcountry

August 7, 2018 by Jenna

Michael and I just spent 5 days in the Glacier National Park backcountry. We did a 53-mile loop route, commonly known as the Northern Loop and other similar names. It was amazing, challenging, and super beautiful.

Michael and I left Denver on July 23, spent a few days in Missoula (see some of my favorites here), and then headed up to Glacier National Park. We weren’t sure exactly what we’d be doing – car camping and day hiking or some backpacking or a mix of both.

Since we’d be arriving to Glacier in the afternoon there was no way we were going to be able to get a campsite, so we looked around at hotels and ended up at the Glacier Park Lodge. It’s a beautiful, old lodge. No air conditioning, TV, or elevators, but it did have a lot of character!

Due to thunderstorms in the forecast we decided to extend our reservation one more night.

After we got our backcountry permits (more about that below) and actually knew what we were going to be doing we took advantage of our free afternoon and drove the Going to the Sun Road. It was as beautiful as ever.

Securing the Backcountry Permits

As with most National Parks you need to have a permit to backpack in Glacier National Park. Those permits get snagged up quickly! Fortunately, they save half of them for walk-ins that can be reserved as much as 24 hours in advance. The best chance of getting a permit is to arrive at a backcountry ranger office when it opens at 7:00 am; however, if you want to be the first in line it’s better to get there an hour in advance to claim your spot. Also, you need to come with your plan A, B, and C routes. Maybe even D. Rangers are assigning permits in offices across the park, not just at the office you are in and spots can fill up before your eyes.

The night before we got our permits we planned out a few different routes. The rangers post the backcountry site availability online so we were able to tell what sites were open, which gave us a better idea of whether or not we’d get the permit we wanted.

We arrived at the Two Medicine Ranger Station shortly after 6:00 am and were the first ones there. We made some pour over camp coffee in the parking lot and were eventually joined by a few others. Luckily, none of the groups wanted the same sites. Then we all crossed our fingers that no one else waiting in line at offices around the park wanted them either.

The ranger called us in promptly at 7:00 am. Michael went up and told him the sites we wanted and got them all! Woohoo! Even the ranger was surprised how easily everything worked out. We finished the paperwork, watched a video on bear safety (where it told me what to do if a bear started eating me! Whhhhaat??) and left to go eat omelets at Whistle Stop. I kid you not when I say it was the best omelet I’ve eaten in years. Maybe even ever.

Anyways, here was the permit for our 6 days in the backcountry of Glacier National Park:

Day 1 – July 27 – Start at the Iceberg/Ptarmigan trailhead and hike to Elizabeth Lake (foot) – 10.1 miles
Day 2 – July 28 – Hike to Mokowanis Junction – 8.7 miles
Day 3 – July 29 – Hike to Stoney Indian – 5.7 miles
Day 4 – July 30 – Hike to Fifty Mountain – 8.2 miles
Day 5 – July 31 – Hike to Granite Park – 11.9 miles
Day 6 – August 1 – Hike back to the Iceberg/Ptarmigan trailhead – 7.6 miles

That’s 52.7 total miles in the backcountry.

Here is a map of the route, aside from the yellow line leading into Canada. We didn’t do that.

Source

In the middle of day 5 on our hike to Granite Park we decided to hike all the way back to the Iceberg/Ptarmigan trailhead instead of staying one more night. This cut our trip down by one day and made our last day a big one at 19.5 miles.

I’ll share my packing list in another post.

You can learn more about backcountry camping in Glacier here.

Day 1 in the Backcountry

We woke up 7:00 am, got ready, packed up the car, and grabbed another amazing omelet from Whistle Stop (seriously, the best, plus there are very few other choices). We then drove up to Many Glacier. Shortly after we got into the park we saw a grizzly bear chomping on bushes not far off the road. We drove for another quarter-mile and saw a mama grizzly with two cubs higher up on a hill. Holy grizzly sightings! This did make me a little nervous to start hiking in the backcountry. Needless to say I clipped my bear spray onto my hip belt, so it was easily accessible.

By the time we found a parking spot, used a real bathroom for the last time, and geared up it was 11:11 am (make a wish!) when we started hiking.

The terrain for the day was to hike up 5 miles (2400 feet elevation gain) to Ptarmigan Tunnel and the hike down 5 miles to Elizabeth Lake. The climb started very gradual with views of mountains and wildflowers. At about mile 2.5 the grade increased and we were hiking through a forested area. Yay mosquitoes! The incline became more gradual again and we made it to Ptarmigan Lake. From here it was another mile of giant switchbacks along a mountain face before making it to the tunnel.

Not going to lie, it wasn’t easy for me. My cardio felt good, but my legs were getting pretty pooped on those climbs. I’d rather have it that way than the opposite though! I knew I just had to push it to the tunnel and it would be snack time and then all downhill hiking from there.

And then I made it and got to look at beautiful views on both sides of the tunnel!

Not a bad place for a snack break.

From the tunnel it was a decline along red mountain pass. The layers of rock in this mountain were stunning.

We eventually made it back down into the trees and hiked the remaining miles through the forest. There was a lot of “Hey Bear!” being yelled by both Michael and I. We didn’t want any surprises.

By this point I was definitely ready to be done. 10 miles was the most I’ve hiked since backpacking in Utah in April.

We made it into camp just after 4pm. First thing first, put food and toiletries in the bear bin. Every backcountry site has a specific area to store and prep food that is about 100 yards away from the tent sites. There is a strict rule that all food (or anything aromatic like toothpaste and food wrappers) stays in this area and that you drop it off as soon as you get into camp and pick it up right before you leave camp. There is absolutely no food allowed in tents. This helps minimize the chance of bears being drawn into the tent sites. The food prep area also serves as a gathering place for hikers to hang out and socialize.

Then we set up camp and went out to Elizabeth Lake to filter water. It was beautiful!! We hung out there for a bit skipping rocks. We finally decided that it was acceptable time to eat dinner (5:30) and made some ramen.

Afterwards we hung out by the lake again skipping rocks and hoping to see some goats. No luck with the goats, but we did see an osprey flying around.

We got into our tent around 8:00 pm and shortly afterwards it started sprinkling. Then around 9:00 pm it started raining hard with super loud thunder and super loud lightning. It was actually kind of cool. Good thing our tent is waterproof!

Day 2 in the Backcountry

We woke up and got out of the tent around 7:45 am. Things were pretty wet – rain on the outside and condensation on the inside. We decided to go to the food prep area to have breakfast and deal with the wet stuff later. We boiled water and made instant coffee and Mountain House scrambled eggs on tortillas. Yum.

Afterwards we took down the tent and brought everything to the beach to dry out. Fortunately, we only had a flat 8.7 miles to go for the day, so we weren’t in a rush. We just hung out at the beach soaking up the sun and skipping rocks. We finally packed up our gear and hit the trail at 11:00 am.

Basically all of the 8.7 miles was through the forest – tall trees, green bushes, and rolling hills. Again, there was a lot of “hey bear” going on.

We had a creek crossing at mile 3.5 and decided to take advantage of the open area and pretty views by stopping for a snack break. We hung out there for about 30 minutes. It was just so pretty!

Then it was back to the forest. We passed by a campsite and someone called out to us and let us know that there were two moose by the lake. Obviously, we went to go see them. And also, the lake was very pretty.

We made it to the Mokowanis Junction backcountry site by 3:45 pm.

We did the normal routine of hanging our food, setting up the tent, using the pit toilet, putting on warmer clothes, and applying bug spray. We had an early dinner of Backpacker Pantry’s cuban coconut rice and black beans and chatted with our camp neighbors a bit.

A deer kept coming around the campsite licking people’s tents and hiking poles for the salt. It was getting more difficult to scare her away, so we finally just decided to get in the tent and call it a night.

Day 3 in the Backcountry

We woke up and got out of the tent around 8:00 am. There was a little condensation on the inside of the tent roof, but nothing too major.

We made our way to the food prep area for breakfast (Mountain House breakfast skillet on a tortilla with instant coffee) and were able to chat with two of the other groups that stayed in our campsite. It’s always fun to hear about people’s different routes through the park and what brought them outside.

By the time we returned from breakfast the tent was slightly drier. We decided to pack it up anyways. Since we only had 5.6 miles for the day there would be plenty of time to let it dry out in the afternoon at our next campsite.

We left Mokowanis Junction at about 9:30 am. The route for the day was to hike 4.5 miles up and over Stoney Indian Pass and then straight down 1.1 miles to the Stoney Indian Lake. The way up was filled with switchbacks, waterfalls, and wildflowers. The scenery was simply stunning. I couldn’t get over how beautiful everything was! It did make the 2400 feet of elevation gain much easier to bear.

On the other side of the pass we could see Stoney Indian Lake, where we would be camping for the night. The switchbacks were pretty steep on the way down, but we were at the lake before we knew it. We hung out there for about 30 minutes chatting with the other hikers and filtering water then headed to our campground and set everything up by 1:00. Short day!

We went to hang out down by the lake. It was a warm sunny day so we laid out our wet shoes and socks (we had a stream crossing earlier) to dry. We sat by the lake admiring the scenery and occasionally walking in to cool off our feet. It was a relaxing afternoon.

Later that night we split Mountain House chicken fried rice and some beef jerky (why did we think one dehydrated meal was enough for us to split each night?!) for dinner. Then walked around the lake one more time. It was such a lovely evening we didn’t want to go back to the tent just yet.

When we did go back to the tent there was another deer licking it, just like the night before. She was getting after all that salt!

Then we called it a night.

Day 4 in the Backcountry

We went through our typical morning routine – wake up, breakfast (Purely Elizabeth granola & dry milk powder), pack up, and head out.

We left camp at around 9:30 am. The route to the Fifty Mountain backcountry campground was 2.6 miles of downhill (1700 feet) and then 5.6 miles of a gradual incline (2800 feet). I was ready to go! After the previous hike up Stoney Pass I was feeling confident. We were cruising pretty fast for the downhill portion, which was all through – surprise – a forested area.

Then the uphill started. It was slow and steady up, up, up. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas pretty quickly, but kept trudging along. Michael did a great job at pushing me and encouraging me up those inclines. We stopped for frequent quick water breaks. At about 1:00 pm there was a break in the forested area where we stopped for a longer (15 minute) snack and hydrate break. The views weren’t bad.

From there we had about 2 miles left to camp. Only a little more of an incline and then the landscape switched to a wide open meadow and flat terrain (yay flat!).

Earlier in day we passed a few people that were hiking from Fifty Mountain campground and they mentioned they saw five grizzlies in the meadow on their hike out that morning. Michael had also seen a large grizzly there the last time he hiked this trail a few years ago. Needless to say, we were on high alert.

We stopped to filter some water at the first stream we saw that wasn’t dried up. 45 seconds later Michael noticed a grizzly bear about 150 yards away. She (we think the bear was a female) was slightly too close for comfort. We were yelling to make her aware of our presence, but she didn’t really seem to care as she was busy eating away and roots and bushes. For a moment it looked like she was headed our way, but she eventually changed directions and headed to the other side of the trail. It was slightly scary, but she never got close enough to become too worrisome.

I had to zoom in and my hands were slightly shaking, so all I got was a blurry pic!

From there we were a 20-minute walk from the campground and rolled in at 2:45 pm. We did the usual routine of putting our food away and setting up camp. We hung out the rest of the afternoon chatting with the campground host (Fifty Mountain is the only backcountry site in Glacier that has one) and other hikers that passed through.

We made dinner (Good to Go smoked three bean chili with a packet of ramen mixed in) around 6:30 pm and spent the next two hours hanging out at the food prep area chatting and taking in the beautiful views.

Of course every night ends with a trip to the outhouse. Not a bad view to pee from, huh?

Side note: This section of the hike made me realize how out of shape I am and it was quite humbling. Prior to my heart issues I worked pretty hard at my cardio endurance (AKA 5 years of marathon training) and could hike at a quick and easy clip through the mountains. Now, obviously, a lot of things have changed. It’ll take time to get back where I was. I have to be patient and listen to my body. I also have to learn how to trust it again. I had bouts of worry throughout the hike of whether my heart could handle it or not, which is a large mental toll. It’s annoying and it sucks. But, I did it and everything was fine! It was a good exercise for my mind and body.

Day 5 in the Backcountry

We had a longer mileage day (11.9 miles), so we decided to actually set an alarm for once and get an earlier start so that we could beat the heat a bit. We rolled out of bed at 7:00 am then went through the morning routine and left camp at 9:30 am.

Since I hit the wall pretty early yesterday I had a larger breakfast – a Mountain House breakfast skillet on a tortilla and a Bobo’s Oat Bar.

The hike started with a nice, steep incline on the Highline Trail. After about a mile the trail leveled out and went from gradual declines to gradual inclines. It felt much easier than the day before!

The sky was very hazy all day due to smoke flowing in from California.

We ran into one couple coming the opposite direction. They warned us that they had seen a bear on the trail for a little bit, but it had since gone. We remained on high bear alert. The Highline Trail goes along the middle of a ridge with a steep way up and a steep way down, so if we encounter a bear on the trail there is no where to go. Fortunately we didn’t see anything. Except for beautiful views, of course.

We took a break at mile 7.6 near a stream. It was a comfortable, open place where we could also filter water. A group of hikers going in the opposite direction also stopped for a break there. It’s always fun to take a long break chat with other people.

We started up hiking again and Michael posed the question – Should we just hike all the way back to the trailhead?

The meant hiking the same mileage, but doing it in one day instead of two. This also meant one day closer to a beer, a shower, and a real bed.

I liked the idea of it, but hiking a 19.5-mile day was a big deal for me and I was a little bit nervous about how my body would handle it. However, knowing that my pack was light, I had plenty of water, and that the terrain wasn’t anything strenuous, I gave the idea a thumb’s up. Instead of 4.3 miles we had 11.9 miles left to go for the day.

We hiked the remaining section of the Highline Trail and arrived at the Granite Park Chalet around 2:45 pm. We took a water, snack, and bathroom break then headed up and over Swiftcurrent Pass. Fortunately it was only a 700-foot climb. From there it was flat trails and steep switchbacks down to the trailhead.

The views were incredible. On one side we were walking towards a view of the Grinnell Glacier and surrounding waterfalls. On the other side we were walking towards a beautiful chain of lakes. Since my body was pretty worn out by this point the gorgeous scenery helped keep me motivated and moving.

The last few miles were flat and through trees. By this time my feet were hurting. They were not used to this! Surprisingly the rest of my body felt pretty good. I was expecting to feel 10x worse. Good job body!

We rounded a corner through the trees and spotted the parking lot. I let out of a couple of loud whoops. We went to the car and immediately put on sandals and clean shirts. It was the best feeling. The second best feeling: splashing my face with water. Oh, so good.

Our car was conveniently located outside of the Swiftcurrent Restaurant. We snagged two seats at the bar and ordered beers and burgers. It was a happy ending to a happy adventure.

Conclusion

Overall, the 5 days in the Glacier National Park Backcountry was absolutely wonderful. The scenery was insanely gorgeous. I could not stop saying “It’s so pretty!!!”. The backpacking loop was filled with beautiful waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, alpine lakes, trees, and wildflowers. We saw bears, sheep, a goat, and marmots. We chatted with a variety of different people (men, women, hound, old, newbies, seasoned hikers) along the trails. I learned made some backpacking mistakes, learned a lot, and challenged both my body and my mind.

Best of all Michael and I could get spend time together doing something that we both love. Even better yet was that my heart issues weren’t limiting us or overshadowing our fun. About time!

Next we are headed to North Cascades National Park! I can’t wait to explore a new place!

Here are some more pictures. I took about 1000.

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8 Days in Yellowstone National Park – Part 2

July 24, 2018 by Jenna

Michael and I spent 8 days in Yellowstone National Park! This is part 2 of our adventure. It was an unforgettable experience full of wildlife sightings, hikes, beautiful scenery, and touristy things.

I’m back with the second half of our Yellowstone National Park adventure! You can catch up on Park 1 here.

Yellowstone Day 5

We slept in until 8am! Unfortunately that means no wolf watching. It felt pretty good to sleep in a little bit though.

Afternoon Activities

This was the day we went to see Old Faithful! It took us about 2.5 hours to get there from Slough Creek, but it’s just one of those things that you gotta do when in Yellowstone! Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes. We only had to wait about 20 minutes to see it once we got there. It was pretty neat and now I can check Old Faithful off the bucket list.

Afterwards we headed to the Fairy Falls hike where we could see Grand Prismatic from a higher viewpoint. So cool!

Then we continued on the trail and hiked to Fairy Falls. The hike was on a very flat, well-groomed trail. It lead to a beautiful waterfall!

Bonus: the cool waterfall water was misting on us. It was so hot out.

Evening Wolf Watching

Since we slept in and didn’t see any wolves in the morning we definitely wanted to see some in the evening. But we didn’t! We drove around Lamar Valley and didn’t see anyone set up with scopes. We did set up our scope for a little bit near the Pebble Creek kill site, but didn’t see anything. It was such a bummer!

One the way home we were talking about how weird it was that we barely saw any animals that day – just the typical elk, bison, and antelope. No wolves. No bears.

We were about it .25-mile from our campsite when we both noticed something moving in the woods. It was a black bear with two little cubs! It was so cool. The cubs were adorable and so tiny. We were able to see them easy with our naked eye, but got an even better view through the scope. We even had the whole experience to ourselves. So wonderful.

Here’s a picture of the mama.

After we got back to our campsite we had a drink with our camp neighbors, a nice couple from MN.

Yellowstone Day 6

Morning Wolf Watching

On our way out in the morning we noticed a few people up on a hill with scopes on the Slough Creek road. It turns out they weren’t seeing anything. We drove east across Lamar Valley towards the Pebble Creek campsite. On our way we noticed a bunch of cars stopped looking at something. I spotted it, but Michael and I both figured it was a coyote. After watching it a little bit more we realized it was a wolf! It was a gray female wolf from the Lamar Canyon pack! We were so excited since we hadn’t seen any wolves from this pack yet. We followed her as long as we could, but lost her in some trees.

We continued east to Pebble Creek and met up with some other wolf watchers. They hadn’t seen anything yet and we told them how we spotted the gray wolf. Then Michael spotted a black wolf with his naked eye and everyone got an awesome view of the wolf through the scope!

There are only three wolves in the Lamar Canyon pack, so we were excited to see two of the three. We were in the right places at the right time!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We did the Cascade Lake hike, an easy, flat 4.5-mile trail out to a lake. It wasn’t the most scenic hike, but it was a nice little nature walk.

Afterwards we headed into Gardiner for lunch at Yellowstone Pizza Company. At this point we had to decide what we wanted to do for the rest of the trip – Go to Tetons? Backpack? Camp another night or two? It was nice to sit in air conditioning and think for a little bit. In the end we decided to camp another two nights at Slough Creek and to stay in a hotel in Livingston the night after.

Since we were in town, we decided to try out a different (much nicer!) scope. We returned our current one to Yellowstone Forever and rented a Swarovski from Optics Yellowstone.

Evening Wolf Watching

That evening we headed back towards Pebble Creek. A few others were set up with scopes and were watching the black male, named Small Dot, run through the valley. We hung out for a little bit, hoping we’d see the two other members of the Lamar Canyon pack. We heard word that Small Dot was spotted further west, so we headed that way. We spotted him there, lost sight of him, and then headed even further west in Lamar Valley, where we could watch him just a little bit longer before he was definitely out of sight for the night. It was such a cool experience to hang out with the other wolf watches and track him across the valley.

Also, that Swarovski scope is so nice!

Best part about the night: Ranger Bill gave Michael and I a wolf ambassador pin! I can’t begin to describe how happy this made me. I have it proudly placed on my jean jacket.

Yellowstone Day 7

Morning Wolf Watching

We went driving through Lamar Valley and spotted people with scopes where we had seen the Junction Butte pack earlier in the week. We didn’t spot any wolves, but we did see a mama grizzly and two cubs! I’ll take it.

PS- Sorry for all the blurry animal pics in this post! I had to zoom in so far!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We drove to Hayden Valley and did 4.5 miles on the Alum Creek/Mary Mountain Trail. The trail was in the middle of the valley, so we were very exposed.

The terrain itself was quite easy with small, rolling hills; however in an area like this small, rolling hills = bear hiding spots. During the hike we made sure to keep chatting and continued to call out “Hey Bear”. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing into our faces, meaning that our scent was not being carried forward. I was starting to get pretty nervous.

Fortunately, we didn’t run into any bears, but did come across a few bison!

Later that evening I learned that a park employee got killed by a grizzly on this trail a few years back. I’m glad I didn’t know this until after the hike!

Afterwards we had lunch near the Canyon Creek Visitors Center and then continued to drive around Hayden Valley looking for more wildlife. We didn’t spot anything.

We decided to continue driving and went from Norris to Mammoth Hot Springs areas, since we hadn’t driven that part yet. With that section covered we officially drove around the whole park!

Did I mention we had been listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? We started it on our way to Yellowstone and continued listening to it during our longer drives through the park (when there wasn’t a World Cup game going on). It’s so good! We’re such dorks!

Evening Wolf Watching

We drove back to Pebble Creek and spotted Small Dot, the same black wolf we saw the previous evening. After he went out of sight we drove west a few miles and waited about 30 minutes, hoping he would follow the same path that he did the night before. But we didn’t see him! We decided to head further west into Lamar Valley to the spot we had been seeing wolves earlier in the week and didn’t see anything there. Then we drove back east a few miles, where a crowd of people were set up with scopes. We didn’t see anything there either. Then we drove back further east to the spot we were earlier and spotted Little Dot! He was moving west and the turned around and started moving east. It was like we were on a wild ~~goose~~ wolf chase!

He was pacing a bit and we were trying to figure out what he was doing. We knew his den was north across the road. One of the other wolf watchers there (who had been watching wolves in Yellowstone for years) mentioned that he never crosses the road during the day, because it scares him. Finally he just started sprinting north and crossed the road – the main road through Lamar Valley! It was so crazy. Everyone started clapping. It was a cool way to spend our last night in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Day 8

Morning Wolf Watching

Rather than waking up at our normal time (6:30am), we set the alarm for 5am hoping that an earlier start would allow us to see more wolves. We rolled out of bed and headed on our way. There were no wolves out! None! We drove all along the Lamar Valley, back and forth, and spotted the expert wolf watchers along the way. No one had seen anything that morning. No wolves. No bears. Just bison and antelope.

We did see a baby eagle in a nest. That was pretty cool.

Afternoon & Evening Activities

After the unsuccessful wolf watching that morning we headed back to our campsite to make coffee and breakfast. Then we packed up our campsite and headed to Gardiner for lunch at Cowboy’s Lodge and Grill. We were leaving Yellowstone! It was so weird!

We spent our final night at the Super 8 in Livingston, Montana. We took showers and a nap! Oh my, so nice.

That evening we had a lovely dinner at the Second Street Bistro. Then went back to the hotel and watched two documentaries: “Nature Untamed” The Rise of the Black Wolf and “America the Wild” Night Grizzly. Yup. I’m obsessed.

The Drive Home

We woke up the next morning and drove the whole 10 hours back to Denver. Naturally, we listened to Harry Potter the entire way.

Yellowstone Recommendations

Michael and I had such a wonderful time in Yellowstone! It was better than I could have imagined and was the perfect mix of animal watching, hiking, and touristy things.

Here are my recommendations:

Camping: We only stayed at Slough Creek Campground and I highly recommend it! Arrive early (no later than 7am) to get a spot and be prepared to pay cash $15/night.
Hiking: Slough Creek Trail and Fairy Falls Trail were my favorites.
Animal Watching: Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley are going to be your best bets. We were pretty successful 7:30-9:30am and 6:00-8:30pm. Look for crowds of people set up with scopes! I definitely suggest bringing/renting a scope. Wolves and grizzlies look like tiny dots from the road! Binoculars would suffice. If you don’t have either I’m sure other people will let you see through theirs. You are guaranteed to see plenty of bison, elk, and antelope.
Touristy Things: Grand Prismatic Spring and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone were my favorite sites. You also gotta see Old Faithful!

I will never forget this experience in Yellowstone! I hope you can make it there soon!

What’s Next

We just got into Missoula, Montana last night! We’ll drive up to Glacier National Park on Wednesday and spend 7-10 days there camping and backpacking.

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8 Days in Yellowstone National Park – Part 1

July 17, 2018 by Jenna

Michael and I spent 8 days in Yellowstone National Park! This is part 1 of our adventure. It was an unforgettable experience full of wildlife sightings, hikes, beautiful scenery, and touristy things.

As I mentioned in my Summer Plans post Michael and I both quit our jobs to take the summer to explore, camp, and hike as much as we possibly can. We decided to start our summer adventure with an 8-day trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone Day 0

The Drive

Michael and I started our trip to Yellowstone National Park at 6am on July 5. We decided to take the slightly longer/significantly prettier route to Gardiner, Montana, where we had a hotel room for the night, by driving through the east entrance of the park.

It took us about 9.5 hours to get to the east entrance and another 3 hours to get through the park. It took slightly longer than it should have, since we ran into some “bear jams” on the way. The delay was fine by me! We were lucky to spot 2 grizzlies, a black bear, and some bison on our way through. Since all the animals looked like tiny black dots from the road, we decided that renting a scope was necessary. We got one from the Yellowstone Forever store in Gardiner for $25/day.

We grabbed dinner and beers at Wonderland Cafe, picked up a few extra items at the grocery store, then checked into the Best Western and called it a night.

But before bed we hung outside of our hotel on a big wooden swing looking out on the Yellowstone river.

Yellowstone Day 1

Getting a Campsite

We woke up bright and early so that we could leave our hotel at 6am and get to the Slough Creek Campground by 7am in order to snag a campsite before they filled up. Since Slough Creek is a first come first serve campground it’s important to get there early. We were the fifth group in line and all of us were able to get sites. Hurray!

We ended up in campsite #3, right along the Slough Creek.

Slough Creek campground has 16 different campsites each with a picnic table, fire pit, and bear bins. The campground also has 2 vault toilets, trash and recycling bins, and a potable water. It’s $15/night.

Morning Wolf Watching

As we were leaving the campground to do some exploring we noticed a group of people staring off into the valley with scopes. Obviously we stopped to check it out. Good thing we did! There was a lone black wolf from the Junction Butte pack. It was the first wolf I’d ever seen and was such a cool experience. We were standing there with a group of other nature enthusiasts talking about where she was headed and how beautiful she was. It was all actually quite dorky, but I loved every minute. I thought we’d be lucky to see one wolf the entire trip, so having spotted one within our first few hours was amazing.

Afternoon & Evening Activities

We stopped at the market in Tower to grab a cup of coffee and walk to Tower Falls.

On the drive to the Canyon Visitors Center we saw a black bear cub from the side of the rode! We only spotted him for about 30 seconds, but still, so cool.

We made our way back to Slough Creek campground and did a little hike along the creek. It was a gorgeous area! Initially we planned on 4-6 miles, but ran out of trail at about 1.2 miles and had to turn around. Honestly, I wasn’t too upset about the hike being cut short. I was having one of those days where I was too much into my head and was nervous that I was going to pass out or get paced by my defibrillator. It’s an irrational thing. Fortunately it doesn’t happen too often, but it happens enough to still be very annoying.

We got back to the campsite and sat in the shade with a nice, cold beer and cheers-ed to our new funemployment adventure.

PS- That wild huckleberry lager is real tasty.

Afterwards we headed to explore the Mammoth Hot Springs area at the north end of Yellowstone. We walked on the boardwalk along the travertine terraces, which were formed from thermal water and limestone. It was so cool, so beautiful, and so weird! The thermal activity in Yellowstone is simply amazing.

We grabbed beer, salad, and pizza at K-Bar. It was ok. The restaurant was very hot and the service wasn’t great, but the food was decent.

On the way back to Slough Creek we saw a cinnamon black bear! At first everyone was saying it was a grizzly, because of the lighter coat; however, once you looked closer at the body it was easy to see that it was a black bear. You could easily spot him from the road, but it was fun to get a closer view through the scope.

Do you see his fluffy rump in the middle of the picture?

Then it was bedtime. The trip was off to a fantastic start!

Yellowstone Day 2

Morning Routine

On most mornings we woke up around 6:30am so that we could get out wolf watching shortly after 7am.

Our typical breakfast consisted of one of two options:

Milk (dry milk powder + cold water) and granola
Mountain House Breakfast Skillet on tortillas or English muffin

There was always pour over camp coffee. Always.

Morning Wolf Watching

We spotted a group of people with scopes set up in Lamar Valley and joined them. There were six of the eight members of the Junction Butte pack hovering around a recent bison kill (who died in the rut). Six wolves! There were four black wolves and two gray wolves. It was one of my favorite animal sightings of the whole trip!

Afternoon & Evening Activities

We were driving towards Grand Prismatic Springs and spotted a black bear near the road. It was the same one we saw the previous evening. He just got done doing some swimming in a nearby pond. I don’t blame him, it was hot!

A few miles further we stoped to check out a grizzly bear. As we were watching the bear through the scope some other visitors mentioned that they were just at Hayden Valley, where there was a bison kill site that had both grizzlies and wolves. We immediately packed up our scope and headed that way.

We were able to see three grizzlies and two wolves! The kill was a little over a mile away from where we were standing, so we had to strain to see it through our scope, but we still could make out the animals and it was awesome.

There were also some bison herds running around!

We continued on our drive towards Grand Prismatic Spring, stopping first at the Fountain Paint Pot. There was a .5-mile boardwalk around the area that went through hot springs, bacteria mats, mud pots, fumaroles, and geysers.

Then we made it to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring (and most beautiful in my opinion) in Yellowstone and in the US. There was another .5-mile boardwalk that went through the Midway Geyser Basin, so besides seeing Grand Prismatic Spring we also walked by the Excelsior Geyser, Opal Pool, and Turquoise Pool.

The colors around the pools/springs come from all the bacteria. Weird and beautiful. Oh science.

We stopped at Hayden Valley kill again on the way home. This time we saw nine grizzlies and two wolves! So crazy!

Yellowstone Day 3

Morning Wolf Watching

We went to the same place in Lamar Valley as we did the previous morning. This time we saw three wolves around the same kill. They were wandering up and down through the sage brush, which made them slightly tricky to follow. It helps to watch wolves with a group of people. There are so many eyes keep track of them!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We hiked 6.5 miles on the Slough Creek Trail near our campsite. It was so beautiful and was my favorite hike of the whole trip.

Later in the evening we headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River created the both the canyon and the falls. We went to Artist Point and had a view of the lower falls. Breathtaking.

On the way back to our campground Michael happened to look over and spot a big horn sheep! A) I couldn’t believe he spotted it. And B) I couldn’t believe he spotted it in time to pull over into the turnaround. We set up the scope and spotted a mom with two babies. The cutest darned things!

Evening Wolf Watching

We saw three blacks wolves in the same spot in Lamar Valley! We’ve been so so lucky with our wolf spotting.

Yellowstone Day 4

Morning Wolf Watching

Again, we went to the same spot in Lamar Valley. There must have been a lot of meat on that bison! We saw two black wolves and one gray wolf. Both the alpha male and alpha female from the Junction Butte pack were there.

This is our wolf watching view into Lamar Valley.

Not bad!

Afternoon Hike & Activities

We did the Hellroaring Creek hike, an out-and-back 4.5-mile trail down to a creek near the Tower-Roosevelt area. Unfortunately hellroaring was hella-boring. The beginning of the hike was pretty. We hiked down into a valley filled with wildflowers, went through some woods, and crossed a suspension bridge. Then we ended up walking through mounds of sage brush to the Hellroaring Creek. It was mosquito central! We also felt pretty exposed. You never know what could be hiding on the other side of the rolling hills.

Right after we turned around at the creek to head back to the trailhead Michael spotted a mama bear and her cub about 150 yards away. Yikes! I was so scared! At first Michael thought they were grizzlies since the cub had a more golden coat; however, it turns out they were black bears. Still scary! Luckily they were plenty far away from us and turned around to walk in the opposite direction.

So I guess the hike wasn’t that boring after all. And it was actually a pretty good workout! The hike back up to the trailhead was quite steep.

After the hike we headed to the Canyon Visitors Center area for a lunch of smoked salmon and triscuits. Have you tried the the dill sea salt & olive oil flavor yet?! They are so good. Perfect with salmon!

Anyways, after lunch we went to the camper services area to take a shower and do laundry. I had a lot of sunscreen, bug spray, and sweat caked on my body. The shower was glorious! Clean clothes never hurt either.

We took a quick detour up Chittenden Road near Mt Washburn. It was the cloudiest day we had then entire trip.

Evening Wolf Watching

This evening we didn’t see any people set up with scopes in the normal spot and we weren’t quite sure what to do! So we kept driving through Lamar Valley and spotted a group near the Pebble Creek campground on the east side of the park. I guess there was an elk kill near the creek. Unfortunately we missed a couple of the wolves and it started raining so everyone packed up their scopes. Such a bummer!

As always, we saw plenty of bison.

To Be Continued…

This post is getting long. I’ll continue with the rest of the adventure soon!

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Overnight Backpacking Trip In Island In The Sky

May 15, 2018 by Jenna

A 21-mile out-and-back overnight backpacking trip on Lathrop Trail in Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky district.

For my birthday weekend this year I decided that I wanted to do a little bit of backpacking. Michael had zero problems with this idea, so we requested off from work and started looking into backpacking options in Canyonlands National Park.

Permits

Airport Tower

We were a little late in the game getting backcountry backpacking permits, so our options were limited for the weekend we were going. However, we lucked out at got permits for the Lathrop Trail in Island in the Sky. April is a very busy time in Canyonlands and Arches and I was so happy that we found something!

Lathrop Trail is a 21-mile out-and-back trail from the top of a mesa down through canyons to the Colorado River. There was a total of about 2100 feet elevation gain/loss.

The last time Michael and I went to Canyonlands was January 2017 (it was our third date!) and we backpacked to Chesler Park in The Needles. We didn’t need to reserve permits in advance since there were approximately 5 other people in the park.

Moral of the story, if you are planning to go backpacking in Canyonlands during peak times, plan ahead and book your backcountry permits months in advance! Probably three months at least.

With that said I was not at all disappointed in the Lathrop Trail.

Here is more information about reserving a backcountry permit in Canyonlands.

Gear

The goal was to pack as light as possible to keep it as easy as possible for me and my heart. In order to do this I needed to swap out some gear and invest in some high quality, ultra light items. I feel very, very fortunate that I received some items as gifts and that I was able to splurge on some things for myself.

The primary swap was the pack. I went from the REI Co-Op Flash 60 (3lbs 5oz) to the Pa’lante V2 pack (1lbs). This lightened my load by 2lbs 5oz. Unfortunately I also lost 20 liters of capacity, but everything I needed fit fine in the Pa’lante Pack.

I also switched out my Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 sleeping bag for the Katabatic Palisade 30 sleeping quilt, which was an amazing birthday gift from Michael. He spoils me. This saved me about 9oz. I still love my Feathered Friends bag and will use it for chillier nights.

I finally remembered to do a gear overlay picture!

What I wore: Voormi River Run Hoodie, Athleta Speedlight tank, Champion sports bra, Oiselle Roga shorts, Altra Timp trail runners, Dirty Girl gaiters, Injinji socks, Feral Mountain Co hat, UV Insect Shield Buff, Smith sunglasses
Gear: Pa’lante V2 pack, Katabatic Palisade 30 sleeping quilt, Black Diamond trekking poles, Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite sleeping pad
Clothes in my pack: Melanzana hoodie, Patagonia rain jacket, leggings, 1 pair underwear, 1 pair of socks
Other things: Sea to Summit spoon, empty Talenti container, tooth brush, toothpaste, sunscreen, poop shovel, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, bandana, phone charger, iPhone, a few Hyperlite stuff sacks, Platypus bottle
Food: 1-liter Smartwater (x4), a variety of bars, beef jerky, ramen, and oatmeal

Things you don’t see – the tent, because Michael carried it and a stove, because we decided to go stoveless and cold-soak our food.

Since we were hiking in the desert and had no opportunities to filter water (aside from the Colorado River, which is really silty and would probably ruin our filters) we had to carry all of our water with us from the start. Each of us had 6 liters of water (4 1-liter Smaterwaters and a 2-liter Platypus bottle). The water alone was 13lbs for each of us! Typically we’d carry 2 or 3 liters at a time while backpacking and filter water at streams along the way, so this was a lot of extra weight.

Backpacking Day 0

We got into Moab on Saturday afternoon and got a hotel room. We stopped at Moab Brewery for beers and food, went on a hunt for some Old Trapper beef jerky and a few other last-minute supplies, re-organized all of our gear, hydrated like it was our job, and got a good night of sleep.

Backpacking Day 1

After a quick continental breakfast at the hotel we hit the road to Island in the Sky. First stop was the Visitor’s Center to pick up our permits and hear all the rules, most of which we already knew – only sleep where the permit allows, leave no trace, don’t bust the crust, no dogs, have fun, etc. The staff was very knowledgeable!

Afterwards we took off to the trailhead and officially started our backpacking adventure on Lathrop Trail!

The trail starts out at about 6000 feet. The first few miles were spent walking through grassy flat land. I believe this was called Gray’s Pasture. I was a little nervous to be backpacking, so I’m glad we started out nice and easy so that I could calm some of my nerves!

First view of the La Sal Mountains

About a mile in the trail then turns into slickrock and we start heading towards the canyon rim. Here we catch our first views of the Colorado River and Airport Tower.

Then we start the big drop! The trail goes into a series of switchbacks down the side of the canyon and drops about 1500 feet in 1 1/2 miles. Oh boy my legs were shaking by the end of that descent! Trekking poles were a huge help here.

We hiked all the way down from the top of that!

At the bottom there was a nice, flat spot with some good looking sittin’ boulders, so we stopped to take a snack break. Snack breaks are the best.

From there we walked on a little ridge and then dropped down into a dry wash before hitting White Rim Road, which was about 6 miles from the trailhead.

This is where I discovered that my legs were getting FRIED by the sun, so I added more sunscreen.

We then crossed White Rim Road and headed down into Lathrop Canyon to the Colorado River. This section was less of a trail and more of an unpaved four-wheel-drive road.

Over the next 4ish miles down to the river we kept our eyes open for camping spots, since this was the only area we were permitted to set up camp. Everything was at large, so there were no designated spots.

I won’t lie, by this time of the day I was starting to get pretty pooped. The sun was blazing and my pack felt heavy with all the water I was carrying. I think Michael was worried that I wasn’t having a good time, because I was getting quieter. I was having a good time – type 2 fun, obviously – just a little tired. My body wasn’t used to doing this type of stuff anymore. We came across a shady area, so we stopped there for a longer snack break to rest, hydrate, and eat some beef jerky. As I mentioned before, snack breaks are the best! I felt revived after this.

From there it was only about 2 more miles to the Colorado River. I could tell we were getting closer because we started to see a lot more trees and greenery. We kept walking, turned a corner and there it was – the Colorado River!

We stopped to rest here for just a little bit. There was a vault toilet and a picnic table. Also, by this time my legs were so sunburned. I did a terrible job putting on sunscreen, not at all balanced. The back of my legs were completely red, my knees were white, and the rest of my legs were red and white streaks. It looked like they were tie-dyed. #fail. I was so glad that I purchased a Voormi River Run Hoodie right before the trip, which was a light long-sleeve merino wool shirt with UV protection. Otherwise my top half would have matched my bottom half. It didn’t make me feel too hot, so that’s another bonus.

After snapping a few more pics we turned around and started to make our way back about 3 miles to the campsite Michael had scoped out. Michael played some tunes on his phone to keep us pumped up for the next hour of hiking. He could tell I was dragging a bit and offered to carry my pack for the last 1/2-mile. I definitely could have carried it and been totally fine, but I didn’t deny his offer. He’s the best.

We set up our tent as soon as we got to the campsite.

In total we hiked about 13.5 miles total, which is the longest I have hiked since July. My endorphins started to kick in shortly after we stopped and I felt AMAZING.

We reorganized our stuff a little bit, had a snack, and sat in the tent listening to Backpacker Radio. Michael fell asleep in about 4 seconds while I laid there awake, listening to the podcast, and feeling my legs throbbing from sunburn.

After some down time we made dinner, which involved soaking ramen packets in Talenti containers and adding a few packets of Taco Bell hot sauce. This was the first time I ever ate cold-soaked ramen and I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was!

It was such a lovely evening – nice and cool with beautiful views. We were the only people there.

A little bit later we decided to call it a night a hit the hay. Again Michael fell asleep in about 4 seconds (I don’t think he is ever happier than he is while he’s sleeping in a tent) while I laid awake watching the stars come out and eventually fell asleep.

Change of Plans

Mid-way through the first day of hiking we started to think about our agenda for the rest of the trip. Our original thought was to backpack 3 days/2 nights. We would hike down to the Colorado River the first day and camp about 2 miles back towards White Rim Road. The second day we were thinking we could hike another few miles up and then spend the day exploring side trails and slot canyons. The third day we would hike back up the canyon and to the trailhead. However, there weren’t a lot of side trails and slot canyons to explore. Our only option was to walk along White Rim Road, which is more of a Jeep and mountain biking road, so it wouldn’t be super exciting.

Since we had made good time the first day (we didn’t really know what my body would be able to handle) we decided to cut the trip short and hike back to the trailhead the next day. We toyed with the idea of getting a car camping site and exploring other areas of Canyonlands, but it was looking as if it was going to be pretty chilly, windy, and overcast. In the end we decided that we would just drive back to the Denver. We both had Tuesday off of work so we would still be able to have a fun day together.

Once we made this decision we started drinking a lot more water. Now our 12 liters only had to last us 2 days instead of 3. Looking back I don’t think we would have made it through 3 days with enough water. We were so thirsty that first night!!

Backpacking Day 2

We woke up the next day at about 7:30. We wanted to get an early-ish start so that we could hike back up the canyon before the sun made us too hot.

We ate a bar for breakfast (didn’t want to use any of our precious water to make oatmeal), packed everything up, and headed out.

Since it was an out-and-back trail we did the same exact hike as the previous day, except opposite. All of day 1 was downhill, which meant that all of day 2 was uphill (approximately 2100 feet of total elevation gain/loss). So great. Fortunately, we had 3 miles less to hike since we had already backtracked a little bit the day before, it was slightly overcast and not as hot, and our packs were lighter due to the food and water we consumed the previous day.

The view down into Lathrop Canyon from White Rim Road

I am currently not supposed to get my heart rate up above 140bpm in order help prevent it from going into any weird rhythms, specifically ventricular tachycardia. (side note: I am going back to Mayo next week and hopefully they will tell me that my blood clot is gone and that I can get the ablation done so that I can be fixed and not have to worry about this anymore. HOPEFULLY.) This means that when going uphill I have to take it pretty easy and move at a slow and steady pace.

The first part of the hike back up to White Rim Road was a little steep, but nothing too bad. Then we had a flat section with some rolling hills. We took it pretty easy and stopped a lot to take pictures. AKA I stopped a lot to take pictures while Michael stood there waiting for me… or taking them for me.

We even spotted a little big horn sheep! Their camouflage is so impressive.

Do you see it?

Then it was time to hike the 1500 feet back up the canyon! But first, we took a Haribo gummi bear snack break.

My pack was much lighter at this point than it was when we were hiking down the canyon the previous day, but obviously it’s more cardiovascularly tolling to hike up than it is to hike down.

The ridge we hiked along

I took my time hiking up. Michael is always so patient hiking behind me. He probably could have hiked up and down and back up again in the same time it took me to hike up once, but he always let’s me set the pace and never complains that I walk too slow.

I did have to stop a few times to let my heart rate drop a little. Fortunately, everything was totally fine and we made it back to the canyon rim.

Luckily Michael helped prep me for this with his seven Sanitas summit challenge.

From there it was a couple miles back through the slickrock and the grassland. Then we were back to the car!

We immediately started chugging Powerade, then changed clothes, slipped on some sandals, and rinsed off our hands. What a glorious feeling! A few minutes later we were on our way back to Denver.

Obviously there was a stop at Slope & Hatch in Glenwood Springs. They have the best tacos.

Side Notes & Comments

Up until about 7 miles into the trail we saw 0 people. I was expecting to see a lot more since April is such a busy time in Canyonlands. We came across a couple mountain bikers and people in jeeps (5 total) closer to the Colorado River and spotted one other hiker after we had set up camp. The second day we saw 2 hikers near the canyon rim and some day hikers closer to the trailhead.
Here’s a Youtube video of the entire trail (I didn’t make it). I watched it before leaving for our trip. It was fun to see a little preview!
The desert is such a magical, mysterious place! You see a fossil and think, “Hmmm… how did that get here?” Then you see all these layers and textures and realize that there is so much history showing through the landscape.
Per usual, I packed too much food.
I will now forever be paranoid at how I apply sunscreen to my body in fear that I will end up looking tie-dyed again.

It felt so good to get away with Michael for a long weekend, to explore a new place, to sleep outside, and to learn that I can handle backpacking. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and a great way to spend my last few days as a 30-year-old.

And, of course, a few more pictures…

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Seven Sanitas Summit Challenge

April 24, 2018 by Jenna

On March 31 Michael and I hiked to the top Mount Sanitas for my first time in 2018. On the way down he gave me the Seven Sanitas Summit Challenge: hike Mount Sanitas six more times before April 14.

Challenge accepted.

Why the challenge?

At the end of March Michael and I decided to plan a trip for some backpacking in Utah for mid-April. We found backcountry permits for the Lathrop Trail in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands. The Lathrop Trail starts at the top of a mesa and extends down to the Colorado River and then back up to the mesa. The 21-mile out and back is flat to gradual aside from a 1.5-mile stretch that is quite steep with about 1200 feet of elevation gain/loss.

Since my heart still isn’t at 100%, we decided to test out my abilities on Mount Sanitas, a trail in Boulder with a 1250-foot gain over 1.3 miles and is similar to what we would encounter on Lathrop Trail. I used to hike Mount Sanitas allllll the time – before work, after work, weekends, you name it. It definitely is a butt-kicker and is one of those trails that you love to hate.

Knowing that I could get to the top just fine, Michael then extended this challenge to me. By doing Mount Sanitas 6 more times we would both gain more confidence in my abilities and wouldn’t be quite as nervous that anything negative would happen while backpacking.

This link has some more information on the trail itself.

Quick side note on my heart health

Before I continue I’ll give a quick update on my heart. Since the yurt-defibrillator-shock fiasco things have been going really well! With the new medication that I’m on I haven’t had any arrhythmias that needed my ICD to kick in with therapy. This is huge! I went from receiving 1-5 therapies daily (caused by VT) during the first two weeks of January to receiving NONE mid-January through now.

After getting shocked I had a hard time getting back to exercising. It’s not that I didn’t want to, it’s that I was scared to. I was scared that I would receive therapy again or, worse, get shocked.

I took it easy and tried to go for daily walks or hit the gym for some leisurely biking or ellipticaling (<- don’t think that’s a word). I continued to get stronger and more confident, especially since I hadn’t had any episodes with the new medication. Each week I tried to push it just a little bit more.

And that brings us to today!

Let the challenge up Sanitas begin

March 31 was my first time hiking Mount Sanitas this year. I started out very slow and only slightly scared with my only goal being to get to the top safely. I tend to do best when I settle into an all-day easy pace so that I don’t have to stop for breaks. One step at a time, slow and steady progress.

And guess what?! I did it! And then I did it 6 more times! I hiked it through a range of weather – hot and sunny, foggy and snowy, chilly and windy – sometimes by myself, sometimes with Michael.

Here are my times for hiking to the summit (does not include the hike down):

March 31 – 45:30
April 1 – 44:36
April 3 – 41:16
April 5 – 38:53
April 8 – 50:13 (took an alternate route up which was .6 miles longer)
April 10 – 39:45
April 12 – 38:53

You can see that I was able to shave off about 6.5 minutes from my first hike to my last. It may not sound like much, but the trail is only 1.3 miles long, so I’ll take it. Back in the day I could run/hike to the top in around 30 minutes – lots of room for improvement!

Not only did I get faster, but I got stronger and more confident in myself. I was able to feel that rush of endorphins that I hadn’t felt for so long. It’s such a good feeling!

Challenge fever

I had forgotten what it’s like to pursue a goal – a clear, concrete goal with a deadline. Up until 2017 I had trained for either a half marathon or a full marathon at least once a year for 7 years. It was a lot of time and a lot of work, but so satisfying. Without working towards anything specific (because my general “get back into shape” wasn’t super inspiring) I felt a little lost.

The Seven Sanitas Summit Challenge left me feeling driven and motivated, excited to tackle anything that came my way. I know Michael has a few more challenges for me coming up. I can’t wait to smash them. I’m lucky to have a partner that encourages and inspires me.

And here are some extra pictures, because I took a lot during my 7 times up and down.

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