Church Mountain

The last leg of the climb is pretty steep, but doable.

I made it thanks to my REI poles and Pilates!

A friend and I climbed to the top of Church Mountain the last week of July. The turn off to the trail head is just past the utility sheds up Mt. Baker road.  The hike climbs at a reasonable rate three miles up to the meadows and another two miles (steeper) to the top where the lookout used to reside.  We set up camp in the meadows.  I rested a while, then climbed the rest of the way.  It's an amazing view, 360 degrees of mountain tops, distant valleys, the San Juan Islands.  Breathtaking!

I feel this climb to be a big achievement for me as a sixty-two year old.  I know lots of folks are stronger and have more stamina than I, but making longer and more difficult treks is helping me to grow stronger and to feel more confident.

Right now I'm having a astrological transit that's activating my Aries sun.  I believe the ram energy is wanting to climb.  I want to be at the top and look out over everything.  I'm even dreaming about standing on pinnacles and observing the land below.  Very interesting energy.  I suppose there is another way...looking a photos perhaps.  But Aries is a physical sign, so working the energy is a good idea.

We camped in the meadows where a stream ran through, tumbling down a waterfall where it disappeared into the woods.  To the west, where we set the opening of the tent, we had a perfect view of Mt. Baker.  To the east, beautiful rocky ridge in a c-curve.  Amazing. 

We heard marmots, picas, ravens, Douglas squirrels, flies, and mosquitos.  We saw no bear nor mountain goats.  Where we hung our food in a tree, a marmot was spotted.  Other than that, it was a quiet night with the exception of a little wind.  Perfectly clear with stars that you could dream on.  And in the night, the tent lit up.  I woke, thinking someone was outside with a lamp.  It was the moon rising...phenomenal.  

If you can get to wilderness, do.  It will rejuvenate you in a way that restores the soul.

Peacefully yours,

Traveling Nan   

Chain Lakes at Mt. Baker

In the mountains there are these tiny lakes that are fed by melting snow. A set of lakes that can be easily walked around, a path leaving from the parking lot up by where the groomers park at the Mt. Baker ski area. The higher parking area, up by Artist point, is now closed. There has been 6-10 inches of snow recently, but on Saturday, there'd been enough warming for the ground to be mostly bare. My friend and I walked around the lakes, staying height on the right side, which I suppose would be east and then across a snow field at the end, and then back on scree--which had a light skiff of snow on it. There were these cute little pica prints all over the snow. Wow, a beautiful day, not a hard hike, getting over a cold, but a nice time with my honey.

I'm thinking about some changes of the heart that have occurred for me over the full moon. The biggest thing is realizing how my mother, who I believed was weak, really had no choice in how she lived. She was married to a man who was very controlling. This ended up being a life sentence for her, since her "daddy" and that's what she called him, was in charge, high up in the military, and believed children where to be seen not heard. So I'm guessing, me be a rebellious child, didn't go well with the men who she picked. I'm sure they were all men in control, and me being the rebel, had a big struggle to overcome. I've mostly overcome oppression. She never did.

What does this have to do with travels? Well, travels for me are physical, emotional, and spiritual. Recently I hiked around a reflective lake in the mountains with my new backpack on my back. I ate mountain huckleberries that had frozen and thawed, and froze again. They tasted just as delicious as when they were firm. What fun, November and eating huckleberries. In the mountains, the noise in my head drops away. I'm sensitive to the car noise, train, bus, even the wi-fi that is everywhere in Fairhaven. Anyway, the mountains give me a reprieve from noise in and around me. I can think straight, which is what my mother always said.

Freedom. This is important for an Aries. Freedom from oppression. Freedom to be who I am, authentically me all the time. It feels right when I can do it. It feels wrong when I let myself cave, to shape with what someone else wants.

So other hikes? Recently I made a trip up to Fragrance Lake and back. It was a pretty easy climb for me, although four years ago, before Pilates, I had trouble with it. My knees hurt like crazy on the way back down. We can get better. We can get stronger, even as we get close to 60. Just get moving, that's my hit on it all.

Okay then, what are you doing to change and heal your life?

Peace,

Traveling Nan

Sunny Mountain Day

Th

at's Mt. Shuksan in the background and that's David--I didn't realize he was so tall. We are looking at Mt. Baker, just finishing up a hike along Ptarmigan Ridge. You know the Ptarmigan is brown grouse-like and turns white this time of year. A camo for the winter months. We didn't see any, unfortuately.

We hiked about four miles, which is very short for David, for me--well, I'm getting used to longer hikes. I'm finding with any of these traveling hardships: sore muscles, bad weather, heavy pack, wet socks, you have to grin and bear it. Dad always said that to me as a kid, but I thought it was wrong. I've felt for some time we need to feel all our feelings. Of course, that's true when doing healing work from years of abuse, but in general, I think I've needed more of an attitude shift than anything. Yes, just not thinking about the suffering makes for less suffering. If this is true with all suffering, perhaps the goal of not thinking is what makes Buddhism work. Just meditate and keep going.

Well, just blabbing here as usual; I'm doing Pilates twice a week, probably mentioned that before, but strengthening the shoulder girdle has helped me to carry a pack and when I fell on the trail--my feet went out from under me on a slippery gravely place, I ended up in bridge pose, catching myself with one hand. I was impressed, not a sore muscle resulted from this fall. Strong core, strong shoulders, strong back--well worth the days I'd come home and flop on the couch, exhausted.

Hard work is tiring--perhaps I was just allergic to the hard work. Maybe my mama, from the south you see, taught me to be prime and proper and prissy. She would hardly venture outdoors, let alone walk in the woods where flies and mosquitoes might bite. Me, I'm an adventure girl now and I've got an adventure boy, and he doesn't stop--so either I keep up or I'm going to sit home and whine about my flabby condition. Voting for staying in shape here at 58. How about you?

We had another adventure after this one. Out in the San Juan Islands. More about that later.

Peace,

Traveling Nan

Hiking

Here we are on Skyline Ridge. Just a few days after David returned from the Arctic. He was a strong hiker, compared to me, and I didn't have jetleg. I'm working on getting stronger, through Pilates and daily walks. It was a foggy day, but I loked it. We took lots of photos. David was dissappointed by the fog since he wanted me to see Mt. Baker. I've seen it before, I know it would have been breathtaking, but I was happy to be hiking and be in the silence.

Before he returned from the Arctic, I had a dream one night that a polar bear was chasing me. I had a bowl of candy (I admit to my sweettooth) so I threw bars to him. That distracted him and gave me enough time to get away. I told David about this dream and he said, "That's some dream... sounds like the nighmare I was having before coming here... Ya done good gal... throw 'em something to satisfy their curiosity, shout loud as you can, get to high ground (my plan was also to throw rocks hard)... that said, if they are on the shore, they are getting hungrier by the day and if old or young, may attack without warning! Theyare very unpredictable. There are signs to watch for, but they are not100%. We had an old male today who kept us from landing at Discobukta (Kittwake Canyon). We tried for some time, but he would not leave, so we did."

I heard a mainland bear story lately, a food bag not hung high enough in a tree. The bear just reached up and swiped his paw over it, riping it open. All there food was gone, except for canned goods. They were on a 10 day hike, kept going, ate little. Dangerous.

I've been around a lot of bears, mostly black bear in norther Idaho. They want the food and come down lower as the berries run out or if it isn't a good berry year. People think they are cute, but they are dangerous and making a lot of noise, getting real big, and going the other way is the best bet.

David is back in the Arctic now for two weeks, then home until November. We're planning another trip when he returns, this time perhaps to a cabin somewhere. In the meantime, I'm tending my garden, the last of the summer bringing on a lot of tomatoes and squash and beans. Nice! And swimming still in the bay. What fun!

Peace,
Traveling Nan

Me on Skyline Ridge

It was a foggy day. We'd planned this trip while David was away in the Arctic above Norway. I kept looking ahead at the weather thinking it would be a sunny day for our hike. It wasn't. At least not up above in the mountains.

We car camped on the way up to Skyline Ridge, off the road in a green clearing with lots of ferns and blackcaps and alders. It was very pretty and very quiet. It's so noisy here in Fairhaven, that when I get to the quiet, it's astounding, and I sleep deeply although I'm only lying on a small air mattress in the back of a truck/camper.

By the way, credit for this photo goes to David P. Drummond. He's not only an excellent guide, both camping and hiking, he's also a great photographer. And an amazing thing has happened since we've been seeing each other, I've been photographed. Now this is interesting, because there are lots of photos of me and home movies from when I was growing up. But I got to a point where I just didn't want my picture taken. I was angry, see. Angry over the way I was getting badgered as a child and teen. Emotional abuse. So when I had my picture taken, I just looked beat down, dull eyed, sad, mad, etc. But now, well you can see that hardship and healing can rejuvenate the soul.

Enough about how I look. How do I hike? Slowly. I take a Pilates class once a week and have good strong abs. I walk everyday, sometimes an hour, sometimes not. But I live in a place where I walk to the store and the bank, etc. So really, I walk everyday. I'm in pretty good shape, but my stamina is low. I don't know why. Sometimes I think it was because I was raised with smokers. You know, all that smoke in the car with the windows rolled up, all that smoke in the house. Too bad for my lungs, but hey, here I am building my stamina. What's to complain about.

On this hike we stopped for me to catch my breath and wipe away the sweat. I don't have all the gear; you need gear that isn't made of cotton. You need for the sweat to dry quickly, and cotton holds the wet against your skin. Very dangerous. I don't have a good pack, nor do I have a great coat. The one I'm wearing in the picture isn't bad (from the thrift store) but it is a little big and there is no lining. I just wear wool beneath if I need to be warmer.

We hiked along the ridge through the fog and I used my magic to bust the clouds, but it didn't work well, although once the clouds parted a bit. It was pretty, a glacier in the distance. I really know what Eckhart Tolle means when he talks about being in the now, because it is hiking and kayaking where I've experienced the brightness of detail, so keen the leaves and grass and water. All because I'm completely present. A state I'd like to be in more often.

Okay then, the next trip is to Lummi flats for a bicycle ride. This is after David returns from the Arctic, as he is back there now, doing his last 10 day cruise of this season.

Happy travels,

Traveling Nan