IT'S kind of weird because when i was young, back in the 1970s, my hippie friends & i took every opportunity to camp out and hang out in a state park or some wilderness area, where we wouldn't be scrutinized by the cops and we all took short hikes. And even though hiking was always part of my lifestyle, i always dreaded it because i'd get up high and get really afraid of the height and wouldn't be able to come back down because i'd be paralyzed & holding on to some rock wall trying to keep from falling.
But you can't look down from the top of a wild waterfall unless you hike to the top, so for some reason, the main thing i wanted to do after losing some weight was go hiking. i really pushed it, too, designing an 8-day hike in the north Cascades along the East Bank Trail of Ross Lake, terminating at the trail to Hozomeen (which is partly in Canada) and Desolation Peak. It's a four-mile hike from the trailhead to the fire lookout at the top of Desolation, but the elevation gain is something like 5,000 feet. I had planned to take the trail in chunks, then rest for a day at the trailhead, then hike to the lookout and stay overnight before coming back down.
I discovered that it wasn't nearly as scary as I recalled, as long as I stayed on the groomed trails. Once I started plotting it out, my son insisted on going with me. I told him no about a dozen times but I swear, he would have stalked me if I hadn't finally given in.
I told him he could come, but that this was MY hike and i was going to take it at my pace and he had no say-so in it. But he did nag me if I stopped for more than five minutes to rest and take it all in. I had a few things in a fanny pack, including lipstick (don't ask me why, I just stuck it in there), and once I stopped to put some on. The next time I stopped, he kept going, then came back to check on me. I reminded him that this was my hike, my pace, and he had no input in my decisions. He just said, "Yeah, well I was just checking to see if you'd decided to take a break to put on some more lipstick." I thought that was hilarious.
So I trained for six months at the YMCA, spending 2 hours a day on a treadmill. Ultimately this worked against me, as it turned out my right knee was going out, and it did that on that very first hike at a camp called Diablo Creek. I simply couldn't take another step. We ended up flagging down a ranger who patrolled the lake on a boat. He couldn't take us in his boat, but he got the people at the resort to come get us and take us across the lake, where it was a little easier to hike out, and another whole adventure started with that trip. A year later, I had my knee replaced.
i practiced hiking wherever I could. I visited my older brother who has a log house out in the country, at the end of a big canyon in central Washington, and we hiked up to a peak that looked down onto another valley, where we dined on roasted chicken, white wine & french bread he'd brought along in his rucksack.
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these photos are out of order, but another thing I did was, at the age of 57, i finally learned to swim. i hadn't had a bathing suit for years because i was embarrassed to wear one and didn't know how to swim. but i took lessons at the YMCA at the same time as i trained for my hike.
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at the same time as i was working out, i was wearing my pack & sleeping bag, so I'd get used to the weight. It actually didn't work out that well for me, but who knew? Also hooked my tripod on the pack, since I was always taking pictures.
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this was my goal, my destination--Desolation Peak, overshadowed by Hozomeen, the twin-peaked mountain that straddles the border of Washington State and British Columbia, Canada. see the tiny little shack on the round knob? the elevation there was 6600 feet. This picture was taken by someone else, but I just think it's so beautiful, I included it.
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The lookout is about 1000 feet above the campground near the summit, where everyone has to stop. No camping on the pristine ground around the peak is allowed. But that last thousand feet is just killer. I hiked it twice and never made it to the shack either time.
So, hiking became my passion and obsession, and we hiked in the wilderness where we had to take everything out with us. and i mean EVERYTHING. you had to carry your own airtight container to transport your bodily waste, as well. No trace of humans is allowed.
However, there was something else I became passionate about: CLOTHES! i started haunting thrift stores and putting together outfits, most of which I'd seen women wearing in movies or on tv, including this very popular look that's built around a little plaid skirt.
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it's been 12 years since surgery and I still have this outfit, right down to the little ankle boots and the velveteen hat.
when i go into a thrift store, i become physically overcome with something like hunger, which takes over my entire body, and I swear, i even salivate at the thought that i'm going to find something gorgeous to wear. i love it more than food.
when most of these photos were taken I hadn't even reached my goal weight yet. i plateaued at 75 pounds down for months. then i started hiking and suddenly, 15 pounds just melted off. Then it just went on until 14 months had passed, and i'd lost 115 pounds. I actually had to gain some back because I'd gone too far and looked unhealthy. that took months!
The second time i hiked Desolation it was about 100 degrees out. the mountain sits on a geographic divide between western and central Washington State, so it gets really hot, even at the top. I took my time hiking up and even took naps on the way, in big soft beds of pine needles. So it was dark when I reached the top and I couldn't see where exactly to camp. I laid my sleeping bag on some kinnikinnick ground cover and drank a tiny bottle of wine & uncooked top ramen while the moon rose. i was really tired and the wine just lulled me to sleep. as i faded out i could hear a mother bear and a cub wailing to each other as they went hunting under the moon. next thing i knew, i felt lips rubbing my finger tips, then a tongue licking my nails. then came the teeth, nibbling my nails. i was laying with my arms wrapped around me like a hug, and whatever was going to eat me was coming up from behind, so i had no idea what kind of animal it was. i had to act, because either i would fight it or it would eat me, so i suddenly just SCREAMED and flipped over fast at the same moment, flailing my arms, hoping to scare it away. In that moment, I saw what it was--a 6-point buck, leaping away from me, silhouetted by the full moon. he'd been after the salt under my fingernails which had been in the top ramen. they tell you to stash your food, that animals can smell even the slightest amount of it, but until that moment, i didn't realize how true it was. it was an unforgettable moment i never would have had if i hadn't had this surgery, lost weight and started hiking into the wilderness.
That little encounter is as vivid today as it was that night, and it still thrills me to remember it. It was better than any food or clothes or ability to hike, but I never would have gotten to that moment if I hadn't made the decision to take back my body.
Yeah, that was definitely a non-scale victory, as our dear member Texnoble calls them.
And while we hike, my husband has been taking some great wildlife photos of owls, woodpeckers and gators! It’s heaven
