Lucklobster.com
Day
One
We left early Sunday
morning. Having stayed up fairly late the night before doing the
usual last-minute packing we were both running on about four hours of
sleep. Our
route required two cars, the family truck and a rental car.
The family truck was to be left at our eventual destination and the
rental car dropped off in Port Angeles, from where we would take a
shuttle to the trailhead.
Our first pit-stop was the small town of Kalama where we had breakfast in a stereotypical small town diner. I think we may have been the only customers at the time. Anticipating much sub-standard food in our future we had large breakfasts and didn't leave until we were both stuffed. As we continued up the highway we maintained communication between the two vehicles with two-way radios, although the noise of the vehicles made it hard to understand each other. Further stops included Fred Meyer’s for a few supplies and the ranger station in Forks to get our backcountry permit and rent bear canisters. Despite renting two bear canisters it proved impossible to stuff all our food in them. Calling on all our packing prowess we managed to fit everything but a few chocolate puddings, which had to be sacrificed less we attract uninvited guests. The ranger warned us about the rivers we would have to ford, especially the second one. “If it’s been raining in the mountains,” he said, “don’t try to cross it. People have died doing that.”
We dropped off the rental car and ordered a shuttle without incident. Seizing our last opportunity for "civilized" food we grabbed lunch at the Port Angeles Airport Subway before climbing into the shuttle for our ride to the trailhead. By the time we arrived it was already 3:30 pm. The sign at the Whiskey Bend trailhead said our 5-day trip would be 44 long miles. In fact, it ended up being a good bit longer.
Despite our late start we were in good spirits as we got ready to start. Dan found a walking stick that someone had carved several interesting designs on, and it traveled with us the rest of the way. We discussed the possibility of adding more carvings to it that night as we sat around the campfire. After taking a few pictures we set off at a good pace.
Almost immediately we made a dumb mistake. Feeling like the first day’s eight miles would be a snap we decided to make a one-mile detour to view “Goblin’s Gate”. The trail leading to Goblin’s Gate was pleasant at first, but then started to go sharply downhill. Confident, we continued on. The trail got even steeper. We rationalized going on, saying “We’ve gone too far to turn back without seeing the gate!” Eventually the trail got so steep we had to take baby-steps or walk sideways to keep from sliding down the slope. When we finally got down to Goblin’s Gate it was very underwhelming. Getting back up to the main trail with our 50-pound packs was even less enjoyable then the trip down, and by the time we started back on the path toward that night’s campsite we were exhausted.
After such a rough start the rest of the day turned into a long slog through the forest. Our lack of sleep the night before and the early departure started to take a toll. In addition Dan’s pack wasn’t fitting on him correctly. Despite several attempts we could not get the hip-belt to sit properly, and as a result almost all the pack’s weight was resting on his shoulders. Night fell and we pulled out our headlamps but continued on, determined. Finally around 11:00 pm we stopped at a campsite along the river. We thought we had missed our intended campsite in the dark, and were too worn out to continue looking.
We quickly set up the tent and then enjoyed the feeling of lying down for the first time in what felt like a very long while. Dan suggested just going to bed, but I insisted we eat and stumbled out of the tent to cook up some food.
After a meal of glop and hot cocoa Dan somehow found more energy and decided to go looking for wood and stones to make a campfire while I stored away our stuff for the night. Despite his best efforts Dan was not able to get the damp wood to stay lit, and I was much too sleepy to be able to offer any real assistance. Finally we gave up and turned in. It was around 2:00 am, nearly 20 hours since we had started our day.
Our first pit-stop was the small town of Kalama where we had breakfast in a stereotypical small town diner. I think we may have been the only customers at the time. Anticipating much sub-standard food in our future we had large breakfasts and didn't leave until we were both stuffed. As we continued up the highway we maintained communication between the two vehicles with two-way radios, although the noise of the vehicles made it hard to understand each other. Further stops included Fred Meyer’s for a few supplies and the ranger station in Forks to get our backcountry permit and rent bear canisters. Despite renting two bear canisters it proved impossible to stuff all our food in them. Calling on all our packing prowess we managed to fit everything but a few chocolate puddings, which had to be sacrificed less we attract uninvited guests. The ranger warned us about the rivers we would have to ford, especially the second one. “If it’s been raining in the mountains,” he said, “don’t try to cross it. People have died doing that.”
We dropped off the rental car and ordered a shuttle without incident. Seizing our last opportunity for "civilized" food we grabbed lunch at the Port Angeles Airport Subway before climbing into the shuttle for our ride to the trailhead. By the time we arrived it was already 3:30 pm. The sign at the Whiskey Bend trailhead said our 5-day trip would be 44 long miles. In fact, it ended up being a good bit longer.
Despite our late start we were in good spirits as we got ready to start. Dan found a walking stick that someone had carved several interesting designs on, and it traveled with us the rest of the way. We discussed the possibility of adding more carvings to it that night as we sat around the campfire. After taking a few pictures we set off at a good pace.
Almost immediately we made a dumb mistake. Feeling like the first day’s eight miles would be a snap we decided to make a one-mile detour to view “Goblin’s Gate”. The trail leading to Goblin’s Gate was pleasant at first, but then started to go sharply downhill. Confident, we continued on. The trail got even steeper. We rationalized going on, saying “We’ve gone too far to turn back without seeing the gate!” Eventually the trail got so steep we had to take baby-steps or walk sideways to keep from sliding down the slope. When we finally got down to Goblin’s Gate it was very underwhelming. Getting back up to the main trail with our 50-pound packs was even less enjoyable then the trip down, and by the time we started back on the path toward that night’s campsite we were exhausted.
After such a rough start the rest of the day turned into a long slog through the forest. Our lack of sleep the night before and the early departure started to take a toll. In addition Dan’s pack wasn’t fitting on him correctly. Despite several attempts we could not get the hip-belt to sit properly, and as a result almost all the pack’s weight was resting on his shoulders. Night fell and we pulled out our headlamps but continued on, determined. Finally around 11:00 pm we stopped at a campsite along the river. We thought we had missed our intended campsite in the dark, and were too worn out to continue looking.
We quickly set up the tent and then enjoyed the feeling of lying down for the first time in what felt like a very long while. Dan suggested just going to bed, but I insisted we eat and stumbled out of the tent to cook up some food.
After a meal of glop and hot cocoa Dan somehow found more energy and decided to go looking for wood and stones to make a campfire while I stored away our stuff for the night. Despite his best efforts Dan was not able to get the damp wood to stay lit, and I was much too sleepy to be able to offer any real assistance. Finally we gave up and turned in. It was around 2:00 am, nearly 20 hours since we had started our day.
You can contact the webmaster here. Have a nice day!