Autumn Hiking

Sourdough Gap 10/13/07 5 miles

Autumn days like today don't happen very often in the Northwest. So when the morning sun streams through my bedroom window, I hit the road with hiking boots on. I had hoped for morning clouds for a remarkable sunrise - like those I admire from the train window on the way to work. No luck with that this morning, the sky was perfectly clear and the autumn colors high in the mountains called to me.

Olympia would accompany me today, so the short hike to Sheep Lake was perfect. A bit of frost and snow greeted us at the trailhead just east of Chinook Pass, but the trail looked as clear as the sky. Olympia, who seemed ecstatic about going for a hike lead the way up the trail stopping every now and then to look for "wobblies" - chipmunks and squirrels - but was eager to reach our destination. It didn't take too long before I could smell the crisp scent of a campfire near the lake and then wee broke out from the forest to look at the smooth lake surface and perfect reflections of the hills surrounding.

We walked around the lake, allowing Olympia the chance to play in the lake and chase the fishes. But my thought of break, sitting next to the lake with my dog at my feet relaxing, soaking in the scenery, meditating would remain a dream. Olympia was raring to continue up the hill. But never having hiked beyond Sheep Lake, I was unsure how she would be able to handle the terrain and distance. But, I didn't want to return either, the day too perfect to waste.

I slowly climbed the hill behind Sheep Lake hoping to slow Olympia down and preserve her legs. We met a hunter who asked if we had seen the mountain goats in the rocks above the lake. I couldn't say positively whether I had or not - I thought I had, but couldn't say for sure. I saw something like a goat high above the lake but when I looked again either it was gone or just a patch of snow. Soon we were high enough to see Mt Adams and Mt St Helens off to the south. Olympia didn't seem to care, she just kept heading up hill.

Another hiker greeted us as we came to Sourdough Pass and she pointed out my options after I mentioned that I had never hiked beyond the lake. She told me that there was another pass just off in the distance, where I could see Crystal Lakes and it's a nice hike down to them for Olympia to play in or continue following the Pacific Crest Trail to Bear Pass. I looked at the snow-covered traverse of the north facing slope, looked at Olympia looking eagerly up at me and thought it couldn't hurt to at least go to the other gap and get a view of Crystal Lakes.

A quarter of the way across the traverse, I looked up to see Olympia trotting easily through the snow almost to the other side. Then all of a sudden the other pass seemed to only be further away then I first thought and the snow seemed far dangerous than it really was. I called Olympia back, but she only looked at me as if I had just asked her to perform brain surgery. The look of disbelief on her face was as plain to me from several yards away. After much coaxing, she rejoined me at Sourdough Gap where we had a snack and chatted with other hikers passing through before heading back down to the lake and the car beyond.

By the time we made back to the trailhead, Olympia's legs were about to give out but she got into the car to pass out for the ride home. I may not have realized my dream of resting next to the lake with my dog at my feet, but she is resting there now as I write this - tired but restful.