video Nature Film/Mini Documentary of my Latest Backpacking Trip

[Flutterbattyyy 331]

Just finished my latest hiking video. 

 

We did a 6 day trip in the Mount Adams Wilderness in southern Washington state. We started on the west side of the mountain and finished on the northern side. It was an amazing trip! We camped at Riley Meadows, Crystal Lake, Divide Camp, and High Camp; with an extra side-trip up to Glacier Lake. This was also the first time we did any significant off-trail, cross country hiking, too.

 

 

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJHR0bWWrpw

 

 

 

 

 

 

Narrative of Our Journey

 

Our first off-trail hiking section was to Island Lake. This was extremely tough as the route was steep, convoluted, and littered with burned fallen trees to cross over.  We camped at Riley Meadow for the first night, set amid lush subalpine meadows, subalpine fir, and an incredible vista of Mount Adams.

 

The next off-trail section was hiking up to Crystal Lake on the second day. This was short, but very steep. There was one particular section with hand-over-foot climbing to get to a "pass" of sorts. The lake was absolutely incredible! It was situated smack dab on top of a ridgeline–so on one side of our campsite was the lake; and on the other side––Mount Adams looming above a steep canyon and drop off.  :-o

 

On the third day, it rained hard and we got down from Crystal Lake and made our way to Divide Camp via the Pacific Crest Trail. We crossed the Mutton Creek Lava Flow, which was quite interesting. By the time we neared Divide Camp, the trail was absolutely flooded and we were soaked down to the bone. We made a fire and dried off at camp. Thankfully, since camp was located further down the mountain, the rain died down as descended. 

 

The third bit of off-trail hiking was our biggest one yet–our fourth day! First, we crossed the raging Adams Creek, then we deviated off of the Pacific Crest Trail and made our way up to High Camp. The off-trail section here was over one mile of hiking through semi-open forest, wildflower meadows, rocky terrain, snowfields, and one particularly difficult section over a steep boulder field. All in all, though, it felt rather easy going (maybe the adrenaline of the moment   ). We stayed at High Camp for two nights.

 

The last section of off-trail hiking was hiking up from High Camp to Glacier Lake, below the foot of Adams Glacier. This was pretty straight forward, but epic nevertheless. We hiked over vast plains of alpine tundra, krumholtz trees, boulder fields, and snow and ice. After the hike, we returned to High Camp for the night.

 

On our last day, we hiked down from High Camp–via all trails this time. But... it was over 14 miles for one day. As we made our way down the High Camp Trail, we crossed one particularly sketchy section. One false slip on the loose scree and rock meant we'd tumble down the mountainside for a few hundred feet. We took it slow and easy, haha.    Once on the Pacific Crest Trail, we hiked east to Killen Creek Meadows to burn our trash in a campfire, then took a detour to an unnamed large lake. I'm henceforth naming it Fluttershy Lake!!!    From one end, it provided a beautiful reflection of Mount Adams––on the other end, Mount Rainier. It took some off-trail navigation to regain the PCT, then we continued down the mountain. Once we reached the Muddy Meadows Trail, we turned left. More hiking through thick forest, until finally reaching giant Muddy Meadows. From here, Mount Adams greeted us, looming over the meadow. We crossed the Muddy Meadows Trailhead (a few cars parked here), crossed Forest Road 2329, and then crossed into Keenes Horse Camp. After taking the wrong trail for about a mile, we realized our error and hiked back to the horse camp. After a short bit of searching, we found the correct trail, Killen Connector Trail, and took it all the way back to our car waiting at the Killen Creek Trailhead. The reason for us ending at Killen Creek Trailhead rather than Muddy Meadows Trailhead was because there was an impassable washout on Road 2329 that wasn't suitable for our low-clearance vehicle. (And.... yes, there was the Killen Creek Trail, which would have cut our last day by at least 10 miles, but we wanted to go the alternate route anyways, so..., yeah.   )

 

 

Hike Stats

Distance: 34 miles

Time to complete: 123 hours / 6 days

Elevation gain: 8,000 feet

Min: 3,600 feet

Max: 7,510 feet

 

 

 

Photos

Day 1: Riley Trail to Riley Camp (Riley Meadow).

 

 

 

Day 2: Riley Camp to Crystal Lake via the PCT and off-trail hiking.

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Crystal Lake to Divide Camp via the PCT (in the rain).

 

 

 

Day 4: Divide Camp (Divide Meadow) to High Camp via PCT and off-trail hiking via Adams Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5: Day hike up to Glacier Lake (off-trail hiking).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6: High Camp to Muddy Meadows Trailhead via the High Camp Trail, PCT, Killen Creek Meadows use trails, Muddy Meadows Trail; then to the Killen Creek Trailhead via Killen Connector Trail (and an accidental mistake of taking the Keenes Trail).

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[Snow 7,035]

those photos are astonishing!!!! The scenery there is simply magnificent!! I gotta go shopping now but I'll watch the vid when I get back, it looks like you had a blast on that trip!!

The moving of the camera made me dizzy lol XD man oh man those are some beautiful sights to behold tho... Amazing... Simply amazing...

Edited October 21, 2016 by Ju88snow

[Flutterbattyyy 331]

those photos are astonishing!!!! The scenery there is simply magnificent!! I gotta go shopping now but I'll watch the vid when I get back, it looks like you had a blast on that trip!!

 

The moving of the camera made me dizzy lol XD man oh man those are some beautiful sights to behold tho... Amazing... Simply amazing...

 

 

Oh, haha, thanks for the compliments!   Sorry for the late response, I got distracted and then forgot. xD

 

So much sights and I still felt that I didn't record nearly as much footage as I'd like to have done. Especially on the 3rd day in the rain; didn't realize I only got one single shot from that day. It rained so constantly, non-stop, that filming must have escaped my mind. It literally pooled in the trail, making it more like sloshing through a "river" rather than a trail, haha!

 

Also felt that I didn't get as much footage on the 5th day on up to Glacier Lake. Got so caught up in the off-trail navigation, I guess. xD

 

Overall, I enjoyed every bit of the trip. Even the rain, haha. Wouldn't be a true adventure without a little rain.   Thank goodness it rained on a day with the least amount of open views. Glad we didn't miss all that much.

Edited October 25, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[Earthenhoof 47]

Yeah, I need to get a better camera.  Great photos!