Ashland, a work-in-progress
Wow, hey, so. I try to post an update here every month. I didn’t have much of a proper update in August, nothing in September, and now I seem to be running out of October.
The last couple months have been very work-in-progress. Generally I dislike talking about works-in-progress; rather, I’ve learned to distrust the impulse. It’s far too tempting to flesh out all the details of a plan and then take credit for having a good idea without actually accomplishing anything.
Let’s backtrack though. Before I get to where I’m going, here’s very briefly where I’ve been: Spent about 10 days in Leavenworth WA all told, hiking & camping, getting a feel for the town again. You may recall that one of my ideas for the winter was to work another season at Stevens Pass Ski Area near Leavenworth. I decided against it; I was only in Leavenworth a few days before it’s tourist-focused culture and fake-German shtick began to irritate me all over again.
I spent a fun weekend in Seattle. Saw the Nirvana and BSG exhibits at the EMP. Played Galaxy Truckers at Cafe Mox with Kelly O’Hara. Took in a block party w/ Ariel & Lambert and their pleasant neighbors. Had a pint of stout with Jack C before he took off for Black Rock City.
Caught a train to Portland and spent most of a week there, camping out in the back garden at Saladhouse and catching up with friends. Met baby Chase and Lettie Jane, hung-out with Riley Starr for the first time in years. Got a tour of the new Monster Palace. Rode the MAX to Hillsboro on a lark. Strolled the Last Thursday Alberta street-fair with Laurel hauling a satchel of sweet corn, on our way to Lettie’s [Best Summer Ever] art-opening/barbecue. Many small meetings, many good conversations.
Spent another couple weeks in Eugene, visiting Jen & Steve, exploring the town as a potential place to relocate and house-sitting while they were away in New York. Saw their daughter Caitlin off on her first day of kindergarten; that was pretty rad. This was late August/early September. My savings and the summer weather were both receding faster than I would’ve liked, and I was getting anxious to end the vacation portion of the summer and get back to work somewhere.
I took the Greyhound to Ashland in mid-September, planning to camp out in the Siskiyou National Forest near Mt Ashland while exploring the town. This was the one big, show-stopping goof of the summer: I didn’t discover until I got there that camping wasn’t allowed anywhere in the Ashland watershed– an 8-mile radius swath around and above town. Fortunately, I also discovered that I liked the place generally, so I abruptly changed plans, checked myself into a motel, and started looking for a job. Two weeks later, I got offered a production spot at [MaraNatha Natural Foods] in Ashland, makers of my favorite organic peanut butter.
This is where the work-in-progress problem starts to kick in. Things aren’t going as well as I’d like in Ashland. It’s taken a lot of focus and conviction not to get stuck in a work-in-progress morass. The job is easy enough, but it’s often dull. The studio I was renting is very cool but too expensive and a little too far from town (3-4 miles) for easy bike-commuting. I’ve since convinced the owner of the studio to let me move into her RV on the same five-acre property (a kind of upscale hobby-farm in the beautiful rolling hills outside of town, with 11 sheep, 2 horses, some chickens, dogs, etc). This is working out fine, but the RV has it’s own quirks and mechanical faults and that commute is still not ideal.
October has been a challenging month because of all this, working full-time at a new job, in an unfamiliar place, with little money. Trying to stay organized and keep moving forward while fighting down a daily to-do list of little miscues and glitches. There was also a [Horace Phair] in there too– which was great from start to finish and a nice break from the new grind. Folks at Horace Phair mentioned that it seemed as if my summer of vagabonding ended pretty abruptly, and it did, and all of this is why.
Fortunately– and I don’t ever use the word “fortunately” lightly; I am endlessly sickeningly thankful for the incredible run of good fortune I’ve had in this life– fortunately, I have been staying organized and moving forward, so I have some options. I’ll be going up to Eugene tomorrow. I have a job interview on Monday with an organic herb & tea distributor there called [Mountain Rose Herbs]. Excited about it, because it seems like a great company, and moving to Eugene would give me another chance to shift gears and take another pass at making this work.
The “this” in that sentence, the work-in-progress dream that I’ve been working towards, is to embrace the spirit of minimalism that I’m always preaching and get myself off the grid. Take the travel-light approach of this summer– “my continuing life of untrammeled adventure”, to claim Jenn’s adroit phrase– and carry it through the winter months. For that, I’m going to need a space that’s big enough to lie down in and insulated enough to heat. I could also use a long-distance winter vehicle, something that burns biodiesel maybe. Put the two together, and you’ve got a diesel van. I’ve had my eye on a [Volkswagen MV] for quite awhile now. Now that I’ll be working full-time for at least 6 months of so, in Ashland or Eugene– but hopefully in Eugene– there’s not much stopping me. Like Captain Mal, I’ve even got a name all picked out.
I’m hoping to get all of this wrapped-up and underway by Thanksgiving, and I’ll tell you all about it then. In fact, I was hoping to have all of this settled by the end of October, but it’s been quite an October.
‘Til then, [updates on Twitter] per usual, and occasional photos on [Flickr] (I haven’t been using my camera this fall as much as I’d like either). Also, now that I have my laptop back (thank you again, Rolo) I’ve been getting massive use out of the free music-on-demand service Spotify, and recently started up a Tumblr stream devoted to the once-declining art of listening-to-the-whole-album. Those updates go up late at night Mon-Fri, check it out if you’d like: [iwillnowsellfivecopiesof.tumblr.com]
~MK
hike plan: Icicle Ridge to Augusta Lake
Hi folks,
There was still a bit too much snow up in the Mt Baker National Forest, so a couple days ago I took the Amtrak over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth WA, where it’s hot and dry. I’m at the Leavenworth Library right now, but right after I post this I’ll be heading west out of town on a 5-day solo hike along Icicle Ridge into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
The hike will be a classic out-and-back up the Icicle Ridge trail to Lake Augusta, starting at the Icicle Ridge trailhead and staying on the same trail (Trail 1570) for the duration. Here’s my itinerary:
Fri, Aug 12. Destination: the top of Steep Creek (5200′ elevation)
This will be the big climbing day. I don’t want to push it too hard the first day out, so I’ll be looking for a place to camp as soon as I reach the top of Icicle Ridge. It looks like the area above Steep Creek is where the trail begins to level out.
Sat, Aug 13. Destination: Cabin Creek (5000′ elev)
It’s about 11 miles NW along the ridge to Cabin Creek. About 3 miles into that is the high-point at 7029′, then the rest of the day will be a gradual downhill.
Sun, Aug 14. Destination: Lake Augusta (6854′) and back again
Lake Augusta is another 3 or 4 miles up the trail, in the shadow of Big Jim Mountain. The latest ranger report says that the trail is clear but there are still banks of melting snow around.
Depending on the conditions I’ll either camp there for a night or hike back down to Cabin Creek in the afternoon.
Mon, Aug 15. Destination: the top of Fourth of July Creek (6800′ elev)
Still on Icicle Ridge, headed back SE towards town.
There appears to be an alpine meadow at the top of Trail 1579 above Fourth of July Creek. That seems like a nice place to spend my last night on the ridge.
Tues, Aug 16. Destination: back to Icicle Ridge trailhead (1200′ elev)
About 8 miles east, all downhill, back to the spot where I started just outside of town.
I haven’t hiked in this area before and I’m unsure if there will be cellular coverage, so I wanted to make sure I posted this all in advance. I’ll have food for 6 days, so if I don’t check in on Twitter until Wednesday Aug 15, don’t worry; I’m just taking my time.
(If you still haven’t heard from me by Thus Aug 16, then please alert the Ranger Station, but I think that will be very unlikely. The 5-day weather forecast is completely clear, with lowland temps in the 80s, cooling down to high-70s next week.)
See ya Tuesday!
The new, new, new, new plan
I think later I’m going to be kicking myself for not writing more entries this month. I’m now D+26– with D+0 being July 1st, the day I moved out of Bellingham and began living out of my backpack– and the memorable things are already piling up. Spent a weekend touring San Juan Island, another in Port Orchard visiting Jet and taking in the Bremerton Brewfest. Got to spend a day by happenstance with Ariel & John on Whidbey Island. Had a classic suburban 4th of July with Classic Mike in Lynden; that already seems like a long time ago.
Tomorrow will be my final day at the flour mill. In less than 24 hours I’ll be handing over the lonely last key on my keychain to Trevor. Then things will really get rolling. I’ll be driving down to Sea-Tac the following day, Friday, to pick-up my dad & sister for a week long introductory (for them) / farewell (for me) tour of Whatcom. And then…. a lot of blank space on my calendar, frankly. I’ll have nothing but time.
I’ve been saying that a lot lately. “I’ll have nothing but time.” It’s a pretty powerful thing to say.
I keep changing my mind about what do with that time, though, and where to head next. In the past six weeks I’ve gone through four full iterations of the basic plan. My original Plan A was a stuff-of-legends hike down the Pacific Crest Trail to Oregon… but a cold, wet summer following a cold, wet winter has left the high mountain trails still choked with snow. I’m already tired of fighting the weather here in the lowlands, so no go there. Plan B was to shift the route westward to the coast and follow the 101 along the beaches to Oregon… but, on further study of the maps, there doesn’t seem to be much public land in that area, and I don’t have much of a taste for trespassing on lumber claims, especially alone.
Plan C was one I just devised a few days ago: Instead of hiking towards someplace warm, why not *go* someplace warm, and then hike? I could take the Amtrak directly down to Northern California, then kick around in Shasta, Klamath, Winema, and Tahoe while looking for a winter job. I think that sounds lovely, but I’m scrapping that one too, because I think it runs a bit counter to what I’d started out to do this summer; namely, to do a lot of backpacking and pure, honest foot travel. Plus, I think it was largely driven by the impending freak-out about employment and money, now that my last day as a miller is looming large. I need to relax and trust my budget. My savings will hold out for the summer, and I have some available credit if that happens to run thin.
So then, Plan D, the new, new, new, new plan: Spend a couple weeks in August hiking around in the Mt Baker National Forest, then apply for & land a job at Stevens Pass Ski Area (I’m 99% confident that they’ll hire me back on the spot, since I spent a season there in ‘06-’07, and if anything I’m a better candidate now than then). After that, it’s just a matter of traveling around in September and October, waiting for the snow to start falling and the call-up to the mountain. Explore. Read a few books. Hike a couple sections of the PCT around Skykomish maybe. Head down to Portland in October for Horace Phair. Just relax. I’ll have nothing but time.
I like this plan best because it harkens back to my original intentions for this summer– i.e. leaving town on a long walk south, albeit only a few counties south– and it seems like much more of a surefire win. So that’s what I’m going with… Unless I change my mind. Klamath Falls seems reaaaally nice this time of year. I also glanced at Eugene OR’s Craigslist today and saw a part-time job posting at an organic food company that seemed tailor-made for my CV…. hrmmm…. you see my dilemma here, right? So many cool things happening everywhere. Shall I call that Plan E? ….
By the way, if you’re interested in knowing where I’m *actually* going in the long pauses between updates here, consider also following my Twitter feed: [twitter.com/mwkelley] . Dashing off quick updates to Twitter has been seductively easy so far, and since I can do it via text message, it works on the trail in even the most marginal of cellphone coverage areas.
On the homestretch towards the rest of a new best summer and beyond. Nearly levitating with excitement here, folks.
~ Mike
The fiiiinaaaal countdoooooowwwn
Hey all, just a very quick update on what’s goin’ on:
Our final move-out inspection from our house (”the Satellite of Love” on Maryland St) is set for Wednesday of this week. My backpacking trip officially begins in four days(!), on Friday. I’m ready for it all, but my housemates aren’t yet, so I imagine I’ll be spending my last few official days in Bellingham helping them to scrabble around, get the house clean, and hench their stuff over to other parts of town (both Hunter & James will be remaining in Bellingham, just moving to different houses).
I keep saying “officially” because, while I’ll be living out of my backpack starting July 1 as planned, I won’t be leaving the Bellingham/Skagit area for another month now. Kevin convinced me to stay on at the mill through July, and so my last day as a miller won’t be until July 28th, just before my dad & sister arrive for a week-long visit on the 29th.
Making all of that work is going to require a fair bit of improvisation, but I feel that I’m equal to it. So many loose ends still remain untied, though, that I haven’t even had the spare mental capacity to get excited about this final countdown, let alone write about it here. This month has evaporated out from in front of me in a swirl of spreadsheets and checklists. I’m very glad that I’ll have another month or so to ease into a new routine. A new way of life, really.
I’ll try to fill in the details for you here just as soon as I can. Introspection is still tough tonight; it’ll be easier by the weekend, once I’m under way.
D-4 days and counting down.
I’ll have a Royale with cheese
Unexpected benefit of putting together your own hiking gear list: You will learn the metric system. Because trying to add up a column of Imperial weights or volumes will make any rational person want to stab all of Britain.
For instance: I have a 1L Nalgene water bottle and a 3L pack reservoir. How much does 4L of water weigh? Yes, Canadian friends, I actually typed that query into Google, because I am a dumb-ass American. As I imagine any small child in most parts of the world knows: 4 liters of water weighs 4 kilograms, because 1L = 1kg, because metric units are actually based on the dimensions of something sensible.
How many pounds is 4kg? At this point, I don’t even care. Fill up that bag and the bottle all the way, and then lift them up. That’s what lifting 4 kilograms feels like. It’s like lifting four full Nalgene bottles. I lift a Nalgene bottle to my lips a hundred times a day. My hands know what a kilo weighs better than my mind does.
After a week of meticulously weighing bits of backpacking gear with my kitchen scale and plunking them into a spreadsheet, I’m already better at guessing weights in grams than I ever was with ounces. This watch? 20 grams. a light rain jacket? 300g. a heavy rain jacket? 600g. a pair of boots? about a kilogram. my backpack, empty? 1800g. (Bonus round: all of my gear put together, not counting food & water? About 16 kg.)
Later on, I was wondering what that 1L Nalgene would weigh if I filled it with methylated alcohol fuel instead of water, since alcohol is lighter. A quick web search revealed that methyl alcohol has a density of 785 kg/cubic meter. “Huh,” I said, “I wonder what that is in grams/liter? Let’s see, a kg is 1000g, and the volume of a cubic meter is… 1000 liters exactly?… so… divide both sides by 1000 and…” ::facepalm:: It’s 785 g/L.
So, okay, I’m learning. Just… slowly.
Anyway! It’s been beautiful and sunny all week, which of course meant that the weather immediately went back to being cold and gloomtastic again this weekend. Third weekend in a row that NW Washington has pulled that crap on me, but summer is in the air.
Tonight I’m packing and repacking, shaving excess grams off the [gear list]. Tomorrow I’m going out for an overnighter in the Chuckanuts, rain or no rain. Only forty days until July– forty??– but I’m finally starting to feel prepared.
