Advanced Skills Hike 2009

August 16th - August 20th -- The hike began at the Owhi Campground on Cooper Lake, northwest of Cle Elum, Washington, and we had full packs. In them were meals, tents, stoves, and other camping paraphernalia. We ate lunch at the trailhead and began the hike. It was about four and a half miles to Pete Lake, our first lake out of four, and the easiest hike of the week. It was mostly flat and there was evidence of horses on the trail. We arrived at the lake early in the afternoon because the hike was so easy. We set our packs down, set up our tents, and got to exploring the lake. One of the scouts found a pair of sunglasses in pristine condition. Also we found a garter snake slithering into the water and saw several ducks. After climbing on logs and rocks and wading in the water, we found the stream feeding the lake, so we pumped water. Dinner was teriyaki chicken, snap peas, and no bake cheese cake. The skies were clear and the stars were sparkling that night.

The next day we woke up, ate breakfast, were visited by deer, and headed out of camp at about nine in the morning. We found a kybo toward the northwest corner of the lake. The hike to the next lake was about five miles, and it was the second hardest day. Four miles of mostly flat trail and a river crossing, and the rest was up hill switch-backs. It was long and seemed difficult. While we were hiking we came across a waterfall, so we washed our faces and filtered some water. In the process of doing this we encountered some hikers with pack llamas. We arrived at Spectacle Lake later than we expected, but it was the most beautiful of all the lakes we stayed at. We set up our tents on a peninsula, swam in the lake, caught some frogs, and made some macaroni and bratwurst for dinner. That night we lay in our tents wondering what Mother Nature would throw at us next. There was definitely more to come...

After visiting the kybo we found at the base of the peninsula, we headed out earlier than usual. Our next hike was four and a half miles. It was a fairly easy hike to a place called Park Lakes; two lakes both small and mosquito ridden. On the way we saw some of the most spectacular views of Spectacle Lake. The reason it is called this is because it looks like a pair of spectacles. We arrived at the campsite early and made lunch. Even through we seem to have pizza bagels on every trip, anything is refreshing after a hike. We set up our tents and most of us swam in the lake. We also saw some frogs and above us we saw where we were going to be hiking the following day. On the trail above we could see the faint hints of people walking down the path. When we went to filter water we came across some tasty blueberries, which enhanced our oatmeal breakfast the following morning. We made dinner and bulked up for the hike the next day, the hardest of them all. When we were swimming for the second time an FA-18 jet flew overhead...very loud.

We woke up extra early on Wednesday morning so we would be able to do the hike. It took us only about 45 minutes to reach the top of the ridge that we saw people coming down the previous day. The hike began easy but it seemed never ending. There was absolutely no cover from the sun. Aside from seeing people hiking with their dogs on the trail, we saw a marmot basking in the sun. We whistled to it and it whistled back to us. It was a positive experience during what seemed to be a never-ending hike to the lake. Also on the way to the lake we met some hikers that were hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a 1,500 mile hike from Canada to Mexico. In addition to this we met a hiker that was dehydrated and puking up anything he took in. He was 15 miles from Alpental when we saw him. We hiked through many boulder fields and over many exposed ridges, and after six hours and eight and a half miles, we arrived at Ridge Lake. We pumped and drank water, made lunch, and rested. We set up our tents, went for a swim, made dinner, hung the bear bags, and went to sleep especially early. We set up our tents on a pretty interesting spot. We set them up on a small speck of land that was divided by a small stream which we used to filter water. We had a hardcore rock-paper-scissors war over some food too.

We woke up at five in the morning, ate a quick breakfast, packed up, and began hiking to Alpental. We wanted to arrive at eleven, but it was a seven and a half mile hike and we were not sure we would make it in time. Our hearts raced with the thought of XXX burgers. The views from Kendall Katwalk were fantastic, but we were on a mission, and blew through the Commonwealth Basin. We did the hike in 2 and a half hours. When we arrived at the trailhead, our ending point, it was just nine o'clock. Luckily, our Moms were able to leave a little early and pick us up by 10am. We took some pictures behind the trailhead sign and learned to juggle while we waited, then we were off. We arrived at XXX Rootbeer when we were supposed to have finished the hike. We ate like pigs! The majority of the group had root bear floats a foot high. Anyone who finishes something like that must feel accomplished...I know I did. I think that this gave us a small taste of what high adventure could be like.

This hike was designed by Andy Nelson (still an active Scout Leader and past Scoutmaster of Troop 282 for 30 years). - AJK

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