Weeklong Backpacking: Day 1

For the past week, I was on a backpacking trip in the Olympic Mountains (http://www.nps.gov/olym/). The trip was a total of 50 miles. These next posts will tell you about my experience in the mountains.

It seemed to just get tougher and tougher. The forty-pound pack pressed against my back as I hiked up the hill, a light drizzle annoyingly falling down on the rocks in front of me. "Whose idea was it to put in these steps?!" I asked to nobody in particular. What counted for steps on this trail were boulders placed in the middle of the trail, making each step a pounding on my knees. We were six miles in to an eight mile hike, and most of the eleven hikers, three of which were adults, had split up at their different speeds. The steep uphill had started and would last the next two miles. Step after step, I made my way up the hill, the trees above me not protecting me from the oncoming wetness. After what seemed like an eternity, I had caught up with three of the other scouts who were taking a break to drink and relieve themselves. I said hi, but then pushed on, knowing that I needed to take less breaks if I were to finish. Then I came to a bridge with one of the leaders next to it. He told me to cross the bridge and then keep going, we only had 3/8 of a mile to go. Rejuvenated by this information, I sped ahead and passed many hikers going the other way, away from this "Sol Duc Park" I was supposed to camp at that night. When I got there, I was met by the cheers of four other scouts, and I had a smile on my face that shined through the rain.