SCT Day 5 and 6: I don't want to remember this day and home
I wake up to high-pitched shrieking sounds and am quite confused. An animal is running around in proximity to the hut. I guess this is what elk are supposed to sound like? I wrap my sleeping bag around my body and sit up while rocking back and forth due to the cold.
Justin is still asleep and I’m too lazy/freezing to look at my watch, but it’s still pitch black outside. I’m paranoid that the elk have destroyed our hiking poles and snowshoes (that’s what happens when you lose an expensive umbrella the day before). I quickly eat a few scoops of peanut butter and some nuts to get my body moving. Hiking this many kilometres everyday has probably put my body at a severe caloric deficit, so I try to force in more calories despite not being extremely hungry. How has Justin barely made a dent in his food stocks? I’m afraid of running out and starving for a day or two, and am sure that I have lost at least 2 kilograms.
Justin eventually wakes up and we make some chamomille tea; it still amazes me how comforting and reassuring a cup of no name tea is out in the woods. At this point in the trip, I can’t tell if my socks are cold or just perpetually wet. I tell myself that the discomfort always has and will go away once we start hiking. Thankfully, our hiking poles and snowshoes are intact (Is Alex paranoid or what?). It’s snowing outside, and the chunks seem to be fairly large despite being slightly wet.
I’m having a hard time imagining this Elk Lake hut in the summer as I read that it’s a great place for wild berry gathering? Hiking in this weather without an umbrella should be fun. Our goal today is to make it to Walt Hill, which is ‘only’ 12km and ~150m in elevation gain away, before dark. We get started, and I notice that we are going at an incredibly slow pace; each step has either Justin or me falling knee deep into the snow. We must be going at less than 1 km/hr, and the non-stop snow is taking a toll on my spirits. There is so much snow that some of the trail markers are just barely visible, and this increases my uncertainty for Walt Hill.
I feel a sharp pain on my left foot as one of the straps from the snowshoe slides down and rips off a healthy chunk of the skin on my heel. It hurts, but the adrenaline numbs everything pretty well; this is going to hurt just a tad tomorrow. I’m really glad we didn’t try to make it to Walt Hill yesterday. Doubts begin to flood my mind; I’m not sure how we’re going to get out of this, or where we’re even going to end up by the end of the day. From the previous day, I remember briefly looking at the map and seeing that there was a gravel road we could take out of the trail if things got too hairy. I stop Justin and we contemplate our options. We have to make it somewhere, but I am extremely worried about our safety as 12km in these conditions doesn’t seem safe. We can barely see where we’re going and risk injury by virtue of falling and slipping with every other step.
We decide to push for Highway 101 by exiting through the 4x4 road followed by some logging roads. The conditions continue to be treacherous, but improve slightly as we get closer and closer to the 4x4 road.
I stop Justin and ask him if we should take a picture for the blog. “No man. I don’t want to remember this day.” We finally see the 4x4 road and some car tracks! This road, however, doesn’t prove to be any easier; we cross over perhaps a dozen streams which are covered in snow save the middle, leading to some pretty tricky manoeuvring in order to not fall. Parts of the 4x4 road are also littered with bear tracks, but I’m too desperate to care at this point.
As the elevation goes down and the snow disappears, I actually fall onto a rock in one of the streams and hurt my wrist. Fail. Justin checks his phone and says we’re around a couple hours away from the main road where we can get a taxi! He also checks on his stocks right after. Classic Justin. At this point, my memory gets blurry as I’m running on pure adrenaline to finish. I look at the clouds, and then the ground; Both of these things are swirling and collapsing into each other repeatedly. These must be hallucinations from fatigue, right?
The taxi ride is a short one, but we’re blessed with beautiful views from the Sunshine Coast Highway. “You did it. Kind of. You’re going home,” I whisper quietly to myself. All I can think about is pizza at this point and we ask for a recommendation from the taxi driver. I start reflecting on the hike and how much of an experience it was. The past few days have felt like weeks and I feel so refreshed as a person; we were able to see a diverse amount of forests, make new friends, and revel in some good old small town benevolence.
We each get a large Powell River pizza from Snicker’s (recommendation from the taxi driver), a couple of beers, and try to relax due to an early flight the following day. Justin gets a call from somebody. It turns out Jill called us to let us know that they would not be able to drive us the following day and that she was wondering how we were making out. We’re still amazed at how nice the people in Powell river are.
After landing at YVR, we head to Justin’s house so that I can drop off some stuff. Two people heckle me on the bus as I try to make my 55L bag less obstructive. I miss the people in Powell River already. What a trip.
