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Published: March 1st 2023
MY CAMPSITE
It may not be the deep woods, but the canopy of trees over my tent is soothing.TRAVEL DURING COVID
In order to allay my daughter’s fears about my bringing home Covid from my trip to Mexico I followed suggested guidelines from the Covid Prevention Center while traveling; avoid crowds, wear a mask, and keep a safe distance apart. As an additional precaution when I returned to the United States, I decided to self-quarantine, camping alone for two weeks in a State Park. (The weather was so nice I actually stayed 21 days).
I am a backpacker and have hiked in the Cascades in Washington State for almost thirty years. Usually, my trips are in the high country. Sometimes I hike with my daughter and sometimes with friends, but I often hike alone. This is however, a high-density camper area and I am rarely truly alone anymore. Someone is always passing me on the trail. I love to stop and chat with them.
On this trip, I would not be doing any serious hiking. My knee was healing nicely after my meniscus surgery, but it was still sensitive, easily irritated, and often painful. I planned to do some car camping for the first time. I wouldn’t be carrying everything on my back. Nor would I
MY LIGHTWEIGHT TENT
Cleaning is a breeze. hang my food in a tree to keep animals out of it. My daughter was even going to drive up to see me in two weeks, bringing food to re-stock my larder.
I called the Ranger Stations and checked for campsite reservations online before I left home. I could not find a single opening at the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. There were a limited number of “first come” campsites so I packed my car and drove up to the park. There were two campgrounds within five miles of each other and more than 85 campsites. They were all full.
I decided to wait till morning and try to find an open space as campers were moving on or going home.
I parked my car near the locked entrance to the campground and spent the night in the car. There was not much room in a little Hyundai Accent, and I was very uncomfortable. I did not sleep much, trying to find a way to stretch out on the short and heavily laden back seat.
The first thing the next morning I checked in with the Ranger Station. The ranger said to go to the lower
INDULGENCE
Lots of time for my favorite pastimes. campground, drive through the park, and take the first open campsite I find. So that’s what I did. It was only three sites from the entrance to the campground. After the other campers pulled away, I parked my car near the water faucet, put my name on the paper, and posted it on the campsite sign. Then I waited for a ranger to show up and take it from there. After a night of trying to sleep in my compact car all I wanted to do was set up my tent, put my sleeping pad and blanket inside, and crawl in after them.
But…first I wanted to be sure that the space was mine for the next several days. I was still deciding whether I should try to get a backcountry site, thinking it would be less crowded, or stay in the public campground.
I unpacked some breakfast foods, pulled out my camp stove, and made tea. Not long after that, a ranger came along and turned on the faucet…and left it running. What was he thinking? Twenty minutes later the ranger came back, explaining that he had to leave the tap running so he could test the
POWER STATION
Seattle City Light, Highway 20 near Newhalem, Washington water purity. Filling test tubes as he talked, he went over the park rules, then moved on to other duties.
The bathroom was right across from my parking area. How convenient. The water was right by my car. There was no fire ban, so I started to scrounge around for small twigs and larger downfall. (Several days later I found a sign saying not to gather wood in the campsites. By that time I had moved on to searching the access road running next to the highway.) And I had brought some firewood with me.
After making breakfast I put the food back in the trunk of my car…again, how convenient. I didn’t have to hang my food. I took out my Kindle and Sudoku and also played some Farkle, a dice game I am addicted to. The campground was coming to life. People were breaking camp, and always there was another carload of people right there to grab the empty space. Another ranger told me I could camp here for ten days. It looked like a plan to me.
I needed a few essentials so I decided to go to the store later. It was about
WARMTH AND COMFORT
It isn't camping without a campfire. It isn't often...the weather has to be damp enough that forest fire-threat is low. fifteen minutes away. I was so tired from the week in Mexico and the discomfort of the night before, I crawled into my sun-warmed tent and slept till dusk. I drove to the little store, then crossed the street to a restaurant and had dinner while charging my phone. This was turning into a real vacation.
My little tent seemed pretty insubstantial sitting next to my car. I moved it back into some bushes so people looking for a tent site would not drive over it. I knew there were bears in the area and made sure no food or smelly items were in my tent or left out on the table. Then I went to bed.
The next morning I packed up my backpack and drove to the nearest hiking trail access. I wanted to scope out tent sites that were deeper in the wilderness and see how my knee would handle real hiking. I took a wrong turn and lost the trail, meandering between occupied tent sites. The area was on a slope, and very soon my knee was telling me I shouldn’t get too anxious about hiking any serious distance. I finally found my way
LADDER CREEK FALLS
There has been a light show here in Newhalem, WA since the 1920's. back to the trail, and then to my car. I decided I would stay in my campground and accept my medical limitations. I set up a nice schedule…just sleeping, rising, meal preparations, and eating. I visited with the changing groups of people occupying the nearby tenting areas. Of course, I read a lot of books and wrote in my journal.
I went to the Ranger Station to see what day hikes were near. I left with several brochures outlining what trails were in the area, and their difficulty. I called my friend Charlene and asked her to come up and visit me for a few days. Ten days later my daughter told me she was coming on Saturday with a friend and my food supply.
Late Friday morning Charlene arrived and we walked to the river. It was so close. We sat visiting for an hour or two. Then went back to the campsite and set up my other tent for her things. We made dinner and played some games.
The next morning Charlene was not so chipper. She has back and knee trouble and camping proved more strenuous than she enjoyed. We went to the local
restaurant and had a good breakfast, although the Covid precautions were considerable; plastic utensils, paper plates, and masks were required. When we got back to camp Lauren and Lisa were there. My campsite was spacious enough to accommodate two more one-man tents.
After dinner, we drove to Seattle City Light Power House. We crossed the suspension bridge spanning the Skagit River, in the dark, and searched for the lighted trail leading to Ladder Creek Falls. Several bends of the creek are lit with changing colored lights. The shadows and surrounding forest are a bit eerie. The mist from the creek makes the boardwalk and wooden steps slippery so use caution in the dark. There are many opportunities for photos.
The weather had changed and there was a fire ban in effect so we had to sit around in camp chairs and pretend we had a campfire. The mosquitoes soon drove us into our separate tents.
Lauren and Lisa took off early the next morning for a long steep hike. Charlene and I took a nice hike through the woods complete with informative signs explaining the types of trees and wildlife in the area. We sat by the
...AND RED
It is really fun to watch the lights. river for a while. Then she had to return home.
Lauren, Lisa, and I made plans for a scenic hike the next morning. The Sauk Mountain Trail was very steep but not too difficult and offered astounding views. Surprisingly my knee did not bother me, but we weren’t caring heavy packs. We were back in camp before dark.
My guests went back to our hometown at the crack of dawn. It is a two-and-a-half-hour drive, and they had to work the next day. The burn ban was lifted just after they left, so I had a campfire each evening. I stayed another week and a half, enjoying the weather and the solitude. The day I left for home it started to rain.
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