Tochi's Hut

A few months ago, the idea of a visit to Seattle (PAX) was being tossed around, MrMonk and I got onto the topic of camping.  After some brainstorming, MrMonk stumbled onto McGregor Mountain Trail in the North Cascades.  Description read:

"Are you sure you want to do this when there's a nice bakery in Stehekin instead?"

The trail was a challenge for sure.  But if we could summit it, it'll be a life-defining moment.  Kung and BlueOrca soon signed on for the trip.  Preparations began.

Original plans called for 4 days of camping.  Day 1 - Ferry into Stehekin, camp at High Bridge.  Day 2 - Scale McGregor.   Day 3 - Descend from McGregor.  Goode Trail or just chill.  Day 4 - Leave Stehekin.

Given the flight fiasco through which BlueOrca (missing baggage that didn't arrive until afternoon of Day 1) and I (stuck in Vancouver for a day) suffered, Day 1 was essentially lost.  Fortunately, the third camping day was flexible, so we decided to forgo the plans that day, and turn this trip into a 3 day McGregor adventure.

Kung summed up our adventures pretty well in his posts.  A great read with more (and better) photos.  I'll focus my commentaries on the little aspects of the trip that I find special.  Ping me if you want to see a quick photo album of the trip.

August 18, 2007 - Day 1

Arrived in Seattle.  Got to MrMonk's shack.  Meet up with Kung and BlueOrca, who were starved.  First thing I noticed was the various geocoins and TB's on the table.  Could not have expect anything less from the legendary BlueOrca! 

MrMonk took us to this "not so good" Pancake place in Kirkland.  Food turned out to be pretty good.  They were able to entice MrMonk with some free pie while waiting for a table.  The FIVE eggs baked omelette (never tried baked before) that MrMonk ordered, which caused us to wait FOREVER for our food, was also very good.

Geocaching in Kirkland to pass time.  MrMonk showed us the Kirkland library and a certain book in there.  BlueOrca and I were tempted, but we resisted!  Went off to the Kirkland Lakefront area.  Quite beautiful.  General coordinates were given to hunt for a nano cache.  BlueOrca made the find after about 10 minutes.  I leeched and signed my name in the logbook too.  A nano cache is quite cool the first time you see it.  Good thing the next free spot to sign was relatively far out in the scroll.  I won't want to have to roll that entire strip of paper.

Couple shooting wedding photos.  MrMonk was acting paparazzi and stole a shot.  I almost caught a "clueless" shot of a guy scratching his head on the pier - the shot would have made my day.  Sat down on the bum-and-feet prints near the water steps.  Mr. Duck came by and posed for TochiCam. 

The boat loading dock had this foot-long metal pole that stuck out from the ground, which acted like a gate.  If you had the badge access, the pole goes down into the ground!  Prevents unauthorized vehicles from unloading their boats here.  Pretty nifty!

Back to MrMonk mobile, a.k.a. Barney.  Barney was parked on a slight incline.  MrMonk released the brakes and Barney almost dove right into the parked car in front of it.  Gave Kung a near heart attack.  MrMonk took the incident like it was nothing.  I was in the back thinking, if Barney gets injured, Team McGregor will be screwed!  Hang in there Barney!!!

Picked up BlueOrca bags from airport, fully loaded Barney and off to Leavenworth.  Took Steven's Pass.  That hill up was pretty cool.  Must be freaky to drive down in Winter though.  Leavenworth is webcam cache and German town.  Feels right like we're in Germany - a Black Forest feeling.  Important things first, webcam cache before it got too dark.  Kung called mission control and handed me the phone.  I was put through to TheDragOnfruitS.  This was the first time I'd ever spoke to an Icelandic - never knew what they sounded like!  "Do you see the mini-van?" "Yes, I see a guy in white and 3 other people" "YES YES YES!! THAT BE US!".

Dinner at MrMonk's favourite King Ludwig's.  The menu was pretty complicated, especially with all the German food selections.  Then we spotted the feast for four.  A bit of everything on a big platter.  Yes, sign us up!  Passed time by taking photographs on this set of Leavenworth salt/pepper shakers and toothpick holder.  Feast was very good.  I thought the food was a bit cold, but nevertheless very tasty.  Ironically, last time MrMonk and I had dinner, it was also German/Hungarian food at the Schnitzel House. 

Went around afterwards to take many photos of Leavenworth and its storefronts.  Hunted for a geocache with the clue "Innsbruck" - name of an Austrian city.  I had asked if it was in some rocks.  Was going back to Barney to get more light support when Kung made the find.  It was in those rocks!  I finally got the clue afterwards.

MrMonk continued on to Chelan to look for a campground.  BlueOrca and I were in the back suffering from food coma.  MrMonk stopped in two gas stations, only to be ignored by people inside the locked stores, who "clearly" saw him.  Got directions to a state park from third gas station, only to be stopped by park ranger in front.  It was then that I saw this BAT fly under a street lamp.  Instead of a normal bird that flap its wings, the bat moves as if its wings were hinged, and its body/head bobbled up and down.  It was such a weird eerie sight.  The image is still burnt into my mind.

MrMonk managed to find an RV-park, where we could stay for $10 for the night.  We picked our tents near the entrance and zzz'd for the night.

August 19, 2007 - Day 2

I've heard so much about RV-parks from my former neighbour, who owned an RV.  These parks were apparently very abundant in the States and well-equipped.  I'd never been to or noticed one before though.  Got up in the morning, had to leak.... went to find the restrooms.  The washrooms were surprisingly clean (expect for the scattered curly fries on the ground).  There was running water and most importantly, it didn't smell.  Scouted the RV-park a bit, found out that the park even had Wi-Fi!!  wow.  MrMonk decided to make a quick getaway before the RV park staff arrived, so we don't have to pay the overnight fee.

Got to Lady of the Lake ferry.  The main lot had Day Parking signs and Barney didn't know where to park.  Ended up in the Chelan airlines parking lot.  The cars in there have been sitting there for ages.  Cobwebs on the door handles.  MrMonk went to get tickets while we roamed around.  Chelan airlines comprises of a single propeller sea plane.

We saw two potential boats for the Lady Express, which we'll be riding.  One was a old double-deck steel boat, the other was a single deck enclosed boat that resembled a primitive version of the Hong Kong - Macau hover boats.  In my heart, I was hoping it would be the latter, but logic told me it'd end up being the former.  Logic prevailed again. sigh. 

Starbucks for breakfast which caused Barney to lose her lake view parking spot.  She found another one though. 

Boarded the Lady Express.  This was it.  There's no turning back.  Two jetskiers followed us behind the boat, performing some little tricks.  Took some photos.  Sat down and read the Stehekin newspaper and brochures.  Lake Chelan is the third deepest lake in the USA.  McGregor was described as a good day hike.  -_-;

Passed by Lucerne area of Lake Chelan, where firefighters were battling the Domke Lake forest fire.  6800 acres burnt already.  We didn't see any real flames, just a lot of smoke, which blended into the clouds.  A burnt smell filled the air though.  A National Forest Service lady was there to explain stuff to us.  Forest fire battling knowledge +10 levels.  I never knew those water dropping airplanes and copters weren't meant to put out fires, only to lower intensity and increase humidity.

Soon after, Team McGregor arrived in Stehekin.  A quick group photo, we got to the Visitor Center to get our stamps!!!  Got my first set of BLUE PNW stamps - Pacific Crest Trail, Lake Chelan NRA and North Cascades NP.  :):):).  Team lead went to register and get our permit.  We told them we planned to scale McGregor.  The park rangers took this very light-heartedly.  I was half expecting some strong warning or advice saying it'll be a tough hike.  The park ranger told us she just scaled McGregor to Heaton Camp in 5.5 hours.  She was apparently going slowly, stopping constantly to bird watch.  I was dismayed and shocked.  McGregor was suppose to be a CHALLENGE.  The Park Ranger lady did sternly warn us about one thing... watch out for BABY FROGS.  I was expecting downed trees or forest fire, etc.  More on that later.

Some guy saw our passports, and decided to get one for himself.  Park ranger asked me to explain the stamps and stickers to him.  The guy took one of the chops and made a horrible stamp.   He didn't press hard enough.  I cringed.. my entire body shook.  The guy was like.. oh well, I'll do better next time.  We ended up spending so much time at the visitor center, we missed the shuttle bus.  Decided to hike to Stehekin Bakery.   1.9 miles.

The bakery was a very welcomed sight!  Had this chicken pocket.  The peppers and spices they used were super good.  Pocket was a bit pricey but well worth the $.  Kind of funny that we've come all this way to camp, but are still having lunch at restaurants/bakeries. 

Continued on our journey.  Drizzling rain the entire day.  Made a quick stop at Rainbow Falls, where MrMonk tried to hide behind a tree for some mysterious reason.  MrMonk went crazy with the camera and got some beautiful photos of the waterfall.  I tried my hand at a few long exposure shots too.

Along the way, noticed sign that said "BOUKNER ORCHARD".  In a moment of inspiration, I mentioned off-hand that if you take out the O and stick in an I to ORCHARD, you get another word.  MrMonk got so excited and even posed with the stand.  We are so silly.

Onward to Harlequin Bridge, cross over to the airstrip.  Threw down the pack and went in search for our Stehekin cache.  MrMonk went halfway, only to remember he forgot the geocoin he wanted to drop off.  The rest of us went ahead and saw his little dot traversing along the airfield.  We waved.  MrMonk didn't wave back.  sigh.

I didn't expect the cache to be in forest (I should have known).  Went in with shorts and t-shirt and was bitten alive by mosquitos.  BlueOrca's GPSr brought us right on target.  Coincidentally, this was my first ammo canister find.  I wonder how long it'll take before the next person comes to find the cache.  Next year?

Beside airfield was a tent.  We peered inside, and saw this awesome map of the area, much more detailed than any map I have seen so far (even more detailed than the $5 trail map).  Read the top and saw it was marked with the fire lines for the Tolo fire that was threatening the area weeks ago.  The firefighters were gone now, but left a big box of alkaline batteries.  Kung could have and should have used some.  MrMonk took out some three-pong structure while we were in the tent.  I don't know the details.

Waited for bus and camped at High Bridge.  Someone was too chicken to be the first to the potty.  Someone else forgot to "flush". ;-)   The cloud ceiling was rather low, so even though we were at the base of McGregor, we couldn't get a good view of the top.  Firewood, tents, campfire.  Blue Ghost dropped by for a visit that night.  MrMonk shone headlamp at TochiCam. 

August 20, 2007 - Day 3

Got up at 7am.  Retrieved packs from bear proof box.  Back at High Bridge and began climb at 8:35am!  The trail to Coon Lake started from the backyard of the ranger post.   Immediately, we came up against a set of switchbacks.  MrMonk, the drill sergeant, set the team on a hardcore pace.  We reached Coon Lake in just over 40 minutes, covering over 1 mile of terrain.  BlueOrca kindly spoke up for the populace and asked for better pacing and more breaks in between!

Baby frogs.  The size of quarters.  They were everywhere.  Tried super hard not to step on them, as per park ranger's stern warning.  It was tough to see these frogs if they didn't move since they blend in well with the ground.  It got to the point where I was thinking that there were so many frogs, a few squished bodies won't affect the survival of their species.  MrMonk commented that the smarter frogs that move will survive.  It's just natural selection!  However, the frogs will stand a much better chance against its natural predators if they don't move and blend in with their environment.  Their species is screwed either way. lol.

Got to waterfall.  Steep little path to base.  As expected, MrMonk got super excited with waterfall and camera.  Kung and I went to refill our water bottles.  The filtered water tasted very refreshing.  Much better than the tap water from MrMonk's shack.  Continued on through a forested area.  BlueOrca and MrMonk went on ahead.  Head on trees.  Lots of water breaks.  Kung dipping into Tochi's water supply.  Kung and I continued up, and caught up to BlueOrca and MrMonk at this plateau.  Got some group photos and the following pseudo-panoramic.  We were only about 1/3 of the way there.  Saw a helicopter making round trips shuttling water drops for forest fire.

Continued on.  More forests.  I was studying some tree trunks about 30-50ft tall.  It took two switchbacks to go over top of those.  Forests soon turned into smaller shrubs and pines.  Ran into 3 hikers on their way down.  They started at 6:30 am and got up to Heaton camp (day hike with backpacks).  We asked them how much more we had to go... "you are almost halfway" /cry.   They told us how beautiful the camp was and wished us luck.   I really wished I didn't have my backpack with me at that stage.  The hikers were so quick and nimble.  I felt like a tank, inching forward ever so slowly while carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders....I'm exaggerating a bit. 

On the way, Kung was thirsty again.  Aside from my camelbak, I had only a 1L bottle of water left.  That bottle was meant for cooking and reserve/backup/emergency use only.  I was a little hesitant at first, but everyone making it up to the top was more important than getting good food at the top.  Decided to dig into the reserve!

Continued up.... found stream by trail.  Trail was rather steep.  MrMonk jumped off the trail into a spot beside the stream (just over 1m off the edge).  Refilled our bottles.  Then it happened.  Little black bag.  I thought it was a water bottle.  Slowly began rolling downhill.  BlueOrca screamed!  It continued rolling, and all of a sudden popped off the edge of the trail.  Took me a second to realize it was her camera bag!!!!  Maybe I was tired, but this felt like one of those slow motion movie moments, when you know something bad is happening, but there's nothing you could do to stop it.  The brain won't think.  The muscles won't move.  Fortunately, the bag got caught in some shrubs over the stream.  Got some hiking poles, MrMonk reached down to hook it up, as BlueOrca anchored me over the edge.  Quite a scare, but everything was okay.  Moving on!

On my way up, I was getting hungry.  We had dug into our granola and power bars quickly on the way up.  I kept on reminiscing about that awesome chicken pocket at the bakery.  I would be willing to pay a fortune for another one at this point.

Terrain got very rocky.  Super big rock slide that we had to cross mid-way.  If there was a rock avalanche, we would be screwed.  A few downed trees.  There were some by Coon Lake, but these ones seemed super annoying.  I didn't know whether to go over top or under them.  Maybe because I was tired.  At one point, it got so windy and rainy that I decided to take my jacket out.  After putting it on, we hiked up another minute only to find MrMonk at our campground. 

The campground looked rather dinky.  There was room for one tent and a campfire pit.  I had read that Heaton camp had enough room for 12 people (2 parties), but this was barely enough room for 4!  However, I had thought I'd seen a picture of Heaton that looks exactly like the semi-circle ring of trees at this camp.  BlueOrca pointed out that this probably isn't the camp, since we were only at 6400 ft (Heaton is at 7000ft), and there was no potty hole!

Decided to take a break.  Kung and BlueOrca went up the rock scramble a bit to scout.  If we wanted to summit McGregor, we had to do it today.  Despite this, MrMonk insisted we have to start a campfire ASAP.  Someone was determined NOT to summit, it seems.   Using starting a fire as an excuse to weasel out!  XD  We also spotted a marmot in the rocks (BlueOrca spotted that first).

Anyway, it was raining.  The clouds and fog were moving in. Visibility dropped to < 100ft.   Will see jack at summit.   Got campfire going by essentially using my stove as a torch!  Set up tent.  Kung's tent was too big for the campsite.  Had to take out one of the poles.   Cooked food quickly.  MrMonk's tent was on the actual trail, against national parks camping regulations.  Ate four packs of freeze dry food.  While not a sweet-and-sour fan, did I mention that the Chicken Polynesian hit the spot, right on? Boiled some "hot water".  

A quick group photo with Signal.  Quick consolation awards presentation.  Two people didn't want to take their hands out and whined a little.  Got rewarded when they did.  Photo with Canadian flag.

Sleeping position was 3 people stacked horizontally down the slope.  I totally expected us to wake up all rolled up together.   BlueOrca drank a cup of hot water.  Bed time at 8.

10pm.  "Hey"  "I need to go." "now?" "yes."  Reason: Hot water.  Headlamp, coldness, rain, outdoors.  Weird way to be woken up at night.  1am.  Again.  Other side. Raining harder.  Downhill this time.  I was stuck in the middle.

August 21, 2007 - Day 4

Our situation is this.  9am shuttle bus will make Express ferry (Chelan @ 2pm).  Noon shuttle bus will make normal ferry (Chelan @ 6pm).  We had APE cache planned for tonight, so getting into Chelan @ 2pm would be our best bet.  New Target: 9am.

Decided to get up at 3am.  Pitch black outside.  I had to scramble to retrieve our garbage bag from ledge.  Debated in tent whether to sleep more and head down at 7am.  Good thing we didn't delay.

Took much longer to pack everything.  Started our descent at 4:30am.  MrMonk, BlueOrca, Kung, Tochi.  Quick pace.  Got to stupid downed trees.  Had to climb over.  Kung slipped once - earned some battle wounds.  The terrain was quite treacherous, as the trails and stones were quite wet.

Then the inevitable happened.  Mr. Kung, in a moment of imbalance, sustained a lower body injury.  Ankle sprained. :-(  BlueOrca took off the tent off Kung and I bear hugged it.  Gave up my hiking poles to the needy.  Went down a bit further.  Sun was coming out.  Kung was suffering.  We could see it.  Redistributed some weight around to rest of team.  BlueOrca won't take Kung's deck of super duper plastic playing cards.  MrMonk became superman by carrying both tents and sleeping bag.  Still like 4000ft to go!

It still amazes me how Kung, after sustaining such an injury, was able to make his way down the mountain unaided.  Kung started going down, and BlueOrca and I followed.  9am was out of question at this point.  Noon was in jeopardy.  The sun was coming out, skies cleared up for a few hours.  Beautiful scenery.  Lots of photos.

BlueOrca wanted to take off her poncho.  Took off glasses, put them into poncho, slid them back out from the side, and put the glasses back on.  O_o.  Silly moments.

Kept on going downhill.  My toes were killing me at this point.  Essentially, all the weight of the gear and my body was forced onto my toes.  I was expecting a blister for sure.  We also had another problem.  I was hungry.  We had only a granola bar and power left at this point.  Had to conserve.  Hiking while hungry doesn't work too well for me.  (Coincidentally, MrMonk and I went to grab the bars at High Bridge.  Out of courtesy, I asked BlueOrca and Kung if they wanted it.  They took up the offer and did not share.  Poor MrMonk and Tochi didn't get food until bakery).

Revisited all the stops we'd seen on the way up.  Caught up to MrMonk at plateau and waterfalls.   Kung picked up more speed as he got closer to the base of the mountain.  It was quite amazing.  His left ankle was swollen, with a bulge half a hard-boiled egg sized. 

Got to Coon Lake, passed baby frogs.   We didn't care about them too much any more.  Kung stood at McGregor Trailhead sign, seemingly lost.  Last 1 mile!!  On the way up, this was the part that MrMonk speed walked us.  On the way back, the trail just kept on going and going.  Probably because the terrain was flatter now, so the weight of the pack is starting to matter again. Kung was super enough to walk without poles!

Got back to High Bridge @ 10:30ish.  MrMonk essentially begged the park ranger's wife to give us a ride back to Stehekin.  Rejected time and time again.  We got confirmation that we did not reach the real Heaton camp, only "our Heaton camp".  So much for only one campsite on the mountain.   We could have actually made the early ferry, but didn't have a way to get to Stehekin.  BlueOrca fell in love with this cat.  

Waited for shuttle.  These two guys got off the bus when it arrived.  They started from Mexico and decided to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail into Canada.  6 to 7 months journey.  They are in Washington now.  Quite impressive.  However, if I had 6 to 7 months to travel, I won't pick the PCT.  

Stop at bakery.  Ran inside hunting for chicken pockets.  SOLD OUT.  /cry x10.  Got some ham and bacon thing.  I wolfed it down.  It was pretty good, but I didn't taste much of it.  Not as good as the pocket.  *grumble*

Got back into Stehekin.  Group picture with cheesewagon.  Got ice for Kung.  HUGE bag of ice received.  Went up to Visitor Center.  Got brochure with stamps.  Lounged around until ferry.  Group photo with bag of ice.  Got on ferry.  Beautiful weather now.  Got to see forest fire at Domke Lake.  Actual flames!  Heard National Forest Service guy talk about protecting a $40k toilet that is loved by all from the forest fire.   I thought it was quite stupid and a waste of fire fighting resources, but what do I know.  Basked outside in the warm sun.  Snoozed for a few hours.  Returned to Chelan.

Got into Barney, drove to Wenatchee.  Geocaching stops on the way.  Big bad wolf cache along Columbia River.  Rock slope hid cache.  Did not find.  Saw awesome rainbow.  12mm lens just barely enough (18mm @ 35mm equivalent) to capture entire rainbow.  Our luck is finally turning!!!

Dinner at Applebee's.  Short Ribs feast.  I was so tired, that I didn't even want to eat.  The ribs were rather bad.  Kung and I drained our Pepsi really quickly though.  Next stop, letterbox.  Quick find.   BlueOrca and MrMonk's first letterbox.  Then, the infamous APE cache.

APE geocaches were created as part of the Planet of the Apes movie promotion in 2001.  Now there are only 2 remaining - this one in Washington and another in Brazil.  BlueOrca pretty much insisted that we had to do it.  We had all our camping gear, including poles and headlamps.  We are about as prepared as we'll ever be.  Got to trailhead at 11:30pm.  One can read the cache details for more info on our adventures.  Essentially, we spent 1.5 hrs following the wrong road, coming across a treacherous river (that we thankfully, decided not to cross), and high-power lines with a little trail that led to nowhere.  Went back to car with the option of giving up, or doing the long way (which meant 3 miles hike one way through a train tunnel).  This was when MrMonk spotted the real trailhead for Annette Lake.  In the dark, we didn't see the smaller entrance before!  Started on the right path at 1:05am, almost took a wrong turn again because MrMonk and I were fooled by this deceiving little arrow (it was really pointing up, instead of to the right).   BlueOrca caught that mistake and we were on our merry way.  Found cache at 2am.  It was a huge ass ammo can, with PROJECT APE written on top.  So cool.  Definitely a geocaching adventure to remember.   Took lots of low resolution pictures (it's okay!) of the find.  BlueOrca went and collected all the TB info.  Returned to car at 3:12 am, and MrMonk somehow managed to stay awake long enough to get us back to his shack just past 4am.

 End of McGregor 2007.

Recap

We could have used only one stove.  I did not use a single sheet of TP.  Kung brought enough wet naps.

In retrospect, it was really amazing how many obstacles we had to overcome on this trip.  The flight delays, the weather, the aches and pains, the camera bags, the ankles, the knees, the backpacks, the sweat, the ponchos, the laughter.  So much emotions packed into 4 days of adventure.  So hard to describe.  As they say, no one ever remembers when things go smoothly.  The true experience comes from grinding through the hardships.  We certainly did that on this trip!  A true Team McGregor effort.

P.S.  I still don't know for sure what the past tense of "forgo" is.  Forgone or Forwent?