Nina and I had a great conversation today about balance. How do you know when you're being a big baby and just need to push through the discomfort vs. you're doing something dangerous and/or hurting yourself? Nina struggles with these issues with her running, and I face these questions when I'm hiking alone.
The Wallowas are pretty remote, and I was the only car at the trailhead for my hike. It's still pretty early in the season to be hiking here, so I expected solitude.
I did not expect the snow.
The trail climbed 2000 feet for the first two miles along the Lostine River.
I had about a mile of pleasantness, and then emerged from the forest to the most beautiful view. Unfortunately, this is also where the snow started.
At first, it was just annoying. But as the snow got deeper, it became more of a situation. Sometimes I'd step and my leg would sink in thigh deep. I fell down a lot. There were parts that were steeply angled and I had to step carefully so I didn't go flying down the hill.
Then I saw this.
I'm assuming it's an avalanche field, because I could see where the snow had come from and it was all dirty and filled with rocks and debris (unlike the other snow). I'm not into mountaineering, so who knows? I could be wrong. But either way, it made me uneasy.
I continued trudging through the snow for about three miles. There would be like, 50 yards of snow followed by maybe 20 feet of trail, so at least navigation wasn't an issue. But that uneasy feeling wouldn't go away. And then I got to a particularly large snow field, and right in the middle of it I starting noticing the sound of running water underneath me. This snow was definitely not stable. So, I finally listened to that voice that was saying "Danger, Will Robinson!" and turned around.
(Just had to Google that quote... Couldn't remember what it was from. The answer is Lost in Space. I learned that that phrase only actually occurs once in the show, and that there is a band by the same name. Interesting.)
(This is what the snow looked like on other parts of the trail... The underneath was all melting away. I'm guessing that's what I was standing on.)
I don't know if there actually was any danger. Like I said, I'm not a mountaineer so I don't know anything about hiking in snow. But even a sprained ankle would be a bad scene since I was 6 miles away from my car, so I decided to err on the side of caution.
This is never a fun decision. I am still wondering- was I being a big baby? Or was it smart to turn around? I will have to ask an expert. But no regrets- I'm still glad I did this hike! The Wallowas are amazing. They were formed by glaciers, so it looks like Oregon stole some of the Sierra's from CA. I will be back someday!
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