Well, today's the last day of spring break. I've tried to go hiking and wanted to go camping, but the weather just hasn't cooperated. It's been sunny at times, but there's just too much snow on the ground. But I still TRIED! Here's my story:

Last spring break came about mid-April. Though the winter had been more dismal, with more precipitation, it seemed that those couple of extra weeks really made a difference, because there was a LOT less snow than this time. Any snow at this time if year is just miserable - it's all heavy and wet. You can't hike in it, and you can't drive through it. It just kind of sits there as if to say, "I'm not having any fun, so you can't either!"

My first attempt was Mt. Cheam. This is my third time driving up to that mountain. The first time I was stopped about 7 miles from the trailhead by slimy, slushy snow. The second time I was stopped almost the exact same place by a water bar (we were in Toni's car). The time I made it past both of those places by about 1/2 mile before getting stuck in 8" of slushy snow. Imagine trying to drive through 8" of ICEE - except it's not blue. So that was disappointing. On top of it, the clouds rolled in and I couldn't see the sunset or get the pictures that I went there for - real bummer. So I went somewhere else.

This time it was Chehalis Lake. This is an area I'm familiar with. This is where Evan and I spent spring break last year. We read about this great little lake called Statlu Lake. It's about 5mi. above Chehalis Lake. There was a road to Chehalis and a 4x4 trail about 3 miles up toward Statlu. We packed up our bags expecting to make base camp at Statlu and spend 3-4 days making day hikes from there. Maybe that happens in some parallel dimension where everything goes as planned. That's not what happened here.

Long before we ever got to Chehalis, we got stuck at a washed out bridge. We decided not to let that stop us, so we hike the 30km to Statlu. At the end of day one, however, we realized we didn't pack nearly enough food. So we started rationing. Day two we reached Statlu, but it started raining (by this time we were well above the snowline, and there wasn't much to do in the way of day-hikes, especially in the rain). Morning of day three we gave up and broke camp. We ate the rest of our food on the hike back, and were still starving when we reached the truck. 3 days and 50+ km. I'll never forget that one...

I was remembering all these things on my way to Chehalis this past week. My plan was to drive to the Northern camp and get pictures of the sun setting over the lake and mountains. I knew this might not happen because of a giant mudslide that took out a large portion of the road back in December.

They'd been doing a lot of fresh clear-cutting in the region. Portions of the road were closed from 7am to 5pm because of the lumberjacks. Technically, I wasn't supposed to drive through there, because it was only 4:30, but I decided to take my chances.

When I got to the bridge that had washed out the previous year, I was happy to see that it had been repaired. Somehow, it didn't surprise me in the least to find a large yellow gate with a big red sign reading "closed until further notice." I suppose it would have been strange if things had gone as planned. So I parked my truck and walked up to the gate. That's when I noticed that it wasn't bolted.

Now I don't think I'm really that different than any of you. If put in a similar situation, I'm sure you'd do exactly what I did - I opened the gate and drove through! I mean, it wasn't locked - how was I to know it didn't just blow closed? I'm sure 300lb steel gates blow closed all the time! Of course I didn't want to make a scene, so I closed the gate behind me and went on my merry way. About 1/2 way along my merry way, my brain playing out nearly every possible (and impossible) scenario I could conceive! What if there's workers up here repairing the damage done by the slide? Will I get fined? They'd have to call the police out - surely it's not worth it, they'll probably just chew me out. What if it's a trap? What if the forrest service is tired of people trespassing so they left the gate unlocked and hid in the woods, waiting for an unsuspecting trespasser and then they rush out and lock the gate behind them? What would I do if I got locked in? I've seen big trucks try and break through these gates, there's no way my tacoma could force it open. Maybe I could cut it - except I don't have a metal saw. Maybe I should carry one of those metal saws with me for situations like these. After all, they're so frequent... What if I could pick the lock? That's far less destructive and easier. Then I could get through ALL of the gates across BC! What a splendid idea! When I get home, I'll google lock picking - that is, if I get home... No saw, no lock picking skills, how will I get out? If only I had some C4!

I know, all the girls that are reading this are like, "What in the world, this guy needs to get real." But I can assure you, this is normal. All the guys reading this had thought of blowing the gate open with C4 long before I mentioned it!

So I turned around and went back to the gate. I wasn't about to give up on my adventure though, so I just opened it and left it open so whoever else might be in there would realize that someone had come in behind them and they wouldn't leave and lock me in - at least I hoped not... Instead they might call search and rescue, and that would be even worse!

It took me about 15 minutes to cover the same amount of territory that Evan and I hiked in 3 hours last year. And I wasn't even driving all that fast. 1/2 the time I was fighting my way through 10-12" of off-white ICEE. There were some downed trees along the road too. I pulled one out of the way, and drove over another. When I made it to the first bridge I was disappointed to see a large tree that had fallen on the other side. That proved to be the end of my trip. I got out and got some snapshots of the waterfall. They turned out really nice.

I suppose I could have drug the tree out of the way with my truck. I did have my tow-rope with me, but that idea didn't occur to me until later. Even then, I'm not sure I could have made it through the snow - it was getting pretty heavy. So I turned around and headed back.

Along the way, my mind was dreaming up what I might find when I got back to the Chehalis bridge. Would there be anyone there? Would I be locked in? Would be police be waiting for me with the SWAT team and helicopters?

When I rounded the last corner my heart went into my throat for a moment. There was a whole line of trucks on the bridge waiting to get out. "These must be workers from some side-road that came out after I'd passed by", I thought to myself. That means I made it out just in time! 10 more minutes and I'd have been locked in for the night - or the whole weekend! As I drove up behind them I noticed two ATVs.

"That's kind of strange" I thought, "I wouldn't think workers would be on ATVs." Then someone on the back of one of the ATVs turns around and looks at me. The following conversation took place in my mind in about 21/100ths of a second:

"Act like you're one of the crew."

"What's that mean? What does the 'crew' look like?"

"Construction workers - they look kind of scruffy and unkept."

"I do look kind of scruffy, but I think my Colorado plates would give me away."

"Maybe they won't notice that. Just act nonchalant."

"I could just play the dumb American, 'I'm sorry, I can't understand you, I no speaka Canadian.'"

"Maybe I'll just glare at them. If they think I'm mean they won't ask questions."

Turns out to be a girl, and she smiled and waved. So I smiled and waved back - so much for glaring... Then I realized that these were all trespassers, and we were all here illegally. Suddenly my heart sank. I thought I was on this grand adventure, doing something totally illegal that I could really get in trouble for, and I was really sticking it to Big Brother... But this happens all the time. People always open the gate and go 4x4ing. Big Brother doesn't care. That gate is probably never locked.

So my quest for a great adventure continues. One of these day's - one of these days...

Some of the clear cutting.

The gate - pretty intimidating, eh?

More of the clearcut.

The pictures of the waterfalls will go up in my portfolio tomorrow!