By Nicky Ducommun, Guest Blogger and former WNPF employee
One of the few highlights of the strange summer of 2020 was a lovely hike I, my husband Brad, and good friend Yuly took in Olympic National Park. Yuly is Russian but has been in the States for many years, and is an avid supporter of all things American, including our national parks. He loves to get out for a good hike.
We hiked on August 14th which I thought might be late to see wildflowers, but we were NOT disappointed. At an elevation of about 6,000 feet on the Badger Valley Trail, we were surrounded by a spectacular display of blooming mountain flowers. The trail is a nice, nine-mile (strenuous) loop at the end of Obstruction Point Road. We hiked down the Grand Valley Trail and came back up to the parking lot on the Badger Valley Trail. (Don’t expect to see badgers on this trail – there are no badgers in ONP. The valley was named for a Mr. Badger, an early settler or explorer in the area.)
Two things impressed me about this hike: One, the wildflowers were in peak bloom along the Badger Valley Trail, and it was gorgeous! Blooms included lupine, magenta paintbrush, Olympic aster, daisies, cobweb thistles, bistort and more. The only thing that would have improved the loveliness of the blooms was for the sun to peek out which, unfortunately, it did not. I can truly say that it was the most intense wildflower display I’ve ever seen, as we were literally wading through a sea of varied blooms.
The other thing I pondered was my friend Yuly’s total lack of preparedness for high altitude, strenuous hiking. Yuly enjoys traveling light, carrying just a small student backpack, wearing sneakers, and not having extra layers. I knew his protection for rain and cold would be based on what it looked like in the morning when we set out from Port Townsend, as he enjoys hiking in shorts and a light sweater. Knowing this, we brought an extra Gortex jacket, long johns and knit hat, and insisted that he put these into his pack. We tried to think about extra water, food and tarps in our packs just for emergencies; he did bring an umbrella, and always has snacks and a small bottle of water.
Yuly is from a large city in Central Russia — another land, another culture. However, his family could walk for 15 minutes and be in a forest resort with a small inn, nearby pond and dam. During Soviet times, workers could get a voucher to go there for a week. On past the resort was a dense pine forest where the family would go to gather mushrooms, all within an easy walk of his apartment building.
Maybe, because of his upbringing, Yuly was not considering the many dangers that lurk just beyond our enjoyment of the outdoors in a high elevation setting in the Pacific NW. Our scenarios include quickly moving cold fronts, slippery snow fields, and ample opportunities to break a leg, fall off a cliff, get hypothermia or simply get lost.
Knowing that Yuly works in the arts and doesn’t make much money, I don’t expect him to purchase the type of gear we have accumulated in our lifetime of outdoor exploration. Does that mean I should provide him with the things that he doesn’t think he needs? Should I be shopping the sales for him for clothing and gear? I imagine all the things that could happen on a nine-mile alpine hike, and I think I can’t NOT provide extra gear, even if Yuly doesn’t think about these things! I know that one person’s unpreparedness can endanger the whole party, and I know that help is far away and communication with the outside world is difficult. How do I impress these things upon someone else?
Brad and I start to pick up odds and ends at sales or thrift shops when we think of it, especially when we see something that (in our minds) Yuly needs. Actually, I think his next Christmas present will be an REI gift card to help him buy a bigger day pack, and stock it with some of the 10 essentials. I know he likes to hike light, but we’ve now had some good conversations about preparedness and I think he’s on board. He even says he is considering purchasing hiking boots after some of our conversations.
Yuly said the best things about our hike last August were the views of the mountains peeking out through the fog, and that “good company matters!” (although he doesn’t want to discourage someone from hiking alone as well). If you’d like more information on how to hike safely, check out: How to get started and enjoy the trails or Best Hiking Essentials!