If you started in Seattle and drove for a day it would be
difficult to find a more strenuous hike than Mailbox Peak. Located 5 miles
outside of the town of North Bend, it is a 6 mile out and back with 4,000 feet
of elevation gain. You don’t know what that means until you’ve done it. I’ve
hiked mailbox in August and March and I wanted to see what it would be like in
November.
I had a late start and didn’t begin the ascent until 2 PM.
As I passed group after group coming down— each flushed and fulfilled-looking—I
grew more and more nervous. No one else was going up. The last group of hikers
asked if I had a flashlight. “Oh yes,” I replied jauntily as if I were perfectly
confident and did this all the time.
I reached the summit just as the sun was setting (not that it
was visible because I was inside a cloud.) Immediately I began the descent. About
the time that I was slipping on ice and tripping on roots I remembered that I
hadn’t changed my flashlight battery in three years. In good conditions it take
two hours to climb down, but in the pitch dark it was almost impossible to move
from blaze to blaze. In a matter of minutes I had lost the trail.
If I had a brain at all I would have immediately turned
around and found the last blaze, but I blundered on, sure that I would find the
next one soon enough. I crashed through thickets and tripped over branches
until I finally had to admit to myself that I was completely lost. Pulling out
my compass I wandered southwest for about two hours.
It is amazing how quickly a person can lose their wits when
they are lost in the woods. I felt completely demoralized and had to force
myself to continue. Every part of me wanted to sit down and wait the night out.
I guess this is how Frodo and Sam felt.
Just when I was deciding to spend the night under a log I
came across a trail. Not the right one, but it was going down. I followed it
for an hour and it eventually spit me out at a road. From there I was able to
find the car and drive, wet, muddy and ashamed back home.
Hiking is fun but please be safe!
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