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"You solo out here?" That's gutsy.
"Yeah, all the time." Tyler grinned. "Except this year—been busy with this gig—but in past years, yeah. And I'll probably travel to South America this winter. I'll be alone there, at least at first." He smirked. A good-looking, friendly, laid-back guy, Tyler would find a partner quickly if he wanted one.
With Tyler in the lead, they started down the trail. Ryan asked Tyler more questions about his travels. He'd been to a lot of interesting places, and in some downright scary situations, all by himself, both in the US and abroad. At least Ryan had the power of the US military behind him when he'd been in dangerous places.
While they talked, Ryan enjoyed the stark beauty. In places, the builders had literally carved the trail into the jagged, steep, rocky hillsides. A massive wildfire swept through the area a decade ago, leaving dead trees standing in mockery of living groves, the black of the charcoal standing out against the white of the bleached deadwood. Occasionally, they passed small groves of unburned trees, mostly in canyons carved by seasonal streams. They stopped at one of those shady, thickly treed spots for a water break about an hour and a half into the hike. The country was magnificent but scorching in the blazing August sun. Sitting in the scant shade of the tree with squirrels chattering, the tension left Ryan's body for the first time in a long time. Wilderness was good for the soul.
The rest of the group caught up, Erin promising Laura she would share her photos with everyone. Ryan hadn't brought a camera, but he had his phone. He didn't bring an extra battery, though. He put the phone in airplane mode, so it wouldn't look for the non-existent cell signal, and in battery-save mode.
Tyler leaned toward him for a moment, then pulled out his cell phone. "Good idea. I always forget to do that. Everyone, put your cell phone in battery-saver." Suddenly, there was a flurry of swiping.
When everyone had a snack and water, they continued. His pack weighed heavily on Ryan's hips, but the belt was conforming to his body, so tomorrow would be better. The surrounding terrain became impossibly steeper, but the trail remained fairly level, carved into the canyon walls, perched precariously above water-carved valleys hundreds of feet below, with miles of empty territory in every direction. The rocks glowed gold and red, the trees black and white; a rare dark green fir and an occasional light green plant provided respite from the glaring sun. Occasionally, they caught glimpses of the Magruder road as it carved through the wilderness. The corridor was so rugged drivers could rarely traverse it the whole distance, landslides and falling trees blocking it constantly. The chattering of squirrels and the rattle of rocks sliding under their feet were the only sounds. Even under the weight of the pack, Ryan relaxed, leaving his worries behind.
As they hiked farther into the wilderness, the land gradually shifted into gentler slopes. They rounded a bend and crossed a stream, entering an area with a mix of burned and unburned trees.
Tyler stopped. “This is our camp, so take a load off. We’ll wait for the others to join us before we do anything else.”
The rest of the group trickled in, Jules last. She unbuckled her pack. "Okay, folks, this is our first night's camp. Find someplace to put your tent where a tree won't drop on you if the wind picks up. Look for living wood and look up for loose branches. Those things can kill you. We'll put our cooking site here, where there's already a fire ring and some seats somebody cut a long time ago, so make sure you're at least a hundred yards away from here." Jules dropped her pack, groaning. "Leave the group gear here."
Erin dropped her pack next to his. She pulled the group gear and her food stuff sack out of her pack. He did the same and picked the much lighter pack back up. "Where do you think?"
Erin looked around and then up the trail a bit. "How about over there under those living trees?"
"Sure." They returned to the trail, walked a hundred yards, then entered the small but thick stand of unburned trees. Ryan looked up to make sure there weren't any dead branches overhead while Erin did the same, both of them moving, looking from different angles. They put down their packs, and Erin pulled the tent out of hers.
"You were supposed to give me part of that." Ryan scowled. He should have remembered to ask.
She shrugged. "It's not that heavy, but you can take part of it tomorrow." Erin laid it out and set it up, demonstrating so he could do it quickly in the future. It was a typical backpacking tent, long, narrow, and low to the ground, but both sides had entrances with big rain fly overhangs to keep gear and boots dry.
Erin shook out the waterproof rainfly, laying it over the tent. "It's too hot for the fly, but there's always the threat of thunderstorms in August, so better safe than sorry." They attached it but tied back the door flaps to allow airflow. They pulled out their pads, sleeping bags, and headlamps, putting them in the tent, ready for the night. Their bags seemed awfully close together.
As they pulled off their boots, they both groaned. Hiking was amazing but tough on the feet. Dry air wicked away his sweat and hopefully the smell, too. Ryan tossed his socks over a branch to dry, pulled his prosthesis off his pack, and put it on. As they returned to their cooking site, he spotted three more tents within a few yards of theirs. The circle of green they camped in was one of the few spots without hazardous, burned trees. Not much privacy, but since he didn't have a need for privacy, it didn't really matter. He grimaced. Too bad; backpacking was probably even more fun with the right partner for nighttime activities. Then he shoved that thought away. He didn't need that in his head, not when they'd be sleeping so close together.
Near the empty fire ring, Jules and Tyler were heating water over a camp stove and chopping veggies for the meal. Erin squatted next to them. "Can we help?"
Tyler waved a hand. "Nah. We got it. Just relax. I already found a good bear hang to store our food, so no worries."
Erin frowned but sat down. Ryan shrugged and refilled his and Erin's water bottles. Then he refilled the big group water filter at the little stream. He sat on one of the log stools next to Erin.
"How are the new boots and pack?" Erin pointed at his feet.
"Good. I wore the boots for work this week, so they're all broken in, and I've been adjusting the pack a little as I hiked." He'd worn the pack for some workouts too. Ryan rolled his shoulders. Sore, but not screaming.
Dan and Laura returned and filled their bottles. While dinner cooked, they chatted about various backpacking trips in the past. Dan went out a lot with trail maintenance groups; Laura had camped with the Girl Scouts and hiked in college. Erin also went out on trail maintenance trips. Ryan was the least experienced traditional backpacker, but he'd been out on patrol in Afghanistan when the base defense and EOD patrols needed help. Not that he'd be telling the group any details. They probably weren't interested in the finer points of setting perimeter patrols or making MREs edible. Meals Ready to Eat; three lies in one package. Tonight’s coconut rice and black beans with fresh veggies was so much better.
After they ate, Jules offered tea and cocoa. They cleaned up, brushed their teeth, and went off to hang the food and pots where they would be safe from bears and other critters.
"Wish we could have a fire, but the fire danger is too high." Jules hauled on the last rope, pulling the bag high over a sturdy branch.
Laura tied it off for her. "Too bad. Even when it's hot, sitting around a fire is one of the best parts of camping."
"Yeah, and there are s'mores, which you really can't do over a stove flame. Well, you can; I've toasted marshmallows that way, but it's not the same." When they got back to their camp site, Tyler spread out a large topographical map, about three feet square. "Since we can't do that, I'll show you where we're headed tomorrow."
He pointed at the "TH" symbol near the road. "The trailhead was here, and we're headed southwest toward the Salmon River. We're here now." Tyler pointed at the blue line of the stream. "And we'll be camping around this little lake in the Salmon River Breaks for the next two nights. That's about five miles from here, so we'll hike tomorrow, get all set up, then maybe go for a very short day hike to see if we can find this trail." His finger traced a dotted line on the map. "It's only a half a mile or so from where we're camping, but it will be hard to find because the area was badly burned, and there's a ton of downed wood. We'll be looking for blazes, obvious cut wood, and man-made objects like logs set into the trail to divert water and prevent erosion. Then the next day, we'll try to day hike this loop, starting with the trail or trails we find tomorrow, if we find them at all. Either way, it will be challenging. There's no water on this loop, so we'll have to take everything we need." Tyler gazed around the circle at each of them.
"Then the final day, we'll hike the entire way out, which is farther than we usually go in a day, but you guys are all experienced, and we won't have any food or fuel weight. That means we'll get home rather late, but it was the only way we could make this trip work. We wouldn't have tried with a regular group, but we could tell this hike didn't challenge any of you." Tyler looked around the group again.
Jules nodded. "If any of you are uncomfortable with that idea, we can go out tomorrow as planned, do what we can the next morning, then come back to this midway spot and camp, then hike out the next day. That would put us back in Missoula earlier. And we can make that decision tomorrow. Just let one of us know."
