The morning of the final day was a little bittersweet. We were happy it was our final day of hiking but we were sad to leave everyone and this experience. We all wanted showers and a real bathroom for sure but then could we just come back?
Before we started hiking for the day, Dawna gathered us all around and showed us the map of the trail we had hiked over the past week. Looking at the map and the grand plan of the hike after experiencing it, just made it more spectacular in my mind.
We had covered so much ground and had learned so much along the way. Not only about the terrain and how to filter water but about ourselves and the girls we were with.
Well it was time to begin our final hike. Our end goal for the day was to make it back to the trucks. Our packs were a little lighter which was nice and we had smiles on our faces. We also knew we had about 10 more miles to hike that day though and it would not be easy.
The steak dinner we had the night before gave us the energy we needed. Today we decided to all stick together for the most part instead of splitting into two groups. Because of this, I got to know some of the girls in the other group a little better.
We followed the river most of the way and it was really pretty. Then the trail turned up the mountain as we climbed to go up and over it. While walking we spotted these prints in the mud:
No they were not the prints of a dog, they were the prints of a big wolf... and they were pretty fresh... This gave us all a little start and we kept looking around watching for the wolf. I just knew it would jump out at us from the rocks above. This was another reason why we decided to all stick together this day. Luckily no wolf attacks happened. I think the reason we didn't see any big wildlife this week was because we were a little too loud with all of our talking, laughing, and singing. Oh well.
At the top of the trail, we came across this cool lookout point that looked over the river and a waterfall.
We all stopped and rested for a while so we could admire the incredible view. The water was rushing so fast and it was loud. Some of the more adventurous girls hiked down to the river and were able to get a better look at the waterfall. We could see it from above but the view was obstructed a little by boulders. The girls came back and reported about the awesome sight and said they could feel the water spray.
When we started this hike a week ago, the girls found out that the Datwyler's were also out on horseback hiking through the wilderness somewhere. All of the girls were hoping to catch a glimpse of Spencer at some point along the trail. Well all of their hopes and dreams came true on this last day as Spencer and his dad passed us along the trail! It was so funny to watch the girls just stand a little straighter and smooth their matted hair and bat their eyelashes as he rode by. Spencer was totally oblivious and just rode on passed without even looking our way! Inside I had to laugh so hard. Just seeing a boy that was not Chet or Casey after a week just made their day!
We ate lunch near this cool bridge. All of the girls wanted to dip their feet in the water while we were here. We made sure to fill all of our water bottles because it was going to be a long dusty trail the rest of the way. After crossing the bridge we would be going away from the river.
The craziest thing for me was noticing the direction the water was flowing. All week the rivers have been running left to right or north to south. But this river under the bridge was flowing the opposite way. It was going right to left and west to east. I stared at the water for quite a while before asking if I was going crazy. Shawn said I was not going crazy and the river was flowing a different direction because it was a different river. As we crossed the bridge, we could look down and see where this river flowed into the main river we had been following and then start flowing the "correct" direction. I don't know why, maybe exhaustion, but that was mind-blowing to me at the time!
After the bridge was a very steep climb. Like on the climb to the Crater Lake Overlook, we just put our nose to the ground and plugged along up the hill. There was not much talking, we all went at our own pace and didn't stop until we got to the top. It was steep and very warm but we made it. That was one of our last steep inclines. The trail from there followed along the mountain line through the trees and finally crested at the top. From there, we could look out and see for miles.
We could see the three peaks of the Grand Tetons in the distance. We could also see the meadow where we had parked the trucks. We were almost there! The rest of the trail was downhill to the meadow.
The downhill was a nice change and the landscape started to look familiar. At the crossroads, we could either continue straight and make the 50 mile trek all over again or we could turn left and head back to the truck! We, of course, chose to go left. The final climb up the Dug-way proved to be our final trial. Once again we took our own pace and didn't look back or stop until we had reached the parking lot. We all seemed to stagger in one at a time but that was okay. Each time we saw a girl come through the trail head gates, we would cheer and cheer for them! We had made it! We accomplished our goal! We fought the good fight and finished our course! We hiked 10 miles this day getting us pretty close to 50 miles for the week.
We all just dropped our packs and breathed a sigh of relief. Dawna laughed at our sweaty backs and took a picture of us. After resting for a minute, we all rushed to the water spigot and literally started "bathing!" The soap and water spit bath never felt so good! We also changed into cleaner clothes and some girls washed their hair.
For me, I was so happy to see that nasty pit toilet that I didn't even care how dirty it was, I just sat down and signed with relief at the comfort of sitting on a toilet seat!
Dawna and Casey had the horses loaded and ready to leave by the time we got back so they wanted to hit the road. The hikers were too busy getting clean to care about driving 4 hours though. Finally the trucks started pulling out so we knew we had better get in if we wanted a ride home. On the way home, we stopped in Jackson to get a Subway. The real food tasted really good!
I thought we would sleep the whole ride home but we were too busy laughing. Once again we were entertained by Miss Rosie. Dawna also gave us a CD to listen to on the ride home. Well the CD was full of silly kid songs and we all laughed at every song. Casey was going crazy listening to all of the songs which made it even funnier. He finally yanked the CD out of the player and said "Oh darn the CD player is broken!"
We finally made it home and Emily and I could not stop telling all of the fun stories about the trip. The warm shower felt amazing and my nice soft bed welcomed me home!
This was a very memorable trip and I am so glad I had the opportunity to participate in this High Adventure. I am grateful to our neighbor, Kurt, for letting us borrow all of his backpacking gear like his tent, sleeping bags, and a backpack. We could not have done it with out his expert tips and tricks. We are also grateful for Dawna and all of the time and effort she put in to getting us ready, setting everything up, and taking care of us on the trip. It wouldn't have happened without her. This is something I will always remember. I am glad I was able to spent this time with Emily. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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