Today Karen and I hiked 7.4 miles in Sage Hills Trails of Wenatchee. The Land Trust bought a one-hundred-sixty acre homestead in the Cascade foothills on the west side of Wenatchee. With millions in donations, they kept buying more land, making Sage Hills Trails stretch from north to south Wenatchee.
Volunteers build trails.The Land Trust created miles of hiking and bicycling trails and a Mule Deer reserve. Protected from development. No hunting or motorized vehicles.
Eight years ago, a massive wildfire burned nearly all the trees and sagebrush in Sage Hills Trails. Volunteers reseeded native wildflowers and other plants. New trail signs were put in place. Karen and I were thrilled to see three new evergreen trees and baby sagebrush growing. With no shade, we can only hike here in early Spring and Fall in cool weather.
Black clouds boiled in from the west. Mountains were hidden by low clouds. We watched in raining in Leavenworth, in the foothills and north of us. But we were in sunshine. Yay!
Golden grasses include wheat from the old homestead. Grass tops were hard and dry after a hot summer with no rain.
Karen and I love crushing fresh sagebrush leaves and smelling the earthy, rich fragrance.
A few drops of rain hit us during the last mile to the car. A fun hike.
Photos:
Golden grasses and Cascade Mountain foothills. Last Spring, Karen and I hiked to the top of that foothill with trees in the distance. It's higher and farther than it looks.
Striking galls produced by insects in Sagebrush.
Fall blooms.
In Spring, these flowers are deep pink.
Sunrise in Wenatchee, December 2018. I feel lucky to live here.
Have you ever tried a go-girl device?
With laughable results, Karen has tried multiple devices for women to urinate while standing. Every device she tried was too narrow. She wound up soaking her pants.
Women's anatomy varies. I have what doctors call a tipped uterus and urethra.
To pee in the woods, I find cover and check wind direction. Look for a secluded small tree I can grab without pitch or nearby thorns. Good luck with that. Often we're on an exposed ridge or trees are on a dangerous, steep slope.
Alert for approaching people, I pull my pants down to my ankles and grab a small tree. With spread feet higher than my butt (essential), I lean my bare butt way out, angling my urethra down and back. Hanging onto the tree like a monkey, I try to relax and and pee quickly.
It's quite a display.
@LiterateHiker I am sure it is quite a display. ; )
"Don't look," I tell male hiking partners. "I'm going to take your picture!" two different guys said.
Immediately stopped and yanked up my pants. "That's not funny!" I yelled. "Don't you dare!" Women don't harass me like that. They have compassion. All women struggle peeing without being seen while hiking.
@LiterateHiker That would be very rude of them to do that. I go hiking with ladies and always give them space. Going on a 3 day backpacking trip in the Olympics with some ladies next week. Here is a link to Backpacker mag review
@RoyMillar, @Larimar, @BestWithoutGods, @Fit50something, @gemini1947, @Dhiltong, @PadraicM, @anglophone, @Mitch07102, @bobwjr, @Buddha, @happyhiker1, @Holysocks, @NoMagicCookie, @freefromgod, @RichCC
You'll laugh at this. With no cover (you can see for miles) there was no place for a lady to pee. I always have this problem at Sage Hills Trails.
Today I hiked for four hours and drank nearly 1.5 liters of water. Oops. When I got to the car, I was bursting.
So, I opened the back car door, dropped my pants, squatted behind it and let er fly!
Didn't quite account for the wind at my back. Kept spreading my brand-new boots farther and father apart (didn't want to get them stinking wet), watching liquid flowing and spreading beneath the car.
Honestly, the things you go through in the great outdoors!
There is a well-known female hiker whose trail name is Anish. She held (holds?) the women's speed record for the Pacific Crest Trail. Her method is to go as long as possible, don't stop, walk continuously, up early well before sunrise, etc.
One way she saves time is by wearing a dress when she hikes, sans underwear. No need to squat. Stop, spread, go, move on.
Just a thought
The joys of hiking,one just can not be shy ,between car doors is always good ,I did that about 4 weeks ago right in the middle of Torornto on the busiest parts of the 401 near younge st,My van had broke down and i was waiting for CAA and i really had to go luckily i had an empyt water bottle ,just slide the door back leaned in like i was looking for some and out comes releif ,no one was the wiser lol
With the triple threat of mosquitoes, deer flies and hypothermia, there's NO WAY I'm going to hike in a skirt.
I have the insulating capacity of a grasshopper. Long pants are crucial.
@literatehiker ,I would love to try a hike in a kilt,just may do a short one in one for fun,,could be drafty lol
Thank you for sharing that. You paint a wonderful picture with your words.
Us guys learned on early you donβt piss into the wind
Happens in the great outdoors lol join the club
One reason to wear a long shirt or tie a wrap around your waist. But then I changed clothes in the open as a teen after marches as a majorette. I mean underwear is basically a bikini! Not exactly shy.......
Thank you. Half Irish, I'm a born storyteller.
Learned at the feet of the master, my mother. She was hilarious!
@RoyMillar The traditional kilt is made from heavy material which would be a bit warm in summer but cosy in winter.
I once saw a guy hiking the West Highland Way in a kilt and commented to him that he was a brave man with the number of midges around. His reply was "They wouldnae dare". I suppose the answer is to have a powerful curry the night before and create your own midge repellent system.
My mother was full Irish. I know my tartan, too.
@LiterateHiker 68% scots Irish here. A little English, French, German with minute amounts of Norse, Baltic, Italian, and Greek thrown in. . My surname is all Irish.
I have had my ancestory done ,mainly all european,with scottish the most,From the Macfarlane clan but MIllar does have it,s own tarten in there also
Sure is a beautiful sunrise against the mountains ,can sure tell it is fall from your pics , Love your commentarys,Happy you and Karen had another fantastic outing
Thank you, Roy!
Your always so welcome ,well deserved
I think your seed pods are actually galls, usually produced by insects.
You may be right. Are these sagebrush seed pods?
@LiterateHiker I think so. Believe it or not, we don't have sagebrush around here. Lots of desert, but it is too hot and dry for sagebrush. It does grow in Northern Arizona, someday, when the world gets big again, I will get a chance to see.
I'm going into a four day weekend, and I finished my side job. I'm planning sometime in the four days that I have off to hit the local State park that I like best and do the six mile trail in the back. I'll post pics for you Nothing like you do, but for someone who's recovering from a ruptured baker's cyst behind one knee, it's enough.
I am hoping to do 8k tomorrow a afternoon,gym in the morning ,but easy walking all flat ,will post some stuff also