The bigger challenge for me is the technology, not the wilderness.
By the time I discovered that the wilderness challenge routes had been posted, the snow had already melted from Chinook Pass. I could have started the next day! But the UltraPedestrian Wilderness Challenge is an adventure in multi-media recording – and sharing – an electronic account of one’s unsupported passage through the wilds of: Chinook Pass Loop, Easy Pass to Grizzly Basin, Enchanted Twilight Disappearing Trail.
The bigger challenge for me is the technology, not the
wilderness.
At the time Chinook Pass shook off winter and broke out in avalanche lilies, I possessed neither equipment, nor connectivity, nor
skill to embark on a multi-media challenge. My “Leave No Trace” philosophy
applied to my technology footprint as well as my wilderness footprint. Hence the title of this blog: Ultra Technophobe
Wilderness Challenge.
Apologies to UltraPedestrian for riffing on your tagline.
Now that I succeeded in setting up a blog account,
unsupported (nearly two hours, if you must know…mostly by randomly clicking on
the screen, not unlike a mouse negotiating its way through an unfamiliar
maze), I am confident and ready to tackle the GPS situation.
I imagine all this patient mousing around ought to come in
handy on the approach to Easy Pass:
“The trail may now
become elusive, buried in snow or greenery. (Make very sure not to lose the
path; cross-country exploration here is agonizing.) The way goes over the
avalanche fan and Easy Creek and begins a long ascent along the south side of
the valley to the pass. Flower gardens. Small groves of trees. Watercourses.
Boulder fields. Up, always up.”
- Spring, Ira and Harvey Manning, 1985. 100 Hikes in the North Cascades. The Mountaineers, Seattle.