Makeup Day 6: Because of my age, I am attempting to be more diligent about filing a flight plan with friends before taking off on an adventure, but after fifty years of hiking alone and wherever my feet could take me, it's difficult. For one thing, "adventure" by its very definition cannot have strictures. Thus it was that the "plan" I laid out this morning read, "I'm going to go up to Indian Henrys if I can get around the washout on the old Tahoma Creek Trail. I've gotten around it before. If I can't get around it, I'll either go up Gobbler's Knob or up to South Puyallup Camp, or maybe beyond." That's about as definitive as I can manage. At least it would put the SAR team on the west side of the Mountain.
In the past when I've filed a flight plan, I've deviated from it a good 90% of the time, and sometimes rather radically. Crows, whether avian or mammalian, are opportunists. If time permits, I may go wandering off-trail with map and compass in hand to find a waterfall I've never seen before, or some little bathtub-sized alpine tarn. I want only to be governed by available daylight and my endurance. In fact, if I'd had another three hours today, I would have climbed Pyramid Peak, but as it was, I only went as far as Mirror Lakes (not listed on my projected itinerary). Yes, I got around the washouts (plural) and reached Indian Henrys and the ranger cabin there, although once I'd started my journey, Mirror overshadowed any other goal. Funny how it works out that way once my feet touch the ground.
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