Fir and Big Indian

Now, if you want a true bushwhack hike, Fir and Big Indian are a good start. Especially in the middle of summer. Everything is in full bloom and the herd paths are usually covered by either the massive, beautiful ferns or by the face high saplings. While this wasn't our first bushwhack, it was a true test of our bushwhacking skills. Travis and I rely on our pre-hand map skills as well as our compass and GPS skills. More on our maps skills though. GPS comes later on, if we do feel truly lost.

Usually I have a lot of picture of our hikes, but not today.

Fir and Big Indian are two hikes that a lot of people dislike. The main reason why is because they don't have views. I mean, somewhere they do, but you have to search for them, and most people who are doing these just want to bag the two peaks and get out for their 3500 patch. Travis and I are taking the usual way up Fir, then descending Fir and climbing up Big Indian. This is the typical way to do both mountains. But today, it would be different.

First, we always check the weather beforehand. We actually monitor it like crazy. We want to know if it's going to be crappy weather or not and if the hike is going to be a threat to us, like thunderstorms or snowstorms, we will hold it off and hike another day. Today's forecast called for cloudy skies and an occasional rain shower. Well, that was totally different when we started to climb up Fir Mountain. There had been some rain the day before. Not too much, but creek crossings were a tiny bit sketchy. A little flow was coming down the creek and we had to find an easier way besides rock hopping. We found a log a little further up the stream and crossed there. After that, we started climbing. We could hear the roar from the creek while we were climbing. But sooner than later, that sound was shadowed by the rain. And other things.

What do I mean by other things? Coyotes. At first, I didn't really think much of it. I thought I heard something weird in the distance. I told Travis to "Fucking stop and be quiet!" He asked me "What the hell is going on man?" Right after that, you could hear the howls of the coyotes. Yes, multiple. And they were close. We must of heard at least 4 of them. Coyotes travel in packs and usually at night, but not today. For some reason, they were traveling right by us. I would suspect at least a half a mile or closer. They were loud. The only thing we had to defend ourselves were my hiking poles. I gave one to Travis and we waited. As they were passing by you could hear the howls going further and further away. Eventually, we felt safe and proceeding on with the hike.

We passed through a bunch of different terrains a long the way. We had to dodge face high saplings for most of the time but some times, there were beautiful fields of ferns that blanketed the ground.

The one thing about bushwhacking that is confusing(besides the map and compass stuff) is the herd paths. They're usually scattered and unexpected. Then, they disappear and you have to go on your own again. We found some here and there, but we were usually own our own. 3/4 of the way up, it started raining a little. We put on our pack covers and rain jackets and proceeded with the hike. The rain started to get heavier, and heavier. Before you know it, it was straight down pouring. We reached the canister of Fir Mountain and had a very short break for a snack. But it was very, very short. The heavy downpour ruined it. We got back to the hike and started descending down the mountain. We hit some ledges and something didn't feel right. Travis looked at me and said "I don't remember it being this steep on the map." I told him "I remember it getting steep north. We must of went too far north. Lets head a little more west and we'll see what happens."

It was a good call. It lead us on an less steeper path down into the col of Fir and Big Indian Mountain. We are started our climb up Big Indian, still in the pouring rain. The climb wasn't all that bad. A couple of little steep spots to navigate around, but nothing that would through you off the mountain. We eventually hit the flatter part of Big Indian and arrived at the summit. It was still raining. But now, it was even harder. We perched ourselves under a little canopy made from two conifer trees and tried to have lunch. The rain was coming down so hard now that it was coming through the trees. The good thing was that it wasn't a thunderstorm. Just heavy rain.

We finished lunch and started on the herd path from the canister to the trail. Now, for some reason, there isn't a trail to the summit of Big Indian. It's only a short distance from the trail to the summit canister, maybe .3 miles, but for some reason they don't have it marked.

So we were back on the trail, descending down the mountain. Now, because of the pouring rain from the past couple hours, the trail was running full of water and it was slippery. Very slippery. We basically were hiking down a little creek now. The temperature was at that right spot to where it wasn't cold enough to make you cold and it wasn't warm enough to make you sweat. It was right at a spot where out feet weren't even cold from the rain. We still had our rain jackets on though. It was still pouring and every step was a cautious step, due to the slippery rocks. This trail is the same trail that we used to get to the start of our bushwhack up Fir.

We finally stopped descending the mountain and made it to the the spot near the lean-to. We crossed the roaring Biscuit Brook and decided that we would take a break at the lean-to and shelter ourselves from thew rain one last time.

At some or most lean-to's, they have a 'log in' book or a 'tell your story' book. This one had some interesting stories in it. Here's one we found that was pretty funny yet disturbing.

A lot of hate there eh? Hopefully they had a decent time after they wrote that. We had some snacks and got back onto the trail again for the final push back to the trail head. The funny thing is, as soon as we got about halfway back to the trail head, the rain started to let up. When we arrived at the car, the rain had completely stopped and it felt like nothing had happened. Mother nature can be cruel, but the hike was definitely worth it. The experience of hiking through the pouring rain is one that I will never forget. ONLY 4 MORE TO GO!!!