[Roald]

Meander Meadows

“It’s a trap!” Erika warned us. “Don’t go there.” You would think Erika was talking about our route. I wish she had been. The six of us had intended a run up Cady Ridge to the PCT, or maybe Lake Sally Ann, returning the same way. The south-facing slopes would be mostly free of snow, we surmised. I told my daughter Alex we would be back before lunch – plenty of time to drive to Seattle for a Father’s Day dinner with her in-laws. But here’s what actually happened: A tenth of a mile from the car, we were supposed to turn left toward Cady Ridge. Revved up with caffeine, however, we all blew right by the turnoff and headed up toward Meander Meadow instead.

Trail sign we missed

Rob realized this about a half mile later and stopped us all to discuss retracing our steps to the turnoff. But someone had a better idea: “Hey, let’s just keep going and turn this into a loop trip. We can come back down Cady Ridge.” I do not remember who first proposed this. But this is where Erika’s warning would have come in handy. “It’s a trap!” she might have warned us all. “It’ll take forever and you’ll be late for dinner!” Although that would have been helpful, it is not what Erika said. Or rather, she did say, “It’s a trap!” but not then and not there. And timing is everything, you know. Rather, when Erika said, “It’s a trap!” is was earlier in the morning as we drove up the Little Wenatchee road to the trailhead. Somehow the subject of having kids had come up, and Erika wasted no time warning Alex about the hazards of motherhood: “It’s a trap! Don’t do it. Sell your house. Don’t have a kid. Get out and do something. That’s my advice for you.” Now, I can’t help but point out that Erika has not exactly taken her own advice. I mean, have you seen her house? It is a very nice house. A very, very nice house. Oh, and she also has four kids. Four. That’s right. Makes you wonder just how long it took her to realize it’s a trap. I’m just saying. Besides, here she was, getting outside on a very cool outing. And this is with four kids. She does it all. Maybe she was just guessing, correctly, that the rest of us can’t do it all. Anyway, my point is that, if Erika was going to warn us about anything, she could have warned us about the trap that stared us right in the face that very day. She could have warned us that the loop trip through Meander Meadow and down Cady Ridge would turn slightly epic. But instead, she was too busy giving life advice to my daughter. So, without any useful warning from Erika, at least about our route, we continued our run up to Meander Meadow. And it was pretty:

Trail up toward Meander Meadow

Looking down the Little Wenatchee valley

Glacier lilies - yum

At 6.8 miles from the car we hit the PCT, and snow. This stretch of the PCT was rainy when Alex barreled through on her through-hike a few years ago. Rainy then, snowy now:

Alex revisits the PCT

We spent the next 3 or so miles in snow. With gawking, routefinding, and sidehilling in running shoes, it took us about 93 hours.

Pinwheels!

Rob and Pierre scouting ahead

PCT sign

Slow running

Susan on PCT

Glacier Peak kept hiding:

Glacier Peak hiding

But the views were terrific:

Our route toward Cady Ridge

Paradise along the PCT

New snow up high

Somewhere in the middle of the snow, we tried to teach Pierre, who is from France, the difference between “bonking” and “boinking.” But it soon became apparent that we could not agree on what the difference is. My takeaway from this conversation is that everything is a euphemism. Even when you have run out of food and your blood sugar is low and you are exhausted and cannot go any farther, you cannot tell your hiking partners that you are “bonking” because they might think you are talking about sex. Even when you are crawling on the ground and unable to drag your sorry ass another foot because you carried only two bars with you, thinking this would be a short run, when sex is clearly the last thing on your mind, if you say you are going to “bonk,” your hiking partners are going to laugh at you. Again, I'm just saying. On this trip I was loaded with food and did not come close to bonking, fortunately. Or boinking, unfortunately. Neither one. Whatever either one means. But let me get back to the trip. Eventually we got onto Cady Ridge and down below the snow line.

Glacier lilies popping out

The heather feels so good

And Glacier Peak mostly showed itself:

Glacier Peak popping out

Then we scooted down the trail. So we turned a morning run into a 6-hour foray into the east side of the Cascade crest. Alex and I were late for dinner. Worse, Rob and Pierre were not able to show up for their ski team’s practice that afternoon – and they are the ski team coaches! (Check out the Plain Valley Ski Team here. Really, if there is anything worth checking out in this TR, this is it.) Coda: Alex repeated Erika’s advice (“It’s a trap!”) to her partner that night over dinner. Jax replied, “But I don’t see why we can’t keep the house.” Trip stats: Distance: 16.1 miles, per Green Trails Time: 6 hours Wet feet: 12 Fun quotient: 42 (The snow looks like it will last a few more weeks, but with visibility the navigating is easy along the PCT right now.)

[FiveNines]

Boinking gets you four kids. Bonking is what happens to energy levels after you have four kids. Thought everyone knew that? Were there many blowdowns on Cady Ridge? Good style.

[Distel32]

We must have just missed each other on both ends (lot was empty when I started and returned)? I'm assuming you are "Bunch of nuts" in the TH register

[Roald]

Hi Distel32! So that was your red truck in the parking lot. It sounds like you had an adventure up Poets Ridge. Sorry we missed meeting you. As for the "Bunch of nuts," I did not fill out the trail register. But I know who did... FiveNines, the Cady Ridge trail itself had maybe 12-15(?) blowdowns - it felt about normal for a trail that gets cleared out most seasons. As for your definitions, you win! (I actually came home and looked up the urban dictionary here.)

[MtnManic]

Are the blowdowns going to be a big nuisance with a backpack? I'm planning a trip there in about a month, and climbing over and around big trees gets exhausting after claiming over and around many big trees. Think most of the snow on the PCT will be gone in 3 wks? 5 wks?

[Get Out and Go]

Nice. I too, do love the suffering up there. Whaaat?

[GeoTom]

Always an entertaining read from you.

[wildernessed]

Revved up with caffeine, however, we all blew right by the turnoff and headed up toward Meander Meadow instead. Caffeine and GU been there wondering how I missed the obvious trail.

[Roald]

Thanks! MtnManic - Some of the blowdowns will be a nuisance with a large pack, but there is nothing that should deter you from visiting the Cady Ridge or Meander Meadow trails, imho. I get the impression these trails get brushed out fairly often, although usually later in the season. Three weeks from now (four from when we were there) should take care of most of the snowpack on the portion of the PCT we visited, and by late July you are likely to have just minor snow patches. (It's a reminder of just how short the growing season is for the wildflowers up high.) Enjoy your trip!