Mosquitoes and Pride

Zen and the Art of Mosquitoes

We had been seriously planning the trip for a couple of weeks and the anticipation and excitement grew as the day came closer. By Thursday, the day before the big trip, My brother, his wife, their son and I were all ready to backpack and camp at Waldo Lake. I bought a new hatchet, sleeping pad, pillow, buff and my brother had given me a new sleeping bag and I do enjoy new gear. (Side note: I continue to confuse the word sleeping bag with the word backpack. They are related but distinct items and yet they are inexorably connected in my mind.) Josh and I had been there before and it was amazing. My brother, his friend Martin and I arrived at the boat launch at dusk, traveled by boat in the pitch black, slept on a peninsula, found a beach the next day, canoed around the crystal clear lake and went on an epic day hike. It was an amazing trip and one that I was not hesitant to duplicate in any way.

We drove for four hours and at the end of an extremely long and rock strewn road we stopped at the Koch Mountain Trailhead in the Willamette National Forest. (Side note: A mid sized black bear crossed in front of us on the way up and I will never forgive myself for not catching it on film. I had the camera right there, plenty of battery and tons of storage. I guess you never know what will happen out in the Pacific Northwest Wilderness.) If I had the predilection for being loyal to a particular plot of land it would be to the PNW even though it can be a scary and unpredictable place. 

At the beginning of the trailhead we noticed a few mosquitoes buzzing around so we quickly sprayed and lotioned ourselves and each other with repellent and made our way down the trail. It was about a mile and a half to our prospective campsite, which was a site to behold, with it's easy access to swimming, hiking trails and it's wide open floor plan with ample enough space for a tent or two, a hefty fire pit and what not. Or at least it would have been if we had a moment to enjoy it. 

An hour in and the group's enthusiasm was still intact and when we made it to the site we looked at the beautiful lake, made camp and then jumped in the freezing water to cool off. I'd be willing to guess that this particular lake was the remnant of a long dead glacier and I'm certain it is about 5,500 feet above sea level, so it was cold as fuck. Also, it was barely summer so it hadn't had any time to warm up from the previous season. 

Back at camp we made fire and food and quickly realized the fire was not enough to ward off the thousands and thousands of mosquitoes that were frantically attempting to suck our blood. While smacking and slapping ourselves crazy we decided to wait them out in the tent, assuming that these things probably had a bedtime. Later in the evening we found out they don't really give a fuck about anything other than eating you.  Other then to make one mad dash to get supplies, put the food in a tree, stoke the fire and try to pee while persistent buzzing and whirring beasts pecked at every part of you, we stayed in the tent all night. Our only hope was that they would lessen in the morning.

View From Waldo Lake

They did not. The morning was no better and I would have sworn that these mosquitoes were freshly born and doubly motivated. So we planned our escape. My brother and I packed everything outside the tent while the other two packed everything inside the tent. We did have some effective deet repellent which made it more bearable but it was still a frenzied race against the hordes. We worked as a team and packed up in record time. The trail back to the safety of the car was mostly uphill so we had to take a couple of quick breaks before we made it to our sanctuary. Tired and weary we drove back in solemn relief. That first coffee was delicious. 

Back at home we compared bites and looked up remedies online. It became a disciplined practice to refrain from scratching all the red pestering bumps and I found myself trying to find anything to distract myself from the desire to scratch. We looked at pictures and video from the trip and generally chilled out. It was an arduous adventure and it was too bad that the mosquitoes won the day but we all learned something about camping at Waldo Lake in the early summer. 

Creeks and Pride

The next day my brother and I decided to make the most of the sun and day off so we got our swimming gear together and made our way to Sandy River. After searching for the perfect spot we ended up finding something very off the beaten path. We parked by a trail off the road, away from the masses of summer enthusiasts and found a creek flowing toward the main river. We followed the creek a ways until we found a spot that was just deep enough to shallow dive and keep cool. I have always enjoyed diving into rivers and lakes and to me there are few activities I enjoy more. I remember when I was a teen my friend Anthony and I would spend hours on the extremely dark and deep river that flows alongside the small, rural town of Elkton, where he lived. The idea of just laying in shallow water seems mostly pointless so I was very excited that we could find such a cool spot and the fact that not many others knew about it was even better.

The water was somewhat murky and dark but not too deep. Maybe a little over four feet but a shallow dive was all I wanted. As we began to swim my brother divulged his trepidation and anxiety induced by the potential dangers of swimming in such an environment. He was worried that there might be something "down there" that might cause harm which was something that I almost didn't think of at all. All I wanted to do was make sure I wouldn't hit my head on a rock and other than that I was ready to go. I suppose I was surprised to find out that there was something that I was not anxious about but that my brother was. He was always the brave one, the risk taker and certainly someone I look at as being capable of anything. For most of my life I've felt nervous, anxious and awkward so finding out that I contained a superior amount of chutzpah in regards to a something gave me just a tinge of pride. 

Overall I really enjoyed the entire weekend, mosquitoes and all. There is something about self inflicted adversity coupled with the pride of overcoming that adversity that helps redefine what is possible and how strong you can be.  Consciously attempting to maintain a positive attitude when things don't go as planned is a worthwhile endeavor and something I want to discipline myself more to do. As I sit and look at all the red bumps all over my body I can look at them with pride and know that they are just another example of how I can work harder to develop myself as a strong and capable person. What doesn't kill you can make you weaker, it can make you stronger or it can make you the same, because those are the options. Or it can make you weaker in one area and stronger in another, maybe? Maybe it was just the boost in vitamin D that influenced my positive outlook over that weekend. No one will ever know.

Media Supplements:
My first trip to Waldo Lake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Az1t31H8s

This year's trip video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotcZE08oFo&t=2s

Waldo Lake

Creek Trail