Brimstone...and Ice: Mount Adams, July 26, 2015: Bladder Problems on the First Hike of 2015

Hi,

As most of you know, my name is Robert Smith
People call me Robert Smith

Today, for no particular reason, I decided to go on a hike.

This being the first hike of the year, I thought I'd bring along Wilson, my indestructible soccer ball hiking buddy.

So I loaded up my good luck 20-pound weight vest, which I always wear on hikes, and then I put on my new Asolo hiking boots --the ones I got mail order from Sierra Trading Post? Then me and Wilson drove to North Bend, where there's this mountain, Little Si. I wasn't feeling like taking on any great big hike today, but the sky was clear and you could see Big Si, plain as day. It looked beautiful. No snow or nothing like that.

So, for no particular reason, I drove over to Big Si, parked the car, put on my backpack and me and Wilson began walkin'. It was real comfortable at first. Those Asolo hiking boots could take me just about anywhere.

It wasn't more than a mile before I began to feel real tired. Then I realized it was a bladder problem. So I stopped on the trail and drained my bladder. The picture below is the place on the trail where I made water from my bladder. That made it a little easier to hike.

I drained my bladder where there was a bunch of pine needles and stuff so the trail would't get real muddy for other folks.

When I was done, I felt 10 pounds lighter. And my backpack actually was 10 pounds lighter, because there was more than a gallon of water in that bladder. It was one of those mail-order foldable plastic bladders you can get on Amazon? Fits right in the backpack and it's great for adding weight when you are training for a big hike like the one I'm doing on Mount Adams next summer.

Wilson and I rested on a bench at a place called Snag Flats, which survived a forest fire in 1910.

The boardwalk at Snag Flats. Many trees survived the 1910 fire.

Wilson and I met some real nice people on the trail. There were were two lady hikers and one of then had climbed all the way up to 21,000 feet near a mountain they call Everett or something like that. While she was telling me about gettin' splitting headaches from being so high up another guy came along who have been hiking in the same area and they had a nice chat.

Some people asked me about Wilson. One of them was this cute Asian-looking girl with a real gentle voice and a nice smile. She was from Hawaii.

She told me her name was Moa -- I think that's a really pretty name. I asked her whether she was part Hawaiian and she said, no, she's 100 percent Korean. She told me she was from Oahu, where her folks still live, and I told her how I'm going to Maui later this month to hike Haleakala, this great big volcano. But don't worry, it's stupid, or dormant or something, and it hasn't gone off for a long time.

There was also this guy who was hiking with a little bitty baby on his back and another couple that asked me about Wilson, just like Moa did. I told them all about how Wilson was indestructible, except in fire, and how little kids on refugee camps can't keep a ball inflated for long, but that Wilson doesn't deflate and how I'm hiking to raise money to send Wilson's brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts all over the world.

Oh, and by the way, people have bought four more Wilsons in my campaign just recently, and if you're one of them and you're reading this, I want you to know that I sure appreciate it.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Anyway, I was able to get to the 2 mile mark and climb 1,500 feet before I realized I was pretty tired, and it was time to go home.

So, for no particular reason, I turned around and headed home. I had only gone half-way up Mount Si, but that's OK, because I hadn't intended to climb it today anyway.

I'm tired now. But I'm going back to Si on Saturday and this time I hope to get to the top. I'll leave my weight vest at home, but I'll bring my backpack with the bladder. The backpack is necessary because it gets really cold on Mount Si this time of year and you'd have to be stupid not to take your 10 essentials.

Like Momma always said--stupid is as stupid does.

Love

Robert
Robert Smith,
And Wilson