Waste-water Treatment Plant

One of the most scenic and iconic hikes in Seattle is at the waste-water treatment plant in Discovery Park.  Really!  

I set out to try the Discovery Park Loop Trail (thanks for the recommendation, Jerry!), only to make a discovery of my own -- that my left tire had a giant bulge in it.  Luckily, I had my portable, battery-powered scooter along in order to run some errands.  In order to make the best of another beautiful day, my husband and I decided to re-visit the wastewater treatment plant.  

The trails are mostly paved or hard-packed dirt, so the scooter would work on them (although we did run into a couple of nasty roots that upturned the pavement and made me wish for my Freedom Chair).  

The trails, along the coast and beach, are accessed by a long walk from the visitors' center; however, those with a disabled placard from the DMV can pick up a pass from the visitors' center which allows them to drive on the access road and park near the entrance to the trails, across from the beach.

This time of year was especially gorgeous, with daisies, thimble-berries, and other wildflowers blooming.  The path went through beautiful areas of greenery and salt-water habitats, often right along the coast.  On this side of the water, the view includes the West Point Light House and a beach piled high with driftwood. On the other side, one can see the Olympic Mountains. In-between are numerous sailboats and kayaks. And looming over everything from a distance is the elusive, majestic, and awe-inspiring Mount Rainier.  This time, as always, we wondered why the hell we don't come here all of the time.  

Hard-packed trails through beautiful greenery...

... right along the coast of Puget Sound, complete with sailboats...

... and a view of a light-house and driftwood-packed beach...

...and, to top it off, a most-elusive and yet most impressive mountain!

Definitely gives new meaning to a visit to a sewage plant!

Arboretum

Last weekend I went to Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum.  The timing was perfect for spring colors, since the azaleas and rhododendrons were in full bloom:

Sporting the Seattle tan in front of some azaleas at the entrance

The park turned out to be great for wheelchair travel, as well.  The aptly named "Azalea Way" is a mainly flat trail of hard-packed gravel.  The "Rhododendron Glen" and other areas are reached by hilly trails of either hard-packed gravel or less-maintained dirt.  This combination offers something for people in different chairs, with different goals, and with different abilities.  And there are beautiful plants and trees all year round!  Sound like an ad?  The park looks like an ad!

Trilliums and Trails

Growing up in North Central Wisconsin, I remember white seas of trilliums carpeting the ground in the woods.   I recently discovered that there is a Western trillium in WA state, so last week I went on a hunt.  My husband, Ted, and I went on three hikes, based on trip reports of trillium sightings.   Much to my excitement, we found the flowers, beautiful amongst the ferns; however, it was more like hunting Easter eggs than looking at a white sea. 

The surrounding forest, however, was beautiful, with big, mossy trees, green ferns, and even some rhododendrons waiting to bloom.

Trip planning centered on the perennial search for appropriate trails.  I have an old book published by the Mountaineers entitled “Accessible Trails in Washington’sBackcountry,” but it is over 20 years old and hasn’t been updated (no, I am not detail-oriented enough to want to do so!).  The Washington Trails Association has a wonderful, searchable database of trails, so my next step was to search online and to remember personal sightings.

Our first hike was on the Boulder River Trail off of the Mountain Loop Highway.  It was listed as recommended for families with children.  I think WA children must be superstar hikers, since the trail turned out to be not so wheelchair-accessible, traversed by me only with serious assistance from my own personal superman (Ted), as we went up steep and rocky hills and faced three daunting challenges.   The first was a steep dip into and out of a gully about five feet deep.  That was successfully crossed with help from a passing hiker.  The second was another steep gully – this one not quite a steep but lacking a solid path across.  Continuation was accomplished thanks to Ted’s bridge-building skills and physical stability.  The third challenge was, unfortunately, insurmountable – a large, uneven rock taking up most of the uphill trail that was already narrow and bounded on both sides with obstacles (one side being a steep cliff).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the waterfall on that trail, but I did accomplish my goal of finding trilliums and hiking in the woods.

First Challenge

Second Challenge

The trail wins -- my turnaround point!

The second trail was out of the Hamma Hamma Campground on the Olympic Peninsula. Ted had spotted it on a previous backcountry expedition and thought it might work.  We were greeted with trilliums, and we actually managed to complete the trail – but only with a lot of pushing by Ted and by taking the road (rather than the trail) on the second half.  One of my scariest moments occurred on this trail, when I was on a narrow trail right next to and slanted toward the icy river, with my feet strapped in.

The third hike was the result of a WTA trip report that described trilliums and a trail that an elderly father was able to hike.  On the trail to Murhut Falls on the Olympic Peninsula, we again hiked through beautiful mossy woods with a few trilliums.  And we again hiked up steep, rocky hills that I could never have managed by myself.   I got to see the waterfall at the end only because we ditched the wheelchair at the edge of the trail (much to the following hikers’ consternation), and Ted carried me on his back over a 12” root and up a steep, rocky, narrow trail to the lookout.

 

Could not get over or around this root

So we ditched the wheelchair and Ted carried me on his back up the trail

Which allowed me to enjoy the waterfall from the lookout 

So, I will continue my search for appropriate trails.  In the meantime, thanks to Ted and my Freedom Chair, I’ll enjoy the challenge of these non-accessible trails, the joy of being in the woods, and the occasional trillium.

Big trees

I've always felt at home in the big trees.  The tricky thing is that big trees are correlated with big roots, making travel via wheelchair extremely difficult.  I am happy to report that my new Freedom Chair tackled with aplomb those roots (up to 6" high) and accompanying rocks on some muddy dirt trails over the weekend.  Weeks Falls Trail in Olallie State Park, near North Bend, WA is a short but beautiful dirt trail along a river and through a mossy old growth forest (photos 1-3).  The Tradition Lake Loop, on Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps, begins with an ADA-rated, hard-packed gravel trail, surrounded by ferns and trees (photo 4), leading to a network of dirt trails.

A new adventure begins

Ending the curiosity of the UPS delivery woman,  I signed for the receipt of my newest toy, the Freedom Chair from GRIT.  The assembled chair is impressive --big, knobby mountain bike tires, a third wheel in front, and arm levers for maneuvering and braking.

Hiking differently

My last real hike was several years ago to the lookout at Mt Pilchuk, on the Mountain Loop Highway north of Seattle.  I completed the hike to the 5327 foot high lookout and back by using two forearm crutches.   The 5.4 mile hike took me 7 hours.

My husband and I had moved to Seattle in 2002 partially because of the mountains, with grand plans for hiking in the North Cascades, doing the Wonderland Trail, etc.

Life did not cooperate, however, as my mobility declined, and I became a reluctant party to a parade of “toys:" hiking poles, cane, forearm crutches, a battery-powered scooter, and eventually a wheelchair.   

My next “hike” occurred years later, with the help of a folding manual wheelchair.  Only a few, short, paved ADA-approved trails were on offer,  but I was able to open up a whole world of possibilities of unmaintained trails by swallowing some pride and accepting help from generous and hard-working relatives and especially my spouse.

Perpetually on the lookout for a contraption that could better master the stones and roots and vagaries of unmaintained trails, I added a FreeWheel – a third wheel sticking out of the front, which lifted my tiny casters off of the ground and made possible the trails of Iceland, the cobblestones of Italy, and the woods of British Columbia. 

Several years ago, I learned about an all-terrain chair made by a company called GRIT.  At the time, they were only producing this chair for the developing world; however, they had plans to make a version for use in the US, so I got on their mailing list.  Early this year, the company sponsored a contest –the winners of which would receive an all-terrain Freedom Chair for one year, in return for having adventures with it and posting them on social media.  Soon after application, I got a phone call with the good news – I was one of 10 contest winners nationwide.  Thus begins a year of adventures and postings.

Re-establishing identity

I am a passionate traveler and avid outdoors fan.  When MS eventually changed from a diagnosis to my reality, I entered a new life as a wheelchair user.  For an active person such as myself, the loss of mobility is accompanied by a loss of identity.  How could I answer the question, "Did I like to backpack?" when, of course, I did, but the plethora of lesions on my spinal cord rendered me physically unable to do so.  So, I set about the long process of recreating a life and an identity for my new reality.  I figured out what many people with wheelchairs already know: you can do many of the things you once did as an able-bodied person -- just differently.  I started this journey by participating in the adaptive skiing program at Outdoors for All, a local organization offering programs in outdoor activities to people with disabilities.  From there on, I discovered other local organizations specializing in activities for disabled participants: Footloose (sailing), Little Bit (horse riding), and Pushing Boundaries (exercise).   With the help of an engineering and enterprising spouse, as well as helpful relatives, outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping, kayaking, and cycling could all be a part of my life again.  By engaging in a little creative reframing, eschewing vanity and pride, taking advantage of existing resources, designing needed new ones, accepting help from strangers and friends, I rediscovered a purpose, an identity, and a joy.