The plan was to spend 2 nights over Father's Day Weekend hiking out to the Weitas Creek Guard Station with our new friends from the Great Burn Conservation Alliance. We were going to help with some weed identification and enjoy staying in the cabins, thanks to our friends in the Forest Service. 

I really like it when many stands of a plan weave together like this, and I was looking forward to pushing our limits on this 8-mile hike with Jacob. Unfortunately, our plans came unraveled a bit. Jacob’s final baseball game was scheduled for Friday night, followed by an ice-cream social to celebrate the season, and we didn’t get anyone signed up with GBCA for the trip. Joelle, the BGCA ranger, had to hit the trail on schedule, and we couldn’t keep the Guard Station open for Clearwater Trekkers to show up later.

So instead, Jacob and I headed out to the Weitas Creek campground after his game Friday night. Joe and Leslie were already there, but it was too late to find each other in the dark, so Jacob and I just pulled into a free spot and went to bed. 

We were still aiming for the Guard Station, planning one night instead of 2, while Joe and Leslie were taking in a day hike. Theirs was the wiser plan, considering the fact that it was already raining before we’d gotten packed up and on the trail. We made the best of it, making it a good 5 miles out before finally calling it and heading back to camp. Sometimes, it just goes that way, doesn't it?

The trail starts of from the campground as an old ATV trail, which makes for some easy going before eventually giving way to a single-track hiking trail. Most of the hike is in the trees, but every now and then the trail opens up to an expansive view of the river and surrounding mountains. It really is a pleasant hike with a gradual, up-stream grade and one small ascent about 2 miles in. I say, “small..” It’s a 300-foot ascent over about half a mile. Not bad at all. From what I can tell on Gaia Maps, there’s all the regular ups and down of a mountain trail, but that’s the biggest incline of the whole 8 miles to the Guard Station.

My favorite part of the trip, by far, was my son’s overcoming attitude. I’m not just being cheeky, either, just a proud dad. Jacob was soaked. He was cold and wet and 5 miles into an 8-mile hike that was only getting colder and wetter. We decided to head back to camp where we could at least sleep in the car rather than press on to the Guard Station and camp in the rain. Leslie gave Jacob an extra rain parka to help him stay dry and warm, and I gave him my camp socks to wear on his hands for extra warmth. That helped, but he still went through all the emotions.

I encouraged him to feel all the feels, cry if he wanted to, and go as slow as he needed to because through it all he had what it took to get back to camp. That boy set his face like flint and pressed on. He cried, he sang, and he never once got angry or defeated. Three miles later, we were stripping wet layers in a spot of warm sunlight. Two more miles and were back at camp where Joe and Leslie were offering Jacob a warm hot chocolate!

Clouds gave way to sunlight and we spent the evening around the fire with Joe and Leslie marveling at the way our best laid plans can come apart in such beautiful ways. This hike was nothing like I’d planned, but I came away with a heart full of gratitude for my son, for my friends, and for the opportunity to be stretched in new ways.

Seek the clearwater, my friends.