Remembering Why I Waymark

Lately I've been a little disgusted with waymarking and haven't been hunting new marks with the gusto that I used to. After so many new chain categories and a few just plain lame ones it was losing the luster that it once had for me.

Well, over the weekend I remembered what it is that I love about the hobby. With Hikenutty Jr. in Wyoming with his grandparents we decided to head up to North Cascades National Park for some camping and hiking. As I thumbed through the well worn pages of "Pacific Northwest Hiking", a hefty bible for Washington and Oregon hikers, I found a hike that looked interesting - tiny little lake in a box canyon, views of glaciated peaks, wildflowers and WHAT's THAT?!!! A rare spot in Washington where carnivorous plants grow?!!! I didn't even know that carnivorous plants grew in the Northwest. I figured they were all down in the south and southeast. I still didn't have a waymark for the "Carnivorous Plant Localities" category so here was my chance.

So I looked up a photo of "drosera anglica" on the Internet and off we went on our camping trip. I figured my chances of actually seeing a small patch of plants located somewhere along 2 miles of steep trail was slim, but hey, it was worth a try and we would still get some great scenery.

The hike was short, but grueling. The first 1/4 mile seemed more like a mountain goat trail than a hiking trail. This was the kind of hiking where arms were needed to help scramble up at places, not just your legs. For the last half of the hike I carefully scanned the nurselogs and tree trunks for anything unusual. I did find an awesome, bright yellow slime mold, and several beautiful types of wildflowers, but no drosera anglica. Oh well. I figured I could always hit the Seattle Conservatory - they have some carnivorous plants. We finally crested the last ridge and below us lay the pristine little lake with Pyramid Peak towering above. We threw down the daypacks and walked over to the lake with the dogs and there on the multitude of logs floating in the lake were scores of drosera anglica plants - tiny little rose hued plants nestled amongst the moss. I was ecstatic! What a find! How cool. I carefully walked out to a patch of plants on one of the floating logs that was lodged in the rocks on one end and squatted down for some macro shots. Somehow I managed to get a bunch of pictures without me or the camera falling into the very deep lake. (My little dog Frodo was not so lucky when he tried to get to a dragonfly. He jumped onto the log before I could stop him and promptly went for an unwanted swim.)

Anyhow, I now have my carnivorous plant waymark and it's one that I am proud of - not just an exercise in filling the grid, but an awesome, memorable experience. I would have taken the hike with our without the waymark waiting for me there at the end, however, I never would have learned about the rare plant life that grew there, or have been watching close enough to see the slime mold or the pipsissewa blossoms, or the funky lichen that I still can't find the name of. I wouldn't have brought along my wildflower guide and learned the names of several flowers that I hadn't seen before. I would have seen the surface and missed all the glorious detail.

So... I'm still irritated by the path that waymarking is continuing to follow due to lack of guidance and fine tuning. However, I'm learning to change the way I waymark, learning to change my mindset when I head out to waymark, and most of all, learning to lighten up because afterall, this is about learning and having fun in the process. If you want to check out my carnivorous waymark, WM4A2X, you'll find more pictures of this interesting plant and the beautiful little lake that it is found on in the ruggedly beautiful North Cascades.