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Sophia Aldous
Embracing backpacking on public lands
NEWPORT – When Mandy Walters gets into a new hobby, she likes to go big. Maybe too big at times, she’ll admit.
Case in point being when Walters, 42, decided to get into backpacking in her late thirties, she set her first goal of 70 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2022. She and her husband, Jake, started at Trout Lake and stopped at Walupt Lake. Walters figured they made about 35-38 miles.
“I get very gung-ho about things I am interested in” Walters said, smiling. “It was a good lesson.”
She may be enthusiastic about backpacking, but she’s not reckless. The reason Walters picked a section of PCT instead of somewhere more local for her and Jake’s first overnight hiking trip is because there are higher volumes of through hikers on the trail August-September.
“That way if we were having trouble with something, there was more likelihood of experienced backpackers being on the trail, so we could ask questions and get help,” Walters said. “It was kind of a safety mechanism.” In the last four years, Walters has walked 250 miles on her excursions in the Great Outdoors. Earlier this month she completed Section H of the PCT, a 76-mile stretch, in seven days. She walked across the Bridge of the Gods into Oregon on Aug. 8 and stayed the night in Cascade Locks.
“I found the cheapest hotel I could and got right in the bathtub,” Walters said, laughing. “It was a bathtub that some might call questionable, but I was so tired, I didn’t care.”
During the day, Walters works in Newport as the Pend Oreille County Library District Director.
When she’s not spending time with her family, she has taken to planning backpacking trips on the weekend. Sometimes Jake joins her, other times she goes on solo adventures.
“My husband is a good sport and very supportive, but he has his own things he likes to do,” Walters said. “I thought if I had to wait for someone to go backpacking with me, it probably wasn’t worth doing, because then your interests are always waiting on someone else’s schedule.”
While Walters has never been averse to enjoying nature, she pointed out that hiking and backpacking in Washington is much better than where she grew up in Arkansas.
“Arkansas has nothing on Washington,” she said. “In Arkansas it’s miserably humid, there’s clouds of mosquitoes, chiggers, various venomous snakes, ticks—I hope people who grew up surrounded by public lands like the ones that are here know how lucky they are.”
Walters had a temporary setback in 2023 when she tore the ACL in one of her knees while skiing.
She had surgery in March of that year, followed by physical rehabilitation that Walters said she took, “very seriously.”
“I wanted to get back in shape as soon as I could, but I didn’t want to overdo it only to go out and injure myself again,” Walters said. “I would find a trail or mountain on my hiking app, which has the mileage and elevation then show it to my physical therapist and tell him I wanted to train for those kinds of conditions. Most of the time he said yes, but depending on how steep and long the hike was, he would say I had to work up it, but I pushed within the parameters he gave me.”
Some of the exercises Walters did during rehabilitation focused on physical things she might come across while backpacking, like being able to hop rocks across a stream or balance on a log or uneven terrain. As soon as she was able, she began going to the gym to weight train, building the muscles in her legs to support her knees.
“Every day is leg day when you have a knee injury and you want to keep moving,” Walters said.
Walters also tries to keep her pack as light as possible.
“My pack is about five pounds, which is abhorrently heavy in the backpacking world,” she said, smiling. She also uses trekking poles and always carries bear spray.
“It’s good for humans and cougars too,” she said.
Some of her other trips include, but are not limited to, backpacking White Pass to Chinook Pass, hiking to and staying at Snow Peak cabin in Ferry County, and Stage 16 of the Pacific Northwest Trail near Metaline Falls. She also volunteers with the Washington Trails Association and the Pacific Crest Trail Association clearing brush around trails.
So when is Walters tackling Section J on the PCT, the segment from Sonora Pass to Echo Lake in California?
“I don’t know,” Walters said.
“Maybe September or October? I’m not in a hurry, I’m not trying to outdo anyone. I’m just having a really good time doing it.”
She added that next month she might end up hiking Timberline Trail, a 40-mile loop in Oregon that circumnavigates Mount Hood.
For those interested in backpacking, Walters encourages investing money, if possible, in light, quality gear. Those who aren’t sure if they want to spend a lot on a hobby they may end up not liking can find places to rent hiking equipment at www. wta.org/go-outside/trail-smarts/ gear/where-to-rent-or-borrowoutdoor- gear. She also advocates that people follow “leave no trace” principals and be good stewards of public lands.
“And don’t skip leg day,” Walters said.
SOPHIA MATTICE-ALDOUS IS A MURROW NEWS FELLOW WORKING DIRECTLY WITH NEWSROOMS AT THE NEWPORT MINER AND RANGE MEDIA THROUGH A PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY. HER REPORTING IS AVAILABLE FOR USE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS WITH CREDIT.
