This guest blogger is usually behind the scenes, making sure the Wenatchee Naturalist website is up and running. I’m excited to introduce webmaster Leslie Bigos, as she shares a personal story about her growing connections to the Wenatchee Foothills.
On February 1, I began to work towards a fitness goal. My goal was simple: hike from the City of Wenatchee’s Saddle Rock Natural Area parking lot to the top of the Dry Gulch Dam 50 times between Feb 1 and May 12, when I would take a planned hiking trip to the Cotswold in England. I had seen my doctor and my blood glucose put me in the “pre-diabetic” range. Not good. So, I set my goal in the hopes that challenging myself physically would get my blood glucose to a normal level.
I calculated that the Dry Gulch hike, which climbs about 1100’ in elevation, was the perfect training hike to approximate the elevation gain in the Cotswolds. I also chose Dry Gulch because the trail is safe, easy to get to, and has enough foot traffic so that if I hiked by myself and turned an ankle, someone would come along to give me a hand.
With my goal set, February 1st came and I did the trail for the first time. It was hard! My lungs felt like they would burst from my chest and I had to stop to rest along the way. Breathing hard, I was rewarded when I got to the top of the dam and looked down at Wenatchee and I felt like I climbed a mountain.
Each day as I hiked Dry Gulch, I recorded my accomplishment in a diary. After about a week, it started to get easier and I often celebrated with a selfie at the top of the dam. Occasionally, I would get a friend to hike with me but most often I would hike by myself. After a month, I started recognizing some familiar faces on the trail — people of all ages — also hiking the trail on a regular basis. I began to experience a kind of solidarity with these other frequent hikers — the couple, the single lady, the trio with a yellow lab.
Then, the Covid-19 virus came and as my world of friends, restaurants, concerts and activities shrank,the one constant in my life became my daily hike. Dry Gulch afforded me social distancing and was my only activity besides a weekly outing to the grocery store. So I hiked even when we got a late winter snow storm. I hiked even when it was dark outside.
The hike became more than just self-improvement; as my fitness improved, I started enjoying how the light changed on Saddle Rock from one day to the next.
I watched the Bitterbrush and Sage leaf out.
I started noticing the birds around me. I saw Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Magpies, Red-Winged Blackbirds, to name a few.
Hawk 
Magpie
I saw a few mammals too. One morning when I was about to begin my hike, I saw a Coyote watching me.
And, I saw lots of Marmots.
And, perhaps, this is the remains of a Marmot mostly eaten by a Coyote?
I heard the wonderful sound of the Frogs doing their Spring mating calls.
Lately, the wildflowers are in bloom: phlox, balsamroot and lupine.
I can now hike up to the Dam without stopping and my best time is 50 minutes. The trip to the Cotswold has been cancelled but I’ve already passed my goal of 50 hikes. It’s only mid-April and I am on day 64. My goal has been reached in more than one way. I recently had my blood sugar tested and it was completely normal.
I did this for fitness but it has become the most enjoyable part of my life.
Leslie Bigos has lived in Wenatchee for 5 years. She creates and supports websites for small businesses, organizations and individuals, including the Wenatchee Naturalist website; she completed the Wenatchee Naturalist program and she credits it with helping her fall in love with the Valley. She serves on the board of Yarlung Artists, an organization that supports young musicians as they embark on their international careers. She is the mother of 3 sons and she pursues excellence in photography and crafting pizzas.