No camera today, this is a pretty standard conditioning hike for me. Just wanted to note it for yearly count.
Happy Thanksgiving, while this isn’t the most amazing hike in the world it was great to start the day with a nice workout. There were plenty of hikers and bikers (mountain bikes) around, everyone happy to be getting outside on Turkey Day.
I had a lunch date with a Boeing buddy today, down in Renton, so I hiked Squak from the May Valley Road side. That allowed quick access to Renton afterwards driving south on 900.
I went up the main trail from the parking lot up past the Bullitt Fireplace:
Up to Central Peak. I went down the South Access Road. Nice workout, nothing special.
I may screw up the energy to do Mt. Washington on Saturday. It is supposedly snow-free so far and I would like to do something tougher than what I have been doing lately.
And Turkey Day is coming….
Great way to start the day, the 8 mile roundtrip up Rattlesnake Mountain from Sno Point trail head to Grand Prospect.
On the way up I was passed by a couple of trail runners but otherwise had the place to myself. On the way down I passed quite a few people going up but there were no crowding issues at all.
When I was done I drove to the grandkids’ house and picked them up – they are sleeping with Granny even as I type. And we have a fun day planned.
I took the camera today but didn’t use it, this was an un-photogenic hike. Ken and I met at the E Sunset Way parking lot and did a straightforward Section Line to Nook Trail junction (and back) workout. As Ken said, it beat being in the gym.
Another beautiful morning and I am in training mode – training for the hiking trip to Ireland I am taking next year with Derek – so I got out again and did a moderate hike starting at the Rattlesnake Lake side of Rattlesnake Mountain and going up to the middle ledge.
It was a neat 2 hour hike, a good workout (not a great workout) and every hike takes me closer to my goal of being able to do the Wicklow Way hike we are going to do.
Derek and I are going to start in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, south of Dublin (near Glendalough where Jan and I visited earlier this year) and work our way north, hiking, successively, 19, 18 and 16 miles, ending up in South Dublin.
This is mountainous and hilly terrain and I need to be in good enough shape to do it. My goal is to average 3 hikes a week between now and when we leave (the very end of August 2019) and drop some weight as well.
We shall see how it goes but so far, so good.
Along the way today I noticed a fairly dense network of graffiti on one of the two bridges along the way:
Also, on the ledge, for a change I turned around and looked north and west – I love the forest on Rattlesnake Mountain:
I hope to get out on Thursday as well, and if not (weather forecast is pretty wet right now) on Saturday for sure.
Today’s solo hike was not particularly photogenic but it was fun and was a really good workout.
I took the normal route up Margaret’s Way to where it meets the Chybinski Trail and went right, as if for Debbie’s View. I took the Debbie’s View turn but then went left and up a trail I had seen on Cal Topo towards Squak’s West Peak.
I wasn’t exactly sure of the route, as there are a number of intersecting trails up there but I used my Gaia app and navigated with ease.
What I found is that the trip up to, around, down, and back up to Margaret’s Way trail leads to a 7 mile round-trip and adds not only some extra elevation gain, but takes you through a few pretty steep sections.
Also, the woods around West Peak are very nice. So, all in all, this may be my new go-to hike for Squak, although West Peak has no view at all, there are no ‘above the tree line’ peaks on Squak.
About 3.5 hours, maybe 2,600 feet of elevation gain, a nice day a nice workout.
Great hike today with an almost full crew – Carl, Mike, Greg, David and Ken and I went east, to Exit 45 to hike to Talapus and Olallie Lakes.
This was not a grueling hike. About 6 miles round trip, 1,100 feet of elevation gain but it was tons of fun and the lakes were absolutely beautiful.
First was Talapus Lake, and then, about .8 mile down the trail, Olallie Lake:
As you can see, snow has already visited the mountains around here. The trail was fine, the snow was not deep, but it won’t be long before this area will require snow shoes.
There were some hungry birds hanging around and they were not shy about getting their snacks:
As always, we discussed how lucky we are to live near the mountains – after the stress of yesterday, election day, a nice hike to a couple of sub-alpine lakes was just the ticket.