Author: DJHikers

I left the house this morning in the dark and the rain, not sure where I would wind up. I wanted to see just how hard it was raining out east of Seattle, near the mountains. It was a downpour so I chose a shorter hike, Garfield Ledges.

But it took awhile to get there. The Middle Fork trail head is just over 11 miles down FR56 (SE Middle Fork Rd.) and I had gone maybe 4 miles when I could see tree branches in the road ahead. So I stopped and, thanks to the headlights of my car, I was able to scoop up the branches and proceed. (this is not exactly a busy road at any time, but definitely not at 6am on a rainy morning).

Another mile or so and more branches. And after that, actual logs that I was able to roll off the road, inching each end a few feet at a time. Whew! But it was a nice pre-workout workout.

I parked at the Middle Fork trail head, did Garfield Ledges and, on the way back, decided to see if I could find a trail headed towards a place I want to check out, the old Nordrum Lookout. I found what I thought was an unofficial trail and now, looking at the track on the map, I can see that for sure that is the way to go. Next week I can check it out.

View from the lower Garfield Ledge:

About 4 miles, Garfield Ledges is steep enough (about 600 feet of gain in .8 miles, similar to Section Line) and my rain gear worked: I did not get wet.

The Taylor River is running pretty high right now:

Track below.

Rain this morning, probably pretty heavy where I was going to hike so I waited until around 11 am and just did a Section Line conditioning loop on Tiger. Went back via the Bus Trail, the decrepit bus as above (and still wondering how and when it got there).

Lots of rain in the forecast for the coming few days, I need to think of a very forest-oriented hike for Friday, bring the rain gear and just gut it out. Got to be able to handle rain when you live around here.

I did a gentle hike today, only about 4 miles, on Tiger Mountain. I went up the connector trail to Wetlands, around Round Lake (today, merely a muddy swamp) to Bus Trail, around the Tradition Lake Trail and then back via Swamp and Big Tree trails.

I did such a moderate hike because yesterday, on my walk, I experienced quite severe pain in my right foot. I was afraid I had a neuroma or a broken bone – something really bad. And yet the pain would hit me for a minute or two and then leave. It was odd.

Today I was hoping to do a long hike (about 11 miles, 2400 feet of elevation gain) but I thought that if my foot acted up during a long hike I might have trouble getting back. So I did this little loop.

No pain at all, no trouble. I now think I was experiencing some sort of cramp but in an unusual part of my foot. Anyway, no problems so I figure on Wednesday I can try the bigger hike.

Round Lake – Lower than Ever

I did a little conditioning hike on Tiger Mountain today, a bit under 4 miles, 90 minutes. Elevation gain on Tiger 3 going up, then across Talus Rock trail, down Section Line, etc. I parked at the Tradition Plateau parking lot so it was kind of a reverse loop – I generally park on E Sunset Way and go up Section Line and down Tiger 3.

Anyway, Tradition Lake is far from at its fullest right now but it still looks like a lake. The photo above was taken from the official view point (a wooden stand with a plaque talking about the local wildlife). The photo below was taken from the shore (there is a small, steep path down to the shore):

The track is below. It was fun, a nice way to start a Thursday.

I had to settle for one out of three today.

The ‘one’ was that the hike had length – it was just a shade under 11 miles.

But it was not steep (just a tiny section at the end) and the view point towards which I was navigating turned out to be not much of a view. Otter Falls, above, is pretty dry right now. Lipsey Lake, at the base of the falls, is more like a large puddle:

But it was a nice day, there are old growth trees dotted among the second growth forest so I will not complain.

The track:

I did Olallie today and the route I took was only about 6.4 miles. I went up Cedar Butte trail the steep (shorter) way; Southside to Olallie; up Olallie to the first view point; took the switchback shortcuts on the way down (some of the bikers like to live dangerously); then took Southside back, where I usually take Olallie down to PTC, and steep way down Cedar Butte trail.

Those details sure cut the mileage.

Southside is looking decent these days, dry, not terribly brushy:

The track:

I was once again foiled by the gate at the Margaret’s Way parking lot. I am not sure when they open it, or why it is closed (the other four Squak Mountain access points are accessible early) but when I swung by about 5:15 am it was closed. So I drove to the SE May Valley Road parking lot and went up to Central Peak.

Not many views – again, I started in the dark – but it is at least a decent workout. It is similar to being on a highly souped-up treadmill but in the forest rather than in a gym.

Speaking of forests, I found this on Twitter and it resonates with me:

I hope to get out Friday, not sure where.

I actually made it to Southeast Peak on Squak Mountain today. The last time I tried I missed the trail. Today, I used Gaia as a guide (as I did the first time I found it) and found it easily. I see that I missed it because my memory of the trail was flawed. I thought it intersected the main trail farther along than it does.

Anyway, if I want to do it again some day, I won’t miss it for sure.

This was not a photogenic hike in any way.

As I did the last time on Squak, I started in the dark. The first hour was with the headlamp. But this trail doesn’t have many views anyway. The forest is nice but not awe-inspiring. SE Peak itself is wooded. The view (above) is less than inspiring.

But it was about 7.5 miles with plenty of elevation gain to make it a nice workout, definitely beats sitting on my ass so it’s all good.

Track below.

No biggie today, only about 4.5 miles, maybe 1K elevation gain. A fun walk to the top of Cedar Butte and then back via Christmas Lake. I was in the forest, getting a (more or less) decent workout, it is all good. Not sure what I will do on Wednesday but it will be more challenging than this one.

I might go back to Squak/SE Peak because I am still steamed at myself for missing the trail to SE peak.

From a distance, Mount Washington beckons, although I will probably not do that one until next week and when I do, I will take the long way (14+ miles) via Olallie Trail. A super workout and it avoids most of the miserable rocky Mt. Washington trail.

The track:

No big deal today but a nice conditioning hike. I did my usual Section Line to Talus Rocks to Tiger 3 etc. One nice note for me is that I have dropped my time from car to top of Section Line from about 80 minutes last year to 63 minutes today. It is about 2.2 miles, with about 1.3 miles of that fairly steep. A good workout.

Round Lake is almost gone right now:

The Bus Trail tends to be pretty peaceful and flat and a nice stroll:

Anyway, we’ll see how it goes next week.