I can’t say I am ever disappointed when I hike but today came close.
Yesterday I started early to hike Crystal Peak – my favorite hike, down by Mount Rainier – but about 30 miles short of the trail head it started to rain. It was pouring. This is in spite of the fact that the forecast called for no rain and we have had a nice sunny July streak. So I turned around and drove home. Today I settled for my standard Tiger Mountain conditioning hike.
The only unusual thing was the fact that I saw a fisherman on Tradition Lake – I didn’t know it was allowed:
Fishing on Tradition Lake
Anyway, I am going to try again for Crystal Peak on Monday.
Today I hiked up to Granite Lakes. This is a nice hike, a bit under 9 miles, about 2,400 feet of elevation gain. I saw only two people on the way up, perhaps a half dozen on the way down.
The lakes look up to several peaks, including Dirty Harry’s Peak:
Dirty Harry’s Peak
There are a couple of view points looking north on the way up. Here is Russian Butte:
Russian Butte
Sometimes the sun and the forest come together to create a magical experience. The camera does not do it justice but every moment like this is special:
I hiked the Change Creek Trail to J’s Landing today, 4.29 miles, but the Change Creek Trail up to Hall Point is super-steep (about 1,350 feet in a mile) so it is a great workout.
It was cloudy and slightly cool, perfect weather for a steep hike. Not much sweating on the way up.
I do always like to see the little Hall Creek waterfall, way back in the Watershed:
Fall Looks Small from Here
There is a nice view north towards Mt. Si:
Mount Si
And on the way down I stopped to groove on being in the back country, staring up at Change Peak. Alone, quiet, the horrible troubles of the world on hold for me:
Change Peak
A fun outing, and I will be getting out 3 times a week through the summer (barring injury).
I did a nice workout today. I went up the ultra-steep Zig Zag Trail, and then down the NF9021 service road to the PTC trail, and back that way. About 7.5 miles.
Zig Zag gains about 1,300 feet in one mile, and that kind of grade definitely gets my attention.
It was a beautiful sunny day, summer in the PNW. Mid-70’s, plenty of sun.
I saw no one on the Zig Zag and no one on the service road until I had to step aside for a couple of vehicles chugging upward.
On the way back I stopped at the Mine Creek Trestle and looked south to see Chester Peak, still with a few patches of snow:
I hope I am through with my parsimonious ways. I did Grand Prospect today and, as always (see above) I just love the forest above Stan’s Overlook. It made me realize how much I crave the mountains and the forest.
But no grand views at Grand Prospect. Elevation there is only 3,100 feet but the clouds were so low that it was like being in a fog. I did get to see some nice wildflowers:
Flowers
8 miles, 2K elevation gain, a very nice way to spend a Thursday.
I did a Tiger Mountain conditioning hike yesterday, but a bit longer than usual.
Up the Tradition Plateau trail to Adventure/Section Line/Talus Rocks/West Tiger 3 to RR Grade Trail, to Section Line and down Section Line to the Bonneville Power Trail, to Wetlands, and back via Tradition Plateau Trail. 7.8 miles altogether.
Based on the WTA description and on trip reports it seemed like a hike I could do with Derek and Camden, and
I expected the views from the top to be spectacular.
Correct on both counts.
This hike is only about 2.5 miles up and down, with 850 feet of elevation gain. Sounds mild but most of the gain is packed into the first .65 miles so it is steep enough to get your heart beating.
The lookout itself is a minor workout:
Heybrook Lookout
From the lookout the views are terrific:
It’s All GoodAnother One
It has been hot for the past few days so I started early, leaving the car at just after 5:30 am. I enjoyed the lack of traffic on the way out. This hike is farther north than most of the hikes I do, it is up on Highway 2 just past Sultan. A very scenic drive and a great morning.
I am hoping that my relative lack of mountainous hikes lately, saving on gas money, have given me enough credit to be more active in the next few weeks.
My plan – or hope, at least – was to check out the approach to Rooster Mountain. However, we have contractors at the house today and I waited for them to arrive. I didn’t leave the car to go up the trail until almost 10:30 and, mindful of the traffic coming home, I headed back at what turned out to be the junction of a long-abandoned mining trail called the Rainy Mine Trail. If you look at the track, below, you can see the turnaround point is right next to a little duo of trails heading off to the west (left). I would like to come back and explore. Based on very old trip reports, there may still be some old mining detritus in the area.
This trail, which used to be a road (and, I noticed today, had some truck tracks on it for awhile) goes to Blethen Lake, Cockerel Point, and Rooster Mountain. Other places as well, for those who are fearless explorers. In fact, I have reason to believe that making it up to Rooster Peak is a considerable undertaking. Interesting.
Just under 6 miles (I parked at the Middle Fork parking lot). On the way back I started hearing loud ‘bangs’! As I got close to the bridge over Taylor River, the Snoqualmie Lake Trail parking lot and trail head, I could see a guy just off the trail shooting a target affixed to a tree. I waited for him to stop (what if he misses?) and hurried by.
Needless to say, it is totally illegal to discharge firearms in National Forests, and there we were in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. I hope I do not have to deal with that ever again.
Next time I am on this trail I will wear my heavy leather boots, because after a certain point, the trail becomes super-rocky:
Rocky Trail
The Quartz Creek Trail intersects the Snoqualmie Lake Trail and whenever you are on that trail, there is the pleasant sound of the Taylor River:
I had to improvise today. My plan was to check out the McClellan Butte trail and file a trip report on the Washington Trails Association website (wta.org). This trail is mostly off-limits in the winter, up to early summer in fact. In the winter the avalanche danger is super high. By the time the avalanche danger is gone the deep, deep snow on the east side of the mountain piles up in the five avalanche chutes, forming snow bridges. At some point the bridges become unstable, so good luck making progress, unless you can drop down below the snow and try to make it up the other side.
Anyway, I was going to check out the conditions. But when I pulled into the McClellan Butte parking lot there were two very suspicious-looking vehicles parked there, clearly having stayed the night, and so I turned around and left. There have been numerous trashed cars at trailheads in the area (a scandal amongst the local hiking community) so I headed back west to exit 38.
I parked by the NF9021 service road, hiked up to the PTC and then back down to the car, via an unofficial boot path.
Only about 3.5 miles, I was a bit disappointed. I have been cutting back on my mountain hikes due to the cost of gas and this seemed almost like a waste.
The view south to Chester Peak was looking good, due to all the beautiful clouds:
I have been itching to get back into the mountains but the price of gas has kept me doing local walks/hikes. Yesterday I took a longer, hillier route to the mall. It was a decent (7 mile) workout but, let’s face it. Walking on sidewalks along busy streets is not exactly peaceful. It is not what Beethoven had in mind with his Pastoral Symphony.
Today I did an Olallie Trail hike: PTC to Cedar Butte, to Southside Trail, to Olallie. I took a right and, 1.5 miles later, was at the first view point. Just to prolong the pleasure I took Olallie all the way down to the PTC. Total mileage today was 8.3.
I saw one trail runner as I was leaving the lot at 6:35 am and not another person until I was almost back at the car. I heard excited voices ahead and ran into a group of close to (I estimate) forty people, mostly little kids with a few adults trying to keep the kids under control. I am glad they were going out while I was coming back, but I do like to see kids out hiking. Get ’em started early.
