Category: Uncategorized

Nice conditioning hike, just under 8 miles, about 2K elevation gain. I love the forest above Stan’s Overlook (1.9 miles from trail head). Of course, you get to traverse it twice, on the way up and on the way down.

Unfortunately, something is happening on Rattlesnake Mountain. I had a hard time on the usually quiet road I use as a little detour from the trail. Views north, change of pace. But today, truck after truck went barrelling by, and I could hear rumblings for much of the hike. I hope they are not logging again.

Track is below.

I stayed away from the eastern hikes because of the smoke. My plan was to hike up to Squak Mountain’s Southeast Peak but somehow I missed the little side trail that leads to the peak. I missed it twice, once going up and once going down. Now I am motivated to get back on this trail to make sure I don’t miss it again.

Not much else to say. This is not a very photogenic hike, particularly since I left the car at just after 5 am, in the dark. I did not turn the headlamp off until about 6:10. I still soaked the headlamp’s band with sweat. I was walking at a nice pace. The trail is steep but not ultra-steep; it is a good workout.

Just under 7 miles. Here is the track:

I hiked to Granite Lakes today – phew! The wildfire smoke is thick. My eyes were burning as I got near the lake. I am sure I inhaled some bad stuff. This is our new normal, not just in the PNW but around the world. Consider the tragic fires in and around Greece recently.

Anyway, this hike is nice but not the most strenuous. The first 1.1 mile is reasonably steep. After that, for the next 3 miles (round trip is about 8.2 miles) there is a steady elevation gain but it isn’t very steep. A nice uphill walk.

Smoke, smoke, every where. Track below.

Dirty Harry’s Peak (sort of)

Back on July 5 when I first did this hike I was so impressed I vowed to return. And today I did and I am glad. Another perfect day and, as a bonus, thanks to yesterday’s rain the smoke was gone (for now).

This hike really has it all and if it wasn’t so darned far away, about a 2 hour drive, I would do it way more often. It is just under 8 miles round-trip. 3,100 feet of elevation gain. Except for the summit block, which is just as steep as summit blocks usually are, it is a fairly even grade the entire way. It works out to just under a 15 degree grade, which is steep enough to be a good workout but not so tough it wears you out.

The views at the top are awesome, the meadow below the summit is beautiful and the trail itself is very good pretty much the entire way. It is not obnoxiously rocky like Mount Washington or Granite Mountain.

Anyway, a beautiful way to spend your morning. I made it to the top in about 2 hours and ten minutes and just under two hours down, with 15 glorious minutes drinking in the view at the top.

Sweet!

In the photo right above, note how far down the river is – that’s the level where you park.

The track:

I had a fun hike today, did just under 8 miles, but not much elevation gain. I have been trying to do one hike a week just for fun and today was that. I got semi-lost a couple of times, bushwhacked a bit, and saw a deer with her two fawns hanging out. I snapped a few pics of the deer but only one came out. I need to upgrade my camera and my camera skills.

I wandered to and fro, going wherever the mood struck. At one point I was on the Rattlesnake Mountain trail for a short way, I went around the NE end of the lake and I wandered up and past the Education Center which, according to the sign, is now open but only for 17 hours spread out between Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Progress, I guess.

I will probably get out again on Sunday, based on the weather report, which shows some much needed rain on Saturday. I hope some of the wild fires get tamped down a bit. We are really hurting once again. This is the new normal, I am afraid.

I did McClellan Butte today, starting from the service road (a rough ride and dusty; I had to wash my car when I got home). I got an early start, leaving the car at 5:30am but I was soon passed by a trail runner and two young hikers who were power-walking up the trail. Me, I am an old guy and I trudge. This trail is steep.

And I got an adrenaline jolt on the way down, when I saw two bear cubs just off the trail scrambling up trees to get away from the clueless human. I am happy to say that mama bear did not show her claws. I did take out the bear spray and, if I do say so, made excellent time the rest of the way down.

One large disappointment: based on the very smoky skies I cancelled my Thursday/Friday camping trip. The air where I was, about 43 miles east of Seattle, was a little harsh. I could see that where I had planned to go, 40-plus miles farther east, was way worse. Global warming is not coming; it is here.

Last week I had lunch with a Boeing friend, another retired old man. He has a distinguished history as a hiker and backpacker and he brought along several hiking guides from the early 1980’s. I checked out the entry for McClellan Butte and noticed that the trail has changed. Back then, the start of the trail was routed differently, and the trail on the west side of the mountain dipped down towards a little tarn and then back up. I have been down to that tarn but I did not know that the decrepit trail there used to be the main trail. And, based upon the old description, I could see the remnants of the old trail not only going down, but going past the tarn and back up. Very cool. The tarn from above:

Not long after you get on the trail from the service road there is a talus field and you can look up and see the goal:

If that seems like a long and steep way, it is. The view in this photo is the east side of the summit. The actual approach is from the west. There is an exposed scramble to the very top but I skip that because a slip leads to certain death.

The track:

I haven’t hiked for more than a week because I had a couple of ugly blisters. I got out today but only went up to the Palouse-to-Cascade trail. As I got to the trail I looked up and saw a couple of rails someone has put up on the Zig Zag Trail – gives you an idea of how steep Zig Zag is:

I went east on PTC to Garcia and on the way back explored a couple of side trails, as is evident from the track (below).

As ever, there are plenty of interesting things to see out there:

I am hoping to do McClellan Butte on Tuesday and then on Thursday, I will be going east, staying overnight in my tent at Lake Easton State Park.

I did a real hike today, 8.22 miles, 3,800 feet of elevation gain. Granite Mountain is a tough one but worth it. Incredible workout and the views at the top (such as above) are awesome.

It has one of those summits that hikers love to have to themselves. Granite gets busy and while the summit is not tiny, it is not capacious. Basically, you are sitting underneath a lookout tower:

I started up the trail about 5:45 am. I saw not a single person on the way up. On the way down I started to run into people going up, and a few of them asked me how many people were ahead of them – so they would know what to expect on top.

The way to get the summit to yourself is to get up early and head up the trail early. And, not coincidentally, before it gets hot. I soaked one sweatband but that’s not bad for a hike like this. It is rocky and steep, with many, many 2.5 to 3 feet step-ups.

The summit is 5,600 feet. At about 4,800 feet there is a really nice meadow:

A nice feature of this hike is that along the trail, there are opportunities to see your goal. And yikes! You can see how much higher you have to go:

Anyway, it was a great hike. Not sure what I’ll do next but whatever it is, it will be fun.

Here is the track:

Another conditioning hike today but not the one I was planning. I wanted to do the Margaret’s Way Trail on Squak but at 5:20 when I tried to park there was a gate. So I quickly came up with Plan B, which was to go a few miles further to the other side of Squak, park at the SE May Valley Rd lot and go up the Central Peak Trail to Central Peak.

It was shady most of the way but at one spot there was a tiny little pinprick of sun shining through and it made a plant look like it had a tongue of fire. Very cool.

The Bullitt Fireplace is naturally still there but for some reason, someone has placed a broom by the fireplace. OK, if we need to sweep, we have the tool.

About 6 miles, probably a bit less than 2K elevation gain, not a strenuous outing but fun enough.

Last October I took a photo of Round Lake and it was more like a puddle. I decided to take a photo every 3 months to track its condition and today was the last one. There was a bit more water today than there was in October but not much. Here is October:

Round Lake in October

It looks most like a lake in April, with all the rain and snow melt but it is a ‘diminished thing’ these days.

Just a conditioning hike, no big deal but they all add up.