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I think we blazed a new trail today, almost certainly a new way to get to Truck Summit.

The typical way to Truck Summit is from the north.  Last September, Derek and I approached it from that direction and explored the ridge that runs south from the truck.  While looking at that track, we noticed that it appeared the abandoned service road designated NF110 on the maps wound around the Mine Creek ravine/canyon and ended abruptly just below where we turned around that day.

So today we parked at the Garcia/IHT intersection and started up NF9021.  Not long after we started Derek noticed a little boot path heading up through the woods so we took it straight up, cutting off a bit of the service road.  We discovered an extreme mountain bike trail – hard to believe people would barrel down the side of the mountain like that, but we saw the bike tracks.  It is nothing I would try:

The trail goes OVER that log, and others even bigger.

On the way up NF110 we came across an old piece of logging gear:

We kept trudging up the old service road, coming across several spots where gunnuts shoot at clay pigeons and various other targets, and we kept going up and around the ravine.

We looked across the ravine to try to find some way to get up to the ridge on the other side.  It did not look promising:

Although we did not know it at the time, our target spot to bushwhack up the side of the ridge was in the notch in the middle of the picture above.

As we got closer we took a compass bearing on the spot, and focused on a large dead tree for reckoning.  Then we just went straight up the side of the ridge, doing our best to keep making progress towards our immediate goal:

The photo above shows our target at the point where we went up the ridge.

So, we made it to the Truck and went down the service road, which in today’s nice weather, was very nice:

Up much higher Derek noticed an interesting looking cave, that might be worth exploring some day:

The Garmin Adventure server seems to be down so I cannot upload the track as usual.  Will get it in when the server is working.

In the meantime, here is the Google/GPS Visualizer look at our route:

Our path was right-to-left (east to west, generally).  Towards the beginning you can see how we cut off some of the service road by bushwhacking on the way up.  We took the road on the way down because the old guy’s knees were talking.

About 9.2 miles, 6.5 hours, about 3K elevation gain.  And who has ever done this route before?

Update 6/9 – Garmin server back online, here is the track:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/nf110-west-to-truck-summit#.WTtEBty1upp

Nice hike today with Carl, Mark, Mike (who has about 3 weeks until he retires!) and Ken.  We started at the Exit 20 High Point Trail and, after hitting numerous trails for various section lengths, went down the Poo Poo Point/Chirico Trail where Ken’s car was waiting.  He drove us back to our cars at High Point, and then we convened for coffee at a local Starbucks.

Tiger Mountain always provides a nice workout but most of the time you are in the forest which, of course, has its own charms.

Our high point was the Hiker’s Hut on Tiger 1:

Poo Poo Point was busy.   We must have passed more than a hundred hikers on the way up.

The parking lot was a madhouse but we finally made it out.

8.2 miles, almost 3K elevation gain, just over 4 hours, a nice day and better by far than sitting on the couch.

The track:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/tiger-1-to-poo-poo-point#.WTMgudy1upo

 

Derek and I did a Memorial Day hike that wound up going well beyond our original plan.

We went up the Change Creek Trail to Hall Point and went to Hall Point.  On the way down we found a trail we had been looking for that goes straight up to J’s Landing.

From J’s Landing we went up and up and finally met up with the service road just below Mid Mother Mountain.  We went south on that road, then east, then north (that is, we hiked all around the Hall Creek Ravine) and finally came out by the top of the Zig Zag Trail.

We decided to go up to Truck Summit.  There was snow along the way:

We did a little detour to an unnamed view point which I herewith dub FinCam View Point;

Plenty of great things to see, like a little waterfall:

Almost 4K elevation gain, 10.5 miles, a great, bushwhacking hike.  Here is the track:
https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/change-creek-to-truck-summit#.WSy6kNy1upo

 

My plan today was to hike Mt. Washington via the Great Wall, or at least see how far I could get.  The above snip from Google Earth shows I got almost to the intersection with the Change Creek Trail.

The problem was the snow, which, as the sun rose higher, was getting annoyingly soft:

At first, walking on the snow was no problem.  But as it started to soften, and get slick, I was sliding and post-holing.  I had to get to Snoqualmie in time to take Finley to a movie so I turned around.

Speaking of Fin, she and I have hiked Cedar Butte a couple of times and I thought she might like to see this picture of Cedar Butte, from about a mile and a half up the main Mt. Washington trail:

A fun hike although I would have like to have gotten farther.  Not sure what I did since my Garmin did not correctly record the track.  It gave me the entire drive from my home to the trail, plus the hike.  I estimate about 7 miles, 2600 feet of elevation gain.  A beautiful day!

Why is this mountain named Mailbox Peak?  See photo above, on the summit.

Even the old guy made it:

And believe me, this is a tough one.  Other than Low Mountain, which was painful due to the intense bushwhacking, this is the toughest hike I have done.

We went up the Old Trail, which, as you can see from the track below, is pretty much straight up the mountain, and then down the new trail, which is a bit less steep.

But at the point where the old and the new trails meet up and become one, you go a bit farther and hit a sheer wall of rocks you have to get up:

Now when I got to this point, I thought the summit was the top of the rocks.  Nope – not at all.  If you see the trees on the left at the top, they obscure the actual summit.  When you get up this section, there is another, steeper section left.  Oh my!

In spite of the steepness and ruggedness of this hike it is very popular on a weekend with fairly nice weather:

Not much of a view today but we did get to see a bunch of dogs:

The slight clearing in the above photo was the best view from the summit.

Here is the track:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/mailbox-peak-5-20-2017#.WSDMCdy1upo

Awesome hike, but my legs might be just a tad sore in the morning.

Not much to report.  I did this exact hike last Wednesday.  Neither Ken nor Carl had been on the Change Creek Trail before so I showed them the semi-hidden trail head and up we went.

There was a little snow up there today (see above) but not a problem at all.

A fun outing and, as always, a nice workout since the trail is fairly steep.

The sign, by the way, says ‘MMM Ridge’.  It’s new; there used to be a sign for  J’s Landing.  If you go past J’s Landing, where we turned around, you can bushwhack up to the service roads and from there a further bushwhack will land you on the summit of Mid Mother Mountain, also known (more poetically) as Songbird Peak.  I will try it out when the snows are gone.

That’s today’s gang at Tenerriffe Falls – a nice hike, we went a bit farther so it was about 6 miles round trip.

Decent weather, no snow where we were, which was nice.

This waterfall is kind of awesome:

Our track today:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/teneriffe-falls-5-13-2017#.WRdmaty1upot

Might go out tomorrow, Mother’s Day (a nice gift for Jan might be getting out of her way), depends on the weather.  But a very nice time today.

I did another solo hike today, short but very steep.

I parked in the usual lot off Exit 38, the one past the Mt. Washington lot and went up the Hall Creek Connector trail again (like last Saturday) but this time, instead of continuing on the Zig Zag Trail, I went west to Change Creek Trail.

This is really a wonderful trail.  This is only the 2nd time I have hiked it solo, so I had plenty of time to drink in the amazing variety on this trail, from its semi-hidden start off the IHT to the top of J’s Landing.  There are so many different looks to deal with.

After the first 1/3 mile or so you start to see openings through the trees, like the one above, looking east.  That’s a waterfall on Hall Creek in the distance.  Plenty of eastern views and a few western ones.  There are also a lot of interesting rock formations around:

J’s Landing is a few minutes south of Hall Point, which has a nice, easily noticed sign.  But where there used to be an obvious sign for J’s Landing, there is now a sign that says something like (I forgot to snap a photo) ‘MMM Ridge’ – referring to a ridge above J’s Landing that ends in a bushwhack section up and down a ridge.

I hung some pink flagging tape on the trail as an extra visual heads-up for the side trail up to J’s Landing.

Anyway, the ridge ends on a service road and you can bushwhack further up to Mid Mother Mountain.

Pretty much the entire way the views are awesome.  I will be back soon.

Here is the track.

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/change-creek-to-js-landing-5-10-2017#.WRNj-Ny1upo

 

I hiked solo today, the Saturday group’s timing wouldn’t work for me since I was scheduled to pick up Fin and Cam and bring them home for a stayover.  Even as I type….

I hiked up the Zig Zag Trail and, at the top, headed down NF9021 to the IHT and back to the car via the Hall Creek Connector trail (the same trail I took going up).

The trail is in excellent condition:

Plenty of nice views along the way:

Just beyond Mine Creek (another one running high – up where I crossed it was almost up to my knees so my socks were soaking wet) is an impressive peak that I believe may be accessed via the trail that heads up to Truck Summit.  Worth investigating.

7 miles, 3 hours, 15 minutes, just under 2K elevation gain (all in the first 1.5 miles) a nice workout.   Here is the track:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/zig-zag-trail-5-6-2017#.WQ6jaty1upo

 

No photos today, forgot the camera.

Useful hike, because I learned that the road from the freeway to McClellan Butte parking lot (Exit 42 on I-90E) is now open.

I parked at the 2nd Exit 38 parking lot, crossed the road and went up the Hall Creek Connector trail to the Iron Horse Trail (IHT).  From there I went east to the McLellan Butte trail and down that trail to the trail head and down the road to the freeway.

Last couple of trip reports showed the road closed due to blow downs, but it is now open.

11.5 miles, saw maybe 4 people the whole time, just over 4 hours round-trip.

My track:

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/iiron-horse-trail#.WQJ1oNy1upp