Snow lake

After many weeks of being to busy to hike, or having no one to go with, I was finally able to get out and go hiking this Veteran's day. It was long overdue, because my last opportunity to go hiking was over labor day weekend. Even though I had the time, I still was not sure that we would actually be able to go because of the heavy rain and flooding of the few days prior. Charles was not availible until 1pm and he would be in Issaquah, so I decided to do my first hike in the I-90 corridor. Up until now I had avoided I-90 because of the crowds but now I didn't have a choices. The weather forecast called for heavy snow above 2500ft and high in the 30's. A perfect day to go hiking.

It rained pretty hard as we were driving up to exit 52, and I was wonderng what the trail would be like and how far we would make it. The rain seemed to turn to snow just as we got off the freeway at our exit, and much my our surprise we were driving through an freshly fallen winter wonderland. I had expected to see snow, but I was not at all expecting a few feet to have already fallen. It took us some time to find the trailhead and get dressed up for the weather and we started at about 2pm.

This was my first actual hike in the snow (the others being glacier climbs) and I enjoyed the new experience immensely. I loved the way that everything is quiet and peaceful in the snow. All the snow was freshly fallen powder almost waist deep, but the trail was hard packed and easy to walk on. We traveled slowly to take it all in, and take lots of pictures. I saw two small waterfalls to the north of the trail and at one point we met a wolf along the trail. After a mile and half we came to a fork in the trail and went uphil to Snow lake.

Despite going uphill, it was not very difficult, and the switchbacks made it easier because with each new level the view of the valley below got better. Once we got to the top of the ridge, we could see the lake, but had to descend about 20-30 feet to get the best view. The lake was beautiful, and one the edges we could see multi layered sheets of ice. There was a flat spot near us where I wish I could have spent the night. After a few minutes at the lake we turned around because we were sure that we would not make it back to the car before dark. We never planned it, but we both ended up jogging the two miles back to the car. We made just minutes before dark.

A good day

I got off work early at 3:30pm, and then decided to go for an 8 mile run. It was pouring rain, and I got soaked, but I had a great time. When I got home, my wife was making salad and lasagna, and she makes both dishes as good as they come. After a delicious dinner, I helped clean up, then had some ice cream and went to sleep thinking of the mountains.

The picture has nothing to do with what I did today.

Tumwater Falls

It's been far too long since I've been able to get outdoors and go hiking. Over two months to be exact. One big problem is a lack of time, and an even bigger problem is that there is no one to go out with. Everyone I've gone hiking with in the past has moved away in the past few months.
Last weekend my family was visiting to help with the kids while my wife was away at a conference. On the lsat day of their visit, my sister and wanted to go see something naturey but we didn't have a lot of time. The best choice I could come up with that she hadn't already been to was Tumwater Falls. It's not the most impressive waterfall, but it is a small island of natural beauty in the middle of a large urban area. Unfortunately we came too late to see the salmon run. We saw only one fish where a week before there had been hundreds. Overall, it was fun to spend time with my sister, and it wsa a gorgeous day to see the outdoors and the fall colors.

Children's nyquil

Last night my wife bought some children's Nyquil for our sick daughter. Among the many warning labels it read: be careful when driving a motor vehicle or operating heavy machinery; avoid alcoholic drinks; If pregnant or breast feeding, ask a health care professional before use.
I guess they had to cover all thier bases. Fortunately our 2 year old is not pregnant and the car keys are our of her reach.

Another pet

A few days ago, we aquired a most unlikely pet. She's very cute, but she's a rabbit. A rabbit was just about the last mammal that I would have wanted to have for a pet. Not that I have that many things against rabbits, but I just don't have much of an attraction to them. They don't like to be held, and they have long nails to make sure that everyone knows they don't like to be held. They also are not as cute as rats and mice. Since I don't have the time to take car of any pet that we have, I'm not too picky about what pets we have. So we have a new rabbit. Her name is Shadow. For a very amusing story about shadow, see www.project7.rockthecross.com

Times like these I envy the dog

Work is long, and most of the time I don't like it. My bed is warm and cozy, but I spend little time there. I love my family, but it seems that I rarely see them anymore. I need a new job. If I have to spend so much time away, it should at least be for something I like.

Why Basset Hounds aren't the best guard dogs...

Part I of my labor day adventure: Why no one climbs snowking Mt.

On Friday night Daniel and I decided to climb Snowking Mountain in the North cascades. I had been wanted to go hiking this weekend for the past several weeks. It was late Friday by the time we got all the planning done, so I decided to just throw everything into bags in the morning and pack what I wanted at the trailhead. It was a great idea, but I ended up sleeping in and then of course I had trouble finding some things that I really wanted, and forgot about others because I was rushed. I didn’t start seriously planning the trip until late, so we were forced to bring only MRE’s to eat.

After a very long drive we finally arrived at the forest road and found that it ended a few miles too early where a bridge had washed out some years ago. So we packed and started walking where the road ended. It was a nice trail, secluded and peaceful, and gaining elevation but not too steep. Then we came to what had been the end of the road. There were remains of a camp fire and at first I couldn’t see any other trail. Once we got to the other end of the clearing we saw the trail. But it wasn’t really a trail. At least not like any I had ever seen before. It was more like a hole in the woods that went almost straight up. So up we went, breaking
brush and climbing stairs of tree roots. It was steeper at more difficult than even the glacier on Mt. Adams. The trees were so thick that I didn’t even bother with the GPS while we were moving. After a while we stopped to rest and get a fix and I realized that we had climbed 1000 vertical ft in half an hour. A look at the map revealed that we had twice as much left just to reach camp and after some discussion we decided to turn around.

Pictures, from Top to Bottom:
Top: The trail that we came out of at the end of the old road
Middle: looking downthe trail after we had come up.
Bottom: About to go into the trail up the mountain.

Part II of my Labor day adventure: Mountain Loop Scenic Highway?!

Once we reached the car we headed back into town and called Ariele to let her know about change of plans. We decided to head to Mt. Pilchuck and get an early start and climb it around dawn. My atlas showed that the quickest way from Darrington to Granite falls was via a “Mountain Loop Scenic Highway”. I had heard of the road and so we headed down it to camp for the night at the base of Mt. Pilchuck. About 9 miles out from Darrington, the road suddenly turned from being paved to dirt. We spent 5-10 minutes trying to figure out where I had made the wrong turn, and then it dawned on me that Mt. loop scenic highway is another anomaly of Washington State. Despite it’s name, it’s not actually a highway, and most of it is not even paved. Since my Xterra performs very well off road we kept going. Another 12 miles of dirt later I realized that not only was Mt. Loop scenic Highway not a highway, but it wasn’t a loop either. The road was closed and there was nowhere to go but back the way we came. It was already 1030pm, so we stopped to spend the night at a campground at the end of the road.

Part III of my Labor day adventure: Mt Pilchuck

The plan had been to get up early and summit Mt. Pilchuck near dawn, but we slept again. It might have been the most restful night that I’ve spent on the ground. After some time at the river near the campground we headed to granite falls through hwy 530 and a myriad of country back roads.

Mt. Pilchuck is a very picturesque mountain, and from the north it reminded me a lot of Mt. Hood, only much smaller and less snow covered. It was steep, but not nearly as much as Snowking Mountain. On the way up to the summit we saw three dachshunds making the ascent with their owners. I was impressed that the little dogs could climb such a mountain. We climbed at a very fast and steady pace until about halfway up the mountain I smelled fresh blueberrys. Our progress was significantly slower after that.

Once we reached the summit we had to scramble up a few boulders to climb the ladder to the lookout tower. The view was impressive, but again would have been much better without the clouds and smog. The only nearby mountains we could see well were three fingers and Glacier Peak. On a clearer day we could have seen many other peaks, including Rainer, Baker and the Olympic mountains. Pilchuck was definitely a mountain that I enjoyed climbing and would not mind returning to. There were some rocks that looked like they would have been fun to climb, and a very picturesque and secluded lake that would be fun to camp at.