Week 64 Nov. 20 - Dungeness Spit

Total Distance: Approximately 11 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 150 ft.
Time: 11:30 am - 3:30 pm
Weather: Cold, mostly cloudy, brief sun break early on the hike.

Life never ceases to amaze me.  I have gone through the full spectrum of emotions in the last three weeks.  When I think back to 21 days ago, I was on trails in Mount Rainier, celebrating my birthday with friends, and joyous at the gift that would be more time on this planet with the people in my life.  The next two hikes with my friend Erin on the Olypmic peninsula, I must confess were more than a "hike with a friend," at least for me.  After two beautiful hikes with Erin, a few conversations, and a lot of daydreaming in my head over the last 14 days, the emotional roller coaster of life has been in full swing.  Late this last Friday night, it became obvious that my hikes with Erin will from now on just be hikes with a good friend.  That same day, there was a terrible plane crash involving two coaches at my alma mater, Oklahoma State.  While I did not know them, my sister who works for Oklahoma State, did.  Add to this that only minutes prior to my conversation with Erin Friday, Oklahoma State had its dream of an undefeated football season dashed on national television. 

When I woke up Saturday morning, I felt like a wreck, like a ton of emotional baggage.  I had a few things to do, since I was taking kids from my school this week on a hike.  Thank God for that!  I was close to canceling this hike during the week for a variety of reasons: the weather was supposed to be so cold Friday the roads were going to be icy in the morning, I didn't have a co-leader that could join me, I did not want to take kids with me so I could go "hike with a friend" in Port Angeles, etc.  On Friday, it was clear many kids wanted to go, so I scrambled and asked several people go with me.  Finally got a friend and co-wilderness instructor to agree to come, and I blasted out the details to the club in an email.  The plan was to meet at 9 am, by then the icy roads will hopefully be dry enough.  We were going to hike the Dungeness Spit, a 5 mile thin strip of beach that jets out into the Straight of Juan de Fuca formed by the Dungeness river depositing silt and runoff in the Pacific.  This hike would make the snow a non-issue.

I was at the meeting place early, and I waited.  As I waited, I got an email from one of the five kids who said he was going, and he couldn't make it.  Then three other kids got there, and at 9:15 am my co-leader and a student weren't there.  Now for those of you that don't live in the PNW, when I tell people we are meeting at 9, I mean we will meet at 9 and leave at 9:15.  People around here have a little bit different sense of what it means to be "on time."  I don't know why my friend or student did not make it.  I did not have my friend's cell number, so we waited until 9:20am then left.  I normally would not take kids on a hike without another adult, but I have hiked numerous times with 2 of the three, and the other is Gil's son, my colleague who I have been hiking with a lot in the last year.  I also knew the other kids parents really well, so I did not think there would be an issue.

We were at the trailhead by 11:15 am.  We geared up and were walking by 11:26 am.  When we got to the beach there was a huge crowd, and the beach was a thin, narrow strip.  It appeared that the tide was moving out.  I should have checked the tides before I picked this hike, but we were here now.  I hiked in silence most of the day.  The clouds were low, fluffy, and dark over the ocean, but there was no weather.  Looking back to the south, you could see parts of the Olympics through the shroud of the fog and cloud cover.  There were higher clouds moving north, down over the peaks.  Sunlight was streaming through the cloud layers.  The ocean in its rhythmic ebb and flow was slowly moving out as I walked along the coast.  In these moments, I realized how life never changes only our perceptions do.  No matter what I am dealing with, the sun will always break through dark clouds. No matter how my heart might ache, the tides will always go out and come back. And no matter who I am not with despite thinking I should be, life is still worthwhile.

We were at the lighthouse, 5.5 miles from the trailhead at 1:11 pm.  A lunch break on the beach and a tour of the lighthouse had us walking back to the car at 1:50 pm.  We were booking it on the sandy stretch of coast that had been hidden by the morning's high tide.  We were back at the car by 3:20 pm.  We were averaging 17 minute miles.

Orchid: Therapy session with Mother Nature.

Onion: Hard to put in words, but I know what it is.

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Google Map

Week 63 Nov. 12 - Royal Lake

Total Distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2600 ft.
Time: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Weather: Cool, foggy, mostly cloudy, light snow off and on as we walked to the lake. Fog cleared off and glimpses of blue sky around 4 pm on our way out.

This weekend was another weekend out on the Olympic Peninsula.  The more I go the Olympics, the more I love this park.  Another beautiful thing that happens when I am out in the Olympics is for every hike I do, I learn about two or three new hikes I want to return and do later.  It is the park that keeps on giving.  It only takes about 2 hours to drive from my house to hikes on the east side of the park.  It's an easy drive, especially if I can get an early start.  And with a few friends in Port Angeles, I usually can get someone to go hiking with me.  This week I was joined by Erin again.  This hike that we did today was a hike I found months ago on wta.org and have wanted to do for awhile.  With the weather forecast calling for rain all day in Port Angeles, we did not want to do a hike where we would find ourselves exposed at high elevation on a ridge.  So instead of trying to go up to the top of Jupiter, which was also closed because of fires this summer, we came back to the hike up the Royal creek to Royal Lake in the Royal Basin.  It would be safer and still provide distance and some elevation gain, a chance to stretch our legs.

I met Erin in Sequim around 9 am.  I threw my gear in her truck, and she drove to the trailhead.  The dirt road wasn't too bad, but it did have sections covered in a thin layer of snow.  We were up at the trailhead by 9:50 am, where we met the first hiker to get to the trailhead and his beautiful golden retriever, May.  He was going up the Dungeness River to Camp Handy, staying out of the national park and remaining in the national forest.  I always appreciate a responsible dog owner who follows the rules.  He was walking while Erin and I were still gearing up.  As we were about ready to hit the trail a third car showed up with three people also heading up to the basin.  We exchanged pleasantries, and Erin was able to describe the route and give a few of the cautionary details as well.  We were off and walking the trail by 10:15 am.  By 10:35 we were at the turnoff to the basin, and we had caught up to May and her owner.  We chatted a bit enjoyed  May's love and friendship.  We turned to go up the Royal Creek, and shortly after we were ran down by May.  We shooed her back and kept walking.  Five or ten minutes later, we were again ran down by May, but this time we heard her before she came up on us.  Erin stayed firm and kept her back, forcing her to run back.  We were a little worried afterwards, hoping she made it back to her owner.

We hit the national park boundary around 11 am.  The trail was in the woods  meandering along side the Royal Creek.  It climbed slowly and by 11:15, the surrounding plants were covered in a light layer of snow.  As we climbed, the snow was accumulating.  It was not bad enough to need the snowshoes we were carrying, but it made walking a little tougher as it was easy for my feet to slide around a bit.  It started snowing as we walked, and we were both happy to have missed the rain.  We took a break around 12:15 pm by a huge tree that was keeping the most of snow off of us.  I ate a snack and drank some water for what Erin said would be the final push to the lake.  The trail continued to climb and switchback gradually, and within about 40 minutes we hit the lower Royal Basin.  The weather had stopped, the opening of the basin was magnificent, the surrounding areas was covered in snow, and the walking was nice and flat to the lake.  Another 10 minutes and we were rounding a bend to the lake.  The lake was beautiful, but the wind was blowing hard in our face off the lake.  Little ice crystals were nailing us in the face, but we were able to walk along the right side of the lake, up to a little clearing on the far side of Royal Lake.

We stopped here for our lunch.  It was cold, so the first priority was to get warmer layers on.  After I layered up, Erin busted out a Thermos of hot chocolate.  This was the perfect addition to warmer clothes, and I instantly felt warm.  I drank some water and tried to eat a bit, but I wasn't too hungry.  We enjoyed standing and staring at the lake as the wind and snow pounded our backs.  We packed up after about 30 minutes and began our walk out.   When we got back to the south tip of the lake, our tracks had almost been covered by the wind blown snow.  We walked through the basin and down a few of the last switchbacks, when we hit the group of three we had met at the trailhead.  The were planning an overnight; I was a tad jealous.  We wished them safe travels and continued down the trail.

As we walked down in the twilight, the clouds were lifting off the ridges that form the Royal Creek Valley.  I even saw a sliver or two of blue sky.  It was a gorgeous afternoon, including the break for snow cones on the side of the trail.  We used flavored beverages to make a snow slushy, it was delicious.  We continued our walk and were down in the forest as it was getting dark.  We stopped around 5:30pm to find our headlamps.  As we were a few minutes from the trailhead, I heard a strange sound and got Erin's attention.  She did not know what it was either, and it was a little scary.  I thought it sounded like something breathing or snoring, after we got out Erin was worried it was a person.  I was convinced it it was a person they would have said something as we were there talking about the noise.  We will never know, and it ended the hike with a scary, sad note.  I hope I did not leave someone in the woods.

Orchid: The views that opened up on the way down and the snow cones.

Onion: The noise we heard near the end of the trail.

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Google Map

Week 62 Nov. 6 - Hurricane Hill up the Little River down to the Elwha

Total Distance: Approximately 15 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 5100 ft. (with 5300 ft down)
Time: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Weather: Cool, windy, mostly cloudy. A glorious sun-break in the meadows to the west of Hurricane Hill around 3:30 pm.

So I was back on Hurricane Hill this week (for avid blog readers, I have now been here 3 times in 2011). There is no particular reason for my affinity for this place, but I do have some important history here. Sixty-four weeks ago, two weeks before I started my 52 hikes, I was here for the first time. I was learning how to use a GPS and look for marmots. I was going into the backcountry to help the Olympic National Park collect data on the Olympic Marmot. I was dealing with some personal, emotional issues at the time (the same issues that sparked the hiking commitment a few weeks later). My friend who teaches biology needed a partner for a marmot study he had signed up for earlier that spring. A buddy of his couldn't make it, and we had talked about hiking together for a while. I knew the wilderness would help with what I was dealing with. I was not able to commit until last minute, so the park had planned to send us along with a park employee. After we met her in the front-country and gave her the chance to back out, she declined. Instead she wanted to go, since this was the last job she was going to do for the park. She was leaving for the east coast that next weekend. A friend of hers, who was free, worked in the park, and who was obviously going to miss her friend, also came along.

So there we were, a group of four, brought together by friendship, marmots, and a love of the woods. The four of us became good friends on our way to Dodger Point. And as cool people tend to meander in and out of your life, I knew these two women were the kind of people I wanted to keep in touch with. We have chatted via Facebook and met up as people have been passing through, but this last Thursday was the first time all four of us got together. Sitting around chatting, we tried to plan a reunion hike for this weekend. My friend and colleague was already busy with cross-country and previous plans, and the east coast park employee was heading back east on Sunday. So that left me and the other park employee, Erin. She lives in Port Angeles, and there was a hike up to Hurricane Hill I have been wanting to do since I saw it on the map in July. There is a trail that goes up 5300 ft over 6 miles from the Elwha river to the top of Hurricane Hill. One section gains 4900 ft in 4.5 miles. That hurts my thighs just thinking about it. She said she was down, and she had ideas for making the hike more interesting.

We knew we had to get an early start, since I had a two hour drive, and "falling back" was going to bring darkness in earlier. I was up and out the door at 6 am. I was in PA (Port Angeles) at 8:15. I needed groceries, and we had planned to meet at 9 am. Thankfully, my sister called and I was able to catch up with her and buy groceries. I was at my friends around 9:15am. She thought it might be a better hike to go up the Little River valley to Hurricane Hill and come down the trail to the Elwha. Excited to be out with my friend and to cover some big distance and elevation change, I was easily convinced. We stashed a car near the Elwha Ranger Station, off the Whiskey Bend Road. We then drove back to her place, where a friend of hers (and now mine) took us to the trailhead on the Little River.

We started walking at approximately 10:30 am. By 10:50, we were 1.1 miles along the trail, hitting the National Park boundary. The trail along the river was a nice stroll, gaining elevation slowly. The trail hugged the Little River and crossed over several times. We had to do a little trail finding and rock jumping, but it wasn't too difficult. After about an hour and a half, the trail started gaining elevation quickly. As we climbed, the treetops above started showing little dustings of snow. We kept moving up, and more snow was visible on the surrounding trees and the ferns near the trail. Soon even the trail was covered in snow, nothing that required snowshoes, but snow none-the-less. We took a little break on our way up. It was lightly snowing, and we were hitting deeper, more consistent snow.

We started walking up, and the animal tracks started to reveal themselves. I saw deer and possibly elk tracks then snowshoe hare tracks. And shortly after we came across a real treat, some big cat prints. It was either a cougar, or it was the biggest bobcat ever. The trail was snowed over and we were the only human prints, but we were following the cougar up the trail for about an hour. When the cougar tracks finally went off the trail we were only a few minutes from getting to Hurricane Ridge. As we got to the ridge, I recognized the hill to the south, the hill I first went to the top of during a whiteout on snowshoes in January, returned to on snowshoes in April, and now hiking to in snow in November. I love returning to a place I've been to before, especially with different friends and at different times of the year.

We had a nice, long break at the trail junction near the top of the hill. The wind was howling, and my hands were freezing by the time we left. We started hiking down at 3:15 pm. As we began walking west along a ridge, the clouds began lifting, and the sun came out. We hit the meadows to the west at the perfect time. The sunshine was a rich, warm color, and the valleys below were hidden with low clouds. The peaks were shining with fresh snow and the sky above was soft, brilliant blue. We disturbed a few deer grazing in the meadow, and we were greeted by a Clark's Nutcracker too. Apparently this is a rare bird in this area with an awful call. We were graced with his presence, and he kept his silence.

Soon we were in the forest, and it felt like we would be at the car shortly. We walked and walked as the sun faded to the west. It was dark around 5 pm, and by 5:30 pm I could no longer see. We took our last break to find our headlamps and to hydrate. We were at the car by 6.

Orchid: Big distance, big elevation gain, great pace, wonderful friend.

Onion: Cold hands.

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Google Map

Week 61 Oct. 30 - Spray Park, Seattle Park, Carbon River, and Ipsut Pass

Total Distance: Approximately 15 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 4600 ft. (with 5000 ft down)
Time: 8:15am - 4:30 pm
Weather: 90% of the time it rained, ranging from a light drizzle to a steady flow. The other 10% was perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, Creighton walked into my classroom and said I want to do a special hike with you around your birthday (Wednesday, I turned 30). Last weekend was too busy, so we settled on this weekend. It would be my first hike in my thirties. My friend and department chair, Gil, who I have mentioned several times in other blog entries, and I asked his permission to use his name on my blog, joined us as well.  He is section hiking the PCT and has been on several hikes with me in the last 60 weeks (San Juan Kayak trip, several snowshoe outings, the Sol Duc Loop, and most recently the Tunnel Falls hike in Oregon).  He asked me mid-week where we were going and if he could tag along. Since the trailhead was about 2 hours away, We met early, at about 6 am. We wanted to do the loop in about 7 hours. We hoped to get back to the car by 3 pm as to be home around 5 pm.

I fell asleep in the back of Creighton's car and when I awoke we were only minutes away. It was pouring rain as we pulled in to the parking lot. We all got our gear on in the car since it was so bad outside. We walked over to the bathroom, which had a nice covering and double checked that we had all we needed. We started walking around 8:15am.

Nothing seemed to be too out of the ordinary. It was a wet day, and we had some distance to cover. We hadn't been walking more than 2 minutes when we came to a person laying on the trail. I was in the back, and when I walked up I could her her moaning in pain. I asked if she needed help, and she pulled back her rain hood to reveal a familiar, friendly face.  It was the lower school head and a good friend from work. We laughed and hugged. She asked if she could join, and she told me happy birthday. A sweet treat for sure, she and I have led the school trip to Dark Canyon together with Creighton 3 times in the last 4 years. We have been on a lot of hikes in the last year, and she has met me in Rainier multiple times. She lives closer to Rainier than I do, so she will often just meet me at the trailhead.  I figured Creighton or Gil (who are both really good friends with her too) had just mentioned our hike, and she wanted to surprise me.

We kept walking, laughing about the set-up, and I was smiling with delight. In just a few more minutes, I walked by a huge tree and on the other side was one of the Upper School Outdoor Ed coordinators. She is responsible for getting me on backcountry trips 6 years ago. We led Outdoor Ed together in the Fall of 2010, it was week 3 of the 52. She and I were always friendly, but we became really great friends on that trip. As I planned hike after hike last year, I would always ask her to join me. She has a busy life being a wife and mother, raising 2 girls both under the age of 10.  This pretty much makes weekends family time. I don't know what that is like, but I understand. I was so happy to see her. I gave her a big hug, and now I knew something was up. I walked more briskly and at the front of the group. I was so excited as to who I might see next that I was missing how awesome the day already was.

A few minutes pass, and I see my good friend who teaches 5th grade. She and I were hired for full-time positions the same year. We were sent off to a "New Teacher" weekend in our first year, where we stayed up with the other young teachers and played games and told stories. She and I have been great friends ever since, and we led Outdoor Ed together this year (week 55). A big hug was exchanged, and I was on my way looking for who would be next.

The final morning addition was again behind a tree and was another huge surprise. She and I were hired the same year, both in the math department, and we shared an office for 4 years. She is an another incredible friend, and she is also an Outdoor Ed instructor. We have never led together, but I know (and have heard) that she is great. Now, I don't know if it is her favorite week of the year, but she does it with enthusiasm and grace. Last year, I think I asked her to join me on a hike at least 30 times. And every time she would smile and say, "oh, I'm busy" or " maybe next time." She too is a mother of two girls and a wife, but she always let me knew in a kind way that hiking is not what she wanted to do on the weekends. When I saw her on the trail this morning, I think I screamed, "no way!" I gave her a huge hug, as it continued to pour down rain. Our little group of 3 had reached its maximum of 7.

We hiked on to Spray falls. It took a little over an hour, and it rained the entire time. I hiked in the lead, which was probably for the best, since I was very emotional and moved by the whole morning. We stopped at the junction to turn off to the falls, and I let everyone go by. As Creighton brought up the rear, he was smiling and laughing as he approached me. I gave him a hug and started crying when I told him how much this meant to me. He knows already, but I told him how much I loved him. He shared with me that the idea was not his, but in fact my mom's. She contacted him through Facebook and had him organize it all. My mom is pretty awesome, and this was confirmed at yet another level today. I called her as soon as I had cell service after the hike.

Creighton and I continued on to Spray Falls. We took pictures, I got hit with snow balls, we laughed, and I basked in the company of many great friends. We walked back up to the trail junction where our 15 mile loop was to continue, but 3 of the hikers were turning back. I gave a little thank you speech, where I cried (of course) and had a chance to acknowledge how much their love and friendship meant to me.

My dark canyon co-leader was going to continue with Gil, Creighton, and I to Spray and Seattle Park. The trail was a lot steeper past the falls. We walked quietly and in the rain. We emerged from the forest and walked through water soaked trails. As we hit the highest point of the trail, 6400 ft in the saddle between Spray and Seattle parks, the rain stopped. The wind picked up and blew the clouds away. Several peaks revealed themselves, bathed in sunlight and shining against a brilliant blue sky. The four of us gawked and marveled at the beauty of the natural world. One commented, it was as if angels were out dancing on the mountain tops. This is when my other friend had to take off, and she gave me a little present of some sweet decadent cookies.

Gil, Creighton, and I went on. We passed a snowfield or two. Most of it was icy and was obviously from last winter. However, some of the field had a dusting of new snow. This was easier to walk across and made me excited for this upcoming winter. I do like snowshoeing, and I want to try some more winter camping. This was a fantastic part of the hike. We descended for hours, walking through Seattle Park, then dropping back down into the forest. We came out at the carbon river, just below the Carbon Glacier. It was 1 o'clock. Here is where we figured that the best case scenario was to finish at 4 pm. Creighton and Gil knew this area and had looked at the map. I had no real idea what the hike looked like, I was just filling it in on the limited information I know about the park.

We needed to book it, so we took off from the suspension bridge below the Carbon Glacier. This was the long slog section. It started raining again. I knew this trail and it is a gradual decent to the carbon river where you cross back again. The trail is washed out on the south side. So this was a bit of a detour, but it was the only way. We crossed the river again, and we were at the start of the climb to Ipsut Pass three and a half miles away, only five miles from our car, and it was 2 o'clock.

Now I have hiked 2.5 miles per hour before, and I was psyching myself up to do it too. But this was a new trail for me, and what I didn't know at the time is that this section gains 3000 feet over this 3.5 mile stretch. I was cold, wet, tired, sore, hungry, and thirsty. Creighton asked if i was ready, and I stupidly said yes. I made the classic mistake of thinking that to stop and eat and drink would slow me down. We began walking, up, and up, and up. I did alright for the first hour, but once you emerge from the forest, the switchbacks hug a ridge and destroy any normal person's pace. Of course it did not slow my friend, Creighton. Creighton is 57 year old ex-professional runner. He never slows down. He is very far from normal in many respects. The fact that he was undaunted in this stretch is another supporting argument to his lack of normalcy. (I hope to be able to say the same about me some day.)

After grinding through the 3.5 miles, Gil and I reached the pass at 3:40. The other side of the pass was more exposed to the wind, and the hike down had me cold and miserable. I was too hungry and thisty. I was not thinking straight, but I did not say anything out loud. We were back at the car by 4:30. There was a note from yet another friend who came to join our hike. He was meeting us at the pass, but he left the pass around 3:10 pm. He had plans and was expecting us sooner. Creighton said he had gotten to the pass around 3:20 and he must have judged missed him. I was obviously so touched he came out, but I was sad to have missed him. He is an icon at my school. He goes by his first name to everyone. He is the nicest guy you will ever meet, and when he shakes your hand, it's clear he could crush every bone if he wanted too. He is the kind of teacher at a school who has his hand in everything, because if he didn't nothing would get done. He hikes a lot less than he used to, but he gets out on the water in his kayak or out to his cabin in the Goat Rocks on weekends. He is another whom I have asked multiple time to hike with me and another who hasn't been able to yet. I was a little bummed I wasn't fast enough to catch him.

Once I was at the car, I finally stopped and drank some water. I ate a snack, put on dry clothes, and got into a warm car. I started feeling good again soon, and I realized how poor of a job I did managing my body today. I did feel pretty special though. People always ask me what my favorite hike was when they hear I have gone on 61 hikes in the last 61 weekends. I now have my answer.

Orchid: Surprise birthday hike!

Onion: The hike up to Ipsut and down to the lake.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 60 Oct. 23 - Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, and Mildred Point

Total Distance: Approximately 7.6 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 2400 ft
Time: 10:45 am - 3:45 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with rare sun breaks, no rain :)

There are some weeks that just seem to be non-stop work, and this week was the third one of these kind of weeks in a row.  On Tuesday, the outdoor club at my school met, and I volunteered to take kids on a hike Sunday.  I don't know what I was thinking, Friday was the homecoming football game (I worked the chain gang), Saturday was the Homecoming dance (I chaperoned the early shift), and Sunday I was going to take kids on a hike?!?  I told the kids to meet me in the morning at 8 am, and we were going to leave at 8:15 am.  This morning I woke up, looked at my watch, and it was 8:06 am.  I ran into my outdoor gear room, threw on some hiking clothes, ran out to my car, cleaned out the mess while leaving my pack, rain gear, boots, poles, and gaiters, and drove as quickly as I could to the grocery store near my school.  I was relieved when I arrived at 8:27 am and saw two kids waiting and a dad with them.  Thankfully they were able to laugh it off, and I went to buy food and coffee for the hike.  We were on the road around 8:45 am.

We arrived at the trailhead by 10:30.  I was geared up and walking by 10:45.  I realized I forgot my camera, but one of the kids had his.  The original plan was to go see Comet Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.  I thought it was like an 8 mile hike round-trip, but it is only about 4.  We were up to the falls in about an hour.  They were spectacular.  It is a giant waterfall the hits rock below and sprays water everywhere.  We were feeling great, and we continued up to Van Trump Park.  The next mile was steep, but the pay off was sweet, a beautiful alpine meadow with the changing colors of fall and low hanging clouds lifting to reveal great views to the south of the Tatoosh Range and Mt. Adams, the flat top St. Helens was barely visible above the clouds.  A long lunch break at the Van Trump Park was great but chilly.  We left after about 40 minutes and continued a bit further up the trail to Mildred Point.

The last push up to the point was grueling.  These always seem to be the hardest parts of hikes for me lately.  I know the payoff is so great, but when I am walking up a slope at a steep-ish pitch I struggle with the conversation I have with myself in my own head.  Thankfully I had some trail company to keep my spirits up and to give me the strength to push through the discomfort.  And as it has been the case in the past, the top of Mildred Point was sweet and worth the effort.  I think since the steep hills have "too much" lately, I need to do more hike like this and push through this mental block.  We spent some time hanging in this magical place below Point Success.  The mountain was glorious right above us and we got to explore and climb up on some rocks.  We turned to walk out at around 1:45 pm. 

The hike down was great.  It went quickly and without any trouble.  We were passing people once we got below Comet Falls.  We were back at the car by 3:45.  It was an amazing day, and I was so glad I chose to bring kids.  For yet another week, my life was made better by walking in the woods.  I was super stressed before I began walking, but the mountain took all of that away.  I am ready for a new week, but already excited for my hike next weekend.  A big milestone will happen on next week's hike.  It will be the first hike in my thirties.

Orchid: The Van Trump Park and Mildred Point.

Onion: Hard to find one on a day like today, maybe being in my own head so much on the steep slopes.

Picture:

Google Map

Week 59 Oct. 15 - Tunnel Falls

Total Distance: Approximately 14 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 1000 ft
Time: 8:15 am - 2:00 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with small sun breaks, no rain :)

I woke up in Portland this morning at 6:15 am.  I had traveled down Thursday evening with the Mathematics Department from my school to attend the 50th Northwest Mathematics Conference on Friday.  My department chair and I planned a hike for the Saturday following the conference.  He is a good friend who is section hiking the PCT and has been on multiple hikes with me in the last year.  He had a perfect hike in mind.  The hike followed Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was only an hour from the hotel and was supposed to have beautiful waterfalls along the trail.  We were geared up and were ready to hike at 8:15 am.

The morning was overcast to start, but there were glimpses of sunshine to the east.  The trail starts off at a nice gradual slope and never gets too daunting.  The creek below provided a nice background to some great trail conversations with my friend.  We made it up to the Lower Punchbowl Falls but choose to walk on up the trail to the destination, Tunnel Falls, another 3.5 miles up the trail.  We walked at a quick pace, but we did not feel like we were racing.  At 10:10 am, the falls were coming into view.  The falls were quite awesome, and I was pleased with how quickly we got there.  We both felt like moving on up the trail aways, so we were moving after just a few minutes.  Another 10 minutes up the trail, we came around the wall of a cliff and were greeted by the best view of the whole day.  The creek was spread out over a wide expanse and was draining hundreds of feet below.

We kept walking another 10 minutes and saw a trail marker indicating we were 7 miles up the trail.  We thought it better to eat lunch by the falls, so we turned around and stopped for a 30 minute lunch break on the trail.  We saw two people before we were up and moving at Tunnel Falls.  We began walking out at 11:45.  The walk out was jam packed with us passing people on their way in, lots of people with their dogs and wearing jeans.  We got down to the Punchbowl Falls turn off, and we decided to go take a look.  Another spectacular falls awaited us when we got down to the end of the trail.  There was a nice little crowd gathered around the creek eating below Punchbowl.  We took off and were back at the car by 2:00 pm.

Orchid: Unexpected highlight view of the creek above Tunnel Falls.

Onion: Sore feet.

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Google Map

Week 58 Oct. 9 - Mt. Defiance

Total Distance: Approximately 12 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 3400 feet
Time: 10:15 am - 4:00 pm
Weather: Light rain, foggy, and cloudy.

It is hard to write this entry almost a week late.  I remember it taking a while to get up to Mason Lake, but I remember enjoying the uphill and moving at a steady pace.  I got to the lake in about an hour and a half.  I met a ranger who busted me for not filling out a permit for the hike.  She was nice about it, but I was told that one reason they have people take permits even for day use is to have a paper record of use, therefore they can document the nessesity for more funding.  I was sold and will always fill out permits in the future.

I got a little side tracked trying to get up to the summit of Mt. Defiance.  Once I knew I was not on the main trail, I turned around, went back to Mason Lake, and found the correct path.  The hike up to the summit was a brutal climb.  It was steep, but I did not stop to take breaks.  It took about an hour and a half to make it up to the top.

I, unfortunately, could still hear the roar of I-90 below, which was only occassionally broken up by the louder roar of airplanes up above.  I did get a view glimpses of blue sky and the surrounding ridges as the clouds would lift occassionally.  I believe I saw the tip of Rainier above the clouds out to the south.  I had lunch on the summit.  Packed up and began walking down around 1:45 pm.  I was back at the car before 4 pm.  Overall, it was a great solo trip.

Orchid: The views of the lake on my decent.

Onion: My boots are no longer waterproof, and my feet were soaked most of the hike.

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Google Map

Week 57 Oct. 02 - Vesper Peak

Total Distance: Approximately 8 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 4000 ft
Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Weather: Mostly cloudy, periods of light rain and periods of glorious sunshine.

If you are an avid reader of the blog, then you might remember I met two people while climbing Mt. Adams.  As we chatted near the summit, I shared information about my blog, and the woman I met later commented on my blog and included her blog address (http://rosiedee101.tumblr.com/).  I have been reading her blog ever since. Early last week, her blog entry about Vesper Peak popped up one of my many RSS feed readers, and her pictures had peaked my interest.  I followed her links to more information about the peak, and I decided this is where I was going.  I shared the idea with my buddy Creighton, and he was excited to go bag a 6200 ft peak too.  The plan was to pick the better weather day and go.  By Thursday, all the weather forecasts were indicating Sunday would be the best day.

We met at 6 am on Sunday, hit the grocery store, and were on the road by 6:20 am.  We arrived at the trailhead at 8:15 am.  We were the only car in the lot at this time .  We geared up and were walking by 8:25 am.  The trail starts in the woods, and after a few stream crossings, it begins climbing.  The rest of the hike would have a similar incline.  There were sections that were as steep as any any trail I have ever hiked.  The phrase "chin-scrapper" seemed appropriate for some sections of the hike.  After about 30 minutes we hit a big stream that took a little more care crossing, then we were out in an open meadow.  The meadow was steep in sections as well, as we switched back across the valley, up towards Headlee Pass.

In all the descriptions of the hike that I had read, it mentioned that the pass was hidden until you are right underneath it.  I don't know why, but I am usually surprised at how accurate some of the trail descriptions are.  We kept climbing through the meadow until we finally hit the west side rock scree slope.  The trail changed from meadow to a cairn chasing rock path.  Walking along the west flank for about 10 minutes, when finally the trail starts to switchback below the pass.  The pass is not visible until you are standing right below it, and standing below it is intimidating.  The trail is visible up to the top as it cuts back and forth over this narrow saddle.

At the pass, we took our first break to drink some water, and Creighton had a snack.  I should have to but was not hungry at the moment.  We could see Vesper for the first time from the pass.  After about a 10 minute break, we pushed on to Vesper Lake.  The trail drops a bit from the pass, then cuts along the rock scree south of Sperry Peak.  We had to do a  bit of bouldering right before Vesper Creek, then we crossed the creek, and started following the trails up to the summit.  The weather at this point was fairly cloudy and was getting cooler with a strong breeze.  I was feeling shaky, and called up to Creighton who was about 200 feet ahead.  I needed a bite to eat, since it had been almost 4 hours since my breakfast of two donuts and coffee.  After some trail mix, I was feeling a lot better.

Creighton spotted mountain goats while I was eating, and he tried to show me where they were.  I missed them.  We kept climbing up the trails, until we hit snow.  Creighton is a maniac on the snow, so he took off up the snow fields.  I was not liking the grip I was getting, so I found climbing over the granite was easier.  I had a few sections where I had to snow traverse, but they were short sections and usually between big sections of granite.  As I was scrambling up over the granite, I could feel my cheeks hurting from my smile.  Twenty minutes earlier I was silently contemplating why anyone would want to summit a peak.  Vesper Lake looked beautiful and we could just have stopped there.  The last 2000 feet to the top was not really going to be worth it.  I could not have been more wrong.  Right below the summit, I was scrambling up a crack between the snow and rock.  I felt like a serious, cool mountain climber, as I was lifting myself though the terrain, inching closer to the summit.  Finally around 11:30 am, I reached the top and was rewarded with amazing views in all directions.

Creighton and I took a good hour break here at the summit.  We took pictures, ate lunch, relaxed in the sun, layered up to cut out the wind, and had many great conversations on various subjects.  We began our decent around 12:30 pm.  On our way down, when we hit the biggest snow patch, Creighton went off down the snow almost like he was skiing in shoes.  I followed along a similar path, although less graceful.  I was proud that I did not fall, but I should not have bragged about it.

Orchid: The summit and shoe-skiing the snow field.

Onion: The downhill falls and the aching knees.

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Google Map