Wednesday, December 29, 2010

2010.12.28. Grant Narrows Regional Park

South end of Pitt Lake. Blueberry farms full of red branches on the way in. Very wet area, almost a swamp. Quite a lot of people (~20 cars) visiting on this cold and overcast afternoon. Many dykes and birds. Probably even better during the spring and fall migration time. 2 peaks of Golden Ears to the east, more mountains to the north. Sunset is rather pretty. As the air cools down, a layer of fog hangs in the middle of surrounding green hills. Possible to walk a triangle loop on the dykes, ~2Km the longest edge.

Direction: east of Vancouver, Pitt Meadow area. Lougheed Hwy -> Dewdney Trunk Rd -> Neaves -> Rannie Rd (same road, different name, rough surface), until the end.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

2010.12.19. North Vancouver

Went with my parents to check out Seymour Ski area, since the weather trued out to be nice. Not terribly busy. But still a long wait for the 2 lifts at the parking level (one more lift further up). A shuttle bus runs from Lonsdale Quay (in North Vancouver town center) 3 times a day.

Stopped by Lynn Canyon Park on the way back. Took Lillooet Rd to the end. The road closes at 5pm. We only had time to walk to the unimpressive Rice Lake (very small). Saw one person fishing. It was getting quite dark going down to the Lynn Creek, so we decided to quit and return some later time.

12/22. Despite the on and off drizzle, we set out to Lynn Canyon Park again. This time, we first visited Deep Cove at east end of North Vancouver. Then took Mountain Parkway -> Lynn Valley Rd west of Lynn Creek to the park. The suspension bridge is very nice, sturdy. One tall waterfalls to the south, and one lower but wider falls as the creek tumbles downstream. Muddy.

Direction via bus: #228 or #229 from Lonsdale Quay. Or #229 from Phibbs Exchange (#130 via Metro Town, #28 via Joyce Station, #210 via Downtown Vancouver).

Monday, December 13, 2010

2010.12.9. A Christmas Story - a musical

A Christmas Story opened at the 5th Ave Theatre. A brand new musical scored by two young talents. Excellent stage set and costume. The story line is banal. Lots of kids on stage, too high pitched.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

2010.11.27. Seattle Men's Chorus' holiday concert

Seattle Men's Chorus. Funny as usually. I especially liked the openning number "Noel", and the "12 days of Christmas" by Captain Smarty Pants. Again "Silent Night" in signs. The special guest was Kelli O’Hara. Great acting and rendition, nice dresses. Her voice is a bit harsh in high pitch. Her encore song of a country singer going to opera is hilarious.

Monday, November 15, 2010

2010.11.14. Stomp

Stomp at Paramount Theatre. Short (~95 min, no intermission), energetic, fun. Well choreographed. I like the small tube and the lighter pieces. The opening number with broom stick is nicely done too. Not as loud as I dreaded.

Friday, November 12, 2010

2010.11.11. Seattle Symphony plays Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1

Conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado:
Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 44 
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 2

Liszt's piece is enjoyable. Prokofiev isn't too bad. The first 3 movements all ended in a low and unresolved note, the final one was loud and high. One audience member was waving his arms and legs in excitement.
Tchaikovsky's piano concerto #1 used to be my favorite music piece. It certainly is still wonderful. A genius of melody. Stephen Hough on piano. Very strong, good at tempo. A bit disconnected with the orchestra at times (conductor's fault? or pianist's?). Heck, I'm no expert, could be wrong.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

2010.11.5. Pacific Northwest Ballet performs Twyla Tharp

PNB performs 3 works by Twyla Tharp:
  • Opus 111
    music: Johannes Brahms, String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, 1890
  • Afternoon Ball
    music: Vladimir Martynov: Autumn Ball of the Elves, 1994
  • Waterbaby Bagatelles

Nice costumes (Mark Zappone). I really enjoyed Afternoon Ball. Great acting, well placed contrasting choreography. Waterbaby Bagatelles is supposed to be funny, but isn't.

Friday, October 29, 2010

2010.10.28. The Lieutenant of Inishmore

ACT presents Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Poking fun of the Irish nationalism (anyone can start an army, and kill whoever s/he dislike in the name of Ireland). However, nothing new or interesting. Lots of killing: 2 dead cats and 4 dead people. No intermission. 1.5 stage sets. Very realistic (and expertly done). Good acting, funny accent.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

2010.10.27. Lucia di Lammermoor

Seattle Opera presents Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Superb acting, tear wrenching, especially Lucia (however her voice goes dry in high notes). Edgardo's voice is bright and resonant. Raimondo, the priest, has a wonderful base. Costumes are like 19th century, even though the story is set in the 17th century. Stage set is effective, also look more modern than it should be. Lighting is always excellent. Beautiful melodies, pretty song like even when talking about tragedy. Big chorus.
Lucia:           Aleksandra Kurzak
Edgardo:         William Burden
Enrico:          Ljubomir Puškarić
Raimondo:        Arthur Woodley
Conductor:       Bruno Cinquegrani
Stage Director:  Tomer Zvulun
Set Design:      Robert Dahlstrom
Costume Design:  Deborah Trout
Lighting Design: Robert Wierzel

Monday, October 18, 2010

2010.10.15-17. Enchantment Lakes

My all time favorite hike. A different approach this time. It rained a little in Seattle Thursday evening, ignited my hope of seeing golden larches laden with snow. Anticipating a large crowd on the first weekend after the camping permit enforcement is lifted (each year on 10/15), and the forecast was SUNNY, I propsed to hike to Colchuck Lake Friday night, in order to reach Enchantment Lakes basin on Saturday morning early enough to secure a good camping site. However, I was ill prepared: forgot hiking boots, didn't study the trails, camera battery lasted only one photo, head lamp battery was half dead ... Still managed to enjoy the hike. Such an unforgettable place, even though it was at least a week too late for the larches.

Friday. Traffic. Arrived at the trail head close to 8pm. Saw at least 6 dark figures emerged from 2 cars with head lamps. Hiking at night on an unfamiliar trail is not a good idea. Missed the turn and arrived at Lake Stuart after ~2 hours. Saw at least two other tents. Realized the mistake, set alarm to 7:30am.

Saturday. On departing, the morning sun just was moving across the lake. Set against steep (green) hills, hanging ice fields on Mt Stuart, Lake Stuart is quite lovely!

Back track ~1 hr (passed a few camp sites, a bushy meadow). Turned right (left, if coming from the trail head, maybe 20 minutes past the double log bridge) on to a small side trail (a small sign was fixed on a tree) towards Colchuck Lake (~5600'). A (shorter) bridge soon after, then sharp turn over a small boulder field. Then, the slope picks up. 1.5 hrs and many zigzags later, reached Colchuck. Walked along the boulders next to the shore to the right for ~0.5 hrs. Refueled at a small sandy beach (a good camp site). Now the real climb starts. 2200 ft gain in one mile. Loose gravel at times (very slippery, especially the upper half). Had to cross a running creek to the left, where rocks were coated with ice. Adding on the treachery is the number of hikers closer by. Maybe 30 at the same time. Anyone can set a rock loose and hit someone behind. Not easy: took my street shoes, both hands (and by now somewhat shaky legs) over 2 hrs to reach Aasgard Pass (~7800', @~1:20pm). Exellent view to the north, including Mt. Baker.

Enchantment basin starts soon. Icy Tranquil Lake, green Isolation Lake. Larches and red and yellow low lying plants came to view ~30 min later. Set up camp in the middle of the middle basin, surrounded by a dozen larch trees (almost bare branched, but carpeted the ground golden), only steps away from a pond with running water. Cooked some noodles, while watching the hiker traffic going both directions.

~3pm, took off with just water and a jacket to the lower basin and more larches. Walked along the cold Inspiration Lake to the large inviting Perfection Lake. At its north end, branched cross the yellow meadow (slightly swampy) to the left, up a knoll towards Prusik Peak. Soaking in the view on the top of the knoll: two deap blue lakes (Shield Lake?) to the north and more mountains beyong, Vivian and Leprechaun Lakes to the east close by, a distant snowy mountain (St. Helens?) looming over the hazy valley to the south, Pusnik Peak is up close and vertical (looks unattainable without proper rock climbing gears). Turned back ~4:30pm. Saw a group of 4 coming back from the climb.

Sun went down quickly. By 6pm, only the top cliffs were casted pink. Still a few hikers were looking for camp spots, a group with 3 tents set up next to ours. Over the main trail, at least 5 more tents. I knew it would be busy, but not this crowded.

Sunday, bright sunshine. Warm if you sit in the sun. 2 goats (mother and child) with heavy coat walked by each tent site. With a background of golden ground and blue sky, they looked adorable. Depart ~10:30am, took almost 2 hours going down Aasgard pass. Reached the car ~4:30pm. Stopped by Leavenworth for some sausages and OB beer. At home shortly after 8pm. Fairly relaxed schedule. Saw this shocking news: A hiker was killed by a mountain goat in Olympic national park on Saturday!

Practicality: Hwy US2, 1 miles west of Leavenworth. South on Icicle Creek Rd. @mile 4, it's the Snow Lake trail head. Pavement ends. @mile 8.5, turn left on #7601. 4 miles to the end of the gravel road (in good condition), or 1 mile after the bridge. This is the Lake Stuart trail head. Very large parking area. ~50 cars Sunday afternoon each, here and at the Snow Lake trail head.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

2010.10.5. God of Carnage

Seattle Repertory Theatre presents God of Carnage. Winner of 2009's Tony Award of best play. Two sets of parents meet one day to discuss the incident of one child hitting the other. However, the meeting degenerated rapidly as the 4 adults getting into unnecessary arguments and ridiculous behaviors. Funny, but no point, nor anything new or profound. Well acted, good stage. Single act, finishes early (9pm sharp).

Sunday, October 03, 2010

2010.10.2. Thornton Lakes and Trappers Peak

Cloudy all morning. Luckily all burnt off in the early afternoon.

Thornton Lakes and Trappers Peak. First 2.3 miles are flat (long abandoned logging road, lots of unedible mushrooms). A couple of easy creek crossing. Then another ~2.2 miles in the woods, but with steady up slope (up ~2000 ft) till a huckleberry filled saddle. ~5000 ft. Muddy at times. Finally (after 2:15 hrs) in the open. Junction to Thornton Lakes (in 0.6 miles, -500 ft) and reportedly not-so-good camp sites at the lower lake. Continue straight, now very steep, hands are better than the poles. More huckleberries (brilliantly lit under the afternoon sun) and certainly progressively better views. ~960 ft and 0.8 miles later, reached the 5964 ft top. A few people rested on one of the many rocky crops along the way. Fine view: all 3 lakes to the SW, Teebone ridge, the town of Newhalem past the highway, Neve glacier, Pyramid and Colonial peaks to the east, Pickets Range to the north. But it's worthwhile to go to the top. More of the Pickets, the NE face of Mt Triumph. Even saw a patch of blooming lupines this late in the season. Can spend hours wondering around or just sit and rest in the many little crisscross trails among the inch high huckleberry bushes (no berries this high) and heathers. Small biting flies.

Direction: Hwy 20, 11 miles east of Marblemount (or 3 miles west of Newhalem. Turn northwest on Thornton Creek road. 5.1 miles of rough gravel to the end. A small (< 10 spots) parking area with a privy.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

2010.9.26. Yellow Aster Butte

Yellow Aster Butte. Finally good weather for a change. Extremely rewarding for such a small effort, but such a long drive (3 hrs from Seattle). No wonder the crowd. 7 miles RT, 2000 ft gain. 3 hrs is probably enough for the hike, but allow a couple of hours to explore: take photos, and yes, pick huckleberries. Below the butte (which grants a 360° view of more fine peaks) is the Yellow Aster meadow: a patchwork of small glistening ponds and huckleberry meadow, the only camping area. What a fine site, stunning views of both Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan, perfect to explorer many surrounding small peaks, and maybe to retrace back for 2 miles and hike to Tomyhoi Lake (looks pretty big on the map). Another trail 2 miles farther drive (on worse gravel) leads to Twin Lakes. Extremely window all the way from the meadow up to the top. No yellow aster at this time. The huckleberry leaves are shining brilliantly under the sun.


Direction: From Glacier Public Service Center, follow Hwy 542 ~12 miles. Turn left on FS#3065 (Twin Lakes Road, just beyond the Department of Transportation's Shuksan maintenance facility). ~4.5 miles gravel road to the Tomyhoi Lake/Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead. Watch for mining trucks!

Friday, September 24, 2010

2010.9.24. Seattle Symphony and PNB

12pm Seattle Symphony.
Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Joseph Schwantner: The Poet’s Hour…a soliloquy for violin and strings "reflections on Thoreau"
Foote: Francesca da Rimini 
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
The beginning and end (repeat of the beginning) are quite lovely. Foote's is very nice. Brahms' 3rd movement is popular, no wonder, but the other movements are unimpressive. Bronfman's performing is powerful, albeit his stubby hands. No encore :(

7:30pm Pacific Northwest Ballet's season premier: Director's Choice.
Petite Mort (Mozart/Jiri Kylian)
Sechs Tänze (Six Dances) (Mozart/Jiri Kylian)
Jardí Tancat (Closed Garden) (Maria del Mar Bonet/Nacho Duato)
Glass Pieces (Philip Glass/Jerome Robbins)
Two Kylian's pieces are interesting, cleverly using slightly back lit lighting and group composition. The Six Dances is extremely funny, playing with powdered wig and marionette at times. Closed Garden's song is more powerful than the dance. Robbins' piece is a bit short of my expectation. Overall, a good start of a new season. Auditorium was reasonably full. 2 intermissions, which is utterly unnecessary.

2010.9.23. Don Bowie at REI

Westcomb athlete Don Bowie spoke at REI of his past expeditions. Quite down to earth. Good photos, and vivid accounts. Something interesting would be ice down sleeping bag, terrible wind speed, unreliable existing ropes, compassion, training in anaerobic fashion, weight loss, high altitude food: shot of olive oil...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

2010.9.18. Sausage Festival at Redhook

Redhook Brewery's Sausage Festival (noon - 7pm). Disappointing (long wait, expensive, noisy, lousy music, muddy ground, almost no place to sit). $5 entrance fee (a long to check if you carry any liquid). Then you line up to buy tokens, then you line up in front of each booth to buy what you want to eat / drink. Only one booth sells beer ($4 a plastic cup, 6 choices, one ran out), and only one booth sells sausage (from Uli's, $2 half a sausage). Other food stands are: one hot dog (from Dantes, $4 each, a 2 hr line, because only one guy was serving), one sells Salumi's cold cut with a piece of baguette ($4 a small selection), one for crepe ($3, from Anita), one for ice cream ($3), one for sandwich ($2 a tiny wedge), one for popcorn ($1 a bag from J&D), one sells Oberto's jerky. A couple of stands ran out of food at 3pm. At least food is decent, but not enough.

Friday, September 17, 2010

2010.9.16. Spotlight at the 5th Ave Theatre

First Spotlight of the season. Surprising many people. Producer Kevin McCollum (Rent, Avenu Q, In the Heights) chatted with David Armstrong, or rather he preached creating community centric art form, and advocated 9th graders putting up a musical. Quite funny. This took half an hour. Then as usual, a selection of songs from upcoming shows were performed. Worth noting,the last number was just written 20 minutes ago by 2 very young composers.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

2010.9.14. Jonathan Franzen

Seattle Arts and Lectures presents Jonathan Franzen. He read a modified script that he wrote for another talk in Germany. I actually preferred the prepared script to spontaneous speech or a short note. Much thought has gone into preparing a long talk. He answered 4 typical questions in the speech: Which writers are your influences? When and how you write? Do your characters sometime take over? Are your books autobiographical? He answered 1st and last question in more detail, especially the last one, so much so, that he related his writing years (using mostly his book The Correction) to his life events / moments (marriage, affairs, mother's last words, using something happened to his brother). He claimed that he had to be a different person in order to write a new book every time, and each time striking to reach a deeper, a broader or a new sense of some meaning. Seemed quite heart-felt.
The Q&A session was not as interesting. The presenter talked too much (over 10 minutes at the beginning and more later).

Another book talk at 6pm was by Jennifer Jordan, about her new book The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2. A fascinating story about a 1939 K2 expedition, where Dudley Wolfe and 3 Sherpas lost their lives, and the aftermath of finger pointing, including the trip leader Fritz Wiessner. It was in 2002, Jordan accidentally discovered Wolfe's body.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

2010.9.11. Mt Catherine

Mt Catherine at Snoqualmie Pass. Easy (1300 ft gain, 3 miles RT) with ample rewards: 360° view. Can see Mt Stuart to the north, Kachess Lake and I-90 below, and many peaks w/o names. Mt Rainier looks very close. Some leaves have turned red already. Many huckleberry bushes, but no berries. Good weather, almost sunny.


Direction: I-90 exit 54. Hyak Rd. Head south toward Hyak Ski Area. Right onto Hyak Drive E. Head all the way through the ski area to the gravel road. Pass many vacation homes, then four miles on the gravel road until just before the Olallie Meadows. Very small roadside parking area. Trail head to the right, with a blown out sign.

Friday, September 10, 2010

2010.9.10. Mailbox Peak + Symphony

Mailbox Peak. Short yet steep. 3 miles one way, 4100 ft gain. The first half mile is on a gravel road. Mostly forested. Maybe the last 3/4 mile is more or less open. A big talus field at the top (the trail goes around it). Can hear I-90's traffic all the way. View isn't bad, both north and south. But too cloudy today. Lots of pistachio shells on the top. Only one mailbox. Someone stuck a Canadian flag on it.


Direction: I-90 to exit 34. Turn north onto 468th St and follow it to the junction with the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road (Forest Road 56). Turn right and continue to the end of the pavement (about 3 miles from the I-90 exit). Turn right onto a gated road and park. Walk around the bar for 0.5 miles. The trail head is on the left.

Seattle Symphony's Beethoven Festival.
Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Charlie Albright, piano
Augusta Read Thomas: Of Paradise and Light for String Orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major

Somehow I have no impression of the new work. The junior college kid played piano very well, albeit a little rushed. He even played a substantial piece of encore.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

2010.9.8. A Doctor In Spite Of Himself - a play

Intiman Theatre's adaptation of Moliere's A Doctor In Spite Of Himself. Just 1 act, shy of 1.5 hrs. Musically tuned, hilarious, well acted, exaggerated. Creatively adapted by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp. Costume design: Elizabeth Caitlin Ward. Sound design: Aaron Halva. The mock doctor Daniel Breaker is very good. The marionette is a wonderful touch.

2010.9.3-6. Dosewallip River - Enchanted Valley - LaCrosse Pass loop

9.3. Friday. Sunny. Drove to Staircase ranger station (~2 hrs), was told that the trail to the loop was closed due to fire. Rerouted to Dosewallips trail head. The road was in good shape, but stops ~5.5 miles (~2 hrs) to the trail head. A big landslide, probably 10 years ago, cuts the road short. A very pleasant walk, next the roaring West Fork Dosewallips River. Took too many water photos. The camp grounds at Elkhorn and Dosewallips are completely abandoned and overgrown with vegetation.
This trail is full of bridges, big and small. All nicely done. Passed a fork to Grey Wolf @1.5 mile (~1 hr), Big Timber camp (~1:15 hr), Diamond Meadows (~1:15 hr), arrived at Honeymoon Meadow (3527 ft) in another 1 hr @7pm, finally more or less out of the trees. All camp sites are to the left of the creek, without a good view of the meadow. Total ~14 miles.

9.4. Saturday. Blue sky with increasing clouds. 1.5 mile (~1 hr) reached Anderson Pass @4464 ft. A 0.9 mile side trail to the north and up a huckleberry hill leads to a blue tarn in front of Anderson Glacier. Beautiful. One tent was pitched at a smaller pond. Encountered 3 groups, 9 people.

1 hr later, reached the junction to Enchanted Valley trail (~3010 ft). From here is a 3.2 mile, ~1000 ft drop to the valley floor. Many waterfalls along the way. The valley is large and flat, grassy, many elder trees. Idyllic. The chalet is locked, except one room. Saw 2 couples. Back to the junction, headed south for ~35 minutes, camped above the White Creek meadow, good view to the northwest.

9.5. Sunday. Blue sky, with increasing clouds. My favorite day. Above tree line most of the time. Flowers covering the slopes. Saw 5 bears, one of these was a little guy scared and ran up a tree in a second. Headed over to O'Neil Pass @4950 ft, ~4 hrs. Saw a father and son below the pass.

Marmot Lake is ~1 mile east, a few camp sites with bear wire, not close enough to water. The lake itself is a bit disappointing. The area is nice: lush meadows dotted with the last summer flowers. Headed north ~0.5 mile, up ~500 ft, to the junction of Hart Lake / LaCrosse Lake. Found a very nice camp site in the lovely heather meadow close to the junction, above a tiny pond (not close enough). Good view over Mt Duckabush. Hart Lake is 0.4 miles west. Big, deep blue, very nice, good camp sites close to water. LaCrosse Lake is 0.8 miles north, not as great as Ira Spring claimed, camping available (no bear wire). By now, the clouds were rolling in in mass.

9.6. Monday. Clear sky and stars before midnight, then rained all night and all day, lightly. Every leaf turns into a picture, coated with water beads. ~3.5 miles and close to 2000 ft drop, a bad water crossing, to the junction with Skokomish river (to Staircase trail head, ~2 hrs). A difficult water ford immediately after the junction. Then it's an easy walk of 1.7 miles to the junction with Duckabush river @2600 ft (~1 hr). Now it's 3.3 miles up to LaCrosse Pass @5566 ft (~2.5 hrs). Ran closely into 2 bears just below the tree line, and another 2 north of the pass. The scenery around the pass is very nice, lots of flowers, but LaCrosse Mt is shrouded in cloud. 3.1 miles and 2000 ft later, reached junction with Dosewallips river (~2.5 hrs).
Ate dinner at Honeymoon Meadow under the rain. Not tired, but my waterproof shoes are completely wet. I was determined to end the misery today. So walked another 14 miles to the car (~5 hrs). Arrived ~11pm, completely stiff and sore. That made a Marathon: ~26 miles. The only human saw today is a couple at Diamond Meadow warming next to a fire.


Practicality: Dosewallips trail head is almost 3 hours drive from Seattle. ~20 minutes left of Hwy 101. Ferry might be faster. (Staircase trail head is 45 mins closer if driving from Olympia.) Total distance without side trips: ~51 miles. Adding all side trips (without backpack): ~63 miles. Lowest elevation ~700 ft, highest ~5566 ft.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

2010.9.2. First Thursday Art Walk

First Thursday at Seattle Art Museum. Picked up my temporary membership card. A tall man made entirely of green bottles (beer?) stands by the staircase. The new exhibition of Andy Warhol and Kurt Cobain are, in my humble opinion, trash. A small exhibition of James Ensor's etching is rather fun, especially his Alimentation Doctrinaire. Due to the popularity of the Twilight saga, there's a small exhibition of Quileute tribe. Apparently, quite some research has gone into this. Some terms were even displayed in the tribal language. A hallway is dedicated to Amy Blakemore's photos. The best I could say is that everything is slightly out of focus. Subjects are of no interest. It makes one wonder the definition of art.

Monday, August 30, 2010

2010.8.28-29. Boston Basin - Sahale Arm crossing

Only 3 vehicles at the trail head. Boston Basin trail is unmaintained, STEEP, overgrown with vegetation. 3 miles took almost 3 hrs. First bushes, then trees. Once emerged from trees, the view is stupendous. Vast open space, jagged peaks, green slopes, crisscross creeks lined with bright green moss, moraines full of broken rocks, squeaking marmots (saw a couple of little ones, extremely cute). ~30 minutes later, reached lower camp (~5700ft, 3 sites close to each other). One group was already here, another coming on this Saturday for climbing. Closer to Quien Sabe glacier (Sharkfin Tower, Boston Peak, Sahale Peak). Unfortunately thick clouds on Sunday forced them to give up. The upper camp (~6200ft. 3 sites next to each other) is another 45 minutes' hike. Closer to the Forbidden Peak, flatter surface, easier access to water. Both equipped with a compost toilet! Both have great view, and enough vegetation + flowers. Lovely sunset. Clouds were rolling in.

Sunday. Foggy. Cross to Sahale Arm - Cascade Pass. Took a lower trajectory towards the south most ridge. Without a map, no trail. Scrambling over moraines, loose rocks and ice, quite dangerous at times. Ups and downs, from time to time had to wait for the fog to clear up a bit. Even hailed a bit. Painfully slow. Saw a bear close to the ridge. Much easier after the ridge: big huckleberry meadow from here to Sahale Arm, home to a mom bear and 2 cubs. The crossing took over 2 hours. Came out in the middle of Sahale Arm. I was happy to see people and trail. Very windy here. Clouds get thicker, eventually rained. From now on, it was easy, maybe 5+ miles to the trail head of Cascade Pass (~20 cars), which is only 0.7 miles to the trail head of Boston Basin. 3.5 hrs. Quite some flowers left. Johannesburg glacier looks more impressive at the trail head.

It's also possible to cross via Quien Sabe glacier to Sahale Glacier. Camping permits at the foot of Sahale Glacier for Saturday were all gone. More were climbing there.

On the drive back on Hwy20, shortly east of Baker River road, there was a herd of elk.

Direction: Hwy20 until Marblemount, go straight to Cascade River road, cross the bridge, at 21.7 miles (mostly good dirt road), ~3200 ft, a small parking area on the left. 3.5 hrs from Seattle. There's a national park wilderness center right at Marblemount (Sun-Thur till 6pm, Fri-Sat till 8pm), where backcountry permits are issued, and bear canisters are lent for free.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

2010.8.24-25. Elfin Lakes

Elfin Lakes in BC's Garibaldi Provincial Park.

The drive here is spectacular, overlooking Howe Sound with the backdrop of Tantulus Mountain. Arrived ~noon Tuesday. The parking lot was almost full (close to 30 vehicles). My heart sank, because the shelter has only space for 33 people. Felt better and better after 30+ people came down. Must be pretty crowded Monday night. Started hiking ~12:45. Took almost 5 hrs to reach Elfin Lakes' Shelter, with multiple breaks and even more whining from the kids. (11Km, ~650m gain + 200m loss, could be done in 3 hrs.) Gentle slope, wide logging road. The first 5Km is shaded, tall trees, boring. Red Heather Shelter offers 2 tables, 2 burners and a winter only stove. A nice lunch stop. From here, heathers overtake trees. At the fork, we took the hiker only trail (the other one is for bikes and service truck). In less than an hour, started Paul Ridge. Views get progressively better, and heathers progressively dense until the whole slopes were carpet in pink. There was a small patch of snow, before the slope goes down. Another hour later, the two deep blue Elfin Lakes came to view. Small. A ranger station sat right next to the smaller lake (for drinking water). The slightly larger one is for swimming. Water is not too cold. But lots of mosquitoes. At night, bright full moon reflects in the lakes, many shining stars.

The shelter is very nice. Downstairs has 2 large tables, equipped with propane and 4 propane burners. Easy to use. A couple of large pot to fetch water with. Dish washer and wash sink. Upstairs has 11 wood bunks and some benches, bottom bunk is double, top is single. Very warm due to the cooking downstairs. This night, it was less than half full, and I had a double bunk to myself. Toilet is in another structure, smells of toxic paint. 1Km further is the camp ground on a nice heather meadow by a small creek, with a view to the west mountain ridge. No seclusion though.

Got up around 6:30am. Took some pictures of the morning reflection. Then I embarked on the Opal Cone trail all by myself. Ran into dad few minutes later. Opal Cone is a volcanic remnant. 6.5 Km one way. Not for the faint heart: a couple of slopes are rather dangerous. Some creek crossing, one nice bridge, quite some lupines. Well marked. At 6Km, a left fork goes up to the cone, while the continuation of the trail leads to Rampart Pond and Mamquam Lake. The fork to Opal Cone is very nice, a short ridge full of flowers, view of the half melted (with blue ice) ice fields below, and Bishop Glacier in front. Diamond Head's eastern face seems within arm's reach. Absolutely beautiful. Some scrambling is required. Didn't see a single sole during the entire hike except one person at the top of the cone. I didn't bring a camera, so no record. ~2 hrs one way.


Back to the shelter, packed, and left ~noon. Arrived at the car by 4pm. Again, much slower than average. Lots of people coming up this day, at least 3 on bikes.

Practicality: 16Km east of Hwy 99 on Mamquam Rd (~10Km is good gravel with potholes at times), 4 Km north of Squamish. ~1.7 hrs from Vancouver. $25 shelter fee at Elfin Lakes per family per night, or $10 pp, or $5 for camp site, parking included. Mamquam Lake has camp sites.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

2010.8.21. Mt Rainier in clouds

Saw it only along the drive in the morning. Paradise in completely foggy. Sometimes the visibility is only 10 meters. An interesting effect, at least it blurred the thousands of visitors. Very strange weather this year. Colder than when I came early March this year. Lots of flowers: avalanche lily together with bear grass, heather and lupine. Took the shuttle up from Longmire. Caught the 2nd last coming down.

Comet Falls is tall and loud. A very pleasant hike for 1.6? or 1.9? miles. A little over an hour of steady slope, a good short workout. The grade tapers off after the bridge. Starting from the cute Christine Falls, shaded, all along many water cascades, and one bridge. Tumbling 320 ft over a cliff, water splashing onto the meadow across, lots of white flowers. On a hot summer day, it would be lovely to get closer.

An uneventful 0.6 miles later, the trail forks left to the Rampart Ridge Trail. Continue straight for Van Trump Park. View opens, and flowers emerge in earnest. Winding up in the meadows. Steep at time. 2200 ft gain total. The trail continues long after the sign of 'end maintained trail'. Lots of flowers. Much less people. Saw only 2 groups. No running water. One couple camped by some snow patches. Turned back there. (Looks like just a bit further up is Mildred Point, which I didn't know. Maybe next time.) The weather cleared a bit around 5:30. Some mountains close by showed up. Mt Rainier is still in hiding. Too cloudy to see Adams or St Helens. It was a wonderful view last summer when I came (but forgot to bring camera. This time, I almost lost my camera.) Total round trip: 3.5 hours (including breaks).

Went to a buffet place on the way back to Seattle. Probably gained more calorie than what's spent during the hike.