2008.7.26-27. Northern Loop at Mt St Helen

2008.7.26-27. Mt St. Helen's northern loop: Goat Creek (#205) - Loowit Trail (#216) - Goat Mountain (#217) - Goat Creek trail. 2 days without a single glimpse of Mt St Helen's.

Half mile into the trail is the beautiful Cathedral Falls (also referred to as Leona Falls). You go behind the waterfalls and get sprayed upon. Water is significantly less than what's in the link. The trail follows Goat Creek, many water crossing, at the junction ~2.5 miles, keep left for #216, following a side creek. Trail goes through many washouts, dead trees, and large sections of forest devoid of undergrowth (strange). Only one segment of ridge that is pretty, with the view of (maybe) Tumwater Mountain, and patches of flowers. At ~9 miles, camp at Deadmans Lake. Lots of mosquitoes. As night falls, mist forms above the lake, eventually so thick that I cannot see the other side. Sitting next to a camp fire, listening to the frogs, has an unmeasurable appeal.

Still raining at 10am. The plan to hike up Goat Mountain is abandoned. This return half of the loop is very enjoyable. Trail was hard to find at time, as the snow remained deep in the valley. Met 2 horses at Vanson Lake. The trail now follows Goat Creek. Old growth forest, cascading falls. Also shorter: 6 miles instead of 9.

Direction: I5 exit 68, east on Hwy 12. Just before milepost 103, turn south on Kosmos Rd, immediately turn left on Champion Head Rd for ~4 miles across a big bridge where people are fishing, keep left at a fork. Now pretty bad gravel until the end. The drive itself is quite scenic.

2008.7.19. Mt Rainier. Sunrise -> Berkeley Park -> Grand Park -> Lake Eleanor. 18 miles (longest I've done in one day). Saw two bears (about 4pm at a small meadow north of Grand Park, and about 8:30pm at Berkeley Park), one elk (about 9:30 on the ridge east of Frozen Lake, less than 10 meters away from us), and 3 deers along Hwy 410 while leaving the park ! Great sunset, and lovely moon (large and orange in color).
From Sunrise, the trail rises slowly to Frozen Lake (1.5 miles), overlaps with Wonderland Trail for 0.7 miles, then descends to Berkley Park. Lush, glacier lily and avalanche lily abound. Rainier disappears behind Skyscraper Mountain (7018ft). Affi Creek drops to a small waterfalls about 1 hr after the fork with Wonderland Trail.
One hour of ups and downs in woods later, we are greeted with the grand meadow. Trail forks (about 3.5 miles after leaving Wonderland Trail), west to Windy Gap, or forward to Lake Eleanor (3.3 miles). 2 miles of non-stop meadow with Rainier in the back! The view is just grand. Carpets of yellow (common lomatium) and silver (cotton weed? pussytoe?). Some shooting star, paintbrush, lupine. Pure heaven. Maybe a bit early for the flower peak, but not many mosquitoes.
After leaving Grand Park, steep descent in snow. A muddy and lovely meadow (a bear a couple of hundred meters away) later, and more descent and ascent over confusing snow. Lake Eleanor is a typical forest lake, nothing notable.
Despite the terrible traffic at Auburn around White River Amphitheater, this is one of my most rewarding days. Saw much more than I can hope for. Even the weather was pleasant.

2008.7.12. 10am - noon: SAF's design detail tour. Trip ends in Smith Tower's Chinese Room. Quite barren, compared to a black and white photo of its old days. The wishing chair is still present, so is the ceiling. Great view.
Afternoon: Fire Festival at Pioneer Square. About 10 groups of fire fighters competed. A silly mascot contest. A few antique fire trucks. A lot of food stalls spread over to International District.

2008.7.13. Bandera Mt. Again, beargrass flowers are covering the entire slope. Summer is late this year. The ridge (where you can see Mason Lake) is still covered with a foot of snow. Check July 2007 archive for last year's glory.

2008.7.6. Waterfalls along Hwy530: Feature Show falls and Asbestos Creek falls. Not much of a hike, but pleasant enough. (photo of Asbestos Falls is courtesy of my K.O.'s fancy camera.)

2008.7.4. A Marvelous Party - The Noel Coward Celebration, at ACT. A collection of more than 34 Coward tunes along with comedic sketches, anecdotes and musings. Devised by David Ira Goldstein, Carl Danielsen, Mark Anders, Patricia Wilcox and Anna Lauris. The Coconut Girl played by Lauris is hilarious. The piano duels were entertaining.
There was a little bit of hors d'œuvre (a veggie tray and some salmon sticks) laid out before the show. A pleasant surprise. I had to leave in the middle of the 2nd act, in order to catch the fireworks at Elliot Bay. Splendid as always.