2011.5.28-30. Climb Mt St. Helens

Climbing Mt. St. Helens. Winter Route. Marble Mountain SnoPark @2700 ft to summit @8365 ft.

5.28. Saturday. Overcast and occasional rain. Lunch at Yale Park. Picked up permit ($22/day/pp, quota 100) and signed in at Lone Pine RV Resort at Cougar. Trail of Two Forests is a 0.3 mile interpretive loop at the bottom of a 2 millennium lava. Instead of destroy trees immediately, lava cooled around trees which decomposed later and left small tunnels and pits. Wheelchair accessible boardwalk, picnic tables. A small lava tube to crawl (head lamp!).

Ape Cave is a bit further down the road with a ranger station. Possible to rent lanterns until 4pm. Guided walks. Very large lava tube, wet, chilly (42°F year round). From the main entrance, the cave heads in two directions. Lower passage is tall and wide, 3/4 miles long. Upper passage is 1.3 mile long with an exit, requiring climbing over rock piles and a small lava ledge. 1900 years ago, red flowing lava entered a stream channel, so its surface cooled quickly, insulted the molten lava beneath. According to the park brochure, eruptions of fluid lava (basalt) are rare in the Cascades because magma here has high silica content. Usually we get thick magma with suspended gases in it, leading to more explosive eruptions.

Parked at Marble Mountain SnoPark at the end of plowed FR83. Snowshoed in for ~1.6 miles & up ~700 ft. Snow-camped on a boulder next to the trail. Clear blue markings on the trees, and many signs. This is a snow sport playground. Slushy snow.

5.29. Sunday: the climb. Cloudy. 6 hours up, 3 hours down. Overnight, snow had hardened. Headed out ~6:45am in crampons. Many carried skis and snowboards up. Windy for about 1000 ft, not very cold. Partly blue sky (got sun burned). Warm. Chewed on snow frequently. The trail is straight forward. Not difficult, just long. We were the first group to reach the top. ~8300 ft is the rim. Most people stopped here. Retreated over 100 ft and treaded to the left (west) for the true peak. No wind, too cloudy to see much. The overhanging snow cornice looked quite pretty.
Clouds intensified on the way down. Snow turned to slush. Had to use snowshoes. Met a ranger around the tree line (~3pm) going up to check upon hikers? Maybe 2 dozens of people attempted the climb today. I fell asleep shortly after 6pm, and woke up at 10pm all sour. Rained at night.

5.30. Memorial Day. Warm. Packing. Snowshoed to the car shortly after 8am. Met more skiers on the way. Back to Cougar on Hwy 503 (~12 miles) to sign out. Had a big breakfast at the cafe (the waitress is very nice). Back again east on Hwy 503, now turn right onto Hwy 90, passing the large Swift Reservoir, heading to Curly Creek Falls (2 levels with a rock arch), Big Creek Falls (tall) and last Lower Falls (wide). All very short leveled trails, all beautiful. There are more waterfalls long the Lewis River.

Return along Hwy 90 for ~10 miles. Turn south on to Curly Creek Rd. In the middle of the 5 mile stretch, a large turn out - McClellan Viewpoint - offers an 180° view of Mt St. Helens. Turn right on hwy 30 for ~30 miles to Carson on Columbia River. Turn west on Hwy 14 for ~5 miles (at mile 54): Dog Mountain trail head (100 ft), a gigantic parking lot (about ~1hr since the last waterfall). Up on Dog Mountain trail (3.2 miles). 0.6 miles of oak and pine later, keep right at a junction. Thick maples and pines, some little purple (pea?) and white flowers. At 1.8 miles, 1600 ft, the first grassy knoll. Balsam-root was splendid here. Most people rest and turn back at this point. Continue back into thick forest, now muddy trail for ~1 mile. Finally breaks out of the woods. Carpet of flowers, endless view: Wind Mt., buttressed ridges of Oregon's Mt Definance, Nick Eaton Ridge, Benson Plateau rising across the river... until the summit of 2945 ft. Backtrace 0.1 mile (~2800 ft) for junction to Augspurger trail: 3.7 miles to parking lot. Mostly forested, with some view of Columbia River at the last leg. Also very muddy the top 1/4 leg in forest. Augspurger Mt summit is 6.9 miles from trail head, with northern view of St Helens and Adams. For today, it was too much.

Direction: I-5 exit 21 (Woodland) for Hwy 503 (Lewis River Rd). 35 miles to Cougar. 3 miles later, left onto FR83 for 2 miles. Left onto FR8303 for 0.1 mile for Trail of Two Forest, 1.5 miles on #8303 for Ape Cave.
Curly Creek Falls is 1 mile in on FR 9039, ~25 miles from Cougar. Big Creek Falls is ~6.5 miles east of Pine Creek ranger station (which is ~18 miles on Hwy 90). Lower Falls is a large campground, ~8 miles further east. There's a half mile bad gravel road 1 mile before the campground.
Dog Mountain: mile 54 on Hwy 14, ~12 miles east of Cascade Locks.
Cougar has the cheapest gas I've seen all weekend.

2011.5.22. Green Fest

2nd day of Green Festival at QWest Center. Less vendors than last year, but well organized. Sample giveaways. 8 speech venues (talks every hour), 1 kids zone, 1 music stage, 1 yoga area. All in one big room, so sound gets mixed up. I attended these talks: Chris Herman on passive house, Karen Fahey on raw food, Web Collective Inc, Herbal Apothecary, Cheryl, the Pig Lady. Also chatted with the seed sprout, We Patch people... Signed two petitions: free caged chicken gals, stop child labor in Hershey chocolate.

2011.5.21. Hardy Canyon

2011.5.21. Hardy Canyon - Clemen Ridge - Big Burn Canyon loop near Yakima. It's in Wenas Wildlife Area. 13.5 miles, ~3000 ft gain, 2:45 hr drive. Left Seattle in rain before 7am, heading to the hope of sunshine east of the pass.
Started out nice and green at the left fork. Open country side. Many wild flowers scattered among sage brushes. Many man-made bird houses, most of them contain ~6 little blue bird eggs. Soon, walked along a creek, lush, even some mosquitoes. A snake barely awake lying on the trail. The only moving part was his tongue. Very rocky (loose) trail, strain on ankles and calves, gaining elevation.

Rain started. 4+ miles later, emerged from the woods, back to sage brush, balsam-root flowers, lupine, and many little purple, yellow, pink, white flowers. View gets better.

Stopped for lunch ~mile 5, under the only trees close to the ridge. Less windy, but same amount of water seeping through the needles. Had to start walking soon, otherwise just getting too cold, even though one of the assistant guides handed out some extra clothing to 3 of us. Continued along the ridge and into the clouds. At some point, visibility was less than 10 meters. Saw deers running across the trail, and another group perched on a ridge further south. I was told that it is possible to see Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams from here. Have to come here again. All the way down was fairly open, slopes covered with sage brush and flowers. Winding trail, still full of loose rocks. Of course, by the time we reached the cars, rain stopped!
Regrouped at Ellensburg for dinner. Sunny!
Practicality: I-90 exit 109. Turn right to drive under the freeway. At 0.7 mile, turn left at Umtanum Road (at 2nd traffic light). 5.2 miles later, gravel road for 13.2 miles (not bad except 2 spots). Then paved road (Wenas Road) for 4 miles (22.4 miles total from the traffic light in Ellensburg). A big gate signed "Hardy Canyon" on your right (closed Nov 1 - May 1). Park in the pullout area, or pass another gate and drive another 0.5 miles (a wash of ~10ft, 1ft deep) until a fork. WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife permit required.

2011.5.19. Guys and Dolls

5th Avenue Theatre. A remake of Guys and Dolls, a 1950 musical. Excellent direction, dancing and acting. Nice and efficient stage set, even though it's made of essentially flat card board. Costume is also lovely. Opening is cute. "Adelaide's lament" and "Sue Me" are very funny. "Havana", "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "Luck Be a Lady" are wonderfully choreographed. Silly story: a group of gamblers, a missionary girl and a showgirl. Very enjoyable.

2011.5.13. Magic Flute

Seattle Opera presents Magic Flute, a silly and messy fairy tale. A very modern rendition. One small pyramid at the center of the stage, and curtains were drawn diagonally so to create another pyramid shape. Apart from that, no stage set. Lighting is crucial to create the projection and all other effects. Fanciful & colorful costumes. Paper birds and hanging scrolls are a good touch.

Tamino:             Jonathan Boyd
Pamina:             Hanan Alattar
Queen of the Night: Mari Moriya
Sarastro:           Keith Miller
Papageno:           Leigh Melrose
Conductor:          Gary Thor Wedow
Stage Director:     Chris Alexander
Costume Designer:   Zandra Rhodes
Lighting Designer:  Duane Schuler

Our Queen of the Night has a superb voice. Her high notes came out clear and smooth. She's just a bit too short for a queen.In comparison, our Tamino and Pamina are weak, but better looking. Papageno and Sarastro both have great voices. Our Papageno is such a wonderful actor, he and the costume designer made this production alive. The little Papagenis were also adorable.
This performance had many young attendees. I saw many school kids. The tickets sold well. This was a bravo night. One of the young woman (who's well into her 20s) behind me kept on broadcasting her appreciation. Not sure if she was hoping to impress her date or simply to annoy 100 people in her vicinity. She needs to learn better behavior from those kids. The Q&A session with Jenkins after the show was interesting as usual. However, almost all attendees were white haired.

2011.5.8. Westberg Trail

Westberg Trail is only 4 miles RT, 1710 ft gain. Near Ellensburg. No zigzag, straight up. Took me ~1:15 hrs. More than one trails. Flowers are coming (lupine, brodiaea, balsamroot, phlox, paintbrush and many more). Saw 5 deers. Many birds (bluebird, red-winged blackbird). A few bird feed boxes sparsely dotted the slopes. At the top, windy (hailed for a bit), many memorials. A post marked the trail end, with a fixed thermometer (10°C), a log book (at least 20 names today by 12:30pm). Open views of the Cascades (notably Mt Stuart) and the very green (aided by irrigation) Kittitas Valley down below, all the way from the trail head.

Stopped by Ellensburg (a nice downtown of just 2x2 blocks), checked out the campus of Central Washington Univ (quiet and nice), before heading back.

Direction: I-90 exit 101, south on Thorp Highway for 2 miles. Right on Cove Road for ~4.5 miles (right after the 2nd stop sign: Manastash Rd). Parking area on the right before the road ends.

2011.5.4. Les Violons Du Roy

Chamber orchestra Les Violons Du Roy and tenor Ian Bostridge.

Handel: Concerto grosso in D major, Op. 6, No. 5
Geminiani: Concerto grosso in D minor, after Corelli, Op. 5 No. 12, "La Follia"
Scarlatti: "Se non qual vento" from Marco Attilo Regolo
Vivaldi: "La tiranna e avversa sorte" from Arsilda
...

I enjoyed Concerto Grosso and the orchestra part of "La tiranna e avversa sorte". The rest is way too Baroque. A small orchestra like this just hasn't the color and dynamics as a regular orchestra. 13 women and 4 guys. String + 1 archlute + 2 clarinets + 1 bassoon + 1 harpsichord.
The best aria is the encore. Bostridge has a pure beautiful voice, a bit weak in low pitch. A Leggiero tenor. He talks in his opera voice. Unsure where to place his hands. It's hard to imagine how he holds his breath, because he's so thin. According to the program notes, he holds a Ph.D. in history (studying witchcraft)!