2016.7.30-31 Tatoosh Range

7/30, Saturday. Meetup changed to 5am, in order to obtain a backcountry permit at Mt Rainier national park (wilderness office opens at 7:30am). I didn't realize the change until Friday 9pm. This is difficult for me, as my first train won't get me to Gateway until 5:55am. Too late to cancel. Of course, I arrived at 5am sharp, but Serana was 20 minutes late, and the other two had to buy coffee and rearrange stuff in their cars. I don't understand why people cannot be ready before a rendezvous? Finally we got on our way, still in dark, totally cloudy. After obtaining the permit, they wanted another coffee stop at the lodge. I, instead, went for a 10 minute walk along Skyline trail. Still cloudy. Lots of people. Flowers are coming. More around the lodge. Mostly heathers, bistort, valerian. Need another week or 2 for most of the paintbrush and lupine to show color.

We started at Pinnacle trail with many other people shortly before 10am. It's only 1.5 miles to a saddle. Rainier was still in the clouds. I left my bag there, and asked a random lady to tell my hiking companions that I was going west to Plummer Peak. This is easy. The use trail is obvious, all the way. Great view, all around.

Back to the saddle, continued east along a use trail. Clouds parted. Good view south to Goat Rocks, Adam, Hood, St Helens. Very green, dotted occasionally with flowers. Soon I caught up with one girl, the other two were still behind. At the foot of Castle, I saw a use trail going up. I left my pack at the trail junction, and headed up. It's more sketchy, and the real top of Castle is still a bit north. I could see a way to get down to a plateau with snow and melting pond - where we'll camp for the night.

Getting back on the increasingly faint rocky trail, continued east, now our group of 4 together. The trail goes down a bit too much for rounding the Castle. Had to scramble up. This is not difficult. Most flat dirt surface of this little plateau is under fast melting snow. I pitched my tent on semi-dirt-semi-rock surface. Hard to push the tent pegs all the way down. Blew my mattress to 3/4 full, for fear of it getting punctuated. Great view here. Mt Rainier is in your face, "across from the street", Reflection and Louise Lakes. We can hear and see cars below.

Had our late lunch (2pm) on a meadow east of our camp. At 3pm, I decided to find the pond shown on the map, while the others returned to the camp. I followed a use trail on a ridge going down. The walk is very pleasant. But the pond is quite ugly, shallow, its east side all mud, with clumps of dirty or dead plants. Some rocks here are of rusty red. The water, even though clear (snow melt), appears blackish in color, especially from afar.

No more trail. I walked up the meadowy slope further east, all the way to Foss Peak (unamed on my map). Fabulous view all around. Can see Snow and Bench Lake below and the snowy gully where people start the Tatoosh Traverse.

Back to camp at 5pm. Ate and waited for sunset. The Castle blocks most of the sunset. Had to walk a bit east to our lunch spot for a better sunset. Very colorful due to the clouds. A couple showed up around 9pm, poking around.

Total about 10 miles today.

7/31, Sunday. Very cloudy at night, dark (one day to new moon, and no stars). Clouds lingered the better part of the morning. After breakfast, I packed up, and started up to the Castle. It was too cloudy, so no need to hurry. Soon the couple of last night showed up with helmet and harness. I came down, after seeing that my comrades had packed their tents. This is a photo Julie took of me standing in the middle of the spires. By then, half of the clouds were burned off.

We decided to take a "climbing route" down the plateau, where the fixed sling and blue ribbons were, instead of the long detour when we came. I got down first, left my pack, and came back up to help move the backpacks. See a photo of Jenny without her pack. It's steep, but had places to put hands and feet. However, with a heavy pack, this isn't easy.

Back as we came. Very pretty as clouds were lifting. I went to a rocky saddle just east of Pinnacle Peak, and tried to climb from there. There's a trail going down the north side, and a half-frozen tarn below with blue water. The obvious climbing route is close to the saddle at the end of Pinnacle Trail. Many people were having lunch at the flowering plateau just south of the Pinnacle saddle.

Back to the car in front of Reflection Lake around 2pm. Very warm. Good that we went up in the clouds. A bathroom break, and a lunch break at the Base Camp of RMI. Only walked about 4 miles today.

2016.7.24-25 Ruth Mountain - double take

7/23, Saturday, cloudy (partly sunny was in the forecast). 5:45am alarm (not necessary). A hearty breakfast. No traffic on the road. A stop at Glacier ranger station (already a lot of people at 8:20am!). Started hiking shortly after 9am from Hannegan Trailhead (lots of cars). Getting to Hannegan Pass is straight forward. Flowers were blooming along the trail, mostly penstemon and pearl everlasting. Patches of paintbrush, yarrow, columbine.

Took a side trail down to a tarn (camped here last fall). Up an almost vertical gully - being made worse by all the climbers. This is probably the most difficult stretch. Route around the Point, trail covered with snow. Enough boot tracks to lead the way. Set up our camp behind the Point, above the ridge leading to Ruth. Around 5700'. Less bugs than around Hannegan Pass. The view here is spectacular.

~1pm. Repacked and headed to Ruth. Reached the summit in less than 2 hours. Two geological survey markers. Two single tent sites (with rock walls). Some small flowers clinging on the rocks. Cloudy. Put on rain jacket and waited for the partly sunny weather for an hour. Clouds only got thicker, threatening to pour down. The visibility was very poor on the way down. I heard thrusting sound, only a good 5 minutes later saw a group of 6 on ropes heading up. They were going to camp at a knoll SW of Ruth on the way to Icy Peak, as described in Ruth Icy Traverse. Barely an hour later, back to tent. I'm glad to have brought my Kindle along. After an early dinner, sat and waited for the clouds to blow away, but they never did.

7/24, Sunday. Sunny and warm, not a shred of cloud. Woke up at 3am. Bright moon, shining stars, not cold. Got up a bit too late for the actual sunrise. Walked up to the Point before 6am to enjoy the landscape in the morning sun. Heathers were starting to bloom. The moon was still high. A fat marmot.

Didn't make hot breakfast, as the day was warmed up as we prepared. Before 9am, reached the top of Ruth again. Spent another hour on the summit. The view is stupendous. Shuksan's jagged north face seems within an arm's reach. Baker behind it. To the south, Rainier, Glacier Peak. To the east, Challenger Glacier, Pickett Range, and many peaks of North Cascades. To the north, Canadian mountains. Saw a group of climbers descending from Icy Peak, and some down camped at the knoll along the traverse. Shared the summit with 3 very talkative brothers and 2 silent climbers, all of them carried harness (not used) and wearing climbing boots (no crampons). They are quite more experienced than I am, almost running down the snowy slope. I walked down one step at a time. The view downhill is also splendid.

Coming down the gully is not easy. I slipped twice, got very muddy, one scratch, otherwise no damage. Instead of continuing back up to Hannegan Pass and onto the main trail, I decided to try the boot track towards Hannegan Camp. The trail is discernible, a bit overgrown. I picked up a torn black garbage bag. So I think I was on the right track. But soon, I couldn't make out the trail. Bushwhacking a bit, following a creek to the meadow where the camp is. It's very pretty here. Flowers are coming, so are mosquitoes. At this time, part of it was somewhat swampy and muddy. This cut-off is definitely shorter, and no elevation gain.

Met many hikers and campers coming in on our way out. Reached the car ~3pm, 80°F. Lots of traffic on I-5 at various points, due to lane closing this weekend for WDOT work (I didn't see a single worker!). My bus to Portland had to find an alternative stop due to the Chinatown Seafair Parade. For a good 10 minutes, I was worried that I couldn't find the bus, as this is the last one of the day (8pm). Searching and talking to people with luggage works, asking police is useless. Slept most of my way south: not comfortable.

2016.7.17. Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge

7/17, Sunday. Overcast with thunderstorm warning. It turned out to be great hiking weather. Even there're threatening clouds at times, not a single drop of rain. Total 4 of us. Very slow, as our hike leader is in her 70s. She's a botanist, so I learned a lot.

When we arrived at Timberline Lodge around 10am, it was sunny. Clouds were below us. Before descending to Zigzag, at the edge of the canyon, the view is superb. Many people choose to return at this point. To get to Paradise Park, you have to zigzag down to the Zigzag river, cross it, and go back up. The river crossing is easy with two installed small planks. At the trail junction of PCT and Paradise Loop trail, pick the right trail and go up. It starts to get very lush. We saw fields of Jacob's Ladder. There's another creek, with a good campsite before (closer to water) and after the easy crossing. A mile or less further, the view is more open, but plants are more sparse. More campsites. I did find a tiny creek with flowers next to it, probably will dry off in a month. I turned around after climbing on top of the Split Egg rock. The clouds were menacing by then. No thunder, nor lightening. By the time we regrouped and got back close to the lodge, the clouds dissipated.

Met two ladies camping at Paradise Park near Mississippi Head (further than I went). They were very friendly and chatty. We had a drink on the balcony overlooking the west (the wrong side to see Mt Hood): clouds lay below us like a thick blanket.

My phone registered about 25K steps. So maybe 12 miles.

Flowers should peak in 2 weeks.

2016.7.16. Loowit Falls at Mt. St. Helens

7/16, Saturday. Cloudy, 20% chance of rain is in forecast. Cloudy weather is ideal to hike in Mt. St. Helens, as there's no shade to be had there. 13 of us walked about 9 miles from Windy Ridge, a lollipop kind of a loop, with the spur to Loowit Falls and back. Not a single drop of rain.

Flowers lined along the road as you drive in, as well as walking the first mile of 207 (the people at Mt. St. Helens Institute can drive this stretch of gravel road). This loop is entirely in the blast zone (you are not supposed to go off trail here, so no camping). Near the falls, the trail is more rugged: rocky. We saw two groups of goats, from 226 (Loowit Trail). There're a couple of easy creeks to cross, one of which is lushly green with blooming pink monkey flowers. Otherwise, it's more or less barren.

The northern part, along 207 and towards 207, flowers were covering the rocky ground for miles and miles, heavy scent of lupine. Mostly blue, some yellow and red. We really hit the jackpot for flowers today. Here you can see Spirit Lake, and briefly Mt Rainier, and Loowit Falls from afar.

Since it's a long drive (3 hours), we stopped at Cougar for dinner. I happened to sit next to a table with two Mazama hikers aged 67 and 73. They were staying in a cabin here, and hike every day for 14, 15 miles. They look very enthusiastic and fit. Both of them usually hike twice a week, and do a ramble or 2 a week, plus going to gym. A lot of exercise!

2016.7.9. Portland day tour

7/9 Saturday. Overcast. Walked around Portland with one of my college roommates and her parents.

First stop: Reed College. Nice big lawn and good looking buildings.

Second stop: International Rose Test Garden. Lots of people.

Late lunch at Rogue Distillery and Public House, the 3rd brewpub we tried (the previous two each required 45 minute wait). Great service. We tried Chocolate Stout, Good Chit Pilsner, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Pendleton Pale Ale. We didn't like Chocolate Stout. Afterwards, walked along waterfront, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Director's Square, and South Park, where a Bastille Day celebration was going on.

Last, Nike campus. There was a high school elite football competition going on: The Opening, which was to finish this weekend.

2016.7.2-4. Eileen Lake + Middle Sister summit

7/2, Saturday. Partly sunny. Temperature is in the upper 70°Fs. Drove OR-242 for Obsidian Trail. First stop: Proxy Falls. Well signed parking area. Short trail (~1.5 mile RT). I was wearing sandals: not a good idea. The upper falls is small and ugly. The lower falls is splendid, wide and tall. Lots of rocks to play with and get sprayed on. Many people here.

Obsidian Trail starts with leveled and smooth trail in the young forest, for about 2 miles. It soon enters the the shaded area on the map, which is by permit only. I've obtained 2 day use permits, one for hiking in and one for hiking out. Overnight permits were all taken. Then trail then goes over a lava flow, slowly gaining elevation, until reaching PCT. Met a group of 4 day hikers. That's all we encountered on this Saturday. Turned right (S) on to PCT, hitting more snow. Soon you can see The Husband to your right (W of PCT). Turned right again at Linton Meadow trail, going downhill. Linton Meadow is lovely. Sun was already setting, casting a pink hue to South and Middle Sister. More and more mosquitoes. Eileen Lake is another half mile west, passing a couple of smaller meadows. Saw two tents at the east end of the lake. Water is very shallow (ankle deep?) and warm. Tons of mosquitoes, but they quieted down after 9:30pm. Good view of both South and Middle Sister. Need to come here after the mosquito season, and earlier in the day, for the sunset here would be beautiful. I tried to take star photos well into the night.

7/3, Sunday. Sunny. Eileen Lake bathed in the early sun looks lovely. However, too buggy. Packed everything and ran away at 7am! Husband Lake seems to be more than just one lake, right at the foot of The Husband. Quite pretty as well. Saw two tents at two different spots.

Linton Meadow is probably my favorite spot this weekend. It's broad and green, crisscrossed by little streams. Flowers are coming up, so are mosquitoes. Need to come back later after the bugs. Saw a girl by her tent at one of the smaller meadows, where we lost our trail. She said she was lost too. Later this day, met 2 runners, and a couple of backpackers and day hikers on PCT. Set up camp by PCT at a stream of snowmelt, with the backdrop of Middle Sister. Cooked a late breakfast / early lunch.

Climb Middle Sister. Didn't find a good approach from the west side. Ended using the SE ridge, same approach as from Camp Lake (where I started 2 years ago). Met only 2 groups (2 and 4) during my slow ascent, no one else getting to the ridge for climbing. Lots of snow getting to the ridge, but no snow whatsoever from there to the top. All rock piles, many loose. Pick your rock, no trail. Somewhat dangerous. The reward is the splendid view of South Sister, Broken Top, Camp Lake (thawed), 3 Chambers Lakes (still half frozen), all the way up. At the summit, 360° view: North Sister, Mt Washington, Jefferson, Hood to the north, to the south Mt Bachelor, Diamond Peak, and more big pools of water further. Windy. Coming down is equally dangerous. Took me 4+ hours to get to the top, and 3+ hours back to camp.

Back to camp at 8pm. Started a camp fire. Mosquito is not as bad as by the lakes which are 1000' lower. Nice sunset to the west. Didn't bother with photographing the stars tonight.

7/4, Monday. Sunny. Hiked out, and complete the Obsidian loop via PCT and Glacier Way. This stretch of PCT is very scenic. Obsidian spring, a couple of ponds, heathers and paintbrushes, not too many mosquitoes. Good place to camp. Going downhill via Glacier Way to catch Obsidian Trail. Partial view of Jefferson and Washington. Back on the lava field, and out to the carpark.

Continued on 242 towards Sisters. Stop at Dee Wright Observatory for photos. Lots of people here. I love this observatory with its tiny windows pinpointing the mountains they open to. Refueled at Three Creeks Brewery. Tried some seasonal beers, one of which is call experimental.