2019.8.24. Castle, Pinnacle, Plummer - scramble in Rainier

8/24, Saturday. Partly sunny. The sunny parts were very brief. 5 of us met at S. Renton P&R at 7am. Hardik "Uber"ed here. He was late. After a bathroom stop at Longmire, we started hiking around 9:35, and we reached Pinnacle Saddle at 10:15, end of maintained and over-engineered trail. I warmed up quickly with this steady pace. Too cloudy to see Adams. Rainier showed up briefly. On the way, quite a lot of gentian.

Turn left (east) towards Castle, follow the user trail. The trail goes on to Foster and Unicorn. Purple aster was very good on this northern slope. Coupled with some paintbrush and early fall red leaves. Open vista, I really like this part.

It's a short scramble up to the saddle below and east of Castle. As my group prepared for the climb (seen on this photo), I scrambled up its south lower peak. Good view, but the clouds have thickened. Can see a group with helmet and rope going up Pinnacle on the eastern ridge. Looks jagged and dangerous from afar. I left my pack at the bottom, was feeling cold waiting on the top (more wind), so came back down, on a different route. Hardik led the climb. One rope, 4 of them, slow going. I put on my fleece and waited below. Later put on my down vest. I got cell signal here at times. The tarn was completely dry. Little flowers left. I had to walk around to find this patch of color.

Coming down from the saddle, my group decided to use rope again at where we climbed up. I skirted around the eastern and lower end, easier walking. So had to wait for them again.

Next is Pinnacle. We took the left ridge. Even though looks steeper, but if you keep to the ridge (left), the rocks are solid, so a straight forward scramble. Go under and right of a big boulder close to the top. The rest is easy. The view is again, outstanding. I cannot make out what's said on this geological marker. My group took many silly photos, including topless shots. Zusana brought Rainier's Summit beer, shared with the others. Hardik doesn't drink alcohol. Coming down, for some reason, my group was very slow. Even after taking a bio-break, I was still way ahead. Maybe because of the steepness (see photo). The rocks are solid, I was able to walk down facing forward.

When we were back at the saddle, saw more people: a pregnant lady and her husband carried their baby, and a group of 3 Chinese campers with large backpacks. Yes, this is a popular and short trail (1.3 mile). Not sure if the campers would be able to find water. There was a tarn between Castle and Foster last time when I was here in July. But at this late season, not sure if it would dry up. We kept going west now, to Plummer. This is a walk up, easy. Again, great view, but still no Adams. Clouds shifted constantly, quite pretty.

We stopped at Basecamp for dinner. Nice big table with lawn chairs and some small umbrellas. Good at this time of the day when the sun is not baking. I had a salmon burger, a bag of chips and 2 oranges. All was fine except for the buns. Hardik is vegetarian, didn't have many choices. Back to P&R ~9pm, end of an easy day.

2019.8.18. Mount Pugh

8/18, Sunday. Mostly sunny. Met at Ash Way P&R @7am, an easier location for me. Mercifully, I still had my friend's rental car. 7 people (only 1 guy - the event host), 2 Subaru. 1 bathroom break in Burlington. Mount Loop Hwy turned gravel at some point. The turn on FR 2095 (1.5 miles) is a bit rough. TH is below 2000'. Justin thinks my 2L of water is not enough, and offered me a bottle. So I took it. Started hiking ~9:15.

Mount Pugh is new to me. 5300' gain 11 miles RT. The first 1.5 mile is easy. We were going fairly slowly, the ladies were chatty. Arrived at Lake Maten in an hour. Not a pretty lake, but does have a view of our destination through trees. Snack/bio break. No more water above the lake.

Turn left here and more switchbacks. Another 1.5 hours of moderate pace later, we finally broke out of the trees ~4900' (3000' above TH). Sat on the big boulder and waited for Tina, a small British nurse. Great view of Stujack Pass.

The trail goes on the boulders to the right of the slope. I opened my umbrella. Then zigzag through endless flowers. All along great view of the mountains across Sauk River valley. This upper slope is be my favorite stretch. We were talking photos, so also going slowly. At the pass, we waited for Tina again.

Turn right (E), past Glacier Peak Wilderness boundary sign, going through some heather meadows (however heather was past prime), then on a ridge, fairly narrow, but great view. Then some scramble. Xuan and I went ahead, waiting for the rest at difficult points. Nothing is really dangerous. The rocks are quite solid, and there's a trail most of the way, or cairns. We all put on helmet as Justin suggested earlier. Yes, I folded my umbrella.

I didn't reach the summit until 2:08pm. Elyse and her boyfriend arrived a minute later. They started at 10:45am. Boy, there was quite a crowd on the surprisingly flat top. Remnant of the old lookout. We were give an hour here to relax. Calm, very pleasant temperature. Oh, yes, I was perfectly happy sitting under my umbrella, with boots off, socks venting on a rock. Lend it to Manju for bio break.

I went down ahead of the rest. Xuan and Tina were closely behind. They had no trouble finding good routes, except for this one. Once I directed them down, we waited for the rest. Then we went ahead again. The rest of the ladies were very slow. Justin looked after them. Xuan and I waited at the big boulder below Stujack Pass before the forest, in the shade. The boulder field was hot. Tina went ahead to the car. By the time the last person arrived, it was past 7pm. I returned Justin's water bottle without using it.

Thankfully, we only to stopped for gas and bathroom. Got to P&R shortly after 9pm. I filled gas before going home. Need to return the car the next morning.

Total today ~38K steps, 0 bug bite. Overall, only ~5 minute scramble, the long ridge walk is nice. Nothing dangerous, except when icy.

2019.8.17. Sahale Glacier

8/17, Saturday. Cloudy. I borrowed my friend's rental car to a P&R at Kirkland at 6:30am. It would be difficult for me to get there without a car. Total 10 people, 2 vehicles.

Sahale Arm via Cascade Pass used to be my favorite day hike. Today, the partly sunny forecast is a miss. The sunny part wasn't where we were. However, the clouds and mist made the scenery mystical, and the temperature was very comfortable for hiking. A bit chilly even. I wore a fleece, packed a down vest and a wind breaker. Yes, my umbrella too.

As usual with a large group, we are slow to get ready. Didn't start hike till after 9:30am. We marched in foggy forest in quick pace, unencumbered by any views all the way to Cascade Pass in 1.5 hours (3.5 miles, 1800' gain). Still too cloudy to take a single photo.

Take a left turn, zigzag to the plateau above Doubtful Lake. The clouds started to shift in and out, quite pretty. Some flowers too. The gentle slope of the plateau is a heather meadow, even though the pink heather was withering. Quite a lot Gentian and Partridge Foot. On the arm towards Sahale, views were obscured by clouds. Dew on leaves.

Regrouped at the base of the glacier, where the Sahale Glacier Camp is. Saw quite a few tents with semi circular rock walls. Views of distant mountains came and went. Chilly here. ~7600'. I put on my down vest. Gave my windbreaker to Feng. My group took many silly photos, the guys posed with bare chest.

After lunch, some of us decided to continue up. Michelle, today's organizer, turned away two folks with no traction devices half way. There were some crevasses on both side of the boot track. The slope is fairly gentle. Probably okay to walk up without any traction. It's good to be cautious. In the end, only 4 of us went above the glacier to a saddle before the rock climb to Sahale Peak. On the way, my Black Diamond Z-pole "broke": the handle came off. The saddle offers great yet foggy view down to Horseshoe Basin and Basin Creek. Michelle didn't want us to climb, because none of us carried helmet. So we scrambled a few minutes to a rock butte on the opposite direction. It has a geological marker, but no name. ~8400'.

The rest of the group waited for us at the bottom of the glacier. We hiked down together. Clouds were not as thick as on our way up, so took a few more photos. On the way back in the forest, some hikes saw a black bear. I didn't. Saw a couple Butterwort flower, new to me.

The group decided to eat at Mundo's in Marblemount. I had a halibut burger with fries. Food is so so, but good variety and fast service. By the time we arrived back at the P&R, it was 10:50pm! A long day.

Total 42K steps. 0 bug bite.

2019.8.16. Herman Miller

Herman Miller archivist, Amy Auscherman, spoke about managing a collection spanning Herman Miller’s 100 year history and the company’s role in helping to define mid-century modernism through their collaborations with some of the greatest designers of our time, including Charles and Ray Eames, Irving Harper, Isamu Noguchi, Tomoko Miho, Alexander Girard, and Deborah Sussman.

The lecture was followed by a conversation between Amy and Llisa Demetrios, Registrar of the Eames Collection and Granddaughter of Charles & Ray Eames.

I really liked Llisa Demetrois. She's unassuming, practical, seems easy going.

2019.8.15. Hatch Cover art

8/15, Thursday, partly cloudy, pleasant. Lunch time, Occidental Park hosts this hatch cover walking tour and print event. I joined the 2nd tour of 20 minutes, going around a block checking out ~5 designs. Afterwards, I made a print of this man hole cover of downtown map on a white T-shirt.

2019.8.3-4 Spray Park loop + Observation Peak

A warm weekend. Abundant flowers. Mosquitoes were an annoyance around 6000'.

8/3, Saturday. Cloudy. After the long gravel road to Mowich Lake (~5000'), it was pure luck to find a parking spot: cars backed up along the road for 0.8 miles. Outhouse, self-registered permit station for Mowich Lake is available. We took to Spray Park right next to the campground with good view of the lake. The trail goes down through trees first before gaining elevation. The Spray Falls is a must detour. Short and sweet. Need to hop over boulders to cross the creek in order to see the falls in all its glory. So far, no noticeable bugs.

Spray Park brings meadows and small tarns, as well as bugs. Despite of the cloud covering Rainier, the view is still lovely with many magenta paintbrush, white bistort, cream louswort. A few remaining beargrass. A steep trail goes up to Hessong Rock. Saw a big brown colored bear moving across that trail.

Continued the trail for ~1/2 miles, we took an unmarked trail east towards Observation Rock. Gaining more elevation. Lost all crowds. More tarns and meadows. Saw a few potential campsite, but bugs found us quickly as soon as we stopped. More and more rocks, no more trees. Continued, eventually lost the sight of the trail. Had to rely on the GPS map on my phone. This is open country, so easy to move around. Eventually camped ~6600' near a beautiful blue lake under the shadow of Observation Rock, who blocks the view of Mt. Rainier. Less bugs here. XPTA is a large area, but only 2 parties are allowed to camp here. We thought we were alone. Other than the common heather (both pink and white), paintbrush, some leftover avalanche lily and early gentian, saw these two flowers among the rocks: Talus Collomia (a phlox) and Alpine Candytuft (a mustard).

After washing, setting up camp, and cooking dinner, I headed towards Echo Rock and Observation Rock ~5pm. 10 minutes after taking off, I returned to the camp to fetch microspikes. After about 30 minutes, at the foot of Flett Glacier, I saw a party of 6 doing self rescue exercise. Two tents at the bottom of the melted stream from the glacier, ~7000'. Finally I saw Rainier again, now clear without clouds, even though dark clouds were spreading on the west. I put microspkes on, not 100% necessary, but certainly made my progress faster. The ice slope is gentle, not icy. Took the spikes off at the foot of Echo Rock, at the left side of the glacier. There's an obvious boot track all the way to the top. The lower half is crumbling, every step slides back half. The upper part is solid, even though looks more menacing, it's actually easier to scramble. At ~7850', the view is outstanding. The very top is actually quite leveled. Can move around relatively easily to pick a view point. Certainly a good vantage point to overview the route to Observation Rock. Echo rock took me about 30 minutes up and down.

Put spikes back on, walk to the right side of the glacier. Up another snowy slope (steeper than earlier). Took spikes off for the gravel hill, put spikes on the 3rd time for the last more leveled snowy ridge. At the bottom of Observation Rock, took off the spikes yet again. Circled to the NE side of the rock. Very crumbling. Eventually going up. Again, there are boot track(s) here. The upper part has solid rocks, easier to maneuver. The very top is somewhat leveled. Can move around to pick your viewpoint, or pick a rock to saver the view. Had to walk all the way to the west edge in order to see our blue lake. There's a registry and a survey marker (which says 8370', and $250 fine if disturbed). Dark clouds had finally dissipated. Hazy looking to the west. Sun was low but still bright. It was ~8pm. Time to hurry back (I didn't bring a headlamp for this scramble). . I practically ran down the glacier. Got back to camp at 9pm. Ate some more food, washed, and sat by the lake waiting for the 10% moon to set. However, the sky never got too dark. Light pollution from the cities of Puget Sound. Could see the milky way. The lake was not still enough to see star reflection.

33K steps. 10-12 miles, ~3500' gain, ~2000' loss.

8/4, Sunday. Sunny, warm. Back on Wonderland Trail, continued on Spray Park Ipsut Pass loop. Gain a bit of elevation before dropping to Mist Park. More rocks, less trees, very pretty, until the trail drops down earnestly.

Once down into the woods, no more views. Also no more mosquitoes. Started to meet folks hiking the same loop, but in opposite direction. The only highlight is the suspension bridge over Carbon River. Here, there used to be two bridges to cross. Now one down, so need to hike a bit more east. At the north end of the bridge, a ranger was checking backcountry permit. The trail continued along the north bank of Carbon River, loosing even more elevation, until about 2400'. Crossed the river bed on boulders and log bridges. Here it was quite hot: no shade, all the rocks radiating heat. Once back on the south bank, more boulders, and then the trail starts to gain elevation. Met a young guy who got confused by the closed trail. He was doing the entire Wonderland. Odd that he was not aware of the closure.

At the next trail junction, turn left, zigzag up till Ipsut Pass ~5100, in 3.5 miles. I was getting quite tired by then, forgot one water bottle by the stream where I just filtered. Temperature was rising, but we were lucky that the trail is on the north side, so mostly in shade. The last mile to the pass had many typical forest flowers, no more streams. Once crested the pass, no more flowers, more and more people. 1.5 easy miles to the car.

Took a dip in Mowich Lake ~5pm. Refreshing!

38.5K steps. ~14 miles, ~3000' gain, ~4500' loss.