2024.10.6. Sculpture Rock + Leavenworth OctoberFest

10/6, Sunday. I got picked up at 9:30am. Not early, but I only slept for ~4 hours. Same last few days. Totally lack of sleep. We were heading to Leavenworth. I have reserved a 2bd condo for Sunday night for an early morning hike on Monday.

We took I-90. Checked out Sculpture Rock on the way, off Hwy-97. Swauk Campground is already closed for the season. Unable to drive in. I'm worried of potential break-in, so we took turns. I walked ~1 mile to the end of the campground, got the trail to the rock. Instead of the loop, I took the same way out (shorter), so I could explorer a possible closer access. Found a highway pull-out closer to the TH. Walked back to the car on Hwy-97, drove to this pull-out, and waited for my partner visiting the rock.

The short trail is half flat, half going up a treed hill. Then suddenly, you see this large eroded sandstone jutting out of the ridge. Quite interesting.

Continued towards Leavenworth. Stopped at a farm stand, bought a box of apples+pears, $23.

Checked into Worldmark Leavenworth. Large ground. Older style. Not only 2 bedrooms, there's another wall bed in the living room. Walked to town via Waterfront Park along Wenatchee River. Shared a litre October Fest beer and a Schweinshaxe at Ludwig's. The skin is a bit tough to chew. Meat is cooked right. Quite a lot for 2 people.

October Fest here seems only for Friday and Saturday. The beer garden was deserted on this Sunday. Plenty tourists walking on the street. Pretty warm this afternoon. Checked out the art vendors before return. Drove to Dan's market for some meat, cheese and bread, to make sandwiches for tomorrow. Went to sleep early, set alarm for 5:30am.

2024.8.29. Glacier Basin at Mt Rainier NP

8/29 Sunday. Temperature has cooled significantly (compared to yesterday). Supposed to be high 41°F today at Bourough Mt, our intended destination in Mt. Rainier National Park.

9am pick up. The entrance to Sunrise had a line, but not too long. We were informed that there'd be an hour delay to Sunrise due to an accident. At the turn to the White Rock campground, the road is barricaded ahead. We didn't even see the accident. No one was able to go to Sunrise. Parked at the far-end of the campground (this half of the campground is closed for the season, so are the bathrooms). Headed to Glacier Basin instead. We were here only once before, had a fond memory of the trip. In fact, we camped at Glacier Basin. It was earlier in the season, the campsites were all covered by snow, so had to camp outside. Walked up to Camp Schurman in crampons and a glissade back.

The trail starts in the trees, passing the turn to the morain, and then the turn to Sunrise Camp. A woman was posing for Instagram shots at one of the openings between trees. Some pearly-everlasting, thistles, the last of asters and fireweed. Not many. Not much of fall color here. Passed and being passed by some hikers, including one Becky-like gentleman with a giant backpack. Once we continued after "end of maintained trail" sign at Glacier Basin camp, we were the only people. The view is very getting better and better, however, Mount Rainier was blocked mostly.

The trail for Camp Schuman is clearly visible. We followed it into a grassy meadow (very pretty), and then into pile of rocks. There, multiple tracks, all leading to the glacier. I decided to climb up to the ridge, and the slope was getting quite steep. I stick to areas that have plants here and there. At some point, I decided to turn around. Here, I saw quite some gentium and yarrow still blooming. My partner turned around earlier to check out a track we could see earlier. Later, I was told that it leads to some mining structure, and then the track disappeared. Coming down from there is dangerous, more loose ground and steep. An adventure in this rocky amphitheater.

Hikign out, started to see people again. Back on the road, it was cleared, so cars were driving up to Sunrise.

Some traffic on the drive back. Got back to Seattle ~7pm.