Recent hikes (January 2010)

Recent Hikes (Mailbox Peak (1-19), Mount Si (1-14), a couple of hikes to Cougar Mountain

The combination of Mailbox Peak, a post-hike cigar and Raymond Carver just about did Silverback in. You have to admit that’s quite a combination!!

After we got home from Mailbox Peak I plunked myself down on the couch while Silverback went down to the basement to smoke a cigar (there’s a lot of books down there too – hence, Raymond Carver).

I hike Mailbox Peak once a year whether I need to or not. It’s that kind of place. Long ago I resigned myself to never breaking a record in the length of time it takes me to summit. Let’s just say at best it’s respectable for someone my age.

But this was Silverback’s first visit to this hoary peak – but certainly not his last. We were denied the summit not because of age or lack of conditioning but rather conditions. By the time we reached the boulder field there was enough snow to slow us down (why didn’t I bring my ice axe?) and by that time Silverback had had enough “uphill” anyway. While I still had energy to keep going, I wouldn’t have been comfortable without an ice axe nor would I expect Silverback to wait for me while I trudged onward.

Lest you think us weaklings, consider this: Silverback has lost about 75 pounds since moving out here in April. At that time Grand Prospect via Rattlesnake Mountain was too much for him. By the way, he isn’t dying – he lost the weight on purpose. I lost some as well but not nearly as much. My 21-pound weight-loss has made going uphill a lot easier for me, too. It’s surprising what a difference weight can make when it comes to hiking.

The Mailbox Peak trail was in good condition, the main route now marked with silver, reflective diamonds. It appears there has been some slight rerouting since my last visit but that’s all to the good. I do miss the huge, mossy log that marked the beginning of the initial climb (you hauled yourself up that first pitch by pulling on branch stubs attached to the log) but I didn’t miss it enough to look for it. I also remember when the trailhead was marked by a toothbrush – now the trail is actually a designated trail with a sign warning hikers of potential hazards (not a bad idea, that).

All in all it was a great hike – our only concern a shady-looking character that had been parked at the trailhead and didn’t appear to be a hiker. We take everything with us – including car registration and any piece of paper that has our names/addresses on it just to play it doubly safe. As for items worth stealing, we don’t have anything worth stealing in the first place – though a hooligan wouldn’t know that. Anyway, despite our initial paranoia we came back to find the car unscathed.

Last week I hiked to the base of Mount Si on the regular trail. I made good time (for me) – I even passed a few hikers and only felt fatigue just below the boulders. The fatigue came on without warning, so intense I had to sit on one of the steps and pretend I was taking a photo (we writers have a reputation to live up to after all – fatigue must never be admitted!) As of last week the trail and the mountain were snow-free. That may have changed by now.

There’s not much new to say about Mount Si except I’d hate to think how we hikers will be affected if Mount Si, Little Si and other popular trails in the area are closed due to budgetary woes. I’m not much into politics but I sure hope this doesn’t happen. Where would we hike in the winter close to home or after work on a long, summer evening? Tiger Mountain is handy but it doesn’t have the “heft” of Mount Si. Other hikers have suggested a lot of this political stuff is just scare tactics and that may be the case. I sure hope “they” get whatever they need to keep these trailheads open. If it means ponying up more cash I’d be willing to pay $1 to park at the Mount Si trailhead – wouldn’t you?

Other recent hikes include a couple of visits to Cougar Mountain – these were “brown” hikes but it’s exercise and fresh air. Sometimes that has to be enough. There are a few signs of spring here and there; Indian plum leafing out, its flowers just beginning to emerge. I haven’t spotted any Coltsfoot yet but nettles are popping up “johnny-on-the-spot”.

Closer to home I spotted my first skunk cabbage last week in Discovery Park along the Wolf Tree nature trail and crocuses in bloom at Green Lake.

January hikes

Hiker’s Block (January 15, 2009)

You’ve heard of writer’s block … well, I’ve been suffering hiker’s block as well as writer’s block.

Sorry for the long silence, for the long sleep so to speak. I have been hiking and hiking a bunch - two to three times a week – and as I have written perhaps once too often, most of these hikes have been “brown” hikes in and around North Bend and Issaquah (trails sans snow, flowers or fall color). Sometimes these hikes are conditioner hikes like Mount Si -these are always enjoyable and Mount Si is not devoid of beauty. The boulder gardens on the Old Si trail are gorgeous; I never get tired of walking through that mossy accumulation of “big” rocks adorned with fluttering licorice ferns.

We’ve done several hikes on Cougar Mountain as well as Mount Si. When we hike Tiger Mountain we usually make a loop and/or hike lesser-traveled trails (the Hiker’s Hut via the High Point and Preston trail). While the Hiker’s Hut is not a thing of beauty on a raw, windy day it made an ideal retreat for four chilled hikers and a good place for lunch. We got a kick out of the gray jays that have also discovered the hiker’s hut as a potential food source. Some of them even ventured inside!

We showed our friend Kelly a trail on Cougar Mountain she’d never done before and stopped for photos at the Erratic Boulder, also checked out the “new” trail to the Talus Development and its fancy houses (sigh). We’ve hiked up the Teneriffe Road a couple of times just for the exercise and also the road to Green Mountain via the CCC Road. There’s no lack of places to go.

One of the most interesting walks that Silverback and I have done recently is walking all the way around Lake Union, stopping at various parks and points of interest along the way. We especially enjoyed our stop at the Center for Wooden Boats – in addition to wooden boats in various stages of being rebuilt (or built) there are photographs of local shipyards taken years ago, including one of Blanchard’s where my Dad once worked (though the old photograph was slightly blurry, I am almost certain my Dad was in one of the photos on display). My Dad was a shipwright who also worked on tugboats (in Alaska) and at the Bremerton shipyard during World War II. The Arthur D. Foss (a tugboat), the Swiftsure (lightship) and the Duwamish (fireboat) are on display as well.

There’s a lot of history mixed in with the fancy houseboats and new businesses springing up – old railroad tracks, abandoned buildings, pocket parks and the occasional Starbucks where one can get a cup of coffee or a bite to eat (also fancy restaurants we couldn’t afford to set foot into). There’s so much more to see when you walk as opposed to driving or even riding a bike.

It’s just a little over 6 miles to walk around the lake – no appreciable elevation gain!!

December 2009

From Mushrooms to Ice and a Crappy Photo Shoot

December 7, 9, 12 and 13, 2009

We’ve been mostly doing brown hikes of late though our sanity has been saved thanks to ice formations brought about by our recent cold snap. On December 7 Silverback and I went to Cougar Mountain (his first visit) and hiked to Coal Creek Falls and other points of interest within this county park.

What is a brown hike anyway? You may have your own definition of what a brown hike is but for us it’s the time of year when there is little color in the landscape – the flame of fall color has dwindled, flowers-to-come are at best, tiny nubbins, tiny buds perched on stark branches months away from bursting into bloom. When I see Indian plum beginning to appear in late February early March I rejoice – that is when color slowly returns to the brown world. There is no need then to explain the brilliant colors, shapes and forms of summer in the mountains. Summer does not need a spokesperson! In early fall we concentrate on mushrooms and colorful leaves but by late November the mushrooms are blackened and broken, the colorful leaves all dun as they transition from leaves to duff.

Though temperatures were in the high teens we spent an inordinate amount of time at Coal Creek Falls, scrabbling around on rocks and ice formations in an attempt to capture the fleeting beauty of ice with our cameras. Neither one of us own high-end cameras; truth is, we can’t afford them. To compensate we try to combine our hikes with photography. We hope – and sometimes believe – that the ability to see what is there is as important to a photographer as high-end gear.

I believe we are surrounded by beauty – even on brown hikes but on brown hikes you just have to work a little harder to see what is there. Most of the time we are not disappointed - more on that later.

We hiked about 6.5 miles with roughly 900 feet of elevation gain. It was sunny. It was cold. There were very few other people on the trail.

Our next hike was on December 9th with the intent being exercise as opposed to a photography trip (this does not mean we leave the cameras behind!). We picked the Mount Teneriffe Road, always a good “conditioner” even if you don’t make it to the end of the road or Mount Teneriffe.

We knew we didn’t have time to get to the summit; plus, we parked on the edge of the school bus turnaround on Mount Si Road. On a weekday we’re not certain how this works though we did not block the road itself or the “turnaround” space. We “guessed” that we should get back to the car before the school buses arrived so that only left us about 4 hours or so of hiking time (we didn’t want to get the car towed!). On the weekend – or when school is out – to the best of my knowledge it is OK to park there but don’t take my word for it.

On our way up the road we came to DNR (Department of Natural Resources) rigs parked near the “new” trail that is being established to reach Kamikaze Falls. A sign warned of falling rocks as they worked so we stayed off that trail, of course, and continued up the road.

We were enticed by more ice formations along the way but still made good time to a turnaround point (a little beyond where Mount Rainier comes into view) and where you can look back to the big, forested bump that is Mount Teneriffe. Silverback was impressed when I told him I’d snowshoed all the way to the summit of Teneriffe a few years ago. I forget the mileage and gain of doing that (via the road) but I believe it’s about 12 miles round trip with a little over 4,000 feet gain. We were both feeling great though and could have continued but for the necessity of turning around.

By the time we got back to the car we were still in high spirits so after leaving the school bus turnaround we drove to the High Point trailhead on Tiger Mountain to look at High Point Pond.

There we found more fabulous ice formations, especially along the creek between the parking interchange and the turnstile. Our fingers were screaming from the cold but the ice formations along and over the creek were so lovely we found it hard to leave.

All in all a great day – about 8 miles round trip with 2,450 feet of elevation gain (Teneriffe Road).

Photographs? Some of our best.

December 12th deserves a name of it’s own: “The Crabby Photo Shoot”

Still in creative mode following the day of our Teneriffe road hike we chose to take photographs closer to home. We figured the Arboretum, especially Foster Island would be beautiful with the sunlight, especially since it was still cold enough that ice had not melted. After that we’d head over to Green Lake in time for the walk around Green Lake with Christmas carols and luminaries lighting the path.

We erred in getting too late a start. By the time we got to the Arboretum the light was already low in the sky – we had about an hour before sunset. At first the possibilities looked endless – Duck Pond was frozen over and despite signs warning of the dangers of walking out on the ice, there were scads of people on the ice. Some of them were playing hockey, others were ice skating, still others were romping with dogs and children. There was still enough light that we managed to get a few photos of the pond and folks recreating – that was a pretty setting as the trees were burnished gold by the sun and the sky a pastel blue.

From there we hurried off to Foster Island with visions of iced-over ponds and sunset colors on the ice. Instead we found little to photograph. There was very little ice and as the sun was dropping closer to the horizon the light was fading fast. Wildlife was scant – only a few cranky mallards here and there and a heron too far away for our puny cameras.

From there we rushed off to Green Lake hoping to catch the last of the sunset. The walk around the lake with Christmas carols and candles was scheduled to begin at 5:30; it was about 5 when we arrived (too early for Christmas carols, growing too dark for photography). Did I mention how cold it was?

We ended up walking part-way around the lake, growing grumpier and grumpier at our inability to get in a good photo shoot; we did try but suffice is to say that our “results” shall not be posted here!

Then, just as we were nearing the end of our walk, I tripped over Silverback’s feet and fell down. The last straw! I wasn’t hurt but somehow it seemed a fitting end to a disappointing day.

We’d started out with such high hopes!

Today (December 13th) we got in a good hike knowing in advance it would be a brown hike. This one was just for exercise.

We chose Tiger Mountain with Poo Poo Point being our goal. We parked at Tradition Plateau, hiked the Bus Trail to the Poo Poo Point trail and on to Poo Poo Point where we lingered long enough to talk about how cold it was. We hiked rather quickly as there was a possibility of snow and we hoped to beat it (if it fell).

From Poo Poo Point we made a loop back to Tradition Plateau by way of the Railroad Grade and the WT3 trail. Once we left the Poo Poo Point trail we didn’t see anyone until we reached the West Tiger 3 trail. The trail from the Poo Poo Point/Railroad Grade junction may be the most lonesome trail on Tiger. The trail has a “wilder” feeling to it and there are several creeks to cross (this area is called Many Creek Valley by some).

On the last leg of our loop (the WT3 trail) we ran into a couple of Seattle Mountaineer members, folks I’ve hiked with in the past. We chatted a bit; it was nice to run into them. You can almost always count on running into someone you know on Tiger Mountain.

The trails we hiked today were all in good condition, no snow on the trail, very little ice.

The photography? Between us we probably took 7-8 photographs but that’s OK. A brown hike can be thoroughly enjoyable when you know ahead of time there won’t likely be much to photograph.

We hiked about 8 miles round trip with 1,800 feet of gain.