Catching Up

I just realized that I haven't posted in a while - a little over 12,000 feet of elevation gain and a little under 40 miles to be exact.

We hiked from Box Canyon to the high point just before Indian Bar with Phyllis and Tami on a glorious late summer day. The trail is part of the Wonderland Trail and was in great shape. We hiked a little over 13 miles and 3852 feet of elevation gain. We enjoyed some new to us views of Mt Rainier and it was the first harder hike that Tami had ever done.

The next week Pam, Chris L and I hiked up the Ira Spring Trail to Mason Lake and Mt Defiance and logged another  12 miles and over 4000 feet of elevation gain. Again, the trails were in great shape although some signage at Mason Lake would help hikers find their way to the continuing trails to Mt Defiance, Pratt Lake and others. 

We took a wrong turn that cost us a little walk through a mucky marsh and a mile or so. We did make the peak and were treated to great 360 degree views.

Yesterday Pam and I headed up Crystal Lakes Trail and decided to hike through to the Pacific Crest Trail at Sourdough Gap. Once there we decided to hike out to Chinook Pass on the PCT and then come back. All in all we managed 14.5 miles and 4155 feet of elevation gain and were on the trail for just over 6 hours total time.

The trails and views were just as great as the last 2 hikes and we ended up with 40.92 miles and 12,012 feet of elevation gain for our efforts bringing our yearly totals to 452.76 miles and 105,261 feet of elevation gain. 

The Chinook Pass end of the trail.

While the weather is still acting like summer we will keep knocking out the best late summer hikes we can, but we know it will be time for rain pants and snowshoes soon enough. 

Be very well and more soon (I promise).....

Stevens Canyon And Two Peaks Out Of Sunrise = Good Weekend

Pam and I headed out Saturday with a poor weather forecast to do a hike we had never done. We still haven't since we parked at the wrong lot and ended up hiking a different section of the Wonderland Trail.

We had intended to hike from Box Canyon to Indian Bar and back and ended up hiking Stevens Canyon Trail to the Wonderland Trail to where it crosses Stevens Canyon road just past Martha Falls and back. The totals were 11.75 miles and 2755 feet of elevation gain. We had set out to do 16 miles and over 5000 feet of elevation, but since it was drizzling and then raining we were happy with our effort.

The trail was very pretty. We didn't get any long views, but the light was nice for the pictures we got. There were some sketchy log bridges, a washout in a steep section and some great waterfalls.

Not happy with under 12 miles on Labor Day weekend after we managed about 42 miles and 12,750 feet of elevation gain last year we joined Sherrie and Rob at Sunrise to bag a couple of peaks. 

I was quickly reminded that the weather is a little different at 6400 feet of altitude than at sea level. It was in the upper 30's with a stiff breeze when we headed off to hike up Skyscraper Mountain. I was in my normal summer hiking shorts which was pretty cold until the sun broke through.

We made the distance to Skyscraper quickly and made the summit easily. I claimed it for the Benevolent Kingdom of the good king Paullie Paullie which is customary on summits. We had some great shots of Freemont Lookout and Mountain which was our next destination.

By the time we were on the trail to Freemont the clouds had settled down on us. We hit the lookout first for some pictures and then headed up a couple hundred feet of elevation gain to Freemont Mountain Summit. 

We decided on the way down that a third peak wasn't in the cards so we left McNeeley for another day and headed down. We managed 11.44 miles and 3044 feet of elevation gain making our weekend respectable at 23.19 miles and 5799 feet of elevation gain.

 Now we are getting packed up for 2 hikes on Mt St Helens, Mt Defiance (Oregon) and PCT days at Cascade Locks including a little trail maintenance on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Be very well and more soon.....