Thursday, December 22, 2016

Hiking Oberstaufen

View to east from Oberstaufen condo after the only snow day -- and a light one, at that.


Four Hikes in Oberstaufen


  1. Dec. 19: From Condo to heart of Oberstaufen, a year-round health resort community perhaps 2 kilometers, along a cross-country paved trail that ran through open space, and past neighborhoods, across the road and onto a footbridge over the freeway. Oberstaufen elevation: 2,604 feet.
  2. Dec 20: A free hiking outing sponsored by the time share for five guests (four German) across country, partly on paved trail and party in forest.  We drove to the "trailhead," which was located in a parking lot near a church, then followed the Christel-Cranz Trail to the Cafe Auwinkel at the ski resort in Steibis. It was an easy walk of 1.5 hours. One of our companions, Allan, said it was 10,000 steps, which would be the equivalent of 20-25,000 feet, or safely  3.78 miles or 6 km.
  3. Dec. 21: Shopping trip to Oberstaufen for provisions and holiday gifts. Walked around the town. 2 kilometers.
  4. Dec 22: Second sponsored hiking outing with same group. We traveled through forest and open grazing lands, past moors and again through forest to reach Austrian border, where we had patries at a viewpoint overlooking the valley between our resort and the adjacent mountain range. By my calculations, based on speed and time, we easily traveled 5 miles, or 8 km

So, for the four days we hiked at least 18 km with an elevation gain of at least 500 feet.

The elevation of Mount Hochgrat, viewable from my condo, exceeds 6,000 feet.


View to the north; the westward path into the town began where the driveway met the highway.

View of Mount Hochgrath on the first hike to Oberstaufen


The path to Oberstaufen shortly before noon on an overcast morning

The path crossed the highway and looped onto this footbridge that led into the city proper.


Cobblestones, meticulously arranged, glistened with snow runoff.


Left; a cat drank from a trough. Right: St Peter and Paul Church is a navigation landmark.


View into the valley below the condo during an afternoon hike following the shopping trip

On the second hosted hike we crossed land that had been lake, moor, peat, then solid ground.



At the border of Austria we traveled a trough created by excavation of peat.

The sign at the Germany-Austria border. There was no customs man waiting.


This is a cartoon character that acknowledges smuggling in past years.

On an overlook of the valley below, there was information on the cross-border nature park.



Accumulated distance for 2016: 456.987 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 60,356 feet


Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Hiking to Costo

New construction near King Street Station, downtown Seattle, Nov 16, 2016


It's been six weeks since I did a real hike of any sort, and that was in the Colorado Rockies. Today I simply walked to Costco with perhaps a 5-pound load in a small backpack, to check out an outdoor down vest to buffer me against the winter cold of Germany, where I will be flying Dec. 13. Yesterday I hiked to REI to check out these vests, after seeing one at Costco for under $50. (Distance: 2.4 miles). The REI vest was more expensive so I wanted to check out the Costco vest again. Enroute I passed Outdoor Emportium, which had an inexpensive fly fishing vest which I purchased for photography and travel. I also looked at their outdoor vests and their rain pants and I may return for the rain pants. I ended up purchasing the Costco vest, even though I couldn't fold it into one of it's pockets, which was possible with the REI vest.

The route to Costco was 7.8 miles round trip. To REI the day earlier, was 2.4 miles. Google gives the altitude change to Costco as 322 feet, but it was so spread out I'm not tallying elevation gain.

So: today's statistics:

To Costco: 12.48 km
To REI:        3,84 km
Weight: negligible
Elevation gain: Negligible

Total stats:

Accumulated distance for 2016: 438.987 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 59,856 feet

Friday, September 30, 2016

Three Colorado Hikes

A grove of aspens along County Road 3 enroute to Lake Evelyn show their fall color.

Sept 25-27

Tammi Hermann and I hiked for three days straight in the Granby CO area, taking in the scenery made rich with the fall colors of  aspen groves such as those pictured above.

First Hike: Lost Lake Sep 25

This 1.4 mile round-trip hike involved driving on US Highway 40 onto Highway 125 for almost 17 miles and from there onto NFSR 123 for 5 miles to NFSR 123.3 to the trailhead at 9,450 feet elevation. The trail passed primarily through woodland to the small lake at 9,650 feet, where the photos below were taken as we followed the perimeter of the lake. The hike was easy, but the hillside came down to the water's edge at times and there were several boulder fields that had to be crossed. I was wearing a backpack of at least 25 pounds, and navigating the boulders was difficult and posed some risk.

The view near where the trail reaches the lake.

The view from the opposite side of the lake



A view point adjacent to the final boulder field when we were almost done circling the lake

Tammi on a wood bridge crossing a small stream. A small amount of snow remained on the bridge.



Second Hike: Lake Evelyn Sep. 26

We reached the trailhead by driving West on US Highway 40 through Hot Sulfur Springs and from there south along County Road 3, which afforded us views of fall colors and valleys below.

Aspen at the foot of the hill; evergreens toward the top with aspen intermingled



An oasis-like pond below the road enroute to Lake Evelyn

The trip took us over Forest Service roads which were rutted, potholed and quite rocky, making the high clearance of my 2005 Honda CRV an asset. But the bumpy ride out also convinced us to take Route 50 back, which was much smoother and delivered us to the outskirts of Fraser, which is close enough to Granby that it proved to be a quicker route home. A couple we met on the trail made us aware of the route, but it wasn't well marked and we found ourselves back-tracking from a side road when they caught up with us,  and led us to Fraser.

Map overview showing locations of Fraser, Granby and Hot Sulfur Springs.

A closer view, showing Lake Evelyn in the lower center and the path, in red, that we hiked




A Google satellite view; The top arrow points to the trailhead; bottom to the lake.

There were a couple thrills on the hike: A turkey that followed the path ahead of us for a brief period then flew into a tree; and  large porcupine that lumbered across the road at dusk and then waddled over fallen trees and through low brush to evade us and the couple leading us to Fraser.

During the hike I showed a heart rate of 136 bpm. We ascended the better part of the 1,135 foot elevation gain mentioned in a park service brochure. My map My Hike program, which produced the first two maps above, suggests that we ascended 884 feet before we turned back to avoid traveling the rough road in low light. Overall distance according to Map My Hike: 3.56 miles. The photo of Tammi, immediately below, was taken close to the upper extent of our hike.

Tammi Herman

Tammi expressing the joy of descent



The corpulent porcupine fleeing in a waddle at dusk


Third Hike: Lake Columbine and the Continental Divide, Sep. 27

We reached the trailhead for this 7.3 mile hike on a road much more accommodating than the one for the Lake Evelyn hike, but the walking was exhausting because of all the rocks on the trail.

For much of the ascent my heart rate was probably 136 and above. (The next night, in Granby, I recorded a beat of 48 or less while lying resting in bed-- this at virtually 8,000 above sea level.) I rated the hike a 1,000-foot elevation gain to beyond 11,000 feet. I was wearing my standard hiking backpack with warm clothing and the 10 essentials, and figure that it weighed 25 pounds at the bare minimum. I also wore heavy mountain boots. Stones in the path caused us to stumble frequently. The path took us over creeks and along a stepping-stone path over a marsh. We stopped frequently to catch our breath. I hadn't hiked at this elevation since January 2015 when I ascended the crater of the Haleakala Volcano, whose rim was about 10,000 feet. And I was surprised to be ascending better than last year.

We almost quit before we reached the lake due to the appearance of the terrain, which, from some angles, suggested we had climbed to the level of the lake and that it had almost dried up. A couple told us the real lake was about 20-minutes farther, but it was probably twice that--although worth the effort, as the photo below indicates.

Columbine Lake, which is about 8 feet deep, is situated at the base of Mount Neva, which is part of the Continental Divide. The lake is fed from the concave west face of Mount Neva.

Although we didn't see moose, when we lost track of the trail during our descent and performed some cross-country navigation, I found a pile of shiny moose pellets near the waterfall pictured below, which I maneuvered around but Tammi crossed.

The waterfall likely is conveying water from Columbine Lake.

We didn't see moose (the couple we met were luckier and had a superb profile photo), but on the road home that night we saw deer as well as  another large porcupine. We also saw more colorful alder, as in the photo below:



Weight carried on these hikes: At least 25 pounds

Accumulated distance for 2016: 426.507 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 59,856 feet

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

August 26 (on or about) Mai Châu district, Vietnam


Distance: 19-20 km (est)
Elevation gain: Unknown
Packing: Probably 20 pounds, maybe 25-30 pounds
Weather: Approximately 95 F, 80% humidity

Notes: This was a grueling test over open terrain, the type of land American G.I.s crossed in the 60s. While the native's weren't hostile . . . the heat was exhausting. I may have drunk as much as a gallon of water. John Phillips, our team director, described it like being in a postcard for some of the scenery. But there were also times when I wondered whether I would be able to complete the hike. Despite all the water I drank, my urine was a strong yellow at the end of the day. I took some salt tablets along with copious amounts of water. Few hikes as challenging as this one, partly because of my backpack, which carried all the essentials I bring for hikes in cooler weather -- 10 essentials, and in this case probably 3 liters of water at all times.

Cameras: I had my GoPro strapped to my chest and was wearing my fly fishing vest for part of the journey, but took it off after a few hours. It was soaking wet. I hung it on my backpack, and that helped to cool me down. My phone became balky, and only afterward did I realize it was because the batteries were depleted, perhaps the heat was a factor.


Accumulated distance for 2016: 406.891 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 57,772 feet


Do I look hot? My GoPro was filming me checking to see whether it was working properly.


Saturday, August 13, 2016

August 10, Wedneday: Seattle Center; August 11, Thursday: Sunrise

Mount Rainier at dusk, from the Sourdough trail.

Thursday: 

Distance: 8.96 km
Elevation gain: 900 feet
Packing: Approximately 16 pounds in backpack

Note: Hike began near Sunrise Visitor's Center on Mount Rainier, elevation 6,400 feet. It traveled the Sourdough Ridge trail to Frozen Lake, and then the Mount Fremont trail to the fire lookout at its end. From the Mount Fremont trail a herd of at least 70 mountain goats was visible. The uppermost portion of the hike was above treeline and along loose flat rock, beside a steep slope. The entire hike took place above 6,000 feet.
The purpose of the visit was to further test my camping method, as well as to observe the Perseid meteor shower -- which turned out to be below average.

Frozen Lake, from the Sourdough trail. The trail to the left (west) leads to the Fremont lookout.

Mountain Goats, viewed from the Fremont Trail.

Along the ridge of the Mount Fremont trail are heavily-weathered outcrops. . .

Cracked and weathered rock along the narrow "goat path" that leads to the Fremont lookout.

The Destination: The Fremont lookout at the end of a ridge overlooking this valley.

Wednesday:

Distance: 6.4 km
Elevation gain: 200 feet
Weight: 20# vest
Notes: Hiked from home to Seattle Center to meet Larisa's family; walked around center, ending at Monorail. Monorail to Westlake; Westlake to Pike Place Market, Metsker Maps for Hanoi Map and Vietnam book; from there home. Day was slightly overcast in late morning; by mid-afternoon skies were clearing. Wore light rain jacket.

Accumulated distance for 2016: 387.891 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 57.772 feet

Monday, August 8, 2016

August 7,8: Sunday, REI; Monday, Rattlesnake record

Rattlesnake Ledge Aug 8, 2016: overcast, cool, drizzly

The Record: It was likely the coolness of the day that made it possible to set a record on Rattlesnake Ledge. It wasn't my fastest speed, but it matched my recently broken record of 64 minutes, on July 28. That time I was packing 17 pounds; this time, 34 pounds.
Distance: 7.05 km (includes distance from sign at gatepost past trailhead to top.
Elevation gain: 1160 feet
Pace: I started at a rapid pace effortlessly, and maintained it for at least a mile; my pulse wasn't fast and I wasn't sweating for a least a mile. Later I started to sweat and regretted forgetting my sweat band; I remembered Mary Jane's observation that wrist wraps are good for a nose that starts to drip with sweat.

Heart Beat: It reached a high of 148 beats a minute. After one break I found recovering speed to be difficult, although that became easier after a second break and several hands full of trail mix. I reached a pace of 136 bpm, but my final ascent to the top was at a slow pace.

Hydration: Drank no water on way up; at the top drank V-8 and water. Mist became light sprinkles and I opened up my folding jacket, which I wore on the way down. With trekking poles I was fairly sure footed on the way down and made excellent time. Overall hiking time was 1:52.

Three-dimensional view of the hike, depicting low angle from the Southwest (?) (Map My Hike)

Satellite view of the path; the gray area in the center is the cliff face below the ledge. (Map My Hike)

The hike to REI


Jaunt to REI to purchase solar-powered lamps

August 7, afternoon.
Destination: REI to purchase lamps for Vietnam Trip
Elevation gain: 200+ feet
Distance: 3.95 km
Weight: 27 pounds including backpack and weight vest

Accumulated distance for 2016: 372.531 km
Accumulated elevation gain: 56,172 feet


Thursday, August 4, 2016

August 4, Thursday: Heather Lake

We hiked up to Heather Lake, circled it and return to the car.

Washington Trails Association defines Heather Lake as a "scenic little lake located on the northeastern slope of Mount Pilchuck. The hike features a trail that can be steep, rocky and full of roots. There are long-since vanquished old-growth trees along the route as well as some old growth that are still thriving. The lake sits in a basin, flanked by steep mountains.
Distance: 7.36 km
Elevation gain: 1,034 feet
Highest point: 2, 430 feet
Weight: 22 pounds
Accumulated distance for 2016: 361.531 km 
Accumulated elevation gain: 54,812 feet

Seen along the way: 

August 3, Wednesday: Sunrise at Mount Rainier

Flower near a ridge along a hiking trail above Sunrise

Elevation gain: 500 feet at a minimum
Distance: Maybe 1.5-2 miles
Weight: 15 pounds
Accumulated distance for 2016: 354.171 km -- today's distance not added
Accumulated elevation gain: 53,778--today's gain not added.
Notes: This was more exploratory than a serious hike. The phone's altimeter was balky and bouncy when GPS figures were noted. Pressure readings seemed more consistent, but not necessarily reliable. Map My Hike readings showed an elevations from 6,351 to 6,715, slightly under 400 feet of gain. Of note is that. while Map My Hike's statistics seem highly unreliable, it still was able to record and store the hike data from this remote location, and produce a credible map that provided names for the positions depicted, to wit:


The  hiking took place at a Sunrise viewpoint as well as the actual Sunrise visitor station (this being the basis for the Map My Hike illustration), and the figures for elevation gain and distance are understated. Most important is the effect of elevation. At more than 6,000 feet I was short of breath and somewhat lethargic.

Getting to Rainier took a couple hours, but not an unreasonable length of time for a challenging hike. It makes sense to return, camp, and get serious hiking in for conditioning. Two other photos follow:

A clump of flowers beside a saddle overlooking a scarp valley

Sunrise lake, below the Sunrise lookout