Second Rainier, 2017

I'm finally claiming my second "Rainier" for 2017. Today I walked to Ivar's Acres of Clams and back, representing an elevation gain of 300 feet and a distance of 2.8 miles. Map My Hike would dispute those numbers, claiming a distance of 2.97 miles and a top elevation of between 210 and 253 feet, but it also showed me as going as low as 90 feet below sea level. My inclination for future hikes is to subtract 20 percent from any distance recordings with that software and to rely only on topo maps or other sources for elevation gains. At any rate, I've well surpassed the 92 feet I had to ascend to represent two Mount Rainier elevations, so for the rest of this year I will close each posting with this symbol, from my 2014-2015 run at Mount Adams:

The hike took me down Madison, through Seattle Library's downtown branch, and on to the waterfront before the return to the condo.

Later in the day I walked to Regal Cinemas at 7th and Pike to see the sequel to Blade Runner. The round trip was 2 miles and the elevation gain (Google maps) was 145 feet.

Here are the statistics for the day:

Distance:  4.8 miles, 7.68 km
Elevation gain:  445 feet

Official statistics for year to date:
Distance: 346,58 km
Elevation Gain: 29,175 feet

Long Beach, Oct 22-26

This was an ocean-to-mountain vacation stretching over five days with two friends: Larisa and Luda, who live in Federal Way. We stayed in a time share in Long Beach, WA, walking the beach, visiting light houses at the mouth of the Columbia river; Astoria, OR; the almost-ghost town of Oysterville, and the nearby Leadbetter State Park; and enroute home, Mt. St. Helens, where I hope to return next summer for some serious hiking. This trip, however, involved hiking no more than 10 easy miles, with nominal elevation gain, and because I didn't keep track, I'm not adding it to my statistics. All I'm posting today, is photos.

The one at the right shows Luda and Larisa viewing one of two lighthouses at Cape Disappointment, a finger of land that reaches out at the junction of the Columbia and Pacific Ocean as if to point at all the shipwrecks there. The location of this lighthouse, marked on a panel on the opposite side of the structure, shows Latitude/Longitude of 46-17-57 N / 124-04-48 W.

To the southeast, a second lighthouse showed remains of a platform capable of holding 15-inch guns. The lighthouse was armed during the Civil War, according to information provided at the location. The photo below shows a gun platform and the buildings associated with it, where, presumably, the gun crew were quartered and materiel stored.

A small building along the driveway to the lighthouse.

A ship rests at anchor on the Columbia at Astoria.

The Pacific's tracks in the sand at Long Beach

The beach at Oysterville at Willapa Bay was quite different from the beach beside the time share.

There was sand on the beach at Willapa Bay, but there was also a muddy bog.

Larisa and Luda bundled up for a hike on the overcast, drizzly afternoon at Oysterville.

On the subsequent hike through Leadbetter State Park, Luda discovered mushrooms.

She proclaimed the mushrooms edible. There were lots, but we had nothing to carry them in.

There was also an abundance of witches hair moss.

An old automobile engine, repurposed (perhaps) and abandoned, lay along the trail.

On our final day, we drove east for 2.5 hours to see the volcano. At 1,000 feet elevation, there was a cloud bank and we wondered whether St. Helens would even be visible. But well before we reached the Johnston Ridge Observatory, the sky became clear and the mountain came into view. We climbed to a viewpoint, where a strong chill wind swept up over the ridge, flapping our garments and making it hard to hold the phone-camera steady.

A log points away from the mountain that blew it over on May 18, 1980.

Official statistics for year to date:
Distance: 337.8 km
Elevation Gain: 28,730 feet

Die another day!

A broken tree blocks the path on Tiger 3 Tuesday, Oct. 17, blown down by strong wind.

The sky began disgruntled, and then it got really mad at me before I had hiked a half mile up the Tiger 3 trail today. The weather report was rain and winds. Not much rain, but "winds" was an understatement. I had probably walked less than a quarter mile when I heard loud, ominous cracking sounds in the swaying trees by the trail. I glanced  around, and decided to always position myself by a solid-looking tree when I heard a crack.

Before long, I came across the scene in the photo above -- a broken tree section and branches almost blocking the trail. I looked at the swaying trees overhead, considered the conditions, and stepped around the broken log, proceeding upward cautiously. That's when I came across the fallen tree in the photo below:

This was a fresh fall, right beside the trail, which must have occurred within the past day.

Like the log I had just passed, this fall is fresh. Really fresh. The wind was gusting more powerfully, and trees were swaying. How many of them were weakened and ready to topple? I walked ahead a bit, and the higher I got on the trail, the angrier the wind became. Was this getting personal?

I turned back and was halfway down to the trailhead when something snapped above me. I accelerated forward, but not forward enough to get past the falling branch, below, which landed in front of me at my feet. It could have been any branch, and a lot bigger.

It wasn't a big branch -- but it might have been. Time to call it a day.

The illustration below shows the route I hiked. When compared to a topo map it appears I reached 880 feet of elevation, and barely a half mile from the trailhead.

The hiking lines pinpoint the location of the trailhead and the point at which I turned back.

I headed back to the condo with a plan of complementing this effort with a hike to Ivar's Acres of Clams on the waterfront. That hike represented a 350-foot ascent from Alaskan Way.

Today's statistics

Distance: 3.8 miles, 6 km (Tiger and city hikes)
Load: Too short a hike to count
Elevation gain: At least 600 feet

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 337.8 km
Elevation Gain: 28,730 feet

I am 92 feet away from my second Rainier for the year.

Tiger 3 at 2 mph: my second Rainier . . . almost

The sight that told me I had trekked 2.2 miles from the trailhead

No time today to do the hike to the viewpoint of Tiger 3. I have an appointment in the late afternoon, and I have to get back early to avoid the northbound crush on I-5. So I decided to hike to the 2.2 mile turnaround, descend, and visit the homeless camp briefly before heading back. But today I came within 700 feet of my next major milestone -- my second Rainier. Mount Rainier's summit is 14,411 feet above sea level -- unless rising sea levels have changed that figure. To date I have ascended 28,130 feet this calendar year.

It rained steadily during the first part of the hike and I wore my Outdoor Outfitters rain pants and a light raincoat. I slipped on a padded garment to keep warm, and in my enthusiasm to get started, forgot my backpack, including the 10 essentials and my water and lunch. But I remembered the hang tag, at least! And the rain pants had to add a little bit of resistance.,

I set off at 9:40 a.m. from the car and made it to the 2.2 mark at 11 a.m. By 12:10 p.m I was back at the car. Two and a half hours to walk 4.4-5 miles.

I had to stop a couple times to wring out my balaclava headband. When I wadded and squeezed it, water flowed out a couple times. And a couple times I felt cramps in the back of my legs, so as soon as I reached the car I hydrated.

Today's statistics

Distance: 4.4 miles, 7 km
Load: 0 pounds
Elevation gain: At least 1,000 feet

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 331.8 km
Elevation Gain: 28,130 feet

Tiger 3: A nature/photography hike

These huge mushrooms were lying beside the trail. They were at least five inches across.

Maybe I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Maybe I was wearing too many layers against the chill of the day and the light rains that occasionally fell. Whatever the case, I failed to summit Tiger 3 today. Two-thirds of the way up I looked at my speed and the time of day and considered the fact I failed to hang the parking tag in my car. I could imagine descending from the viewpoint late in the day, enduring more fatigue and cold and perhaps descending in the dark. I turned back at the 2.2 mile marker.

Still, the hike was substantial at this point in my recovery. My 4.4 mile round trip had resulted in an elevation gain of at least 1,000 feet as indicated by topo maps. And I hiked more than an additional 1.5 miles by following the "Bus Trail" and making the loop around Tradition Lake, a wetland swamp that you only get to glimpse. So altogether, at least six miles.

And I got a real taste of nature, and some nice photos to remember the day by. 

I started late, about 12:30 p.m. and making it back to the car around 3:45 p.m. There were times when my energy level was high; then I experienced "crashing fatigue," which crept up on me suddenly. There were no hot flashes, because the weather was chilly. But I felt tired, and then there were moments when I was sweating heavily. So maybe I was having  "silent" hot flashes. This led me to turn back at the 2.2 mile mark. On the way up I was averaging a mile an hour; on the way down, 2 mph, roughly. I also had a close call with a charlie horse and begin catching up on my water consumption.

I wore mountain boots, and they were a little rough on my ankles. I likely will use my Asolo boots in the future and safe the mountain boots for when I'm on snow.

Upper photo: Tree by the path down. This is another view of the same tree.

Returning to the trailhead, I opted to take an additional hike to the round-the-lake trail, which I thought would be a half mile around. The sign post was misleading -- it was a half-mile to the round-the-lake trail. Enroute I found a woolly caterpillar that stopped as I passed it. I wondered whether my vibrations on the trail triggered a reflex to stop moving. Whatever the case, it held still for the photo.

Then I came across the unexpected: A dead school bus! It was lying beside the road. I entered the back of the bus and walked through and out through the front window (the bus being on its side).

The shell of a school bus lying on its side in the forest. How did it come to be there?

As I positioned to take the photo, I discovered a tree with broad fungus shelves. These are a common sight in the forest, but I hadn't seen any like these before.

I came to a crossroads with a sign directing me toward Tradition Lake. The trail was as charming as the rest of the hike:

Here's a map showing Tradition lake and the trails around it:

On the way to the lake I passed this shelter for forest goblins:

When I returned to my car, there was some good news: No ticket! I had forgotten to put up my hang tag. I realized that part way up the trail and opted to risk the ticket rather than return. Enforcement of the parking tag is kind of hit-and-miss.

Here are the statistics for the day:

Distance: 6 miles, 9.6 km
Load: 15 pounds
Elevation gain: At least 1,000 feet

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 324.8 km
Elevation Gain: 27,130 feet

Image at left: This is how the upper windshield portion of the school bus looked. (The bus was lying on its side.)

Twin Falls with Mary Jane

Looking up the trail on the return hike

This was an easy hike yesterday. It was cold, so there wasn't much need for water. Mary Jane Gibson joined me. It was her introduction to the Twin Falls hike. We walked past to the water fall lookout and on to the junction with the John Wayne trail. A highlight of the trip was watching a chipmunk scurry around looking for tidbits at our feet: the design of the fur on its back was scrambled and it appeared to be scarred; we surmised that a raptor had unsuccessfully tried to make a meal of the little critter.

Mary Jane, resting on the "apron"of a very broad tree. The apron was a large root.

Robert, Mary Jane at the overlook for the lower falls

Our stats are close estimates.
Distance: 4.2 miles, 6.72 km
Load: 15 pounds
Elevation gain: Probably 700 feet
Notes: This is an active landscape. We found a few newly fallen trees. This was a leisurely, all-day hike. We started at 10:30 or thereabouts and returned about 3:30.

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 315.20 km
Elevation Gain: 26.130 feet

Cedar Butte

Today Mary Jane Gibson and I climbed Cedar Butte, which is associated with the John Wayne trail opposite Rattlesnake Ledge. The hike culminates in a small bald patch at the end of a narrow trail of switchbacks and overlooking a precipice which deceptively appears to be safe, due to the foilage that clings to it and obscures the dropoff.

We took a wrong turn, retraced our steps, and then began the climb along a trail that was steep at times. It ended with a view of Mount Si and Mailbox Peak to the North, and glimpses of Rattlesnake Ledge to the west.

Distance: 4 miles, 5.6 km
Elevation gain: 900 feet
Load: 15 pounds

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 314.08 km
Elevation Gain: 26,330 feet

A patch of small, thin trees at the top

Tiger 3 speed record

Sign near trailhead shows starting elevation

I think I clocked my best time today ascending Tiger Mountain Trail 3: 90 minutes to the top, 70 minutes back. It was a cool morning, so I didn't notice any hot flashes. At times I maintained a 130 beats-per-minute heart rate. I was soaked not from any rain, but from the condensation of my sweat inside the light hooded raincoat I was wearing. I finally removed it, packed it, and began the slow process of drying off.

I wore my mountain boots,  which aggravated my ankles on the way down.

A scenic spot on the Tiger 3 trail

Distance:  6 miles, 9.6 km
Load:  15 pounds
Elevation gain: 2000 feet.
Time: approximately 1.5 hours to the top; 1.3 hours down.
Stats for year to date:
Distance: 308.48 km
Elevation Gain: 25,430 feet

Rattlesnake Ledge record

A favorite scenic part of the trail on the Rattlesnake descent

I surprised myself today -- from the trailhead, it took me only 70 minutes to reach the Rattlesnake overlook. It's the best time I've made on this hike. I started from the trailhead at 9:40 a.m. and arrived at 10:50 a.m. I made the descent and returned to my car by just a few minutes before noon. If I didn't average 2 mph both ways, I came close.

There was a sprinkling rain going up, but on the way down the rain grew hard and my clothing was soaked through. The waterproofing of my red hooded coat wasn't sufficient to keep the water from penetrating.

Distance:  4.25 miles,6.8 km
Load:  15 pounds
Elevation gain: approximately 1,160 feet.
Time: approximately 2.2 hours, with rest stops

Stats for year to date:
Distance: 298.88 km
Elevation Gain: 23,430 feet