Arlone on Talus Rock Trail, Tiger 3 Trail

Arlone's personal best after a break from hiking following foot surgery: the 1.1 mile mark. 

Today was a leisurely hike up the Tiger 3 trail. Arlone Biven, my traveling buddy today, had been away from hiking for a while, partly due to surgery on a bone in her left leg. We opted to push past the Talus Rock Trail junctionto reach the 1.1 mile mark on Tiger 3 Trail, before returning to the junction and heading off to the caves on the Talus Rock Trail. Afterward we descended the Nook trail and headed back to the car. I had forgotten my Discovery Pass, so we had parked in the lower lot, making our overall trip at least 3 miles. We probably understated the elevation gain, at 600 feet.

Arlone checks out the size of the boulders at the Talus Rock Trail caves,

Statistics for the day:
Distance: 3 miles
Elevation gain: 600 feet
Conditions: Comfortable and dry
Load: 22 pounds of backpack

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1473.20 miles

Elevation gain: 53,420 feet  -- 4,224 feet to my fourth Rainier.

The bomber crash site, Olympic Peninsula

The slope above the debris field for the B-17 that crashed on Mount Olympus in 1952

On Sept. 27, 2018, Paula Everdell and I hiked the Tubal Cain Trail in search of the debris field for a B-17 that struck Mount Olympus on the Olympic Peninsula in 1952 and skidded downhill to a stop. Of a crew of 8, five survived and were rescued the following day.

Paula on foot log

The crash site is above the opening for a shaft that was the property of the Tubal Cain Copper and Manganese Mining Company. To get there, we hiked a 1,600 foot elevation gain and 7.2 miles round trip, according to Washington Trails Association. Says the association's Web page:

. . . enter shaded forest and soon pass by a shelter and camp. Cross Silver Creek on a footlog, then begin a gentle ascent on a well-sloped trail lined with rhododendrons. The trail remains in the shade, and the rhodies remain the best view until they yield to mature forest at about 2.5 miles. At 3.0 miles, a mine shaft is visible on the hillside left of the trail. A few yards past is a junction with the Tull Canyon trail, which doubles back sharply to the mine shaft.

 If the 1952 B-17 crash site is your destination, take the Tull Canyon trail to the mine and past. This trail is steep, gaining 450 feet in 0.6 mile, passing countless enormous boulders poised on the steep slopes all around you.  

The footlog allowed easy passage over Silver Creek, near the trailhead.

The hike can be kind of a drudge, because there's not much scenery.  The banks are steep and the falloff impressive, and perhaps that is why we missed the Tull Canyon Trail sign, which was above the walking path. We ended up at the wrong mine shaft, catching up with Chandler, a 23-year-old woman from Georgia, who had passed us earlier on the trail and disappeared ahead. Chandler had become puzzled as to where the Tubal Cain Mine was located. The path just seemed to come to an end -- and in fact did. But we climbed a steep slope and encountered two individuals coming out of a different mine shaft. Jim, the father of the father-son combination, obligingly took our photo:

Chandler, on the left; me, and Paula on the right (my left)

 Then they explained that they were camped near the debris field as well as Tubal Cain mine, which we had passed.

A stream gushed from the mine opening; high above there was an ominous overhang.

Jim, who likes to explore old mines, believes this is the remnant of an ore car.

We hiked back down the trail with Jim and his son, Jesse, probably a quarter mile, and then found the path past the Tubal Cain mine and on to the debris field. This was the steepest part of the trail.

I had to clamber a couple feet up the bank  to get to the level of the entrance to Tubal Cain mine.

The crash site wasn't particularly impressive--just airplane scraps left behind and not worth carrying out. It lay in a bog at the bottom of the slope seen at the top of this post.

My best guess is that this was the floor of the aircraft.

This appears to be part of a wing -- mostly empty space, for lightness, quite sturdy.

Another wing, perhaps?

The B-17 landing gear

After the hike, Chandler, a graduate in philosophy, joined us for dinner at my WorldMark Discovery Bay time share condo. Before that, on the return hike down the trail, she shared stories of her family  as well as her plans to work on a California marijuana farm during the fall harvest.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 7.2 miles
Elevation gain: 1,600 feet
Conditions: Comfortable and dry
Load: 20 pounds of backpack

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1470.20 miles

Elevation gain: 52,820 feet  -- 4,824 feet to my fourth Rainier.

The sheter and camping area

Tubal Cain Copper and Manganese Mining Company

Drenched on Si

Mossy trees just past the trailhead to Mount Si

Last time I tried hiking Mount Si I was sluggish and blamed it on cottage cheese for breakfast. This morning I had no cottage cheese and I was still sluggish. I reached the lunch spot in 3.5 hours and completed the hike in 6.25 hours. Not a great accomplishment.

Toward the end of the hike it rained heavily and I found myself cold and wet. I decided to descend for safety reasons and at times found myself to be exhausted, so I ate more trail mix to boost my energy. But I gave the rest of the bag to a young woman I passed, who I had advised a bit on proper preparation for the hike. It was cold and miserable, and many people weren't dressed for that, including two petit young muslim women, one wearing a niqab. I ran into them just when the rain was picking up and they were a mile from the top. They had only their clothing and no gear. I was concerned that they would get soaked and chilled, so I instructed the young woman to share the trail mix with them when she ran into them.

Just as I was reaching the top I ran into two men who asked me to take their photo at the trailhead. One was wearing a $19 waterproof top and pants he picked up at Wall Mart. I will be adding that to my backpack tomorrow.

One final surprise -- a young man pushing his mountain bike up the trail. I told him I didn't think they were allowed, and after he was gone I had the presence of mind to Google the question. No mountain bikes on the Mount Si Trail.

What follows are photos taken along the trail.

A favorite turning point along the trail, this time sprinkled with fall leaves

A familiar aqueduct I step over on every climb

A mysterious fungus I discovered while on a cell phone call with Meg Wingard

The one-mile marker along the trail

"The Bannister," a log with roots running its length, which you can grab as you ascend the steps.

Evergreen needles and tree roots breaking through the ground at the snack bar

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 8 miles
Elevation gain: 2,900
Conditions: Chilly, with a cold rain that soaked backpack
Load: 20 pounds of backpack

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1463.00 miles

Elevation gain: 51,220 feet  -- 6,424 feet to my next Rainier.

Dege Peak

In foreground overlooked by Mount Rainier: trail to Dege Peak along Sourdough Ridge.

Hiking at Sunrise is an entirely different exercise from hiking the cascade foothills. Instead of the 2,500-foot elevation at the top of the Tiger 3 trail, the climb to Dege Peak took John Anderson, Joan Tito and me to an elevation of 7,006 feet, according to Wikipedia. A sign at the trail head said we would be ascending 800 feet, but the visitor's center at Sunrise on Mount Rainier is 6,400 feet, so it sounds like the ascent is more on the order of 600 feet.

Regardless, it was a drudge for me, because I was bearing a 20-pound pack as well as a 20-pound weight vest. There were times I had to stop and wait to catch my breath.

Interestingly, my heart rate rarely, if ever, reached 120 bpm.

It was John's 73rd birthday today. This is his fourth hike with me, and he continues to improve. We have known each other since junior high school.

Joan and John took a break at Dege Peak for the view and a light lunch.

A view to the Northwest from Dege Peak

Through the trees, a view of mountains abutting the West side of Rainier

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 4.2 miles
Elevation gain: 600 feet (maybe 800)
Conditions: thin air at 7,000 feet
Load: 20 pounds of backpack and 20 pound weight vest.

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1455.00 miles

Elevation gain: 48,320 feet  -- 9,324 feet to my next Rainier.

A trailhead map of the hiking trails at Sunrise

A dead pika along the trail

82 Mount Si climbs

With her custom-made backpack and 82 ascents of Mount Si, she is training for Denali.

Sept. 13, 2018, Thursday -- Probably the highlight of today's hike was meeting a woman in her 30s who has climbed Mount Si 82 times already. She's also climbed Rainier, and she is in training for Alaska's Denali. And she knew her way up the mountain, pointing out distances all along the path as we walked together. It was chance that put us together on the way up, and I left her move on ahead because I was dragging it.

The reason I was slow was probably the cottage cheese I had with my smoothie for breakfast. Google confirmed my suspicion -- milk products are great after the hike, but they slow you down if consumed before the hike. I was pushing 140 bpm early on and for much of the hike, and I was as tired in the last quarter mile as I had been last time. The extra 3 pounds of backpack weight and the Mountain boots may have contributed.

My time wasn't particularly impressive. The entire hike took seven hours -- four to get to the lunch spot and another 2.5 for the descent. I made the snack bar in an hour; the talus loop/Snag Flats in 1 hour 20 minutes; the hitching rack in 2 hours; and the 3.5 mile mark at three hours.

At any rate, I gained another 3,000 feet of ascent and another 8 miles of distance.

What follows are some photos along the way.

I shot this photo just a small distance past the trailhead.

This very unusual fungus (unusual for me, anyway) was on a bank beside the trail.

A little farther up the bank, this mushroom had pushed its way through the soil debris.

A view of an alternate trail that starts mid-way up and merges with the main trail near the summit.

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1450.80 miles

Elevation gain: 47,720 feet  -- 9,924 feet to my next Rainier.

Joan and John on Tiger 3, Sept. 8 2018Joan

Joan Tito and John Anderson along the bus trail on Tradition Plateau at Tiger Mountain

Yesterday was an easy, plodding hike. We walked slow and just enjoyed the ambiance of walking with friends. We ascended Tiger 3, passed the one mile mark for a ways, then reversed course, descending to the junction of the Talus Rocks loop trail and headed for the caves. At the caves, we headed for the junction with the Nook trail and returned to Tradition Plateau, heading back to the trailhead and then the parking lot. We took several hours, covered at least 3.5 miles, and ascended about 600 feet (the Green Trails map shows an elevation of 1,140 feet at the junction with the Talus Rock Loop, and the plateau shows to be 500 feet, according to a sign along the trail. I was packing a little over 16 pounds.

Note: The photo is badly pixilated due to pushing the phone camera beyond its capabilities.

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1442.80 miles

Elevation gain: 44,720 feet 

Si

I call the large rock at the point where the trail makes a hairpin turn left "the hall monitor."

It was time to climb Mount Si. This will push me onto my "third Rainier" in terms of elevation gain for 2018. I had a good night's rest and started the hike with unbelieveable energy. There seemed to be no end to it. It was hard to get my blood rate up. But after a while it did race, and I got at least as high as 144 bpm.

That exuberance didn't last long. By the second mile I was tired and wondered whether I would finish. But I did finish. There were stops, the wringing out of the sweat band, the consuming of snacks, and, toward the end, a slow plodding, especially as I approached the 3.5 mile post, pictured at the right.  Then I hit the milepost I was longing to see -- I turned a corner, and there stood "the hall monitor," a big rock at a hairpin turn on the trail that seems to be watching as we reach the final push to the top.

After that, there was more plodding and catching of breath, until I reached my objective, called by some as  "the lunch spot." I had made it. Washington Trails Association says the climb is 8 miles and a gain of 3,150 feet. But the WTA page also implies that this includes the true summit, which could be, in my estimation, another 250 feet. So I am only claiming 2,900 feet on this climb.

So, the statistics:

Today's figures

Distance: 8 miles
Gain: 2,900 feet]
Load: 15 pounds
Time: 6 hours; from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to climb Si. and from 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. to descend.

I enjoyed a milk shake at the North Bend Dairy Freeze following the hike. In a few days I expect my body to feel invigorated. But right now I'm really tired.

Statistics year to date:

Distance: 1439.30 miles
Elevation gain: 44,120 feet -- 887 feet beyond my "third  Rainier."

The "lunch spot"

Old Robe Canyon and Big 4 Snow Caves with Arlone

The snow caves at Big 4 Mountain, named for the number "4" that snow defines on one slope.

Labor Day, 2018: Arlone Bevin and I hiked two miles and climbed 200 feet to the snow caves by Big 4 Mountain, named for a number "4" that appears on one part of it when snow has fallen. Afterward, driving back, we tried to visit Lake 22, but the parking lot was overflowing. We missed Heather Lake, a short distance away, but we discovered Old Robe Trail, and we descended for two miles and more than 300 feet along a switchbacked trail to the Stillaguamish River. This brought me 500 feet closer to my objective of completing my "third Rainier" this fall.

Glaciers carved this bowl, which shades the caves thoughout the year, minimizing snowmelt.

On the left, the cliff above the snowcave discloses how rocks were deformed and tilted upright.

On the left, two individuals, risking that the snow will support them, are dwarfed by the caves.

Arlone pauses along the Old Robe Canyon trail enroute to the Sillaguamish River.

Stats, year to date:

Distance: 1431.30 miles
Elevation gain: 41,220 feet -- closing in on my third "Rainier." 2,013 feet to go.

Teenie hikes, Sept. 2, 2018

Today I hiked the Meadowdale Beach Park trail in Edmonds with Joanie, then hiked to Chuck's Hop Shop in the evening twice -- once with my neighbor, Fergus, who bought me a fine imperial stout, and a second time to retrieve my vest, which contained my cell phone, which I had hung over the back of my chair and forgot.  Together, both mini hikes accounted for 4 miles, and 500 feet of elevation gain. Not much, but they deserve being listed.

Stats, year to date:

Distance: 1427.30 miles
Elevation gain: 40,720 feet -- closing in on my third "Rainier." 2,500 feet to go -- less than a climb up Mount Si.