Mount Pete's Cal Magnusson trail with with John Anderson

Cal Magnusson trail on Mount Pete was drier than Tiger Mountain.

Mount Pete is less verdent that other hikes I've been on. Perhaps it does not trap as much water as Tiger Mountain. John Anderson and I took a couple hours to climb yesterday. I had a lot of energy at first, despite being exhausted the night before, when I walked 2.2 miles to 24 Hour Fitness with a 20-pound vest and swam 0.9 km. I didn't complete a kilometer because I started noticing cramping in my legs. On the way up the hill to home I had to stop to rest a couple times.

Today my only ailment was that my feet hurt afterward. At dance Friday night my right foot was tender. I had to pull out the lacrosse ball to loosen up my feet; my left foot was more responsive.

Statistics for the day
Distance: 3.6 miles round trip, car to summit.
Elevation gain: 1,000 feet. 
Location: Cal Magnuson Trail
Conditions: Cool, clear skies
Load: 13 pounds
Statistics, year to date:
Distance: 69.3 miles
Elevation gain: 20,730 feet. 8,092 feet until my second Rainier.

More photos from Mount Pete hike follow.

A verdent Tiger 3

Ferns along a bank next to the meandering path

Except for a few traces on the hillsides and even in the path, all the snow is gone from the Tiger 3 trail and the woods are greening up. I hiked to the summit in two hours and decended in 1, with the parking lot being the starting point. So I accomplished a 2,000-foot elevation gain and descent over 3 hours.

I made the mistake of bringing my red snow jacket and my light red rain jacket and an additional down vest. I barely packed that in with the rest of my gear in my backpack. I would have overheated if I had not stuffed the backpack with the unnecessaries I inadvertently brought along.

A dreamline view of the pathway.

Pixelation in a cell phone image created an abstraction of this Pilealated woodpecker.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 6 miles round trip, car to summit.
Elevation gain: 2,000 feet. 
Location: Tiger Mountain Trail #3
Conditions: Cool, clear skies, slight chill at times, traces of snow, a muddy and rocky trail
Load: 14 pounds

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 65.7 miles
Elevation gain:19,730 feet

SVTC: Cougar Mountain Coal Country hike

First major milestone on today's hike: Coal Creek Falls -- more flow than on Feb. 1

Today's hike had little elevation gain, but I was exhausted when it was over. By the time I got home I just wanted to nap, and I did, for a couple hours.

This was a Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club hike billed as "Waterfalls of Cougar Mountain," but there was only one Waterfall. The weather had warmed up.   I overdressed and, at the Sky Country Trailhead, stuffed my jacket into my backpack. Instead of the snow hikes I had been accustomed to, this was a woodland, spring equinox hike, with apparently lots of pollen in the air, because my nose never stopped running. Next time I'll try a pollen mask.

A thin sheen on this pond was trying to decide whether to be snow, ice or water.

Standing over the air shaft of the Primrose Mine

My big treat on this hike was the grate we came upon toward the end, as pictured above. Some people were confident enough to gingerly walk out on it. They were staring down the airshaft of The Primose (coal) Mine, dating to the 19th Century. The Primrose operated for 100 years, closing in the 1960s. I was aware that some areas can be a little dangerous to hike through due to old mine shafts. This one was definitely safe, with the re-bar grate, but it was a sobering look downward. There's a kiosk next to the shaft with lots of information. You can save the photo, enlarge it with a viewer, and read at least some of the notes about the Primrose.

A peek at the size of the shaft

A large park at the Pergola overlook of Lake Sammamish -- where we had lunch.

The kiosk at the Primrose Mine Air Shaft

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 8 miles
Elevation gain: 1,000 feet.
Location: Cougar Mountain
Conditions: Warm, clear skies, snow moments, occasional mud
Load: 14 pounds

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 59.7 miles
Elevation gain:17,730 feet

Pileated woodpecker on Tiger 3

Seen along the trail: Pileated woodpecker

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 6 miles
Elevation gain:  2,000 feet. 
Location: Tiger 3
Conditions: Cool, clear skies, slush and packed snow
Load: 14 pounds
Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 51.7 miles

Elevation gain:16,730 feet

I still surprised at my lackluster energy level on hikes. But I plodded on and made it to the top in 2 hours and 10 minutes from the parking lot. I took 90 minutes to return. Two of the three miles to the top involved snow hiking. At the point where Tiger 3 crosses the Cable Line trail I took the Cable Line, and climbed the steep incline by driving the toes of my mountain boots into the snow, for traction.

That's dirty snow, but not dirt. Near the top the snow was whiter.

Mountain boots were uncomfortable on the rocky descent. Best get padding inside the boots.

I was overdressed. I left my down liner in the car because I had a backup packed, and took my hooded insulated snow jacket. I ended up tying it around my waste by the sleeves. The mountain boots hurt my feet a little bit; I think I probably need to add pads with supportive arches to help. But the boots were helpful on the snow in place of Yaktrax.

I spotted a Pileated woodpecker on a tree near the trail just before the 2.2 milepost. Too small for a cellphone photo. It fluttered between trees, showing off its plumage, then crossed the trail and moved among the trees looking for a meal. An impressive show.

I downloaded the woodpecker pix.

'Mountain Rescue' on Rattlesnake Ledge trail

View of snow-dusted Rattlesnake Mountain from parking lot

With only mountain boots and no extra traction, I decided to take a run at Rattlesnake Ledge, realizing that I might turn back if there was slick ice on the trail. But there wasn't. In two hours I had reached the summit, only 30 minutes longer than my routine time (best was 75 minutes, I think), despite the snow. But it also took me two hours to make it back to the car, when it should have taken a lot less -- to be explained.

At the trailhead, there was a memorial to a teenage photographer, dying young,  who stood too close to an edge in March 2018 in order to frame a picture. Appropriately, a sign accompanied the memorial warning of the possibilities of falling.

To a photographer, dying young

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 4 miles
Elevation gain:  1,160 feet. 
Location: Rattlesnake Ledge
Conditions: Cool, clear skies, slush and packed snow
Load: 15 pounds
Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 45.7 miles

Elevation gain:14,730 feet

There was enough slick snow on the trail and at the summit to pose falling dangers today, and people were taking tumbles due to poor footwear. Several were wearing tennie runners or similar shoes with no grip or traction, and I found myself watching people slip and fall and advise them that walking in the deeper snow would be less risky.

The summit, shown below, may have provided opportunities to slide right off the top, but I didn't explore that possibility. In the distance on the right is the City of Seattle Watershed.

As I descended, one young man stumbled and fell beside me several times. I gave him hints on how to walk, and then moved on, only to pass the women in the photo below, who was wearing low fabric shoes with slick soles and gripping two walking sticks, as well as a large bag for her food and beverages. (Note the walking sticks discarded by other hikers behind her in the photo.)

Going downhill in snow is always more disconcerting than ascending, and she had made it more than halfway to the top before she discovered this -- and realized how far she had to walk to get off the slick trail.

Securing her walking stick with  my backpack, I guided the Honduran woman down the slick trail.

I can't tell you how many times she fell or almost fell as we walked together. When I first saw her, I realized she was in trouble and somehow we engaged. She said she was from Honduras, and so, in my broken Spanish, I offered help. In the process some neglected words came back to me.

I walked in the snow beside the trail ahead of her and stomped in places for her to step. Then she fell with a thud on her backside and I held her arm. She slipped and fell a few more times. Sometimes I didn't act in times and other times I was able to slow her fall. I carried her bag. Then I offered her my trekking poles and I carried her walking sticks while trying to support her by her arm. Sometimes where the trail was particularly difficult I arranged to have her glissade a few yards until the trail was more friendly.

 Finally I had a "novia idea." (I should have said "nueva." "Novia" is a girlfriend!) Testing the walking sticks for their strength, I managed to break and discard one. The other one I slipped inside the straps of my backpack so that it jutted out on both sides of my body and she held onto it like motorcycle handles. And slowly we descended. I paused at the slick spots or where there were steps. There were moments when I felt the stick pull one way or the other, but to the best of my knowledge, she didn't fall again. "Bueno?" I asked. "Bueno," she replied. "Lista?"  (Ready?), I asked after pausing to make sure she was ready to proceed.  ("Lista," she responded.)

I figured out how to tell her to keep her nose (nariz) over the front of her shoes ("sobre frente de zapatos") for traction. Really bad Spanish, but that didn't bother her. But she did clasp her hands and pray for a moment. I think she realized just how much of a pickle she had gotten herself into. And she kept saying "gracias" (thanks); and I kept saying "el gusto es mio" (the pleasure is all mine!).

It must have taken us a full hour or more to cover a mile of ground. But it was fun. When we started in tandem down the mountain I brayed like a jackass; I don't know whether she understood the joke. But at the end we exchanged phone numbers and names (she is Marleny Rios) and put a selfie like the one above on each of our phones. This turned out to be a really rewarding day.

I was curious as to whether Marleny was going to try this again, so I asked her what city she lived in. Well, she was up visiting from California. A Honduran woman with broken English who heads out in the country in a different state to climb a mountain in the snow. Wow. Spunky woman. But then she has already shown some spunk by coming to the United States in the first place. I'm sorry she lives so far away. She was fun. I would have a lot to learn from her.

The hike took me beyond the 14,411 feel of elevation gain equivalent to one Mount Rainier, so I'm putting the One Rainier symbol at the bottom of this post. Four more to go to train for Mount Adams this summer. Am I really going to try again to climb Adams after failing twice before when I was younger?

Tiger 3 and Twin Falls

Clear, blue sky at the beginning of the Tiger 3 trail

Today's hike was unconventional. I had broken my Yaktrax, so I wore my mountain boots, but they weren't sufficient to navigate the icy conditions on the Tiger 3 trail. Right after the point where it intersects the Talus Rock Trail, the path became slippery enough to guarantee lots of falls. I turned back after ascending no more than 640 feet (by topo map) over 0.8 miles and headed off to Twin Falls, looking for better hiking luck.

Near the trailhead at Twin Falls

Twin Falls, at Olallie State Park, doesn't have much of an overall elevation gain, but there's a lot of ups and down. Washington Trails Association says it's a 500-foot elevation gain and  2.6 miles round trip, but it's not clear what those figures refer to. I'm going to settle for 400 foot elevation gain and 1.4 miles. Add those figures to my Tiger 3 effort and I'm claiming 1,000-feet of elevation gain and 3 miles covered. Pretty simple stuff, but I was still tired at times, which I found strange. Maybe too little sleep.

There were some slick spots near steep banks, but nothing too scary.

The crest of the lower falls, just before the bridge over the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River

Upper falls, seen from bridge

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 3 miles
Elevation gain:  1,000 feet. 
Location: Twin Falls, Tiger 3
Conditions: Cool, clear skies, slush and packed snow with some ice
Load: 15 pounds

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 41.7 miles

Elevation gain:13,570 feet

The trail back to the trailhead, with the Snoqualmie River to the left

Mount Si snow hike

At the trailhead -- snow already!

I didn't get enough sleep last night, and it was a bit of a slog up Mount Si. I didn't come close to reaching the top. After 3.5 hours I still had an hour to go, and I decided to turn back -- a good decision, because one of my Yak Trax failed on the way back and I had to finish the hike with traction on only one boot. It's not clear where I turned around. My Map My Hike map wasn't precise enough to pick out how far I had actually gone. However, I was well past the two-mile mark, and Map My Hike listed the distance at 2.3 miles back to the car when I turned around, so I'm going to claim 4.6 miles round trip. And I think it's safe to say a 2,000-foot elevation gain, the equivalent of climbing Tiger 3. I'll go with that, believing I did far better.

This is how a lot of the trail looked. Some parts were slushy and slippery and I fell 2-3 times.

This was the first time I saw this woodshed, house and a truck above the trail near the trailhead.

The one-mile marker

The "snack bar." About one-third of the way to the top, and a place where I would stop for a snack.

I always think of these as hitching posts along the trail. I'm past the two-mile mark.

Toward the end of the trail descending, these stumps reminded me of the Pillars of Hercules.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 4.6 miles
Elevation gain:  2,000 feet. 
Location: Mount Si.
Conditions: Cold; packed snow, ice, slush, clear ground; overcast and a light snow starting to fall by 2 p.m. 
Load: Probably 16 pounds

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 38.7 miles

Elevation gain:12,570 feet

Little Si snow obstacle course

Crunchy snow, icy trail led to summit of Little Si.

The wind was howling and bracing when I exited my Fit at the overflow lot of Little Si. I thought I should have packed long underwear, but after hiking a bit my legs didn't feel the chill. I had lots of energy at the start and made good time. But the frozen trail, combined with fallen trees over the trail slowed me down. My legs were tired toward the end of the hike.

I used almost two hours getting to the top (my best time had been less than 90 minutes), so the overall hike probably took 3.5 hours. I favored my microspikes, walking carefully when not on the snow; they had good gripping action on rocks, and I was cautious about falling. However, there was one smackdown  when I let my guard down and slid on a strip of ice on a short downward slope toward the end of the trail.

The abrasion from my snack-down.

Several trees had fallen over the trail; this one was among the easiest to pass.

The trail was steep and slick here and I used the snow beside the trail to gingerly descend.

This portion of the trail offered packed snow and slush, and easy navigation.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 5 miles
Elevation gain:  1,250 feet. 
Location: Little Si
Conditions: Cold; wind; packed snow, ice, slush, clear ground; blue sky; very bright in exposed areas
Load: Probably 14 pounds
:

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 34.1 miles

Elevation gain:10,570 feet