McDonald Mountain's bike trails, with Roger/ Plus . . .

A nurse log left a space for shelter

According to Washington Trails Association, if Roger and I had ascended just another 150 feet or so on McDonald Mountain, we would have reached a clear cut where we would have views of the Seattle Skyline, the Olympics and Mount Rainier. Alas, according to Map My Hike, we climbed only to 2,083 feet. My GPA Status app claimed we reached 20 feet less than that, with an error of +-9 feet. WPA claims an elevation gain of 3,500 feet, with the highest point being 3,750 feet. I'm puzzled by those figures, because Map My Hike claims the trailhead is 890 feet. Unless WPA is counting in the up-and-down nature of the trail to reach its elevation gain, my math indicates that, using those figures, the starting point should have been 250 feet, which is nonsense. Anyway, I'm claiming 900 feet of gain just to be conservative. The round trip is 9 miles according to WPA, and Map My Hike says we went 2.2 miles one way, so I'm claiming that we went half the distance, for a round trip of 4.4 miles. As for the credibility of the statistics, I say, "bah!"

The first interesting sight that greeted us after we left the trailhead was the  hollow tree in the photo above. It had clearly grown from a long-since-gone nurse stump, and the earth beneath had been excavated to create an abode of sorts, apparently abandoned, but remembered with broad strips of  notification tape clarifying that this was no place to be. The exposed roots showed signs of being burned by fire.

The extend of our hike on McDonald Mountain, measured on the descent.

Satellite view of our hike

We were trekking along mountain bike trails, which passed over uneven, rough terrain and through woodlands, as indicated by the photo below.

Logged at least once, this portion of McDonald Mountain is now the domain of mountain bikers.

This  bike  track leads off the main hiking trail  and into the thick of the forest.

Can your eye follow the bike track's sharp turn to the left? And can you see the path?

The bike path shoots across the hiking trail and descends back into the brush.

Just above 2,000 feet, we stopped for a snack and Roger watered his dog, Tucker.

Statistics for the day:
Distance:> 4.4 miles
Conditions: Clear skies, cool, hungry flying bugs
Load: 24 pounds 
Elevation gain: 900+ feet


Statistics, year to date:
Distance: 112.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 33,570 feet
Next Goal: 43,233 feet (third Rainier)

Plus . . .

Friday: Hike down hill to Janet Upjohn with vest and 26# pack for a total of  46 pounds over 2.9 miles. (She drives me home for helping her with her yard.) Whew! Tired afterward. Now total mileage:
115.5 miles.