A touch of blue sky...

[lauralh]

IMG_0925 Originally uploaded by lauralhb.

It was nasty out Saturday morning, and by the time we got out Snoqualmie Pass was even worse. It cleared up near Roslyn, and in Cle Elum was dry. Of course, north through another mountain pass it was pouring again, and the rain didn't completely die down again till we hit Leavenworth.

The traffic in Leavenworth was TERRIBLE. Everything else had been fine, we made great time via 90-97, but two miles took like 15 minutes. And then, Icicle Creek Road to the trailhead road. The TH was busier than any I'd ever seen, as I don't normally go to "popular" trails. I adjusted my new ATF8 for the listed elevation, put on my hiking shoes, and I was ready to go.

Reg isn't as in good of shape as I am. I had attempted to carry 20lbs in my backpack last Wednesday, and went for a walk near a steep hill by our house. (I went straight uphill at a 12% grade for 45 minutes. It wasn't fun.) Whereas Reg had been laying around watching TV during that time. In his defense he'd had a headache. BUT yeah, I was going a bit faster than he was and a bit easier. It wasn't easy though. We climbed 1000ft up in about two miles. We went really slow though, took lots of breaks, and it took us 2.5 hours to get 2.5 miles. At which point we turned around, and it took us an hour to get back to the trailhead. We only took one nice long break going down. Needless to say we did not reach a lake.

So, I learned a few things. One was that I should have stopped and eaten at a slightly sooner point than when we turned around. Another was that mosquitoes will eat you alive if you stand still for more than a second to take a picture, let alone think about eating lunch. So we didn't eat, as I left the damn snack bars home, and I felt really worn out during the last mile downhill. Finally, this trail was a lot harder than any we'd tried before, and we were barely sore at all the next day, thanks to going really slow. We were wearing packs with clothes/food/water in them, and I could barely even tell. So, more lightweight== good news.

Our next trip will be Somewhere Dry. Little pools of water everywhere=bloodsuckers. Ugh. So, around Mt. Adams is what we're thinking.

Comments

[dan10things.livejournal.com]

Everyone I know that's gone hiking this Summer has complained about mosquitoes being really bad, I think it's definitely the rain and cool temps leaving a lot more standing water around. I think a bottle of combo sunscreen/bug spray is mandatory in your pack, even if you don't think you'll need it.

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

Not a fan of that stuff, as it's only 20% deet. I took a little bottle of cologne (http://www.practicalhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dsc_0556-150x150.jpg) and filled it carefully with 100% DEET.

Hopefully near Mt. Adams there will be fewer bugs, or at least less humid conditions!

[dan10things.livejournal.com]

Where near Mt Adams? I travel that way a bunch, Amy's family lives on the SE side in Trout Lake and Glenwood. If you take the road from Randall to Trout Lake (Forest Route 23) there's all kinds of great camping and hiking, rivers, campgrounds, etc.

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

yeah, the hike i was looking at is off 23

[dan10things.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely consider camping, the drive to that area can be a good 3 hours. And there's campgrounds and less formal camping spots all along that road, especially near the river, which runs along the Randall side of 23 most of the way before it turns from cement to gravel. That's my cut through road to Trout Lake and the Hood River area in the summer. It's a much nicer drive than taking the freeway route, even if driving the 13 miles of gravel road through the mountains is a bit bumpy and dusty.

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

it's 3 hours to leavenworth, nbd, but if we can, yeah, we prefer to camp at the TH