North Lake 09-15-2019

Another new hike for me!  This hike is all about water anyway with two lakes, a nice sized tarn and many smaller pools along the way - but today was POURING down rain.  It still only comes in 2nd place on my wettest hikes ever though.  Tubal Cain Mine is still in the lead for that dubious award.

Apple Watch stats:  7.39 miles RT, 2903 ft of elevation gain.  The actual trail is likely just a touch over 7, but I did a tiny bit of backtracking when I hiked past a turn. 

This trail starts out meandering through some lovely woods to Independence Lake at about 3/4 mile in.  This is by far the most popular destination on this trail, and I had hiked this a couple weeks previously with Dave and the adventure dogs.  Today though, with the rain, there was only one car at the trailhead and I met a man and his two small children hiking out from where they had camped overnight at Independence - and no one else.  The rest of my hike I had the wilderness in all its gloriousness all to myself!  Muahahahaha!!!  ALL MINE!

Water streamed off of every surface - every fir needle, every leaf, every stone dripped and rushed and flowed with it.  The trail was mostly a stream itself and I often found myself hiking up and down small temporary waterfalls. 

The actual waterfalls along the trail were amazing.  They roared and frothed and really celebrated the start of a wet northwest fall.

Around 2 - 2 1/2 miles in there is a left you need to take.  It goes up a rocky slope that doesn't look anything like a trail.  If you go straight though, the trail is super clear.  This leads to what I'm guessing is the 2nd most popular destination along this trail - a lovely deep tarn.  The trail comes out on the rocky banks of it and it looks like a great place to picnic or swim on a warmer day.  I had recently taken a map reading class, so I not only brought my map - I actually looked at it for a change!  I could see that I should not be right at the edge of this tarn, but up the slope a ways cutting upward.  I remembered seeing a cairn back by the non-traily looking rocky slope, so I backtracked to there and from that direction the trail was a bit clearer.  It's rarely easy to find a trail on rock though, and the rain covering everything made it harder to discern.

On the rocky shore of a pretty lake I wasn't supposed to end up on the edge of

Up the slope above North Lake, it again got pretty rocky and the trail was difficult to follow.  In addition, I don't think this section of the trail gets used as much so it was really overgrown.

Overgrown trail

The lake was a long ways down!  I thought about staying up above and enjoying the view, rather than risking a slip/fall getting down to it in the wet, but I was SO CLOSE.  So I got there and was glad I did.

North Lake itself was beautiful.  The far side was a slope with trees, but the trail meets up with the lake in a jumble of huge gorgeous boulders and to my left there were sheer granite slabs, shining in the rain.  I ate a quick lunch using a boulder as a wind block and then headed back up that hill. 

There were mushrooms everywhere from a wet summer and the fresh rain. 

One big bolete was bigger than my head, so I scuttled under the brush to get a picture next to it for size (since I didn't want to pick it for no reason). 

Another mushroom had been apparently growing next to a small stream, and the rainwater had flooded it. 

There were quite a few bears head fungi which is a choice edible.  I took a larger but less pretty one home and added it to a nice seafood chowder later.  Yum!

Don't wait for good weather - get out there and adventure!

Mt Pilchuck 6-23-19

AppleWatch Stats:  5.79 miles RT, 2161 ft of elevation gain.

I drove up the ridiculously pot-holed road to Mt Pilchuck this morning.  I knew I would not have a view, as it was pretty socked in with clouds and raining, misting and breezy.  I didn't mind - I wanted the hiking and hoped that would keep the crowds thinner on this popular hike.

When I parked around 7:30am there were only 3 other cars in the lot, although 2 more arrived just after me.  Still, that is so great for Pilchuck!  This can be a hot trail, and the mist and rain ensured that today that would be different.  Water flowed down the trail, water brushed off the friendly bushes onto my clothes, water fell from the sky and from the trees overhead as they poked holes in the cloud.  Water filled each breath of breeze.  I wasn't even 1/4 way into this hike when I was drenched through my raincoat.  I had anticipated that and put my fleece in my pack so I'd have something to warm up in later.

I'm sure most of you know this, but I only just realized the trick to keeping your raincoat hood from falling over your eyes over and over is to wear a ball cap under it.  The brim keeps the hood out of your face.  So - if there are any other slow-on-the-uptake hikers out there like myself, you're welcome!  haha

The hardest part about this trail is not the elevation, it's the rocky rocky bouldery uneven trail.  You really have to pay attention to where you are putting your feet, especially when it's wet and slippery.

Don't just hike this trail thinking about the final destination - the lookout and view (if there is one) is awesome, but there is so much more to this trail. There are some huge great gnarly trees on the way up, and huge slabs of rock in all shapes and sizes.  Some are laying flat like tables and some are jutting up in defiance of gravity.

There is also wildlife to be seen.  Birds were all along the trail today, including a redbreasted sapsucker feeding her baby woodpeckers.  Also there were pikas!  Usually hear these little guys squeaking before I see them, but today their whistles must have been wet, as they were silent.  So adorable though!  Any hike I see a pika is a good hike.

The lookout itself is perched on the peak of Pilchuck with an amazing tumble of giant rock jutting out from under it.  You can walk all the way around the outside of it, and also (if it's unlocked) go in and read about the history of the tower and have a dry place to eat lunch.

The "view" behind me from the lookout

If you're hiking with dogs or very small children, you should be aware that the very last bit of bouldering up to the lookout ladder can be tricky and the ladder is not one that dogs can climb on their own.

I met a lot of friendly people on the trail today, and despite the weather enjoyed some heartbreakingly breathtakingly beautiful scenery.  Get out there and love this place we live!

Tubal Cain Mine 05-25-19

Trail Stats (Can't use AppleWatch because it died partway through haha):  7.2 miles RT, 1600 ft elevation gain

OK, this hike goes in the books as the wettest hike I've done to date.  My raincoat did its best, but it soaked through to dampen my fleece and shirt.  My pants were drenched right away, and continued to just soak in water as I went.  I had to ring out the cuffs of my fleece a couple times.  I thought my feet were dry, but I was mistaken - I just had good socks so they were warm though not dry.  As I type the contents of my backpack are hanging about drying or in the wash/dryer.  And yes, it had its rain cover on too.

This hike was not solo!  And though I don't mind some rain, I think it may have been miserable had I not had such great company.  I did this hike with my aunt, cousins and one of my cousin's daughters who did NOT whine the whole time.  I was duly impressed.  We laughed when we took a wrong turn and went miles out of our way on the way to the trailhead, we laughed in the rain and sniffed wild currants that smelled like watermelon, we laughed when we ate our snacks shivering under an overhang of a boulder and went up to the mine, and we laughed even harder when we coasted our vehicles down the 21 miles of back roads to the highway since we were nearly out of gas!

This is us at the very start of the hike after hiking in the rain for less than 2 minutes.  The better picture was taken by my cousin - my camera was already wet despite the neoprene case and most of my photos were foggy.

We were hoping to see blooming rhododendrons on the hike, but we were a bit early for them.  The blooming currant was lovely though and we were surprised to see our northwests' lovely lady slipper or calypso orchids.

There were streams and rivulets and burbling waterways everywhere, swollen and flowing fast with rainwater.  One little stream meandered through the moss and then would disappear under tree roots and such like little forest river tunnels.  It seemed like the setting for a storybook.

When we were nearly to the mine, I saw this log - doesn't it look like some kind of chopped wooden corpse with its stubby legs?  One arm raised as if saying "hhhheeellp meeeee."  OK, maybe the rain affected my sanity/mood a bit lol.

Before heading up to the mine we all had a snack under a huge boulder that had an overhang.  It was nice to have a break from the sound of rain pattering on my hood.

We ventured only just inside the mine, we were wet and cold and couldn't stay long.  In fact I had been planning on going up the hill that has the airplane wreckage on it, as I've never seen it, but with everyone so wet and cold it was best just to keep on moving out.

The misty, cloudy view from the top of the mine tailings was gorgeous.

We were all happy we'd done this hike despite the rain.  We were pretty well prepared and had a hot tub to look forward to when we got home.  We are looking forward to next time, although we are all hoping there is less precipitation!
Happy adventuring!