Mount Zion 05-26-19

AppleWatch Stats:  5.38 miles RT, 1519 ft of elevation gain.

Luckily I had thrown my hiking gear from yesterday's sodden hike into my aunt's dryer so I was prepared for a hike today.  Cedar and Luna needed a leg stretcher too, so we went to Mount Zion.  Last time I did this one, it was just me and Cedar and it was very foggy so we had no view.  Today the sun had broken through and it looked like a great day to be on top of a hill.

The way up was lovely (other than the sound of gunshots from someone target practicing somewhere out on the forest service roads - we heard this the whole time, and I remember hearing it the whole time we last hiked here as well.  Bummer!)  We saw only a couple opening rhododendrons toward the start of the hike, but as we hiked up I saw quite a few of the beautiful lady slipper orchids, some coral root or indian ghost pipe just starting to show out of the ground, and flowering currants.

I think this is deer foot vanilla leaf.

The usual pink lady slipper plus a couple very pale colored ones.

It's a steady climb, but a nice grade up through the forest to the top where we were rewarded with a lovely peek-a-boo view of the puget sound.

We followed the ridge trail quite a ways to the right, passing a natural spring, and came out on a rock face escarpment with a gorgeous view of the surrounding peaks.

I think the only reason Luna looked at the view is because Cedar just did and she copies him haha

The dogs and I were happy to get out and enjoy the sunny day, and everyone else out there looked really happy too.
Here is a shot of some of the wild rhododendron along the forest service road on our way down.

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!