Hi -
It has been a while since the last post, but that doesn't
mean things haven’t been happening. This year’s Glacier Climbing Course is now
in full swing, and I've been able to get out for a couple great hikes. I’m
really happy that winter has finally arrived, since it gives me a great excuse to use all the cool gear I've accumulated and also to get out when there are far fewer people on the trails.
GCC News
The 2014 OSAT Glacier Climbing Course (GCC) is under way, with 60 new students. For me, it is
very different this time around, since I’m participating as an instructor
rather than a student. Nice! No more worries about what type of boots work best, how to tie a prusik knot, or where in the world can I buy a Z-pulley….
The committee put together a refresher seminar for the people who
want to be instructors this year and that was fun to attend. Lots of focus on
leadership and patience, along with reminders on how to tie all those weird
knots. It’s amazing what a difference a year makes in terms of experience and
confidence.
The first seminar with the students was a couple of days
later, and it was fun to be on the outside looking in. They were all sitting
attentively, eagerly clutching their rope remnants and brand new copies of The Freedom of the Hills. They’ve
changed up the agenda and curriculum a bit this year, which is nice since it
will not be so repetitive for those who just went through the same program last year.
The following weekend, I helped out at the knot-tying
workshop held on Mercer Island. This was 5 hours of teaching the new students how to tie and
re-tie knots, and tell them what they are
used for. It felt rather satisfying teaching something and I think I may have
actually helped out a couple of people. Imagine that.
February 8 - Rattlesnake Ledge
This hike has been on the wish-list for quite a while.
Rattlesnake Ledge is located in the I-90 corridor, just outside North Bend.
Take exit 32 off of I-90 and head south for a few miles until you reach the
large parking lot. The hike is 2 miles each way, with an elevation gain of 1160
feet.
Rachael goes up there all the time with her friends and she
always has good things to report about the hike. We finally were able to find
some time when we both had a free afternoon, so we headed out. It just so
happened that this was during one of the recent cold snaps and it was freezing up there! Forecast called for 27
degrees at summit with 20-30 mph winds and for once, they were spot on.
Rachael and I met up on Mercer Island, right after the GCC
knot-tying seminar. We made it to the trailhead around 3 which was a little
late but it worked out great for us since we wanted to try out the climbing
headlamps for the way down. Rachael is a great guide and she showed me all the
different places her and her friends hang out when they go up there. The trail
is heavily travelled and well-maintained, and is a good workout. Most of it is
through the woods, then you suddenly pop out at the ridge and an amazing view
of the Issaquah Alps interior.
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| Finally made it to the top of Rattlesnake Ledge |
We roamed around the exposed ridge a bit but it was pretty
cold and quite windy so we made our way back down to a more sheltered spot that
still had a great view for our summit meal.
Sitting on the rocks, we stared out at the darkening view
and tried to stay warm in the brisk wind. It was cold and nasty but there was
no other place in the world that either of us wanted to be.
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| Rattlesnake Ledge |
We hung around at the top for a while so we could be sure to descend in the dark. Rachael had
never used her headlamp and this was a great way to see what its like to hike at night. I think
she liked it! Her new headlamp worked great - it was far brighter than mine!
It’s very cool to have the right kind of gear – it lets you extend your hiking
time and be comfortable doing it. It was very dark by the time we made it to
the car but there was never any worry about not finding our way.
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| All geared up and enjoying the night hike in the snow |
We both had a great time, and we plan on doing a lot more
hikes, and with Julie as well. Rachael’s goal this year is to accompany me up to
Camp Muir this summer so we will be working our way up to that level of fitness gradually, through progressively harder conditioners.
February 13 - Mt Ellinor
This is another popular summertime hike that is a little
different in the winter. It gains about 3200’ in a little over 3 miles for a 6
mile roundtrip.
Once again, Chris F and I head to the Olympics and once again, we are
turned away before reaching the summit. Damn! Lots of fresh snow got in our way
on this one. But it was a fine trip and we will certainly go back when we can
find the time. We just happened to go a day after a very heavy snow fall.
Chris and I caught the 7:10 boat out of Edmonds. The forecast for was rain and snow but we were greeted with a very nice sunrise on the way across the sound. This is truly a beautiful place to live...
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| Red skies in the morning... |
It took a couple of hours to get to the trailhead for Mt Ellinor. It is located about 10 miles inland from Hoodsport, which is a tiny little village on the West side of the canal, off of highway 101.
There are two different trailheads for this climb. We settled on the lower trailhead since the road that went further up to the upper trailhead was icy and just a little bit treacherous.
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| The road up to the upper trailhead, with the sign for the lower trailhead visible on the left hand bank |
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| The Soul proves itself to be a great ride for climbing trips |
The
trail through the woods was clear, with a gradual incline, and we made good time, gaining about 1600’ in
1 hour 20 minutes. So far, so good.
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| Wonderful woods on the lower trail for Mt Ellinor |
After about 2 miles, the trail breaks out of the forest and into
some open areas, near the base of the avalanche chute that leads up to the summit. We had a hell
of a time finding the trail at this point, since we were the first ones there since it snowed.
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| Coming out of the woods, we were greeted by this. The footprints ahead of Chris are where we had gone ahead then doubled back since there was no obvious trail to follow |
The only signage at this point was for the summer trail, and the only tips from recent trip reports said to "bear right" for the winter trail. Okay.
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| So, where exactly is that "winter" trail? |
We tried following the summer trail but that was a bust. Then we heard some dogs barking down below us. There were a couple people who were out with three large
doggies who were happily plunging through the snow. The hikers knew the way up the winter route
so we backtracked back down and tried to follow them. I say tried because they
had snowshoes and we did not. We were sinking down on every step and let me tell you that gets old after a while. Hikers call this post-holing. I call it a gigantic pain. I was really grateful for my gaiters at this point, as they kept the snow from getting in the boots or under the pants, even when I sank down well past my knees.
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| Post-holing in the fresh snow |
We had a hell of a time making any progress and
after two hours of stomping and sinking we had ascended only another 200’, with about 1,100’ to go
to the summit. At one point, we found we made better progress by crawling instead of walking.
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| Not sure this is the most efficient way to get up a mountain |
There was no way we were going to make it all the way up unless
the amount and texture of the snow changed. I wanted to make it to gully to see if the snow was any
shallower on the steeper slopes, so we kept on slogging ahead. What we ran into when we reached the gully was not only more deep
snow, but the additional bonus of hidden holes where the snow would melt out next to the boulders in the gully.
When you are hiking in deep snow, you are taught to avoid walking next to large trees or rocks, since the snow will often melt away from those objects, leaving a gap next to them. This gap is usually covered with snow so you can't see it until you step next to the rock and your foot and leg drop down into the hole.
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| Here's Chris, who was kind enough to locate this sinkhole ahead of me. Thanks for taking one for the team. |
This is truly a pain in the butt. We try to avoid the rocks because of this but on this trip, most of the rocks were covered with snow so we couldn't really tell where they started or ended. There were many times when we would take a step and just drop down into these hidden openings, then have to haul ourselves back out onto the surface.
After one of these breakthroughs, we heard water trickling below us. This is how quiet it gets up there! That is why it is so nice climbing in the Olympics instead of the I-90 corridor. No road noise at all. Anyway, after closer inspection of one of the holes we had punched through, we could see a steady stream of water flowing down the gully, buried underneath us. This is bad. When there is water flowing freely like that, it will undercut the snow by melting it out from below. You are essentially walking on a big snow bridge at that point and you don’t know where the water is and you can’t tell where or when you’ll break through, or really how far you’ll drop before splashing down. It was time to be careful.
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| Heading up the gully |
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| Lake Cushman, from halfway up Mt Ellinor |
Going down, you can sometimes do a high-step run through the deep snow. This worked pretty well but it’s awfully tiring. I still punched through and ended up losing one of my micro-spikes on one boot. Dammit! I didn’t notice until we were far beyond that area. That sucked.
We made good time coming down, and were treated with some awesome views of Mt Washington, which is a short traverse from Ellinor.
On the way out, on 101, just before Brinnon, we spotted a couple elk on a gravel road. I turned around and we followed 3 elk up around a corner, where we ran into a very large herd right in the middle of the road! It was awesome. There were about 20 or so – right there, just a few feet ahead of us. I followed them up the hill a bit until they turned off the road into a field, where they stopped and called for one that was still behind the car. That one jumped up the bank to join the herd, and they disappeared into the woods. It was a very cool sight indeed. Here's a screencap from a video that Chris took.
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| Mt Washington |
On the way out, on 101, just before Brinnon, we spotted a couple elk on a gravel road. I turned around and we followed 3 elk up around a corner, where we ran into a very large herd right in the middle of the road! It was awesome. There were about 20 or so – right there, just a few feet ahead of us. I followed them up the hill a bit until they turned off the road into a field, where they stopped and called for one that was still behind the car. That one jumped up the bank to join the herd, and they disappeared into the woods. It was a very cool sight indeed. Here's a screencap from a video that Chris took.
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| Warning: Objects Out Your Window Are Closer Than They Appear |
Next up is the Navigation and Climbing Skills field trip in
West Seattle on March 8, and hopefully a few more winter hikes before then.
KCM&DS
KCM&DS
