Off on Adventure

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Mount Defiance - Alpine Lakes Wilderness - 10/14/12

Saturday, 10/14 was another rainy day, but Leesa was free to hike and we decided to hike Mount Defiance, located just off exit 45 of I-90 in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington State. The trailhead is about an hour east of Seattle. The weather on this day was just the opposite of Friday. There was no rain at the start of the hike, but it started in later and didn't stop.

Visibility was OK at the start

It was a pretty warm day with temps in the mid 50's. We had packed our rain gear, knowing that it the rain was coming. Our trails for the day included the Ira Spring Trail # 1038 and the Mount Defiance Trail # 1009.

Leesa reaching treeline on the first ridge

We climbed the first ridge and went down the back side towards Mason Lake. At that point, the scenery changed and we dropped back into the tall pines. We saw 2 different couples at the lake who were on their way back. We didn't see anyone else out all day (no wonder in the wind and the rain). Rain was just beginning to fall. It had taken us just over an hour to reach the lake.

Still no rain!

The trail skirts around the west side of Mason Lake and then bends NW towards the ridge to Mount Defiance. We missed a trail turn shortly after leaving Mason Lake and ended up following a herd path to little Mason Lake. I realized we were off the trail and we just bushwhacked a short distance NE to get back on the main trail.

Clouds coming in

As we climbed the ridge to Mount Defiance, the rain began to come down harder. Thankfully it was not a cold day because we got soaked through as we climbed above treeline in the driving rain towards the summit. It was quite windy so the windchill was a little nippy but it was not unbearable.

The back side of the first ridge, headed towards Mason Lake

Mason Lake

Designated camping spot at Mason Lake. Nice location.

It was raining by this point, but still we pressed on

I was worried that Leesa would be cold on the way down since her body wouldn't be generating any heat and she was soaked, but she seemed to do OK. I don't get cold too easy so I knew I would be fine.

Leesa victorious on Mount Defiance

After 2 hours and 50 minutes from the trailhead, we reached the summit. We had no visibility at that point and it was cold, rainy and windy, so we took a couple pictures and headed down. The rain never let up on the way back.

My turn on the summit

We reached the car by by retracing our route. We immediately put on some dry clothes and had the car heat on high for quite a while to get the chill out of our bones. Even though we had no visibility up high, the fall color of the alpine terrain was terrific.

Colorful bushes and brush above treeline

Rain on the camera lens interfered with this shot taken on the way down

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: 9.9 miles

Hike Time: 5 hours, 10 minutes

Total Vertical Gain: 4400'

Trailhead Elevation: 2173'

Summit Elevation: 5584'

My Mount Defiance GPX track at EveryTrail

a topo map of the route

A Google Earth screen shot of our route

Friday, October 19, 2012

Granite Mountain - Alpine Lakes Wilderness, WA - 10/13/12

The Seattle area had just gone through 61 days with no significant precipitation. Upon my arrival on 10/11 however, the weather was changing and the 2 week forecast looked pretty wet. I decided that the rain wasn't going to slow me down on my vacation.

Trail description at the trailhead kiosk

Leesa was working in Bellevue, outside of Seattle. I decided to head east on I-90 towards Snoqualmie Pass. Washington has lots of great hiking everywhere, so I just had to pick a hike and get outdoors.

Entering the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

My choice on this Saturday was Granite Mountain. The trailhead is located just off Exit 47, slightly west of Snoqualmie Pass and about an hour and 15 minutes east of Bellevue. My decision to hike Granite was based on the hike description from the Washington Trails Association Hiking Guide.

A high plateau on Granite.

The forecast called for scattered rain and temperatures in low 50's in the valley. I got together my day pack and wet weather gear and headed out. The hike was an 8 mile round trip hike. At the top of Granite Mountain is an old fire lookout. I didn't expect it to be open, but I thought it would be nice to check out.

The last rocky push to the top

One thing I always notice about hiking in the west, is how much easier the hiking is, due to the smooth trails. They are generally fine gravel and sand as opposed to the mud, rocks and roots in the Adirondacks of NY where I generally hike.

Light rain brought the clouds down and limited visibility

On the way up I passed two women going up and three women going down who had to turn around because they didn't have enough time to reach the summit due to other commitments on the day. Too bad.

Really interesting area

My favorite spot was a rocky alpine meadow just before the rock scramble to the summit. It looked really neat in the foggy, rainy mist of the day.

After completing the scramble, the fire lookout became visible at the summit. To my good fortune, the cab was open. A Forest Service volunteer was there to stay overnight and close the building up for the winter. When I stepped in, the building was full of people. There was a japanese group of eight who looked like they were hiking to Mount Everest. They had all kinds of winter gear with them. They were cooking up a storm for lunch. There were three other groups there also. Fortunately, they were all ready to head back down, so I got to spend some time talking to the FS volunteer. I ended up carrying some paint back down to the bottom that he needed to get out of the building.

On my way back down, the rain stopped for a while and the clouds lifted a bit. I was able to get a view of the mountains across the valley.

Approching the fire lookout

The fall colors were near peak up high on the mountain. The leaves of the Huckleberry bushes were brightly colored as were all the other bushes. It would have been really bright on a sunny day. In any case, it was neat to be up in the mountains and see the clouds blow in and out.

Can't see anything from here today

The rain never got too bad during the day, so I was only partially wet at the end of the hike. Granite is a great mountain to hike, even if visbility is limited. A good first choice to start my vacation.