Mailbox Peak 2.22.05

With another spectacular day and only a short time for a hike, I chose Mailbox. I figured I could be back home in around 4 hours. My plan was to do both Mailbox and the short ridge traverse to West Defiance (pt 4926). I had tried this once before only to be shut down by intense fog. I would have no such problems today. The bottom of Mailbox is quite dry and as steep as ever. I was troubled on my time on the way up, I have been sick for the last week. I have been feeling better but I still felt pretty sapped as I slowly made my way up. I was a bit concerned about the trail being a bit slick on some of the upper portions, so I brought a 3/4 pack since I was alone and didn't expect to see anyone. I felt with the steep grade a very real possiblity of a fall, it would be best to be prepared. At about 3000ft I passsed a mother and her two young ones. I was quite impressed to see pre-teens on such a demanding climb. It spurred me on to see this as I pressed on. At around 3400ft the trail became intermittent with some glare ice. It was suprisingly passable. I dropped my pack around 3800ft on a great sun soaked spot. I gave some thought to just staying there, but decided to stick it out a bit longer. I reached the rock slide that was mostly melted out and seemed the easiest way to go on. I climbed 2/3 of the way up to notice that the beagle wasn't quite interested in the rockslide. I did not have enough time to reach the summit as it was, so I decided that the only option was to return to my pack. I sometimes forget to take some time to enjoy the areas I love so much. So much time and effort goes into the ""getting there"" . It felt really nice just to take 15 minutes to soak up the sun and scenery. I carefully made my way down the slick portions and made some good time on the remainder. I noticed alot of the trees are worn smooth from people using them to pull themselves up as well as slowing themselves down. I can always tell a steep trail when my legs seem to have to work harder on the way down than on the way up. I did pass two seperate solo climbers on the way down.

Sunday Lake 2.8.05

I had disjointed day planned because of an oncall shift that I was scheduled tonight. I was 95% sure I wouldn't be needed but you just never know. I haven't been up the North Fork Snoqualmie for some time so I thought since it was close I would give it a go. The road is in much finer shape than it's big brother the Middle Fork Rd. I found a decent place to park on the gated road that is the Sunday Lake trail. There was a couple inches of snow on the ground and everything was quite frozen as I made my way. I had remembered that there is a low lying area that is very swampy and very tedious to cross. I started on the left side of the road and then crossed to the left side about half way through. There are some logs to cross the fairly deep water. Confounding this crossing was the iced over logs, this is not the kind of water that you would want to fall into. I managed to make it to the other side to dry terra firma, thankfully I might add. I was looking for a logging road that branches off and climbs to the NE. When I arrived at the junction I disregarded it due to it's overgrown nature. I followed the road until the crossing of Sunday Creek. Although the flow was somewhat high it looked crossable. I have already been to Sunday Lake and if memory serves me well it was not worth a return visit. I backtracked until the junction I had previously disregarded, I could see the road above me so I mearly climbed straight uphill to join the road. The road itself is fairly brushy but I managed to circumnavigate most of the bad areas without too much problem. I do wish I had wore some type of eyewear to protect my eyes from the countless branches. I continued on the road with only minimal problems. As I climbed the snow became 8 to 10 inches deep but snowshoes were not needed. I reached the end of the road at around 3600ft. I did not see an obvious route to climb further, so I just ascended the path of least resistance. As I reached 3800ft the going became quite slow. The trees were now plastered with snow making for chilly going. I had gone well past my turn around time already, so I would never make it to work if I was needed. I decided to turn around, going through the swampy area in the dark was not appealing in the least. The decent went quickly, although I wished I had a face mask on to protect from the stinging branches. I thankfully crossed the boggy area and was back at the truck. Lucky for me I wasn't needed at work and was only late enough to give the wife a slight scare. The weather was ideal not a cloud in the sky all day! Another spring day in the middle of Winter!

Commenwealth Basin 2.1.05

I had much loftier goals for today, but I found it hard to drag myelf out of bed. When I finally managed to get up I had a few things to do before I could leave. A change of plans was in order. I scrambled to think of something closer. I haven't been up Commenwealth basin in years, so I thought it would be perfect. I was suprised to find the road to the PCT parking lot to be fully snowed. I luckily had the Fore-Runner so I tried to go up the road and had some success until the road became a bit steeper. I decided it to be more prudent to park then risk becoming stuck. I backed down to the main road only to find nowhere to park legally. I decided that I would mearly back up onto the snowy road and risk being ticketed. I have quite the penchant for parking tickets, but never seem to have to pay any of them. I was off I followed the road to the northern parking lot that is for horses. When I passed the lower parking lot I saw one truck that was stuck and seems to have been that way for quite some time and one other car. I left the parking lot on the NE corner and followed a fairly well worn snowhoe track. The path was easily to follow and was only moderately cursed with fall throughs. The creek crossing was quite easy the water was below boot level my feet thankfully stayed dry. I continued on until around 4200ft where my late 2:00 starting time came into play. I was not enamored with the idea of walking out with a headlamp on so I decided to turn around. The weather was sunny and beautiful, with some nice views of Red Mtn. in the fading sunlight. For the most part the descent went quickly, I continued on the trail until it intersects with the PCT instead of using the spur that goes to the upper parking lot. I would recommend using the upper parking lot trail which is much easier with the present conditions. When I reached the lower parking lot there were two men trying to extricate their car. I offered to help but they were quite sure it was stuck. Their plan was to have it towed. I was quite thankful I had not made the same mistake of driving all the way in. As a bonus I was not ticketed in the time I had been gone.






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