North Ridge (Cle Elum) 8.14.12

 I had hoped to do something a bit more substantial today but as is the case far too often I didn't have enough time to fit much more than a half day. I had hoped to run the whole North Ridge until I reached the high point of the ridge which lies on the Southern end of the ridge. I had the misfortune of running into construction and road closures that put that plan into trouble. I had been up the road that reaches the North Ridge Trail head earlier in the year on a snowshoe outing. It sure went faster to drive up the road instead of ploughing up it on snow. Once reaching the trailhead I was surprised at the intense heat. I had expected cooler weather today and I was not too optimistic of running into water for the dog on this route. I thought I would give it a go to see how far I could get.

Granite and Trico 7.30-31 2012

With a rare opportunity with the family away I hoped to squeeze in an overnighter. I sent out some posts and was able to persuade Fletcher and Rob to join me on some climbing in the Robin Lakes area. I had reports of doing all five area peaks in a short period of time so I thought I would give myself a head start and camp at Robin Lakes the night before. I managed an early start and soon I found myself at the trailhead. I was anxious to test out my new pack with an overnight load. I managed to stow everything I needed without having to strap extra stuff to the outside. I like the new setup very much, thankfully. The weather was sunny but cool and there wasn't a bug to be seen. I set an easy pace since I knew I had all day. I made good time to the junction with the Tuck Lake Trail and headed up the trail that has degraded a bit since my last time up it many, many years ago. Once reaching Tuck lake I only remember that it was tough to find the right trail to get you to the Robin Lakes Trail. Too bad I didn't remember which of the myriad of trails is the right one. In the end I got sucked down to the lowest of the lakes and had to traverse back to find the trail.