As usual spring time is tough for me to get out. My wife is immersed in her busy season and I have much added responsiblities. In addition this year I revisted my golf swing taking even more time away from my true passion. After realizing that as much as I enjoyed getting out with my friends on the golf course it was not progressing as quckly as I had hoped. Instead of forcing a square peg in a round hole I decided to revisit the one thing that I enjoy to the fullest no matter what the outcome. While I did try to keep my fitness up by taking the dog on some long walks through the neighborhood I feared that I had lost my edge. I thought I would run the dog around the Issaquah Alps on Monday climbing Cougar and West Squak. While I felt reasonably well I could see the dog was struggling since he had been lacking on the vertical of late.
The weather looked gloomy for Tuesday so I decided to fall back on the Teanaway effect hoping for somewhat dry weather. What to do? I have done most everything in the area. I was surprised to see recent reports of Wrong Way, it seemed to fit the bill, longish, good trail, reasonable grade and a non technical summit. The stage was set, I reached the end of the road at a reasonable hour giving myself penty of time to get back to Snoqualmie Pass BEFORE the road closure for blasting. The crux of this trip was to get both myself and the dog over the locked gate just before the Stafford Creek Trailhead. I managed to get over without too much bother but lifting the dog over the gate proved arduous. Thankfully I was able to get it done on the first try. The weather was pleasant but threatening to rain at any moment. The Stafford Creek Trail was much longer than I had remembered but soon I was just below Navaho Pass. Where the trail switchbacks backs to the pass I continued to the left on a faint trail going directly towards my summit. The going was low angled and open. I crossed the creek and continued climbing until I was able to find easy access to the East Ridge. I was able to see tracks of the recent traffic. If you stay on the South side of the ridge you can avoid the snow alltogether. I instead stayed on snow satisfying my urge to kick steps. I was able to make the summit without any difficulties, I am sure they views are great but the cloud cover prevented me from seeing much of anything. I looked for a resgister but was unable to find one. The descent was spent dodging the sporadic heavy rain showerers. Thankfully I reached the trailhead and I was even more thankful I was able to coax the dog through the gate instead of over it. It was nice to reconnect with my passion.
Approx 13 miles 3700' of climb 5:45 car to car
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