Mt Catherine and the OUCH!!!

Now thinking back to this wonderfully difficult and injury resulting hike it is one that I had some of the most fun with this last summer.

Back at the end of August I had been doing a lot of thinking of the different hikes that I had been on and had decided that it was time to find a mountain to go and climb instead of the hiking up to a lake or falls as I had been doing up to that point.  The other part of it was that I had wanted to do an overnight-er.  Well I started thinking of the places I had been and looking at the maps of the area and finally the good old guide books.  I finally decided on Mt Catherine and Silver Peak as two mountains that I really wanted to climb.  The good part of it was that both where close to each other and Mirror lake and thinking that it would be a fun place to camp.  I put my plan together.

Day one drive to Windy Pass and climb Mt Catherine and then take the PCT to Mirror lake to spend the night. Day two climb Silver Peak and then Hike back out to Windy pass.  Now that might sound a little ambitious at first till you learn that the Mt Catherine trail is only a little over a mile and a half and then only a three and a half to Mirror lake. As for Silver Peak well the trail for it is about a mile back towards Windy Pass down the PCT and it was said to be only a little over a mile up to the summit. So in summation a little over 5 miles the first day and only about 4 the second day.  Not all that bad. I choose the weekend of September 2nd to make the trip.

Windy Pass Camp Sight

By Friday the 1st I was all set to go and decided to drive up to Windy Pass and spend the night there in my car and get an early start on Mt Catherine.  I arrived at the pass with about 2 hours of day light left so Molly and I decided that if we could just find a good spot a little ways up the PCT we would not have to sleep in the car or on the gravel road.  So we headed south on the PCT through a not to long ago clear cut.  In less then a quarter mile we where heading into the trees and just to the right I spotted a great little spot where we made camp.

I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of some ones dog making a round through my camp sight.  It surprised me that Molly was so well crashed out asleep that she missed it.  I let Molly go do a little exploring off through the Blue Berry and Huckle Berry bushes.  She had a grand time at it.  I made scrambled eggs and bacon with coffee for my breakfast.  Molly was attentive as always preferring my food to her's. So when I finished what I could eat and she had not touched hers I added the last of my eggs to her kibbles and she lapped it all up in no time at all.

My goal was to make the summit of Mt Catherine by noon so that I could enjoy my lunch while writing and enjoying the vista's that I had read about in my guide books.  I also use the Washington Trail Association's web site as the members are always writing reviews on the trails so that you can get a feel for what is ahead of you.  One of the last review told that there were so serious blow downs and that the trail was hard to fallow through that part.  Now I have ran into blow downs before and have never had much problems with them.  How ever this was to be something of a new experience for the two of us.

We headed from our camp sight back to the car and I got my day pack together and headed down the road to the trail head for Catherine.  The first part of the trail follows what is left of a logging road for about a half mile or so then heads into the woods and starts the switch backs up to the ridge that you follow to the summit.  Along the way you get to peek out through the trees here and there with views across the valley to Tinkham Peak.  Well about half way to the summit in those switch backs we ran into the blow downs.

Now I was anticipating maybe 3 or 4 trees by what I had read but what I saw in front of us gave me pause for the first time.  I never did get a picture of it all and that was because we were way to busy finding our way through to take pictures.   Through might not be quite right either as it was up and over, down and under, along with trying to find a way around not 1, 2 or 3 trees but at lest 40 or more.  At one point Molly had the right idea of it.  She had had enough of me wanting to go up and headed down hill out of the mess I had lead her into.

Once we were across the section of blow downs and I had Molly headed back up hill it was time to pull out the compass and map along with the GPS so I could get a bearing on where the trail should be as there was no trail left.  At first we skirted the north side of the blow downs heading up the ridge but soon ran into the cliff edges which I did not want to be close to at all for myself or Molly.  So we started heading back into the mess as I started calling it until at last I found the trail once again.


As we got close to the top there are some great views to the north.  In the distance you can see Snoqualmie Pass and the ski area's there.

The last little bit of the climb is almost staight up.  There are cables there for you to hold onto as you make the last accent to the summit and what a view awaits you there.  I was so proud of Molly as she climbed that last bit as I was not sure if she could handle such a steep climb. But she did.  So water and treats she got.

View of Mt Rainier as you reach the Summit.

Looking SE at Lake Keechelus

Looking North

Looking back toward Seattle McClellan's Butte center

Silver Peak from Summit Mt Catherine

    Well will have the trip down added here shortly... and tell you how my OUCH happened on the way down....

Chris

Mt Catherine

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Meadow Pass to Mirror Lake

One of my favorite places to go camping is up Meadow creek and Meadow Pass up need Snoqualmie Pass.  So after our hike to Mirror lake by the Mirror Lake trail I decided to go over the maps and guide books and to try something a little more challenging for the two of us.

I looked over green trails map #207 and noticed that from Meadow Pass you can take a little know trail called Stirrup Lake trail down from the pass to where it crossed the Pacific Crest Trail and then follow the PCT all the way to Mirror Lake.  Per the map it looked like it would be a little over 8 or 9 miles round trip.  Now Molly had done the 4 miles on the Mirror Lake tail with no problems so, I thought she would be up to this one as well.

Meadow Pass Trail head

So on August 21st we headed out of Seattle and up I-90 to Meadow Pass and the Stirrup Lake Trail Head.  The day was perfect sunny clear sky's with not a cloud to be seen.

The drive took just a little over an hour for us to arrive.  It is always fun for me to watch Molly on these types of trips.  She is all curled up on the drive up there but as soon as we start getting close like off of the freeway she is up and the nose goes to work at once.  I can see her getting more excited the closer we get.  She knows that her time for play is getting really close and I know she can't wait to get out of the car and have at it.


Off to the right here you can see my little red car and Molly doing her thing. The Trail heads into the woods right in front of the car.  So once my little girl had taken care of her business we were off and down the trail...

The Meadow Pass Pond

One of the first places you pass is this little pond off to the right of the trail.  The first thing you notice at this time is that there is always a ton of mosquito's at this point and if you forgot the bug spray you won't the next time you go.  It is one of the things I have learned to always have with me these days.  I have been using Off "Deep Woods" this year and have been really happy with it.  It works wonders at keeping the little pests away.

Stirrup Lake

From here the trail winds down though some second growth forest for about a half mile till you arrive at the west end of Stirrup Lake. We continued down the trail along the south side of the lake until we reached a camp sight at the west end.  Here we found an abundance of blue berry's just begging to be tried.  they were sweet and juicy and available by the hand fulls.  Great way to get breakfast on the trail. The only problem I had was that the bugs were in full force hear and were so determined that I should be there breakfast that we only stayed for a moment before heading on.

On the PCT
looking back at
the Stirrup Lake  Trail

Now according to the map it is only about a half mile on down the trail till you run across the PCT were I would be heading north and up to Mirror Lake.  The fun of it all was that as the Stirrup Lake trail may provide for your solitude and give you a chance to be alone unlike the more popular trails it has one problem in that it is not very well kept up.  So following the trail from the pass down and along the lake to that camp site is no problem. But once you are past there the trail changes as you head out into a more recently logged section.  Here you may find all the blue berry's you desire but they do have a tendency to grow over the trail obscuring it.  So if you really have to pay attention to where you are heading.  The good part about it is that if you get off the trail your not far from the PCT which runs north and south.  So all you do is take a western bearing and you will end up on the PCT shortly.



Once we were on the PCT and I was once again sure of where we were we turned north. Off through a little section of old growth woods which was nice as the day was starting to get hot already and the shade that the trees provided after bush whacking it through all the blue berry's.  At about a mile we crossed stirrup creek and stared the first up hill section.  It wasn't long till we came out onto national forest development road 118 that leads up to the pass where we started. Once we crossed we were into a much more recently clear cut area were the sun beats down on you as you head up along eastern side of Meadow mountain.

Old growth forest
off the eastern ridgeof Meadow Mountain

Once you cross the eastern ridge of Meadow Mountain you get to cool of in another section of old growth firs with Fox glove all around truely wonderful.


At about 3.3 miles from the trail head we came to our first real climbing going from 3557ft elevation to just over 4000 in less then one mile.  Now if you have not been out and getting exercise you will be feeling it by the time you get to the top of this ridge.  But don't worry because what goes up must go down.

Down we went and in about 7 tenths of a mile we where back down to 3500 elevation once again but also we had arrived at Yakima Pass and what is called Twilight Lake.

Here we took a short break as I love to take pictures and this was one not to be missed. Of-course as there is plenty of boggy ground with mud holes that Molly just had to go and cool off in.


Now that we were rested and  Molly was all muddy and stinky we were ready to tackle that last climb up to Mirror Lake that was only a little 800+ feet above us.  It was as we were making our way up that Molly started to get tiered  she was still leading the way but not as exuberantly as before.

The good part of this section of the trail is that there is plenty of water which Molly was more then eager to lap up.  The bad part is that the trail is rocky and out in the open great for the views but hot when the sun is out.

It was in this section that i was starting to worry that we might have to turn back for Molly's sake but it was about this time the we came across a couple that was also heading up to the lake that had a chocolate lab.  Molly perked right up and wanted to play right away taking my worry's with her.

So we made that last of our accent to Mirror Lake were we found a good spot on the south end to have our lunch before heading back.


To the left is the view we had of Tinkham Peak across Mirror Lake.

After lunch and a short break it was time to head back. So back down the trail we headed.  The one thing I learned about my little girl Molly is that once she is tiered it is my time to lead.

So lead the way home I did...  I only made one detour in our route and that was when we got back to the RD 118 instead of taking a chance on loosing the trail heading up to Stirrup lake we followed the road back that last mile and a half.

All in all Molly was a great little trooper and we had a great time.  But I know she was glad when we got home and took a couple days of rest to get back to her normal self.  Well so did I!!!

Meadow Pass To Mirror Lake

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OUCH!!!!

This is one is those things that happen that we hope that won't happen. But as all things are they still do...

This one happened on the way down off of Mt Catherine.

Story to be told soon!

Oh and yes it is much better and we did get down safely!

Molly's first Hike

August 18th 2011 Molly was going to go on her first hike of the summer.  My friend RJ had joined us and so early that morning we back up the car and headed out for Snoqualmie Pass and to find the trail head for Mirror Lake.  I chose  Mirror as it was close by and not all that long of a hike just over a mile in from the trail head, also it was not a popular hike being in the Stampede Pass area which has been heavily logged.  The plan was to just take it easy and enjoy a good lunch and maybe a swim at the lake.

First we had to find the trail head which was not as easy as it sounded.  The description on how to get there in the guide books said that you could drive all the way to the trail head and park there.  But what it failed to mention that the last quarter mile or so of  forest road 5480 is best traveled by a 4x4 with high clearance.  So we stopped down the road and proceeded to start our hike a bit short of the trail head. 

Now my friend RJ is really not the out doors type for the most part and was not really all that excited about making this trip.  For example he wanted to know if it was ok if he wore his flip flops.  Well I had a good little laugh at that and let him know that not the best of ideas.  So he settled on a sturdier pair of shoes as I could not talk him in to wearing the extra pair of boots that I had.  I think in the long run he was glad for the shoes though cause he did stub his toes many a time before the day was done. 

Once we reached the bend in the road where the trail head is located we were able to get off of the road and off into the woods that lead to Cottonwood and Mirror Lakes.  Yep that's right this trail gets you two lakes to choose from.  Molly was in the lead and not sure where to turn or what to sniff next, she was in doggy heaven.  The one thing about her though that I am not quite sure how to deal with other then keeping a tight hold on her leash is that any time we came across a slow stream that is really muddy she wants to hop in and indulge her self.  I mean she will lay down in it and lap up its stagnant water with way to much joy for her and way to much stink for me.  Oh the joy of it.

It was near one of these great little muddy spots that molly got to meet another dog on the trail for the first time.  She went straight into play mode.  Getting low on her front paws and ready to dance in circles.  Really is a joy to see.  She was great no fights no growling just playful frolicking.   

After the frolicking came to an end we continued along the trail till we reached Cottonwood Lake about 3/4 of a mile from where we had parked.  We took a quick break enjoying the view and the headed on up the trail through a couple of switch backs and over the ridge to Mirror lake.  The Mirror Lake trail runs into the Pacific Crest Trail just as you arrive at the lakes north end.  We continued about half way down the east shore and found a spot to enjoy our lunch and to let Molly do a little swimming.  Next we decided to do a little more exploring and followed the PCT passed to the lake to where the trail comes out on the bluff over looking Yakima Pass and Twilight Lake.

Great view from that spot and the creek that is leaving Mirror cascades down the rocky hill side in some beautiful little falls with great little pools at the bottom to soak one's tiered feet in.  After spending a little time there we headed back to the car and the drive home.

It was a great little hike and all three of us enjoyed our self's.  This is one place that I will go back and visit once again.

Here below are some pictures that were taken and the route that we traveled.
Enjoy

Mirror Lake

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Molly

Picasa Web  Album of Molly

Molly

This is my little girl as I say but in reality she is about 75 pounds and not so little.  But she has been the joy of  my life for the last 11 and a half years.  She is what I call a Paws pup as that is where our story started so long ago and yes if does feel just like yesterday that I was picking her up from Paws in Lynwood WA.

The two of us have been though a lot. Moving form house to apartment and then again to the condo where we both live today.  But though it all she was a trooper and always seems to adjust to the new place as if it was just the way it was to be.

The one thing that she loves above all else is to get out and smell the roses or for her what ever else is around.  I really don't walk her and she really doesn't walk me either.  It is more of a give and take.  We have learned to share our time out side no matter the weather.  But put a good smell any where and she is queen and will stop, back track and not budge until she is either content or marks it as hers.

That's my Molly laughing at me again.....

Molly & Merlin @ the dog park!

Now Molly is what is known as an "A" type personality.  That means that she is the leader of the pack most of the time with one exception being me.  She tries to oppose that every once in a while but not as much as she use to.  So our first times out to such places as the off leash area's I have always had to keep a good eye on her.  She has had the knack of getting into a bit of trouble from time to time.  She is not a bad or vicious dog just wants to be the pack leader, so when you get a dog walker with a pack of dogs at the park.  Needless to say it is an opportunity for all kinds of mischief.    So our times at the dog parks  has come to an end to both our disappointment.

So for a long time we just settled for walks around the neighborhood or down at the local park. Then this summer I started mountain biking up the John Wayne Pioneer Train and decided that it was time to dust off my hiking boots and put them back to work once again.  My first couple of Hikes, one to Twin Falls and the other to Wallace Falls Molly stayed home as I was not sure just how well she would do on the trails with other dogs and people.

Have Pack lets go Hiking!!!!

Well the other dogs was my true worry.  Molly loves people and is great with kids.  But guilt got the best of me and I am all the better for it.  My third hike of the summer up to Mirror Lake she got to come along and we had a blast and she did so well I have not left her home since.