Backpacking the Northwest

What a great trip, be sure to stop by my Eyehike.com Gallery for all the photos!

And a review of the first week has been posted by my hiking buddy Switchback Steve here

Take a look at some flood damage pictures from the NPS.

The Trail Crew clearing a large tree from the Wonderland Trail

NEWS: August 3, 2007 – The park is now accepting Wonderland Trail reservations.

The park experienced severe flooding in November 2006. Travel here for more information.

Mount Rainier can receive 700 or more inches of snow each winter. When spring comes to the mountains it is a very busy time for Park Rangers. The previous fall usually brings the rainy season which causes damage to trails and camps by raging waters, high winds and falling trees. All this damage gets covered by 10-20 feet of snow, and there it sits until melt-out which often does not occur in earnest until late June or early July. The snow usually starts melting in high volumes, causing more damage to trails and camps. The Trail Crew may have to clear hundreds of trees from the trails each year. Replacing footlogs and bridges is also a major project. Footlogs are also prone to being washed out anytime there is a prolonged period of rain regardless of the season.

Wilderness Rangers and Trail Crew members are out and about early in the season trying to assess the damage. Given the vastness of the trail system and the volumes of snow, this is a large task. As we get reliable information on the status of a trail, a section of trail or a backcountry camp, that information will be posted here on the website.

trail signs

Trail signs like these will be a common sight around the park this summer (2007) because of flood damage.

TRAVEL HERE FOR A MAP OF KNOWN TRAIL DAMAGE (Large PDF, 1600 KB)

TRAIL ADVISORY:Throughout the summer, park trail crews will be working to repair and rebuild sections of trail that were damaged by the November floods. This effort may take several years. Rangers have established temporary reroutes around damaged trail sections until the trail has been rebuilt or repaired to trail standards. The temporary reroutes are identified by following Yellow, 3 inch wide “Caution Caution” flagging. Reroutes identified are generally the easiest and shortest path around existing trail obstructions. However, these reroutes are often very rough, involve steep side hills, and may require extensive climbing over logs and river banks. Travel on reroutes is not trail hiking and is identical to crosscountry travel. These temporary routes are not for everyone. Please visit a Wilderness Information Center for specific trail information or assistance with planning your hike.

When hiking, be especially careful at river crossings. Many bridges are damaged or missing. Until all bridges can be repaired, hikers will face the additional challenge of unassisted river crossings. Some temporary reroutes will lead hikers to existing downed logs across rivers. These log crossings which are often used in crosscountry travel may be hazardous and are not to be confused with footlog trail bridges with a flattened tread and handrails. If no log or bridge crossing exists, hikers must decide for themselves if they are able to ford the river. Many people have underestimated the power of moving water. If you must make a crossing, go in the early morning when river levels are generally at their lowest. Look for a straight wide area with slow moving water below knee height and a smooth bottom. Scout downstream for strainer or waterfall hazards and potential exit points. Wear good foot-ware, expect slippery rocks, utilize a stout stick to maintain two points of contact at all times, and unbuckle your backpack waistbelt in order to quickly shed your pack should you fall in. Most importantly visit a Wilderness Information Center or park website for updated trail conditions so you know what to expect before you go hiking.

BACKCOUNTRY TRAILS AND CAMP REPORTS

A wilderness camping permit is required year around for camping or climbing in the park. Car camping does not require a wilderness permit.

GENERAL CONDITIONS UPDATE: August 26, 2007

Wildflowers are passed peak. Bugs are still biting.

Published August 01, 2007

By JEFFREY P. MAYOR

ASHFORD – A Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane thundered over Mount Rainier National Park, lifting more than 50,000 pounds of steel I-beam bridges to three backcountry locations.

The bridges, and the $104,000 bill for the Sikorsky, are part of the park’s $36 million effort to recover from flooding in November. The work is progressing faster than expected, said park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

“I’ve had only continuously good news on every project this summer,” he said.

The heavy-lifting ability was necessary to replace three bridges along the Wonderland Trail.

But the weather affected even that effort. While Tacoma basked under blue skies, the Siller Brothers Aviation crew of eight and 35 park employees had to wait for clouds over the park to clear.

The Sikorsky is part of a fleet of heavy-lift helicopters owned by the Yuba City, Calif., company. It was flown into Morton on Sunday and arrived at the park’s Kautz Creek helipad Monday morning.

As morning passed, pilot Vic Pendleton opted to nap on a picnic table while co-pilot Ken Fritz read a book and ate his lunch. Finally, shortly before noon, the go-ahead came.

With two 4,500-horsepower engines driving the six-blade rotor, the Sikorsky lifted off amid a cloud of dust driven by the 115 mph rotor wash.

Park employees on the ground attached the first bridge to the 200-foot cable hanging beneath the aircraft. With a surge of power, the 13,540-pound bridge was on its way to a spot over Stevens Creek in the park’s southeast corner.

Within 25 minutes, the chopper was back for the second load. This bridge, bound for the North Puyallup River crossing, weighed 17,000 pounds. The weight became an issue as Pendleton and Fritz flew toward the site. Unable to clear a high ridge, they had to return to the helipad so crews there could quickly disassemble the bridge.

The final two trips delivered the two sections of a 19,700-pound bridge at Martha Falls in Stevens Canyon.

All three bridges were hauled in by 4:30 p.m. That meant Pendleton and Fritz could head to their next job – hauling gear and materials to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

For park crews, the North Puyallup bridge is the priority. They were to put it back together and position it Tuesday. Installing the deck and other work should be done within a week, said Rich Lechleitner, who headed the helicopter operations for the park.

Once the bridge is ready, it will allow the park to reopen the west side of the Wonderland Trail.

Work to be done

But don’t make plans to circle the mountain along the 93-mile trail yet. The stretch of trail between the two bridges lifted into Stevens Canyon is still impassable.

Lechleitner said trail work has begun on that stretch, but there is no date for its completion.

While the crews were waiting for the weather to cooperate, Uberuaga was meeting with other park supervisors. They gather each Monday to update flood recovery efforts.

So far the news has mostly been good. Among the reports was the news that:

1 Work to repair large slides on Highway 123 on the east side is about three weeks ahead of schedule.

2 Repair of the road into the White River Campground is complete.

3 Crews have been repairing the Mount Freemont Lookout, which had its roof torn off by 121 mph winds in December.

Still, there are major issues to contend with.

The park must prepare an environmental assessment before determining how to fix the 1 1/2 miles of trail leading into Glacier Basin. A temporary route exists for climbers going through Camp Schurman, but park officials want a new trail that is out of the flood plain of the Inter Fork of the White River. It will take at least four months to complete that process.

Uberuaga is pleased with the park’s recovery after being closed 180 days by the flooding. Credit for the recovery goes to park employees, the hundreds of volunteers who have given their time, energy and sweat, and the money to make the repairs happen, he said.

“Having the money to do (the work) has been critical,” Uberuaga said. “If we didn’t have the money, we’d just be sitting here talking about it.

“Looking back over the last eight months, I didn’t think we would be where we are at right now.”

Marmots posing

Originally uploaded by hikingdrew
Taken on Rainier Aug 2003

These shots were taken along the Wonderland Trail in Moraine Park. These little guys were everywhere, and listening to them throw out alerts to the other creatures in the area was really cool. They have a distinctive call that sounds like a child whistling. With the amount of traffic along the trail, they are not very shy anymore, so shots like this are fairly easy to get.

Mt. Rainier from Cowlitz Divide

Originally uploaded by hikingdrew
Taken on my solo backpack around Mt. Rainier in Aug of 2002. This shot was taken late in the morning on Day two, I had hiked from Longmire to Nickle Creek the day before, and this day would take me up from there to Indian Bar and on to the high point along the trail at Panhandle Gap.  From there it was a decent to Summerland for a night under the stars. 

Half Dome at Sunset

Originally uploaded by jeremyhays

Founf this shot on Flickr, very nice.  Makes want to get started planning my hike of the John Muir Trail in 2008.

JMT Mile 84 – Sapphire Lake

Originally uploaded by NaturalLight

Sweet shot!

Marie Lake Evening

Originally uploaded by Buck Forester

While beginning to research the trail for next year’s thru-hike, I am finding a ton of inspiring shots like this one.

Lenticular Cloud, Mount Rainier

Originally uploaded by LivingWilderness.com

Found this on Flickr today, Awesome!

We arrived at Timberline Lodge about 8:30, which gave us until 9:00 to meet the rest of the group. Tori, Drew, and I walked up to the lodge and admired the displays about Timberline Lodge and its construction. I guess Heidi the St. Bernard is on vacation during the summer.
We met up with Mike and Marleese a little after 9 and we got ready to hit the trail. Drew wanted to hike the trail counter-clockwise, which was fine with all of us. We left about 9:30 after having our pictures taken in front of the Daylodge and then again with Mt. Hood in the background. The weather for the weekend promised to be clear with highs of about 75 degrees.
Drew led the way and the four of us followed. I stopped to take a few picture and dropped to the rear. While composing one of my pictures I stepped on my trekking poles and bent one of them. You would think I would know better! I got my camera put away, put pack back on, and headed down the trail along a ridge that dropped down to our first stream crossing at White River. We had to scout around for a way across the river. The streambed was a miniature canyon with steep sides and poor approaches. We found a way across, clambered up the sloughing bank, then spent a couple of minutes reacquiring the trail.

The trail follows the river downstream for about 500 feet then switchbacks up a ravine. From there the trail climbs until you come to the chairlifts of Mt. Hood Meadows. We followed the trail under several chairlifts and a couple of nice wildflower meadows with streams flowing through them. The group was hiking pretty fast and I was in the rear most of the morning. After several ups and downs, the trail brought us to Newton Creek, where we stopped for lunch. There was a spring-fed stream just before Newton Creek and I filled up my hydration pack and water bottle from the spring. Everyone else filtered water from the spring. Marleese, Mike, and Drew tended to their hot spots then we had lunch and prepared for the next ascent.

The bridge across Newton Creek is only two skimpy trees. Each of us wondered if we would make it across the muddy creek safely. We all made a dry crossing and started uphill on Gnarl Ridge. What a slog it turned out to be getting to the top of Lamberson Butte. The trail goes up for miles. At first you’re in the trees but they thin out as you gain elevation. By the time you reach the high point of the trail at 7300 feet, the trees are dwarf and you’re pretty well spent. Along the way you get great views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Jefferson. We also saw the smoke from the Log Springs fire on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Near the high point in the trail we passed a break in the last big snowfield and Tori found a stream to filter water from. The stream only appeared for 150 feet. Hikers who walk straight to the cairn instead of following the trail will probably miss this place to filter water from.

We thankfully headed down the trail to the Cooper Spur Shelter. We had our choice of campsites because we were the only campers there Friday night. It is a fantastic campsite. After dinner, Drew and I walked over to see Elliot Glacier with all its crevasses. Earlier in the day we had talked about hiking up to the 8400-foot level at Tie-in Rock but we agreed we were too tired. We set up our tents in a light wind and made dinner. The wind blew harder and a big gust pulled out a tent stake from the dusty soil and collapsed my tent. The wind sent the rest of the group scurrying to find rocks to anchor tents and make windbreaks.

We took refuge inside the stone shelter, talked for a while, then headed to bed. A fine layer of volcanic dust covered all the inside of our tents. You could even crunch it with your teeth sometimes. Each time a big gust blew my flashlight lit up a little cloud of dust floating into my tent. I put my earplugs in and slept as best I could. I think the wind quieted down around 3 a.m.

We got up around 5:30 a.m. and watched Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier appear with beautiful sunrise. The sunrise was a beautiful as the sunset the night before. Everyone had interesting experiences to share. We all had dust. Mike had felt the tent pushing against him with every gust. Drew felt his feet get lifted with every big gust. Tori wondered if her tent stakes would hold down her tent. I found the stake that holds my tent up had almost pulled out again.

I had breakfast at camp and the rest of the group decided to pack up and make breakfast down at Tilly Jane Campground, near Cloud Cap Inn. It was nice to use the outhouse and talk to some of the campers. One group had also hiked from Timberline yesterday. They were planning to hike to Paradise Park tonight.

The rest of the group made breakfast and we washed some of the dust off of us. We hit the trail again about 8:30. The next crossing is the Elliot River. This is an easy crossing because a nice bridge has been airlifted in. We continued to have great views of Mt. Hood and the other distant volcanoes.

When we got to Coe Creek, we had a much harder time finding a dry crossing. We had met several people who had waded across. We looked around and were able to find a spot to rock-hop across the river.

The trail continues near the timberline and great views abounded. Elk Cove had expansive meadows and great views. Cairn Basin, where we had lunch, has a nice wildflower meadow with a view of Mt. Hood. I don’t understand why Cairn Basin is so popular. Other than the one small meadow, there are many other places on Mt. Hood that seem much more scenic.

We skipped going to McNeil Point but we talked to so many day hikers that we want to go back and see it sometime. From here the trail went along the top of a ridge, which gives outstanding views of Mt. Hood and McNeil Point.

On the trail towards Bald Mountain, Drew tripped on a root and fell down, banging up his knee and twisting his ankle. We waited for a while then I walked with him slowly. When we got to Bald Mountain we decided to take the PCT to Ramona Falls because it was shorter and should be a better trail than the Timberline. Most of the trail was switchbacks going down to the Muddy Fork of the Sandy River. It turns out the PCT has a detour to a new bridge. It is definitely a detour trail and not easy for someone with a tender ankle to negotiate. The new log bridge is sturdy and should last a long time. The trail hooks into the trail to Ramona Falls shortly after the log crossing. From there it is about 2 miles up to Ramona Falls. We got to the falls and found a group of students from Springwater High School in Gresham that had hiked over the past week from Timberline Lodge. They were nice enough to show us the group camping area. It is located about 500 feet Southeast of the falls. There was plenty of room at the campsites for all of us and we soon had our tents set up. We rested, filtered water for the next day, then made dinner. I accidentally left a granola bar out and by the time I found it, only the wrapper remained. I had lain down to eat some trail mix and some nuts spilled out. I looked at the bag and saw chew marks. The ground squirrel had sampled that too!

After dinner we talked more and then headed off to bed once again. When I got up during the night the full moon made stark shadows through the trees. The night was still pretty warm and the bugs had gone to bed for the night too. I went back to sleep but was awoken by some animal that sounded like a fire alarm klaxon over and over again. I had to dig out my earplugs again before I could get back to sleep. The next morning Drew said he thought a bat flying over our camp had made the noise. Tori slept right through the night and hadn’t heard a thing.

Sunday morning dawned clear and about 50 degrees. Mike and Marleese wanted to get an early start and had soon packed up and finished their breakfast. The rest of us had breakfast and broke camp. From Ramona Falls the trail joins into the PCT and goes from 3400 feet to 5900 feet at Paradise Park. On the way up we had great views of Slide Mountain and some waterfalls. We stopped at the ruins of the Paradise Park Shelter, which is on the South end of Paradise Park. I took a side trail while Drew rested his ankle and Tori headed down the trail.

Drew and I started down the trail to Zigzag River. After dropping about 1000 feet, we came to an old avalanche that had made a snow bridge across Zigzag River. We crossed, staying away from the edge and the holes in the snow. We speculated how long it would be before someone fell through because we had heard the snow bridge was only a couple of feet thick in some places. We stood by the creek and let the cool air wash over us. It was like standing in front of a giant freezer with the door open. You could actually see and feel a cool fog coming out where the stream came out from underneath the snow. From the river, the trail steeply switchbacks to cross the next ridge at 5700-feet. The terrain becomes drier and sandier as you go more up than down and cross a couple of small creeks. Pretty soon a communications tower, chairlift, and service road come into view. In less than a ½ mile further, we were back at Timberline Lodge.

We met back up with Tori and congratulated ourselves at the completion of a hike around another volcano. We packed up and headed towards Sandy where we met Mike and Marleese for Pizza.

What great weather we had on this hike. There are certainly some locations we intend to visit again. Including Paola’s Pizza in Sandy.

Switchback Steve