Training Update
On Wednesday, J and I hiked the Snoqualmie Tunnel. Although there is negligible elevation gain on this hike, we really enjoyed it because we got to play with our new headlamps, and got a feel for hiking in the dark with only the light on our heads. It's really a lot of fun, and because it was a weekday, we saw only one other person during our out-and-back of the 2.5 mile tunnel. Really cool hike, though I can imagine how annoying it could be if you were there with a bunch of screaming kids, etc. on a weekend. Oh yeah, we were right to bring our waterproof shells, because there were some leaky spots, and it did get a little chilly in there.
On Saturday, J, M, G, and I summitted Mt. Pilchuck (5340'). Here is the GPS track and Elevation Profile. This was a pleasant hike, with about 5/8 of the route still in snow. The last hundred or so feet are a fairly simple class 3 scramble across some rock, and a little traverse of a snow ledge. Nothing too challenging, except for the fact that...
On Sunday, J, R, and I attempted McClellan Butte (5162') again. We were there back in March when probably 7/8 of the route was still under snow. At that time, we'd attempted to climb up a snow chute, and got to maybe 4500' before conditions and total lack of equipment (nobody even had gaiters) turned us around, miserably. This time, we were much better prepared in terms of equipment. Every route report I've read says that the trail is about 4.5 miles one way to the summit. I think I believe it, based on the GPS track and some analysis, but man, you could have fooled my tired-ass body. It felt like 6. At first I couldn't really figure out why, but on the descent it became pretty obvious. The trail is a pretty rough one, as far as maintained trails go. No, it's not overgrown, nor are there any individual parts that seem very challenging. Just a somewhat steep hike up a lot of switchbacks followed by a traverse across the side of the mountain to the back and then along a ridge to the summit. But what I noticed on the descent was that there was just a lot of little things that add up to a lot of time and extra effort. Roots to negotiate around, some fallen trees blocking parts of the path, loose gravel, etc... so much so that in retrospect, I would say that the route is actually a lot easier when it's covered in snow. In any case, we worked on our rest stepping and pressure breathing, which I found worked quite well. I didn't feel really physically tired at the end of the day, save for some stiffness from just being out there two days in a row... it was more mental tiredness. We turned around at 5059', on the second of three mini-summits, because it was just getting really late in the day and thunder could be heard in the distance. We also held pretty closely to a schedule of hiking for one hour without stopping, and then taking a water and snack break for about 10 minutes before continuing, rather than our past philosophy of just stopping whenever we felt like it. This is again in preparation for the Mt. Rainier attempt, and though it took a little getting used to (especially at the beginning, when it was really hot and muggy) we did alright. In any case, I think we are going to save McClellan for a nice snowy day sometime in the Fall... hahaha.