Monday, June 30, 2014, 8:51 pm
4.8 mi, 726 ft gain, 54:06. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
I was going to take the day off, but I was itching to get out and run. I decided to time the run so I’d hit some good view spots at sunset. I was still a little tired, so I took I easy. Still climbed up the connecting hill for a little bit of vert. Brought my total June mileage over 170.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 4:05 pm
5 mi, 1892 ft gain, 57:24. Wallace Falls TH to Upper Falls & Back. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5
I was looking for some climbing, but not a very long run. I didn’t push the pace until the last steep section just before the upper falls. Even taking it easy most of the way, I managed to PR going up, 32:30, 2.5 min faster than on Jun 29. I think my previous best was 33:xx.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 8:17 pm
6.4 mi, 339 ft gain, 1:03:28. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
I kept it shorter earlier so I could take the dogs out for a run after it cooled down a little. Ran toward the connector hill, turning around at the turn just past the 2mi mark. Then out to Olney Creek and let the dogs play in the water for a couple minutes. Finished out the loop and back to the car.
Thursday, July 3, 2014, 5:09 pm
7.1 mi 2680 ft gain, 1:45:34. Lake Serene. Solo. Altra Lone Peak
My brother-in-law, AA, posted a hiking picture a little earlier in the day of an old, very large fallen tree stump. I recognized it from the Lake Serene trail. I hadn’t decided where to run, even as I was about to turn on the highway. Left, I’d go to Wallace Falls. Right, Lake Serene. AA’s picture was the nudge it took to pick Lake Serene. I didn’t feel particularly fast, so I tried to keep a pretty steady effort. I’ve started power hiking steep sections more often. I don’t really slow down much, and it seems to help conserve a little energy. Even so, I set several PRs for segments on Strava. There were probably a dozen or so cars in the parking lot, unlike when I’ve gone on the weekends. It was nice without so many people on the trail. I was completely alone when I got to the lake. I spent about 10 minutes up there looking around. Every other time I’ve gone up there, I’ve just stuck to a very small section of the lake before heading back down. I headed over to Lunch Rock, had a snack and some water. I watched the ravens waiting in anticipation. I sat and shared a few moments with the trees, lake and mountains. Then I headed back down. I passed another runner as he was on his way up on one of the many sets of stairs.
Saturday, July 5, 2014, 1:49 pm
21 mi 4579 ft gain, 4:53:41. Dorothy, Bear, Deer, Snoqualmie Lakes, Otter Falls. Solo. Altra Lone Peak
I’ve been to Otter Falls a number of times. Always from the North Bend side, though. I grew up out there, but I never went there until I moved back after the Army. I’ve wanted to get a little bit higher into the mountains as the snow continues to melt and figured this was a good way to do both. It wasn’t that high, maxing out a bit over 3800 ft. I thought it was a safe bet that the snow from the last trip report I saw from two or three weeks ago would be gone by now. There were a couple small patches on the sides of the trail at the top.
I started at the Lake Dorothy trail head at the end of Miller River Road (fs 6412) off US 2 near Skykomish. The parking area was fairly packed. The trail wasn’t too busy, though. I think most people had already made camp. The first few miles were pretty well maintained. After getting part way around Lake Dorothy, there was flagging tape along the rest of the trail. It seemed to mark spots that needed a little attention. Also after those first few miles, the trail started to get fairly rocky. I like technical trails, so I didn’t mind.
As I got to the south end of Dorothy, the trail ran into a 30 ft wide creek. It wasn’t on the map, but I could see the trail on the other side, and it went in the right direction. The water was cold, and my feet felt pretty heavy for a few minutes.
Next was the climb up to the saddle and highest point. Then down to Bear Lake, and a short distance later was Deer Lake. The descent continued to Snoqualmie Lake. I managed to trip on one of the smoothest sections of the day going around Snoqualmie. With just a small abrasion to my left knee, I got up and kept going. Another mile later, I realized that most of my food fell out of my pack when I tripped. I still had enough to finish, but I’d be pushing it, so I decided to continue and look for it on my way back.
The trail continued to descend down toward the Taylor River. On the descent, I rolled my left ankle and felt a small pop. It was a little sore, but didn’t hurt too bad. It was a little tight for a couple minutes, so I took it easy. After a little while, it felt fine again.
Sections of the trail along the Taylor River were a bit overgrown. I passed a few more backpackers. I hadn’t been to Otter falls from this direction, so I started paying closer attention starting at about 10 miles according to my GPS, to make sure I wouldn’t miss it. I wasn’t sure what kind of marking there would be for the turnoff, if any. There’s no official trail up to it. People have marked it with cairns and even homemade signs in the past. There was a cairn and large arrow made of stones. I sat on a log for a couple minutes and ate some food.
I found my food on the way back. That made me happy. I was hiking a little more of the steeper sections as well. I ran out of water between Snoqualmie Lake and Deer Lake. I decided to use my filter and pump some water at Bear Lake. I ran into a group of three backpackers part way around Lake Dorothy. I very vaguely remembered passing them on the way out, but they remembered me. I stopped and chatted for a few minutes before finishing the last few miles.
The trail was more technical than I was expecting. The views and scenery along the trail were awesome. I’ll definitely head back in the future.
I took my hydration pack, an older deuter I’ve had for 6 years or so. I don’t like to wear it usually, but wanted to carry more water and not have iodine flavored water all day. I also experimented with dehydrated food. I dehydrated some bananas, peaches, and instead of my usual “dateorade”, made it thicker and made fruit leather with it. The fruit leather was what fell out of my pack. I liked it a lot. I plan to make more and use it in the future. I’m going to work on portioning it, so I can keep track of calories better.
Sunday, July 6, 2014, 8:02 pm
6.3 mi 815 ft gain, 1:20:24. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
The plan was to do 10-15 miles on trails, but my ankle was sore from twisting it on Saturday. So, I took the dogs out for an easy run. Started slow to let the ankle loosen up. Legs weren’t at all sore, but a little heavy. Let the dogs play in Olney Creek. Headed up the hill towards Wallace Lake, but turned left in the clearcut. Stopped to pick and eat some huckleberries. The dogs found the remains of a predator killed grouse. Just wings, backbone and a couple feathers. Lots of scat along the roads. The ankle loosened up fine, but it will probably still be a few days before I get back to bigger climbs and technical trails.
Weekly totals
50.6 mi, 9h 23m, 11,031 ft gain
Only my second time over 50 miles in a week. Most vert in a week by about 300 ft.