Monday, June 29, 2015, 7:36 pm

9.14 mi, 2154 ft gain, 1:40:30. Woody trail, Upper Falls (31), Upper grade, Detour, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #2.

I’m still behind on writing these, and I don’t remember specifics. It’s a pretty good time, though.

Average HR 148 bpm.

 

Tuesday, June 30, 2015, 7:39 pm

11.13 mi, 2053 ft gain, 2:08:32. Through town to Upper Falls (32), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

I remember that it was kind of hot. I only took one handheld water bottle. I refilled at the trailhead on the way in and out.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2015, 7:33 pm

6.88 mi, 1917 ft gain, 1:23:44. Upper Falls (33) via RR grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

I wanted to go longer than just up the Woody trail and back, but not as long as a full loop. I took the RR grade up then went down the short connecting trail to the Woody trail and continued to the Upper Falls. I went back the same way.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Thursday, July 2, 2015, 7:55 pm

4.27 mi, 938 ft gain, 1:03:30. Reiter gate #3, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

More cars at the first gate. Decided to go to the third gate instead of the second. The trail from the second has become rather overgrown with grass and a few blackberry vines.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Friday, July 3, 2015, 7:27 pm

11.68 mi, 2178 ft gain, 2:16:35. Woody to Upper Falls (34), Upper Grade to Wallace Lake, DNR rd to RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

An extended loop. I felt like going longer, so rather than turning onto the Greg Ball trail, I kept going on the DNR rd down to the bike path connector, then the RR grade.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Saturday, July 4, 2015, 4:16 pm

12.74 mi, 4191 ft gain, 3:42:19. Tunnel Creek to PCT to Trap Pass to Thunder Mountain Lakes, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

I had just seen a couple trail reports about the Thunder Mountain lakes and decided to check it out. I’m so glad I did.

The Tunnel creek trail is fairly steep. I wasn’t worried about time, other than not really wanting to run in the dark, so I did more hiking than I would have otherwise. It was good practice for Cascade Crest 100, and I wanted to save some energy for tomorrow.

I got to the junction with the PCT a little faster than I expected. I ran part of this portion of the PCT last year. Back then I turned around before getting to Trap Lake.

Running on the PCT was great. It was rolling, and the climbs weren’t too steep. Once to Trap Lake, the climbs got a little steeper.

At Trap Pass, there’s a boot path (not an official trail) heading up the ridge line. It’s quite steep in places and not much of it is actually runnable. It’s fairly easy to follow, though. There are some very rocky parts that involve a little boulder scrambling, but nothing too technical or exposed. There were cairns to mark the way, but they were occasionally hard to spot.

Any difficulty getting there was absolutely worth it. There are several craggy peaks and subpeaks along the ridge and around the lakes. The lakes themselves are gorgeous. It’s a high rocky basin with beautiful aqua-blue water.

I chatted with a couple guys who were camping. There were about 5 small groups camping up there. I guess other people saw the recent trip reports as well. I refilled my water at the first lake and headed down.

It was a little easier going back down the boot path than I thought it would be. The rest of the trails back to the car were just fine.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Sunday, July 5, 2015, 4:44 pm

17.5 mi, 4268 ft gain, 4:40:40. East Fork Foss River to Necklace Valley, Jade Lake, Emerald Lake, Opal Lake, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.

The plan was to go up the Necklace Valley as far as possible in the time I had, possibly up to the La Bohn lakes. I didn’t have enough time, though.

I’ve been up to Jade Lake before. And I’ve been up to the bridge over the East Fork Foss before that as well. I knew the trail on the East Fork Foss section of trail very well. Most of it is rather boring, and way more so on the way out.

There was part of the trail that was a little overgrown and had a bit of stinging nettles. I definitely felt the nettles, but it really only lasted maybe 5 minutes after I finished passing through.

The climb up after the river was fun. I hiked much more of it than I did last year, and I still beat my time up handily.

The lakes were all pretty low. Last time I was at Jade Lake, the water was over part of the trail along the shore. It wasn’t even close this time. I ate a little at Jade Lake and took some photos, then continued up the valley.

I came across an old cabin, the Necklace Cabin. It was built in 1950, dedicated to Jack Streeter, a WW2 soldier. It’s seen better days, but it’s still standing.

Emerald Lake was absolutely gorgeous. I went down to the water and refilled my hydration pack. The bugs were thick, swarming around me whenever I’d stop moving. I tried not to stay in one spot for more than a few seconds at a time.

I continued up the valley looking for the next lake. I went right past it. Opal Lake was so low, the lake bed is mostly just grass land. That made it pretty easy to miss, since the trail doesn’t go right along it. I ended up finding my way down to what would have been the shore, but was really just the edge of the grass.

I figured it was about time to turn back to make it back to the car before dark. The descent down the steep trail to the river was mostly fun. The return trip along the river trail was not so much. I probably should have pulled out my headlamp for about the last mile. I ended up rolling both ankles. My right ankle was ok. My left ankle was sore for several days afterwards.

I’d still like to go back sometime to make it farther up the valley and maybe up Mt. Hinman as well. It might be a while, though.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 73.3 mi, 17,700 ft elevation gain.