Rainy Lake

From Rainy Lake

Saturday, June 21st
Elevation gain: None
Length: 1 mile one way
Time taken: 20 minutes one way

If you happen to be traveling across the Cascade Mountains in the Washington state via highway 20, you will cross Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. At Rainy pass, a quarter mile off the road is a trail head for trails to Rainy Lake (1.0 mile). Parking payment is required at the trail head.

Its a paved trail running by the hill side. Even in this month of June, there is snow on the trail at several places along the way. The hike is fairly uneventful until the lake front suddenly presents itself with exquisite views of the high cliffs with snow capped peaks and walls surrounding the Rainy Lake adorned with waterfalls. It is a refreshing retreat for travelers crossing the mountains via Hwy-20.

At the lake front is a picnic spot with paved opening and benches. The trail continues from here with the option of a loop finally ending at the trail head. I headed back the way I came as I still had more traveling to do to get to my final destination of the Pearrygin State Park near Winthrop on the East side of the mountains.

From Rainy Lake

Granite Mountain

Saturday, June the 13th

Elevation gain 3800 ft

Trail length: 4.3 miles one way

Time taken: 2 hrs 45 mins way up and 2 hrs on way down.

It was a perfect weather to start with - bright and sunny. I was paging through my hiking book Beyond Mount Si trying to decide which trail to head too. After scaling the Mail Box peak a week ago, I was getting feeling confident of taking on one of the more difficult day hikes. There are many trails listed that are located between Mount Si and the Snoqualmie pass. However, most of them are marked to be good starting July. Then there is the Granite Mountain that is supposed to be good for the month of June and after. It is one of medium to hard difficulty level. Now I have my trail for the day.



After you exit I-90 East at #47 and turn left at the stop sign, you get a majestic view of the mountain. The trail head is about half mile away from here and a Northwest Forest Permit is required to park at the nice paved parking lot at the trail head. I saw a few NWF service personnel scouting the parking lot doing whatever they needed to do - possibly enforcing permits as well. The lot became quickly full and some folks parked by the roadside away from the parking lot too. Permit is also required for hiking this trail and the forms can be filled out for free at the starting point of the trail. The first half of the trail passes through forest tree rising steadily all the time and then opens up to fairly open sky with low shrubs all around. Starting here, nice views are available all the way to the top. By that time, the cloud covers increased to the point that I heard thunders and felt a few raindrops falling on my face. Despite possibility of lightnings, I figured the darker clouds were located further to the West and I decided to press on. The trail crossed two streams so far - on was frozen today and the other was flowing strong.

Soon after, the sky stopped thundering, and the trail started to disappears into snows before coming out of it for a short length. After playing hide and seek for a couple of times, it vanished for good underneath the snow pack that continued from the top all the way to here. The alternative to walking on the snow on a steeply climbing ridge line was to climb on all four on the rock scramble that ran parallel to the snow trail. After giving it a try for once, I reverted back to the snow route. The new trekking poles I purchased from REI came very handy to get a firm footing while climbing. I also improvised my steps by hitting the toe into the snow in order to get a firm foothold.

There is a lookout at the top, slightly to the South East off the peak. I rested there and ate my lunch while absorbing the breathtaking views all through all of 360 degrees of the horizon. There were several people already there; some were leaving while others were still arriving during my stay there. Soon I got on to my way back. I noticed other hikers using ice axes, very useful tool while climbing down a snow covered slope. I did not have one. So I improvised again by digging in the heel into the snow at every step to avoid skidding and sliding. But I realize I should get my next hiking gear - an ice axe, should I plan on hiking on a snowy trail like this.

With the fabulous excitement I got from this trip I should plan on coming back later in the season to see what the experience would be like in a warmer weather when all the snow is gone, .

Mail Box Peak

Sunday the June 7th, 2009
Elevation gain - 4000 ft
Trail length - 2.5 miles
Time taken - 2 hours on way up, 1.5 hours on way down.



I heard about this trail from a fellow hiker whom I met duringa a trip to the Tiger Mountains. Then a discussion with my colleague David, who is an avid hiker, albeit much more experienced, whetted my interest so much that I setout for this trail today.

While driving east on I-90 and getting closer to the exit for the trail head, a steady drizzle welcomed me. For a moment or two, I doubt in my mine about going ahead. But then shook it off and continued. Exit-34 leads to the parking lot where a NW forest pass is required for parking. It is a 10 minutes walk from there beyond the gated entry on a forest road to the trail head, where a warning sign cautions hikers this being a dangerous one. You can read the full text of this notice in the slide show.

The 2.5 mile trail ascends about 4000 ft. That is an average of 31% slope. That gives some idea about the levelo of difficulty associated with this trail. For some parts, it feels like a steep ramp, but more often than not, the trail is more like a staircase, or even like a ladder at some points. The difficulty of the Mt Si trail pales in comparison to this one. There two things I would definitely recommend any hiker to bring to this trail - company and a pair of trekking poles. The company will ease your time, the trekking poles will cushion your knees, specially while climbing down. It is a tough trail both on way up and down.

The trail starts through forests for the first hour and then the forest clears up. After 1.5 hours, I encountered the field of boulders that leads straight to the top. There is another option of taking the trail that goes around it over a large patch of snow. I went ahead with the boulder route and was on all four at some points along the way. By two hours I reached the top and there was the Mail Box! There were about 7 people already there. All along the route, I overtook 7 individuals or groups and one person overtook me. So I guess I was on the faster side of the average time needed for this hike.

I spent 20 minutes up there - eating my lunch, taking turn with other hikers to sign the book inside the mail box and taking a few pictures. Unfortunately, it was very foggy all around that prevented getting any significant views. I would consider this as an incentive to visit this peak one more time on a sunny day, for the view from here is vouched to be astoundingly beautiful.

On my way back, I followed the trail on the snow patch around the boulder field and was back at the trail head in about an hour and a half.

More links:
Seattle Pi Article
SummitPost.org
Attrition.ws