Sourdough Mountain

 

Craig and I went up and over Sourdough Mountain on Saturday. It is a personal favorite for each of us. Part of the North Cascades National Park. Hard—over 5000 feet of climbing in about 6 miles.  The first mile or two is really a grind.  But at about mile 3, you cross a mountain creek, the trees thin, and soon you’re on an open mountainside, with wildflowers all around, and crisp views of the aquamarine Diablo Lake, below. That's Diablo, above.

I like the workout. You know its going to be a huff. Everything feels earned, and then the payoff is worth the effort, especially on a clear day like we had.

On top, there are 360 degree views of the North Cascades---the Picketts, Hozomeen and Desolation, Jack Mountain, Colonial, and countless peaks I can’t name. Craig could. He writes guidebooks and outdoors articles, and is really knowledgeable in all things trail. Check out his 100 Classic Hikes of Washington, which includes Sourdough. A beautiful book, among many he has written. So, besides  chatting, he also pointed out a number of things I didn’t know. E.g. Pierce Mountain is not named after Franklin Pierce, but rather an early surveyor.  

360 degrees doesn't really capture it. That's just two dimensions, this so much more. Unobsructed views says it a bit better.

The day was perfect. HD skies for miles and miles. It seems the snowfields melted earlier this year—disturbing, with all the news of climate change. On the day, I saw a marmot, a couple toads and a turkey.

We went down the Pierce Mountain side.  I’ve done this once before. On a July in Saturday, we saw no one. No one. The Pierce Mountain campsite looked like a great place to spend a quiet night.

On the way down, we spied the Desolation Mountain Lookout, far up Ross Lake, sun reflecting off its roof. The Pierce Mountain trail is a bit rough and overgrown, especially through a burn section. It'd be tough after a recent rain. Most notable to me was the lack of water—dry times, all the way back to the car. The beauty of going down this side was the slower pitch through open field of heather, with long views. I expected to see a bear or two, but alas. Navigation wasn't an issue as cairns were well placed, but I had a bit more trouble once, when there was more snow. Once you reach the trees, the trail is readily identifiable, but before that, caution is warranted, as it wouldn't be too hard to drift away from the trail.

A whole loop can been done, but we opted to park a car at Ross Dam, and one at Diablo, saving us the final 5 or 6 miles. We still had a well-earned 15 miles for the day. My right foot wasn’t all that cooperative, rolling as it does once or twice on the way down. 

A magnificent day.

 

The Great Sedro-Woolley Footrace

If it's the 4th of July, and I'm home, I'm probably toeing the line for the Great Sedro-Woolley Footrace. Its always good to see my local running friends, and the 5.17 mile course remains the same.  My times, however, seem to get slower every year.  This year I finished over 56 minutes.  I have ran this one in under 40 in earlier years.  Nonetheless, I was happy, as I could barely walk straight, when I started, because my quads and legs were a mess from hiking up and jogging down the steep Sourdough Mountain, two days before. The flip side is I was about 5 minutes slower than two years before.

Perspective.

Effort.

Smiles.

Sourdough Mountain

Mike and I went up Sourdough Mountain in the North Cascades this weekend. This was a redemption hike, as we tried to get up there a few years ago, but were stymied by snow.

We met in Mount Vernon around 6 AM, and I was greatly appreciative that Mike was up for leaving Seattle at 5 AM. It's great to make the trailhead before most. One reason Sourdough is a favorite of mine is it isn't too far of a drive from home--less than an hour and half.

The hike is tough. A really stiff climb for the first two miles, and it never really lets up. I think climb is 5000 feet in about 5.5 miles. There was snow at the top, but it was quite manageable, and added to the allure of the lookout. The lookout is well known, as one of the Beat poet lookouts, once giving summer residence to Gary Snyder and Phil Whaley.

The wildflowers are blooming. Columbine, Indian paintbrush, varieties of phlox, and other annual favorites. Now is the time to be up high. The views from the top were spectacular, with Hozomeen and the Pickets Range figuring prominently.

More people on trail than usual. It is the 4th of July weekend.

The biggest highlight was the bear we saw on the way down. The bear was feeding in field, tucked between a switchback. It was not moved by the clapping of hands, or the banging of sticks. It took a good five minutes to convince Mr. or Ms. Bear to move along, and then we seemed to chase down the trail for another 15 minutes, as Bear seemed happy to opt for trail over steep slope. Pretty special stuff.

I was slow going up. When I was in shape, I could do this climb in under three hours, but we took more than four hours. Mike is in shape, and so awesome in accommodating my slowness. We kept a steady, talking pace going up, making it a terrific day with a good friend, on trail. Coming down was tough on the quads. There was some running, albeit slow and stilted. Hopefully recovery is quick.

Sourdough Mountain

 

Mike and I made a go at Sourdough Mountain this morning, getting up to about 4400 feet before turning around due to snow.  Rainy morning, rain like a rain forest, where the rain is everywhere, but not pounding, with birds still chirping.  But lots of rain.  It was one of those days—rains all day, until you get back to the car.   

The first three miles up were as steep as ever, forcing me to catch my breath a number of times, but ultimately a very good climb.  It seems I don’t really have downhill muscles either these days.  It was a good workout—just what I needed.

We got an early start, leaving Mount Vernon at 6 AM, and were first to the trailhead, but we never saw anyone all day anyway.  I’m sure it’s possible to get up to the top now with the right equipment, but the trail looks to be about three weeks away still.

Stopped for honey in Marblemount, purchased on the honor system!, and then Annie’s flying chicken pizza in Concrete.  

For past reports about Sourdough Mountain, a favorite of mine, click here, here, or here. On a good day, the views from the top are some of the best around. It's also a mountain with some history.

Sourdough

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Early Saturday AM trip up to Sourdough Mountain, in Diablo. I did this one last year--it's good if you want a really steep five mile climb, with rocks in the trail and snow up the way. The views are amazing, and the wildflowers are rich. The good stuff. But it's hard--roughly 6000 feet of climb in 5 miles. Sounded perfect today, with sunny skies and coming off a long one last weekend. I wanted something sort of tough, but not too tough--semi-tough, and also to do a gear check in snow.
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There's a really cool fire lookout up top, but I didn't make it that far. I came to a big snowfield and I lost the trail. Try and try, but I couldn't find it. The snowfield was like walking in a slurpee, with the sun melting the snow and water flowing underneath. I did a couple crazy spinouts, and after 45 minutes I finally said enough is enough, I won't be a story. I saw a marmot! I tried my new yaktrax out--discounted in the summertime---but hard to say if they helped. I also gave my Spot satellite tracker another go, and it was more or less a failure once I got under the trees, but it showed where I parked. Oh well. My mule camelback worked pretty good. I drank untreated water. I also accidentally came across the black and white feature on my camera, and so I went with it.

Sourdough Mountain

I went up Sourdough Mountain this weekend, roughly 6000 feet above Diablo and Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park. It’s a bit more than 5 miles to the summit, but it’s a really tough climb, and not particularly runnable. It’s a screamer coming down—sort of sketchy with roots and cliffs, and I’m sure my quads will feel it tomorrow.
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The views from the top were amazing, jawbreakers, and I landed a really good day to be high in the sky, with all the cloud cover burning off by the time I got up there. Panoramic, the American Alps, Ross Lake, Jack Mountain, Mount Baker, and views all the way up into Canada. Wildflowers 101. I’m still looking at maps and field guides, trying to figure out everything I was looking at. There was heavy snowpack at the top, which was sort of fun—people probably haven’t been up there much this year. I was by far the first of the day, after leaving MV at 6 AM.
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It is possible to make a 20 mile loop out of this one, but I had difficulty finding the backside of the loop down to Ross---find the cairn!--and so I kept it safe and went back the way I came, from Diablo, after kicking around for an hour or more up top.
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Sourdough is a famous fire lookout. It is one of the very first of its type, and Gary Snyder, award winning poet, spent summers in the ‘50s doing the fire lookout thing, as did Philip Whalen. I know Snyder, not Whalen. Their experiences and old pictures of the lookout are available in a book published a few years ago, "Poets On Peaks." My father actually worked at Diablo in the early 1960s, while attending the UW, so I’m looking forward to telling him about this one. It’s good country.
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Here’s the National Park Service writeup:
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http://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/sourdough-mountain-trail.htm
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Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout

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Down valley a smoke haze
Three days heat, after five days rain
Pitch glows on the fir-cones
Across rocks and meadows
Swarms of new flies.
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I cannot remember things I once read
A few friends, but they are in cities.
Drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup
Looking down for miles
Through high still air.
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Gary Snyder