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.

 

Great Sedro-Woolley Foot Race

I'm not sure how many times I've done this race, but I found a ribbon last week from 2003. I'm guessing that's the first time, and then probably two out of every three years since then.

This year's event was a bit overcast. Excellent running weather, as a finisher exclaimed to me afterwards. As usual, I did the 5.17 mile circuit, as opposed to the 2 miler. Lots of characters dressed up in red, white, and blue. Streets lined with chairs, for the subsequent parade.

I wasn't too happy with my running, but I know I've been slower. 52:20 or so, so 10 minutes per mile, more or less. My lower back is tight, perhaps from years of sitting in a chair at the office, perhaps due to core and weight. I also started a ways back, while conversing with friends, which made for a scramble through strollers and little kids as the race took off.

This is a really fun race, for the smiles and enthusiasm everyone brings. A democratic affair in a republican town, with persons of all fitness levels representing. Great to see all my friends from Skagit Runners, and great appreciation for the volunteers of Woolley, who make this happen, year in, year out.

Happy 4th of July! 

March Point Half Marathon

I ran the March Point Half Marathon on Saturday. I've done the 10k a number of times, but this was my first time in the Half....and I liked it a lot.

The course starts at the Marathon Refinery, circles March Point, and then does an out and back on the Tommy Thompson Trail to Anacortes. A large part of the route is either next to or over salt water. I saw a family of seals, a big eagle, and a lot of smiling volunteers.  

I'm near ashamed to say that I've never been on the Tommy Thomson trail. This is a trestle trail, pictured above, over water. It crosses what appears to be an estuary, and then continues along the shore into Anacortes. The turnaround point is somewhere by Cap Sante Marina. 

The half marathon had about 50 participants. I like races small with big views, and that's what I got. Affordable price, with a barbq at the finish. I am a fan.

I finished in 2:30, with not a lot of people behind me. I could've gone a little faster, but wanted to have some energy for other activities this weekend.  Hopefully I build from this. It was a good way to spend Saturday morning.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this on. Events like this are great to have around.

Packrafting the Sauk

I tried my hand and paddle at packrafting this past weekend. The people were cool, the setting was gorgeous, and I am not yet good at packrafting.

I had never heard of packrafting until my good friend Seth told me about it. Basically, it involves small individual rafts, which are designed to navigate anything from remote mountain lakes to class IV+ rapids. I think the general idea is the raft is packable, so you can get it far into the backcountry. However, many of the rafts are also designed to act as packs, kind of like kayaks, where you can carry anything you want. I've seen pictures of people floating with bicycles on their bow. More info available at https://packraft.org/.

Our goal for Saturday was to packraft two sections of the Sauk River, which is a tributary of the Skagit, in the Glacier Peak area. It is a beautiful river, clear as can be, full of rounded river rock as the picture above shows. It is not really that wide, but it has a down-slope gradient, and water can move through it sometimes. We had pretty good weather--a bit of rain, and the water flow wasn't that high.

We were with a great group of people--very experienced, with lots of extra equipment, which they were generous to lend. I was really impressed by everyone's disposition and attitude. I rented a drysuit from Yeager's in Bellingham (who were helpful), and was geared up like a NASCAR driver.

I was a disaster on the water, pinwheeling down the river right from the start. It is kind of funny in retrospect--at least I can laugh, now on terra firma. I didn't really know my boat, and the current wasn't idyllic--not anything really tough by any means--but not idyllic. It was a rush, for sure, bouncing through rocks.Very different from kayaking, canoeing, and even rafting with others.

I learned a lot about hydrology, first hand, fast. I learned what a "hole" is, when my boat got sucked into a small one. Someone in our group bounced me out, thank you. I learned about eddies, and the way a river moves around bends. I learned about strainers, and the hazard that wood and trees can present. I got hung up on a tree, and then a rock, and then took a spill where I had a hard time righting my feet in the appropriate crash position.

I called it a day, early, for my own safety and for the good of everyone else. I was whupped, and it was unquestionably the right decision. This necessitated another small adventure, which Seth graciously joined me in: bushwacking from the river to the road. Fortunately, that didn't turn out to be too hard, and we were back to the beautiful Bedal Campground in short order. I'm glad the option was available; remote river runs don't always afford easy exits.

I expect we'll probably try packrafting again, but on calmer waters, maybe down the Skagit. Even if I never go near a river, I see great potential for new fun using packrafts in high alpine lakes.

All in all, a great adventure, despite my inabilities.

Gettysburg and Arlington

Sadly, my father passed away this year. Dad, a U.S. Marine, had the honor of having his ashes interred at Arlington National Cemetery. For this solemn occasion, we first visited Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, followed by a service and memorial at Arlington. Here are a few pictures, for the memory. Dad was the best, and is greatly missed.

Big Island

I'm running behind, but running on. We went to the Big Island a few weeks ago to celebrate five years. I walked every morning, and ran a bit, but it was really a vacation--and a terrific one at that. We went to our first luau, in Kona. We drove to Hilo for the Merrie Monarch Festival, the Hawaiian Islands celebration of all things hula. A visit to the Tsunami Museum, of all places. We went to the top of the island, to Hawi and the Pololu Valley Lookout, pictured below. The Sweet Potato Kitchen was sweet. We toured a chocolate farm, in addition to visiting fruit stands and coffee farms. We watched eight sunsets over water, and left longing for more.
 

Pololu Lookout

Hilo Farmers Market

 

Buried pig, unbured pig, at the Luau

Chocolate Pods

King Kamahala Statue - near Hawi

The Painted Church

Chuckanut 50k

On the last weekend of winter, I was able to get at least one more shot at snow at the Chuckanut 50k. Concerns were high in advance, as the Chuckanuts were holding snow and ice for the last few weeks. RD extraodinaire Krissy opened things up with an early start and moved the cutoffs back by an hour, and I needed all of that time to get the course done. So, rough day out there, but a beautiful day and lots of friends sighted.

I ran my first Chuckanut in 2004. I remember signing up the year or two before that, and backing out. The distance seemed overwhelming. I ran into a few runners beforehand, from out of town, who were making this their first 50k, as so many have. It's been several years though since I last ran C-nut, though I'm up on these trails all the time.

The trails were fine until Cleator Road. As the picture above shows, snow presented somewhere up on the climb. There was a bit of a boot track, with mud spots, which made it not so bad. Much easier than a couple weeks ago, when I was marching around up there. The ridge was pretty clear--no latent ice. The third aid station was moved to the junction at Dan's Traverse, run by Doug, race founder and all around good guy. Snow on the back side, slushy.

I got passed by everyone. It became a little amusing the things people called me:  Sir (?), Bro, Brother, Chief, Boss...  I was basically doing the long walk, with intermittent jogging. I felt stiff, and I made a dozen rookie mistakes in gear, prep, etc. Familiarity may do you in. More training would help, of course. Maybe I can use the experience to learn from, although right now as I ache I'm looking forward to an old fashioned 10k.

Friends were everywhere, volunteering. Krissy as RD, of course--great job, all around. So many smiles. Dean, Terry, and Kevin at AS 1. Adam at AS 2. Doug at AS 3. After that, things went foggy for me. Actually, Glenn on Chinscraper. Great to see Dean and Terry again at AS 5. Terry was all business, warning me about cutoffs. Dean was cracking jokes. Gretchen and Kevin at the end, helping out. Good peeps, these. Thanks to all that made it happen.

The course seems to change slightly year to year. This year there was a brief detour through the 100 Acre Woods to the finish line. Aid stations were moved. Most notably--and maybe this has been the case for years--the final descent was on the Fragrance Lake trail and the last aid station was at that gate.

Views were great from up high.