To Burroughs We Go

Before the summer completely disappears myself, Sugarmama Shannon, CortO and KB decided to play hooky (ok, we were responsible and requested vacation days) and hit the hills mid-week.  Rainier is gorgeous yet extremely crowded so we decided to take advantage of the weekday mini-crowds and do a popular yet beautiful hike.

Some trailheads have no marking, some have an old wood slab on a post or a faded flag on a tree branch but at Rainier you get glossy, colorful maps.  We were NOT going to slum it today!

This was the view of Rainier from the parking lot.  We took full advantage of the flushing toilets at the trailheads AND the gift shop.  Thank goodness because the wind was in hyper mode so Sugarmama and CortO bought some matching fleece jackets to keep them warm.  I was just grateful that I didn't have to concentrate on not peeing on my leg in the woods.  It happens people.  It's nature.

Very early on in the hike Sugarmama was looking at Rainier silently and then this conversation commences:
*Sugarmama Shannon:  "What mountain is that?"
*US: "Uh......Rainier?"
*Sugarmama Shannon:  "No it's not."
*US:  "Yes it is!"
*Sugarmama Shannon: "hmm....we could climb that.  That's not that big."

And that ladies and gentleman, is trailhead summit fever, at it's best. 

I don't know what range you call this...I stared and stared at a map of Rainier and decided just to let it tell you itself.  The clouds rolling over the ridge was breathtaking.  Take a breath.....

  Dangit.  This is going to bug me - Tamanos Mountain?  Governor's Ridge?  I need to know.  Who knows the answer?  I'll have Schmuck bake you something if you can give me the correct answer. 

We decided to do Burroughs Mountain and spoil ourself with views for the rest of the day.  There was only a couple of places where snow was on the trail that was easy to navigate.

If you click on this picture you'll see Sugarmama Shannon behind me with both arms stretched out to balance herself like she's taking a sobriety test.  ABC's are next.

First Burroughs - look at the effortless mountain man pose KB naturally strikes.  I tried for the rest of the day to duplicate that pose and failed.  Again and again - it's like he channels the hiking version of the Marlbaro Man every time.  I'm just not worthy! 

Little Tahoma Peak in the background - still some alpine flowers taking a stand this time of year.

And soon we were on top of Second Burroughs.  I guess I left out a picture but there were about 40 mountain goats at the basin below this - we had to hold Sugarmama back from running into their hooved arms - she loves them so much.  However being upwind from the goats really surrounded us with a certain stink.  We all silently questioned our grooming habits that morning (and each others) and resolved it was from the stinking goats.  You stink goats!

So here is my first fail with KB trying to duplicate his mountain man pose.  See his relaxed form.  See my non-relaxed form.  It's like I'm waiting for my mountainous red carpet.  FAIL.

I had no idea that ET and Elliot still hang out and I'm so grateful because they made for a very good photo.  Among the clouds in the distance is our office building - sucks to be them! 

CortO instructing Sugarmama and myself in our Burroughs photo shoot. 

So after ET and Elliot departed for the day we took over this rocky bench with our Heiniekens and took in the views.  KB's eagle eyes spotted some climbers on Rainier and we all took turns marveling at these distant strangers with binoculars. I consulted with my unofficial Mountain Expert BMount and he confirmed that we were looking at Interglacier which contains the route to Camp Schurman on the other side (the triangle shaped glacier above our heads).  He swore to me it's not easy to tumble down it's face which I'm still not convinced of.  This is coming from a man who calls climbing Rainier a "snow slog."  Seriously folks. 

Cheers with our summit beer!  Thank you Heinieken for hosting such a great summit for us!

KB in the distance in a reflective moment - take note another effortless mountain man pose.  Beyond him is the Third Burroughs - "Should we do it?" - it was a hard decision to make.  Eventually we resolved we had taken our time on the way up and shouldn't extend our day with the Third Burroughs... especially on a school night.  So I am coming back for you Winthrop Glacier!  I heard you are quite the sight!

KB with his Heine.  And his pose. 

Here I thought I was channeling Captain Morgan with CortO as my hand rest but all I really got out of it was showing how my sports bra works overtime.  So much to learn from KB...so much. 

Sugarmama Shannon and I descending Second Burroughs:

Sugarmama Shannon:  "I want to go pet the goats!"

Krista:  "Why do you love evil goats?  I think you were a goat in your previous life."

Sugarmama Shannon:  "I'm a Capricorn ya know (makes sense)....can I please go pet the goats!?"

Descending First Burroughs - I believe that's Goat Island Mountain in the background.  A place where they plot and plan, get stinky and beckon Shannon to convert to their dark side.

Why didn't I pay better attention in school?  Nature is AWESOME.  To the right you have the base of Emmons Glacier where White River is born.  You also have a striking turquoise lake which, thanks to Ranger Punches, now I know why it's so turquoise.  It has to do with the glacial rock in the lake and how it reflects the sun.  Amazing.  Thanks Nature.  I thought you were dishwasher soap at first glance.

Some flowers showing their goods on our descent from the subalpine.

Shadow Lake, why oh why can't we jump in?  My forehead is burnt and I just want to jump in.  Sugarmama Shannon in reflection accepting the signage telling us "no swimming, no fishing".  BOO.  I didn't ask Ranger Punches what was up with that one.  I'll let it slide this time.

And back at the parking lot KB introduced CortO and myself to the tradition of parking lot beer - I liked it!  I really think I should adopt this new tradition!  Thanks Sugarmama for driving! 

Speaking of Unique:  How do you scare a unique marmot?  Unique up on it!  But seriously, we saw some unique marmots that were spliced with bears on this trail.  And I say that because from a distance half of us thought they were bears and the other half thought they were marmots.  Only nature knows for sure....

Summer Summit

So this past weekend was stinking hot so to cool down Katers and I did a quick hike under the cool canopy of the forest to an alpine lake that I was just itching to jump in!

I love when it gets hot in Washington (90s) and it becomes breaking news every 30 minutes.  "How long will it last?  Did we break a record?  Here's a list of cooling centers.  When will the cooler temperatures come back? Danger, Danger, Danger why is the sun trying to kill us?"  And it goes on and on.  Were such weather wimps.  But I still love you Washington.

Katers at the trailhead of Summit Lake.

This was a moderate hike and not too long - a perfect distance since this was Katers first hike since she almost met her maker.

This is where the trail split.  We were headed to Summit Lake but I had this big idea that on the way back down we could try to Bearhead Trail.  I have a lot of big ideas that don't seem to come to fruition.

I loved this little trail split lake (Twin Lake without a twin) - it had a lot of fishies jumping up and swirling around.  Never gets old except when the dang biting flys are devouring you.

Some people carry 10 essential, Katers carries 30.

At last we arrived at Summit Lake but before I could swim I had to convince Katers that we HAD to hike to the summit above it.  This is when Katers informs me she has to be in her lazy boy by 6pm otherwise the universe tilts.  So...did you guys feel the tilt?

We did this hike past the peak of the wildflowers but thankfully there were still some left on the trail gasping their last breaths and greeting us.  AND I just learned that the white ones are called Cows Parsnip (thanks KB!)

Almost to the summit - damn I love Washington.

Can you literally hear this lake calling you to come and jump in it?  I almost had reverse summit fever and felt like I could run and cherry bomb straight into this lake but then I got distracted by....

...shirtless sunbathing men!  Can I please have more of that on my hikes?  I've said this before and I'll say it again:  God love the men who go outside and frolic in nature, sans shirt, in lieu of staying indoors on beautiful days.  You do your Mother's proud and I thank you.

A shot of my feet off the cliffside for Andrea.

Summit Beer time!  My last Dude Beer went down well.  My favorite part here is when Katers asks me "Is it illegal to do this?"  I couldn't stop laughing.  For those of you who know her you know why that is funny.  Between the two of us who should really know the answer to that question?

To the crazy mountain man out there considering attacking Katers on the trail:  Don't do it.  She'll chop you, decapitate you, spit on you, quarter you and then do it all over again for good measure. 

On the way down Katers sacrificed her recliner deadline to let me jump into the lake and cool off.  The lake was soooo stinking clear!  And cold but I've had colder.

And the perfect way to end - floating on my back.  What I love about floating on my back is that you can't hear a darn thing, you close your eyes and just let the water take you away.  Preferably not next to crazy mountain men lurking behind trees but next to the shirtless sunbathing men. 

Anyway - it's perfect water meditation - I don't do it enough.

And I'm late on the breaking news but Sugarmama Shannon, Corto and myself were able to crank out a half-marathon.  My first since my injury and my leg held up ok!  Congrats to CortO on his FIRST half-marathon - it's nice to say that Shannon and I deuced him.  He swares he'll never do another one but that's what they all say - they all come back eventually....

The Perfect Rock

Big D and I decided to do a moderate hike by the name of Cathedral Rock and everything about the day was just perfect.  Her and I must of said "This is the perfect day" a million times.  Boyfriend Ben let us borrow the truck which was perfect for the forest service road we had to take to the Alpine Lakes trailhead outside of Cle Elum.  We were able to find our summit beers no problem and the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  Perfect.

I should of taken pictures of all the meadows that we were driving thru on our way to the trailhead.  At the start of our hike we were greeted with this flower-less meadow.  Still pretty.

Hello Cle Elum River.  I'm sure I'll be dipping my swollen feet in you later.

After crossing this cedar bridge we slowly made our way up the lazy switchbacks to our destination.

Big D in the woods.  Ah yes, this is us in our true element.  Big D just got a new job and returned from a short vacation in California so the woods got to hear all our catching up that we had to do.

The way to Cathedral Rock is part of the Pacific Crest Trail but I was curious about this side trail to Michael Lake.  Before Big D and I set off I met some fellas in the parking lot who told me they took this trail.  "Where abouts did it lead?"  I asked one of them.  He pointed at a high rock to the left of the horizon.  "I like the way you hike man!" was my response.  I myself like pointing at high peaks to say "I've been there".  Usually it's at the base of peaks because this girl does not know how to scramble or mountain climb.  Ironically Cathedral Rock is a rock climber's destination (at least according to the hiking book).

About halfway up we passed by Squaw Lake.  We said a quick hello and decided we were definitely going to wade in it later.  See you soon Squaw!

Remember my run in with goats in the earlier hike?  I still have a cut on my calf from them.  Ok, not from the goats but I'm sure they made me slip and fall on that rock with their minds.  I just think goats are up to no good.  They stare at your with their beady eyes and silently plot your demise. 

Soon we made our way to the ridgeline where the views opened up and the tarns guarded the fragile meadows. 

Drafting while hiking.

This is Cathedral Rock!  So as I mentioned before we'll be hiking to the base of it until I learn how to climb like spiderman. 

Who needs an outdoor pool when you have lakes with views like this?

According to the book this fork was kind of our end destination.  Although the trail kept on going since it was part of the Pacific Crest Trail.  As Big D and I contemplated where the heck we would enjoy our summit beers a hiker emerged from the woods fresh from an outdoor shower and encouraged us to go to the other side of the ridge for a good view.  Ok.

Man oh man I'm glad we listened to him because this view was AMAZING.  Simply amazing.  The perfect day.

The view even almost perfectly matches up with Big D's summit beer!

I don't think pictures do our view justice so I included a video which includes Big D's beer slam.  Oh, and by the way, the answer is Daniel's Mountain. Or Mount Daniels.  I think.

Summit Beer drinking commences.

Here Deer!

On the way down as Big D and I excitedly anticipated our soon to be consumed burger and beer at The Brick we took a break to soak our legs in Squaw Lake.  I heavily considered doing an all out jump into the lake like usual but decided against it since no one dared me and I didn't want to be cold at The Brick.

Thanks Lake!

A quick photo of the sun setting as we may our way out of the woods blasting Beastie Boys on Boyfriend Ben's stereo. 

And for those of you wondering why we consider The Brick so phallic just look at their sign.  I'm not a pervert.  And they sell shirts with this symbol smack dab in the middle.  If I wore that shirt...now...don't make me say what that would look like.

Regardless, thank you Cathedral Rock, PCT, Rainier Beer, Big D and The Brick for a perfect day!