06/04/03 Hiking Eastside Trail to Deer Camp(12.4 miles round trip):
Upper 40's and brilliant sunshine at 8:20 at the Grove of the Patriarchs. The Grove is a 1/2 mile nature trail thru some giant red cedar trees growing up to 200 feet and living 1000 years. The Eastside Trailhead is .4 miles down the Grove trail.
Actually I thought I was going to Silver Falls from a different direction. I did see a sign for Silver Falls but now can't remember where. The Eastside Trail follows the Ohanapecosh River northward although for most of the trail to Deer Camp, the river can be heard but not seen. A fairly gentle incline most of the way had the ol' hamstrings doing a bit of groaning.
20 minutes brought me to the first of several water falls along the way, followed by a second in another 20 minutes and a third 20 minutes later. These were all creeks crossing the trail. This was followed by two large waterfalls on the Ohanapecosh River with bridges crossing both falls. I got to Deer Camp in 2.5 hours or so.
Saw lots of elk droppings and some what I took to be cougar scat. Also several hairballs coughed up by somebody. The only wildlife I actually saw was a pair of squirrels locked in the throes of ecstasy. Well maybe not. The female (on the bottom) scurried away with the male still on top of her. The male was either too wrapped up in what he was doing or she clamped down and locked onto him so he couldn't escape on his own.
06/05/03 Hiking Wonderland Trail north to Maple Camp (4.2 miles round trip):
Another gorgeous day, 60's at 9am and more bright sunshine. I dunno how they're gonna maintain a rain forest without any rain. Picked up the Wonderland Trail just west of the tunnel after the Box Canyon parking area. The trail dropped several hundred feet over the first 1.1 miles. This brought me to Stevens Creek and a nice set of waterfalls above and below the bridge. A sign said there was a scenic river view .2 miles above which turned out to be the falls I had hiked to the other day.
Continued on a more level trail another mile to Maple Camp located on, duh, Maple Creek. I was interested in finding Maple Falls but a couple was camped there and the woman seemed quite timid so I left them be and turned back. Poked around and just sat around the falls for an hour just enjoying the view.
Temperatures were way up in the 70's so I thought I'd gain a little altitude by driving up to Paradise at the base of Mount Rainier. A lot of snow melting took place over the previous couple of days. You could see the difference on the peaks and ridges with all the bare spots. The roadside lakes were showing water where before they were completely iced over and covered with snow.
Got up to Paradise and the scenic road back down the far side was closed. Probably due to avalanches or the threat of them. Very steep slopes rise up hundreds of feet and they're thick with snow. I guess I was lucky I took the drive when I did. At that time the uphill slopes had 6-8 feet of snow or more. I guess with snow melting things could easily break down and bring the whole slope down on the road and whomever might be passing by at the time.
06/06/03 Hiking Wonderland Trail south to Maple Camp (5.4 miles round trip):
Bright sun and 60's again at 9am. I'm beginning to think I'm in Arizona or some other desert country with all this sun and not in a rain forest. Drove up a couple of miles from yesterday's trailhead. This time I knew for sure I would have a much steeper drop from the trailhead. TopoUSA shows a 700 foot drop in about 1/2 mile to Martha Falls. This is a 40 foot falls starting out at about 8 feet wide at the top, dropping straight down but spreading out to about 20 feet at the bottom.
The trail continues downward another 600 feet before arriving at Maple Camp again. About half way to the camp another waterfalls drops 40-50 feet on Stevens Creek. This falls also starts out at about 8 feet wide at the top, drops straight down and spreads to 25-30 feet at the bottom.
The same couple was still camped at Maple Creek. I went past the campsites, hoping for some sort of trail to Maple Falls but no luck. I suspect it may be that falls way up on the slopes. I got to Maple Camp in about 1.25 hours. I knew going back would be a lot slower.
I stopped off at the Stevens Creek falls and just hung out for 30 minutes or so daydreaming, letting my mind go where ever it wanted and enjoying the sight and sound of the falls. Did the same thing at Martha Falls. No hurry, no worry, no fuss.
Trudging back up to the trailhead gave me time to enjoy a couple of good views of Mount Rainier and the surrounding peaks and ridges. Lots of snow has disappeared but lots remain to present great views.
06/07/03:
Happy Birthday to me... left the lights on and the battery went dead... Happy Birthday to me.
Another gorgeous day. Decided to give the legs a little rest and took the day off. Drove up to the Carbon River/Mowich Lake area up in the northwest section of the park. Had to go all the way up WA-410 past Enumcraw and then back down WA-165.
Stopped off at Chenuis Falls. This is a pretty, cascading type falls dropping 150-200 feet altogether. Isput Campground up here has no fee. That, combined with a fairly easy hike to the bottom of a glacier and great weather made things kinda congested on a weekend. I have a campsite and will do the Carbon Glacier Trail tomorrow. Happy Birthday Dear Meeeee...
06/08/03 Hiking Carbon Glacier Trail (7 miles round trip):
More of that good old sunshine. Someone on the tail told me this is really unusual for around here. Picked up the trailhead at the parking area past Ipsut Campground. The trail gains 1000 feet but mostly in gradual inclines as it follows alongside the Carbon River. This is a pukey cream or light beige colored river 20-30 feet wide most of the way but Class II-III most of the way. Big giant strainers too with log jams along the way.
A quick peak at Mount Rainier about the 2 mile mark and then a real nice cascading falls dropping more than 150 feet. Lots of moss covered rocks and boulders and a hewn log bridge make for some nice photos. 100 yards farther is a long, narrow suspension bridge. Only one person is allowed on the bridge at a time because it bounces and sways back and forth to that person's rhythm. Quite an interesting experience.
As I approached the Carbon Glacier viewing spot I started mumbling to myself that the glacier had melted and they hadn't updated their hiking handouts. Nothing but a big brown spot where I expected lots of white ice. The glacier is there though, under all that brown. I dunno if the last eruption covered the glacier with dirt, stones and rocks or not but the top of the glacier is covered with it.
The trail turns sharply upwards from the viewing point. As I climbed up and got a different angle from the sun I could see the white of the ice a lot better. Carbon Glacier is at least 50 feet thick at its thinnest, about 150 feet wide and 1/4 mile long, at least as far as I could see. Several creeks flow out from under it forming a couple of caves, one of which had collapsed.
The summit of Mount Rainier sits way above this glacier. I followed the steep trail another mile or so until my legs gave out and then started back. As can be expected, I passed many, many people on the way.