The weather has been too poor the past 4 weeks to enjoy a good hike, and after last weeks rain storms, Saturday was finally and actually a great weather day. Temps in the 50’s, nearly 60. Bright but not fully sunny, a light very high cloud filter, too bright to look at and enough sun for some warmth.
I decided to do Rattlesnake mountain again, as I wanted some length, and 10+ miles is good for that. I parked the truck up at Snoqualmie Point near the new casino, and had Wendy drop me off at Rattlesnake Lake. It was a reverse hike from the last two times I did it, much steeper and harder the first 4 miles, then gradual decline the rest of the way. I started off about 9:30 am with surprisingly few people heading up to the ledge for that time of day on a nice one. Since it was more than 2 weeks since my last hike, I really felt out of shape with the first 4 miles, albeit steep, winding me pretty good. After my first break at about the 4 mile point, I got my wind back and had no further trouble from there.
Each of the possible viewpoint rest stops for possible lunchbreak were full with people. THAT surprised me. Few people at the ledge, but quite busy on the mountain. Because I had snacks to eat while I walked, I wasn’t particularly hungry at those rest stops so rather than hang around waiting for space to clear to sit on a bench, I just kept going. It was about 2 miles from the end that I finally parked myself on a flat rock in a clearing under some powerlines and ate my sandwich and apple. My feet were very sore by that time 8 miles in, and a rest felt good. I rested for about 20 minutes. A number of the other people at the previous viewpoints headed down and passed by while I was eating.
There were slight traces of snow in dark areas along the top of the mountain, as most of the mountaintops in the area had some fresh snow on top. But the rain and sun won’t let much of that last long. Everything was very damp so there were lots of varying mushrooms along the trail most of the way. I’m guessing they aren’t edible or they would’ve been picked already.
I got back to the car at 2:30, so just about 5 hours total. Getting off my feet and out of my boots felt good. Its a good kind of tired feeling. When I got home, I still did have enough energy to blow the leaves off the driveway, and wash the truck. Only after that, when it started to get dark out, did I sit down with a beer to relax and reflect.