Its been awhile since I last blogged. With the job change, and a cooler and wetter winter and spring, my hikes have been limited to Rattlesnake Ledge and the John Wayne Trail to Twin Falls. We’re finally getting some sunnier and warmer weather, and I could see a decent Saturday approaching, so on Friday while at work I planned to head east to Cle Elum and the Teanaway area.
Saturday I got up a 430 as I planned to be on the road promptly at 6. Everything was timing right, until the truck wouldn’t start. Dead battery. Aggravating. I put my charger on it in START mode and it started up. First thought was “do I hike?”, then “not until you replace the battery”. I wasn’t about to drive miles into the woods and risk not starting again at a trailhead. Nothing would be open in North Bend until 8, so I decided since it was running I would get over to Cle Elum and find either a Les Schwab or a Napa store. I got there about 730 and no Les Schwab. There was a Shell station with a garage open but they didn’t have a battery for my vehicle. I then found a Napa and had to wait about 15 minutes until 8 when they opened. They did have what I needed and gave me some tools to swap it out. It was 845 when I finished and washed up and I got back on the road to the trail. When I got there, the parking lot was nearly full, and I got what appeared to be the last open space, forcing any further hikers to leave their cars on the road. So while I had hoped to start hiking about 730, it all worked out okay.
It was 915 when I started on trail 1394, the Esmerelda Basin trail. I’ve been on Iron Peak, Ingalls Lake, and Longs Pass trails in this area numerous times, but this one was my first time. The weather was clear and quite cool but not too cool. It remained cool thru out the 2.5 hours to Lake Ann. I sat on a nice rock enjoying the view, eating my lunch, and taking a few pictures.
There were only maybe two dozen other hikers I saw throughout the day. Not too many considering the many cars, but then there are numerous other trails to choose from. This trail was a wonderful choice. The first 1/2 mile and the last mile are rather rocky and steep. But everything in between was moderately easy going, with enough trees to provide some shady areas. I didn’t need much shade in the morning on the way up, it was still cool. Coming down, it got warmer and warmer the lower I got, but couldn’t have been much over 80 if any. A most comfortable temperature.
As you can see from the pics there was still some spots of snow in the upper elevations. Nothing that couldn’t be crossed easily, but enough that there were numerous creeks to cross both ways. My waterproof boots allowed me to just walk right thru all of them and not worry or slow down to step on rocks or logs. That was fine for most of the day, but I decided nearly back to the trailhead to test them and just stand in several inches of flowing water. One boot was fine, but the other definately leaked. When I removed my boots and socks at the truck, they were thoroughly wet. So for whatever reason, the goretex lining didn’t do its job. They may just need a good cleaning and waterproofing treatment. If that doesn’t do it, I’ll take them back to REI
Not having done a whole lot of good out-of-North Bend hikes, this one being in higher elevations wore me out. I was very tired getting back to the trailhead, and so tired at the end of the day I was in bed before 8. But it was all worth it!