With Saturday the 13th likely going to be the last REALLY nice weekend of the summer, I opted to stay close to home but get some miles in and do an old favorite. Since Wendy had to open the store at 930, we left the house at 845, and headed up to drop the truck off at Snoqualmie Point trailhead, and she then shuttled me over to Rattlesnake Lake where I was hiking at 920. There were lots of people headed up to the Ledge and I was happy to get beyond them and higher up where there are fewer people and is much much quieter.
The sun was out and it was warming up fast, with a good breeze blowing. But as I got higher the tempurature was cooler(not too cool – just right for hiking) and less breeze. I was at the upper ledge at 1015, and there were people resting there and coming up fast behind me, so after another 200 yards, I pulled over to let them pass. I just kept my own steady pace, somewhat slow, but comfortable. A little while later, they stopped and I passed them, not to be seen again.
In two hours, at 1120, I arrived at the East Peak, the 4 mile mark. I pulled off the trail at the signed Windy Point, and found less of a view than my last time there, due to overgrowth of brush. It was so bad I almost couldn’t follow the short off shoot trail. But it was a nice quiet place to rest alone, so I took all of 5 minutes to eat part of my lunch and dry my shirt in the sun.
I guess 5 minutes was long enough because I felt I just couldn’t sit and rest any longer, since the view at Windy Point was not as great as it used to be. So I continued on down the trail on my favorite part of the whole mountain. Its my favorite because its downhill trending from here on, and because its the center part of the mtn that I hike the least from either end. Since the East Peak is the highest point, its mostly gentle down from here west.
In another two miles I crossed thru another anti-bicycle fence(there are numerous fences like these across the mtn – they are placed wherever the trail crosses a service road where bicycles usually ride the mtn) from which a short walk of a hundred yards you can get a nice clear view of Mt Rainier. This area also is overgrown with brush, taking back the land that was once logged not all too many years ago. But I found a place to rest in the warm sun for a few minutes and enjoy the view.
From this point, its .6 mile to Grand Prospect, a major viewpoint with benches overlooking North Bend and the Outlet Mall. This is the 6 mile mark approximately from my starting point at the lake, and 4 miles from Snoqualmie Point. I have hiked that 4 mile stretch from SP numerous times as its not too strenuous, and is a good 8 mile RT hike that can be easily done in a morning. Anyway, I was surprised there was no one at this viewpoint so I finished my lunch here and sat for 10 minutes. I started hearing voices coming further on down the trail, and figured they would arrive at my location momentarily, but they didn’t. Turns out a group of about 6 college age kids were not familiar with the trail and were resting unknowingly a few hundred feet from the viewpoint. When I passed them they asked me “how far to the top?” and I said “define TOP”! I explained they were probably destined for Grand Prospect viewpoint “just over there” and that the trail went another 6 miles to the lake. They were unaware of that, and clearly not prepared either equipment wise or time wise to do it all. But they were happy to know where they were now.
The rest of the way to Snoqualmie Point was uneventful, yet familiar, with only maybe a dozen other people that I came across. At the last half mile point, I got caught behind a mom and two young boys, maybe 8-12 or so, taking up the trail and going just a little slower than me so I couldn’t quite pass them. But I was getting tired anyway, and slowing down was fine. Just before the parking lot, they stopped and asked me to take their picture as they posed next to a trail sign.
Back at the truck at 220pm and tired and hot but I felt good. 5 hrs, not bad, about the same as previous times. Sometimes I think I should stretch it out and take more time, as if maybe I’m missing something, but I just kept my own steady pace which wasn’t too fast, and enjoyed it very much.