Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Hike of the Week- 5/28/15 & 5/29/15

Cable Line Trail-West Tiger Mountain

 Ugh, this one is so grueling, you gain 2000ft of elevation in 1.5 miles. It's a slow, step/scramble all the way up with only a couple of short flat parts to give yourself a break. We had our packs loaded up since this is about the elevation we will gain on Mt. Adams and it was tough. It took us 1:10 up and then we took the West Tiger 3 trail back down to save our knees. We made it down in 50min as it was much less steep. This would be a great training one to do in an entire day, up the cable line, down the Tiger West, do that 2-3 times and there's Adams for you. I didn't get any pictures because the summit sucks, it's just a clearing in the trees with no viewpoint. Blech.

Kendal Katwalk-Snoqualmie Mt. Baker National Forest, ALpine Wilderness

View of the coming storm 
Corey needed a long Ruck/hike to do in preparation for his Go Ruck Heavy in a couple weekends so we decided on Kendal Katwalk. It's part of the PCT and lovely. It's only about 40 minutes from home and we had no time restraints so we were able to take our time and play at the summit a bit and relax before heading down. My knees were also thankful for the gradual elevation gain (2000 ft over 5.5 miles) and my foot/ankle didn't hurt so I felt less like a granny for this hike.


the top of the katwalk for lunch



Here is my trip report for WTA.org 

This was a beautiful trail, we were wanting a long but not too steep hike in the sun and that is exactly what we got. There was plenty of parking at the trailhead and a vault toilet, although there was no toilet paper in either and someone's colon exploded all over the mens toilet so that was fun to see.


The trail starts out nice and flat and doesn't ever have many steep parts. It's covered for most of the hike which was nice because it was hot! There are a few streams to cross but nothing major, I wasn't wearing gaters and my boots stayed dry. The trail pops out on the side of the mountain just below Kendall Peak, giving you nice views of Snoqualmie and Alpental ski areas as well as Red Mountain. There is an option to scramble up to Kendall Peak and the trail is marked with a stack of rocks, but the climb is steep with lots of loose rocks. We continued on for another 1/4 mile or so around the corner and had lunch on some flat topped rocks which gave a great view. We were even able to see a thunderstorm to over the far mountains. The trail continues on since it's the PCT so we left our packs and walked a bit ahead to see explore a bit, there is snow but it's easily passable. We didn't have poles or gaters and were fine. We saw a handful of people, and most were trail runners.
Up: 2:30

Down: 2:00






The marker to the trail for Kendall's Peak





Katwalk trail




After the hike we stopped by Dru Bru on the way home, it's  a new Brewery at Snoqualmie Ski Resort at the base of Summit West. I had the flight which gives you 6 5oz beers for only $10. I liked them all but my favorite was the dark german style lager.




Corey and I loved the way they did the bar and talked to the tender about it and the company who designed and built it. We want to use something similar in the new box, if all this administrative stuff ever gets figured out and we can sign some contracts and get building.