July of 2009 I found myself back on Mt Rainier for the second time. The previous time is worth a mention. Let's take a small detour.
June of 2004 was the first trip for my boys out to their mother's for a couple weeks. At the time I had a business partner located in Redmond (no, not Microsoft). In taking the boys out I was also able to make the trip into a business trip. I spent a day in Redmond (sick as a dog!) before my boss came out. We had a Sunday free before we had meetings on Monday and Tuesday. We decided to take a trip to Rainier. On the way there I scoured the maps looking for a trail that was suitable. At the time neither of us were hikers, but he did considerable amount of hunting in the mountains of Montana and Colorado and I spent enough time with adventure racing. Figured we'd be OK.
We picked the Sunrise trail as that was the side of Rainier we were coming into. Little did we know about roads being closed, campgrounds not being open, trails being washed out. Pah! Whatever!
Sunrise was a short trail to the campground, maybe a total of 6 miles round-trip. Fun, though. The scenery was gorgeous with the trail skirting right along the precipice with the river below. About half-way up the trail quickly became snow-covered. Then, even more quickly, thick with snow. At one point we crossed a small run-off. The snow was about 5 feet above the run-off. There we were in running shoes, shirts, and jeans. No water, no packs, no compass.
At the campground only the top of a couple signs were visible. We walked towards the glacier basin as far as we dared, but wisely turned around and headed down as the sun began to hit the ridge.
So, July 2009 back on Rainier. I had thought to go to Rainier in 2007, but floods so badly damaged the roads and trails that instead I went up to the North Cascades. Read that post too. Great hike.
I have to apologize right now. I'm writing this in 2011 and realized that I cannot locate ANY of the pictures from this hike. If I find them I'll edit the post.
Kautz Creek hits the Nisqually River about halfway between the Westside Road and Longmire. The Kautz Creek trail follows the creek for about a mile or so and then climbs up to around 6000+ft at Indian Henry's Hunting Grounds, a sub-Arctic plateau. Views of the Tahoma glaciers and Nisqually glaciers can be had. At Indian Henry's the Wonderland Trail can be joined on it's way to or from Longmire.
I hit the parking lot to the trail at 07:16 on a cloudy, damp, and cool morning. I had no thermometer that day but it felt to be around 55F and very overcast. There were no views of the peaks above from down at the Kautz Creek parking lot. Just a light drizzle. I was wearing my rain jacket just to keep from getting drenched. I've since learned not to bother.
By 07:30 I was packed up and on the trail. The beginning of the trail is pretty easy and at 07:52 I made the crossing of the Kautz Creek on a very new wooden bridge. The previous bridge had been swept away a year ago.
Within moments the climb begins. The climb is a never ending series of switchbacks. Some long, some short. Some steep, some with lesser gradient. Trees to the left. Trees to the right. Canopy above. The view of the valley below was pretty, but the it mostly just trees. Occasionally a rock outcropping on the other side of the creek was visible. Above me was only gray. Thick gray. I walked into that gray. At 08:20 I was in the clouds. I measured visibility in feet. I could see the top of the switchback that I was on and little else. The trail guide talked about views of Rainer and the glaciers from many points along the way. They were out there somewhere.
The rain started a little heavier. I dropped my pack at 08:30 for scheduled break at the top of a switchback. Ten minutes of more wet. I was quite warm from the climb, but still alternating hat on / hat off.
At 08:56 I crossed another creek that empties into Pyramid Creek and Kautz Creek. There was a short lightening of the gray so that I was able to get a view (and a picture!) of Satulick Mtn. GPS had me at about 3800ft which pretty much jived with the topo map. I'd already climbed nearly 1600ft.
I took the next break about 10 minutes early, at 09:20. I was beat and had been ready for a break about 20 minutes prior. The switchbacks were beginning to take their toll. The temperature had dropped considerably. The rain, fortunately had slackened and now the precipitation was simply because I was IN the clouds as they passed through the valley.
At 9:40 I hit 4800ft and patches of snow were visible frequently on and around the trail. Small patches only inches thick and feet wide.
At 09:52 I crossed 5000ft or so said the GPS. The trail was nearly completely snow covered, but thinly. Maybe 6 inches of snow on most of the trail. When the snow was not on the trail, the trail was in 3 inches of water. Ice was crystallizing on my hat.
At 09:59 I was standing below Mt Ararat. In planning the trip I had thought what a neat idea it would be to try and summit Ararat. It looked like a half hour side trip if the right approach could be found. Looking at the topo map it looked like a steep, but easily surmountable scramble. Yeah. I have to say that the topo map does not agree with the reality of Mt Ararat from the perspective of the Kautz Creek Trail. Ararat is a series of terraced sheer cliffs that end in jagged spires 1000ft above the trail. Not even a mountain goat.
The trees were becoming shorter and growing in tight copses rather than full forest.
10:42 was a memorable time. The trail was circling around the end of a steep ravine. Severe, nearly shear incline above the trail on the left (leading up to Mt Ararat) and a steep and long descent into the ravine of the right side. The trail comes out of a forested part and hugs the wall of the ravine in the open before going back into more of those short trees. The slope of the ravine was grass and wildflowers for maybe as much as 300 yards before giving way to an even steeper decline and falling into forest. I was admiring the wildflowers when about 200 yards down the decline a log moved. The log sat up on it's haunches and looked me right in the eyes. There I stood 200 yards away from the first bear I'd ever seen in the wild. After about 2 minutes the bear decided that either A. I wasn't very tasty looking or B. That 45 degree incline was not something worth climbing today.
Shortly after that a pheasant like bird kept to the trail in front me for about a half mile. The bird would stop, peck and the ground, move on, look back, peck at the ground, move on. After a half mile the bird took a left turn and left the trail. In 2008 I knew what the bird was. I simply don't remember right now.
Very shortly after seeing the bear and the bird I was in the tundra. Snow was everywhere and where there was not snow. There was water. Sometimes knee deep water. The trail just simply disappeared. I had seen some footsteps in the snow leading up here. Someone had been on the trail within the last three days. When I hit the tundra there were no footprints and no trail. I knew the direction the patrol cabin was in, but finding it would be a chore. After going up to two small ridges and surveying I found a route that would be as little damage to the tundra as possible and keep my feet dry (too late!). By 11:10 I was dropping my pack at the cabin.
The cabin is a park service patrol cabin. Naturally, it was locked. A very nice two room cabin with a small porch. I changed socks (which were soaked completely through) and undershirt. Also brought out the spare hat. At this time I still had a little hair on my head and went in for a blaze orange knit cap. The cheap kind that you can pick up from Wal-Mart. They are thin, which is good for not getting too hot. They are orange which is good for being soon. They are cheap which is just good.
I sat down to my lunch of PBJ, a can of Coke, a little jerky and a lot of gatorade. I forced myself to spend a half hour. I needed the rest. I would have taken another 15 minutes on top of that, but my fingers were getting so cold I could hardly hold my sandwich. The plateau that the cabin sits on must just be gorgeous in late July. From where I was it was patches of deep snow and pools of ankle to shin deep water. Very very cold water I might add.
While lunching the clouds began to lift. Not so much that I could get a glimpse of Rainier and the glaciers, but the smaller peaks of Copper Mtn, Iron Mtn, even Pyramid Peak were visible. I could have stayed up there for an entire afternoon had the cabin been open. Time to move. I was freezing.
Just as I'd laced up my boots and put my gloves back on I saw my first people since the guard at Nisqually entrance. Three early 20-something guys were hiking up from the direction of Longmire, where I was headed back down. They were on their way to the South Puyallup River campground along the Wonderland Trail. Unfortunately, they were heading North and I'd come from South and West. I had no information to give them. They told me that they hit snow only just this side of Squaw Lake. The way down would be pretty clear and easy going.
At 11:40 I began my trip down.
The sun came out in 5 minute spans during the hike down. The forest did not get thick until hitting Devils Dream campground. Boy, that was fantastic. The sun's coming out energized me better than any food could do. I was cold and wet and that bit of sunlit warmth was magic.
Passed Squaw Lake at 12:10 and Devils Dream about 12:22.
On the way to Devils Dream the trail drops but gradually. Only a few places are there switchbacks or anything steep. After Devils Dream the trail drops significantly, dropping 1000ft in a big hurry. Right about the time the trail started to drop I spotted my next group of humans. Three park service folks were out cutting fallen trees. The trail was crisscrossed with guide lines I hung back a ways until I could safely get their attention. Two of them were very welcoming and talked me through a route around the lines. The third one, the one with chainsaw, had nothing but a following glare. Yikes.
Shortly past the workers Hornpipe Creek goes by the trail. There was nice little waterfall on the creek just off the trail. The climb down was a steep 25 ft. I carefully picked my way down the first 5 feet then lost my footing and picked up a quick 15ft. Boy. Then another careful 5ft to a ledge where a partially obstructed view was available. Took a picture. Wish I could find it. Decided that was a good place to drop the pack and take a 10 minute break. 13:00.
The trail drops like a rock down to Pyramid Creek and Kautz Creek. Crossing the valley is picking your way through rocks and boulders while trying to spot the log bridges. There was a hiker ahead of me and I kept my eye on his yellow jacket. He was a few steps ahead of me and I realized I was going to walk into the creek if I didn't do this on my own. Hit Pyramid Creek at 13:30 and Kautz Creek at 14:49.
Once the initial 30ft out the valley is climbed the rest of the ascent to Rampart Ridge is not very strenuous. I opted to take the trail along Rampart Ridge. There were a few views of the Valley, but mostly the ridge is forested rather deeply. Hit the high point on the ridge at 14:17. The viewpoint was another 19 minutes later at 14:36. Elevation 4048ft and another 10 minute break.
On the way down the ridge towards Longmire I ran across another human. He was out with the wife and kids and was able to convince them that he could disappear for a few hours to take a hike. They would play around down at Longmire while he hiked up to the ridge and then back down. We walked down together and talked about all sorts of things. I'm generally not afraid to work on any piece of conversation so we had a good time together.
At this point my feet and knees were killing me. My legs were beat and my back was stiff. I had plenty of liquid and food left so I was still well hydrated. I'd been hiking for over 7 hours which for anyone is a pretty long time. For me that's a very long (and pleasant) day.
I dreaded the long walk back to the parking lot. I'd be walking the 3 miles from Longmire to Kautz Creek on pavement. I hinted that a ride might be bad, but he didn't bite. I'm not a hitchhiker either, so it was going to be a long hour on the road.
At 15:35 we hit Longmire and I saw people again. Lots of them. The place was packed. The walk along the road was as painful as I thought it would be. I was in such a hurry to be done that I neglected hydration. I really started to feel that after 40 minutes. I should have just found a place to plunk it for a while and rest. I didn't though and at 16:30 I made it to the parking lot. Talked with a family that was picnicking there. Through a strange twist of events involving their three children and only two parents I ended up changing a diaper on the youngest of the three. They took a picture of me by the trail head sign. Fair trade? Maybe.
7 hours and approximately 17 miles. Lots of rain, a bit of cold, a bit of sun. Very few people, one bird, and one bear.
So ends one of the more memorable hikes that I've been on. I'd do this trail again in a heartbeat. I really hope to get out the Pacific Northwest again.
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