Mt. Rainier - Towards Indian Bar

     Late July 2010 and I'm back in the Pacific Northwest.  I absolutely love the Pacific Northwest.  I've hiked on Rainier three times (including this hike), Mt St Helens, Olympic Natl Park, North Cascades.  There is no place in the world better than the Pacific Northwest as far as I'm concerned. 
     Driving out of the airport and getting out on to I-5 I feel as if I've returned home.  I've never lived there, only visited and only in the last 9 years.  Somehow, something simply calls to me.  There are four reasons I haven't moved out there.  Those reasons will remain my own.

     All but one of those hikes I did myself.  This hike on Rainier was to be the second with another person and the first trip out to my "home" with my wife Ruth.  Things hadn't been so good for us so there was quite some trepidation heading out on this vacation.

     The planned hike was to start at Box Canyon and hike up to the Cowlitz Divide and make it as far as we could.  Our ultimate goal was Indian Bar, but we knew that was a stretch goal.  When I first thought I was going on my own my goal was Ohanapecosh Park.  I would have needed excellent weather and to really push the pace.  On my own that was possible, maybe 70% likely.  Together there was no way, so Indian Bar was the goal with a 80% likelihood. 
     The snow about 6000ft refused to melt that Summer and the day before we left I gave Indian Bar a 60% chance.  Figured we make it up to the high point right before Indian Bar.

     We woke to a beautiful sunny and cool day on Rainier.  The temp at 08:55 was right around 58F and the sun was out in full force.  We'd have a comfortable hike up through the canopy to the ridge.  We made sure to pack sunglasses and an extra shirt (two for me... boy  I sweat easy).  The ridge would be warm and sunny.
     08:55 we left the parking lot at Box Canyon.  Took a 5 minute side trip to check out the canyon, got a bit confused on which trail was the trail we needed.  Backtracked for another 5 minutes and then got on the real trail up.  The first mile is pretty easy to Nickel Creek.  We hit Nickel Creek at 09:39. 

Mike and Ruth at the start

     I'm going to make a statement here that will get me in trouble when Ruth reads this, but she knows where I stand on the issue.  Any moderately dedicated hiker will smile and shake their head in agreement with me, though.   Very important ----   be sure all your electronic devices such as GPS and Camera are all set and ready to go at least a day ahead of time.  There are few things more frustating to a hiker than to have their partner constantly stopping on the trail to learn how to use their GPS or adjust the settings on their camera.  The first mile took almost an hour.  We were stopping every 100m because something wasn't understood or wasn't quite right.
     I carry a cheap GPS in my pack.  I make sure the batteries are good before I get in the car or on the plane.  It stays in pack, turned off.  It's there for emergencies.  I hike on trails.  They are already on the map.  Only once in the North Cascades did I end up on an unmarked trail, but I didn't feel the need to worry about whether I could upload it into my computer.
     I have a decent, small, digital camera.  I use two settings that I can find in less than a second.  I stop quickly to take a picture and then keep moving.  I do take a good number of pictures.   An 8 hour hike in the mountains will yield about 50 pictures.  I keep moving though and do not take a lot of time to frame them.  I'm out there to hike and have memories, not win a contest. 

     Nickel Creek is about 3480ft.  A wood bridge made from a cut tree runs across and there is a campground tucked on the East side.  This is a great place to stop and soak your feet as we did on the way back down.  It is also your only source of water until you hit snow pack.  We had to stop at Nickel Creek for a nature call, fiddled with the GPS, fiddled with the Camera.  At 09:50 we were moving again.  Been on the trail almost an hour and had gone only a mile.  No way to make Indian Bar now.  We would run out of water and probably daylight, unless we really did well on the climb up.

Nickel Creek

     The climb up starts at Nickel Creek and it is what you would expect of Rainier.  Switchbacks.  Constant switchbacks.  Some were tough, some were not, but the climb never let up.  Our pace slowed considerably, down to less than a mile an hour.  I used to be a runner before two back surgeries.  Now I hike.  I'm 25 pounds heavier than I used to be and have sciatic issues that make a lot of things difficult.  One thing I can do is put one foot in front of the other and climb.  I can typically maintain a 2mph average on climbs and 3mph on the flats.  Downhills kill my knees.  I am slow, slow, slow on steep declinations.  Ruth, well, she's not a climber.  Those switchbacks took their toll.  She'd recover nicely with just a minute or two, but the switchbacks were punishing.  She's a gamer, though, and kept pushing.

     We met a couple that was coming down.  They were on Day 10 of the Wonderland Trail circuit and had one more day to go after this one.  We wished them well and pushed on.  About 10:47 we hit 4200ft and then at 11:00 on the button the GPS registered 4400ft.  Okay, maybe GPS isn't so bad on a hike.  We dropped packs and took a 10 minute break.  I try to break every hour for 5 minutes.  Get the pack off, stretch my legs and get my lower back a rest.  Gratefully the weather and terrain allowed for this.

     The climb up is all in the forest.  Again, don't know my trees, but I like what I see in those Northwest forests.  There were no grand views of picks on the climb up.  We could hear the creek down below and small run-offs trickling down the mountainside but, with only a couple exceptions, couldn't really see them.  Still, the sounds, the green, the smell of the pine, decay. 

    By 11:22 we'd hit an even 4600ft. and began to see small snow patch off the trail.  Shortly after that, at 11:32 we hit the Cowlitz trail junction.  We'd been moving for 2.5 hours and only gone 2.7 miles.  We re-assessed our goal and decided we'd hike until 14:00 and then turn around.  No chance of making Indian Bar or even close to that.  I was a little worried about water.  I don't like to take from snow cover if I don't have to or even streams.  Day hike.... shouldn't need to have more water than you can pack in, but we were going to be close.

Ruth!

     After the junction the heavy climbing is over, but the terrain is rolling and twisting, giving the legs and cardio a continued workout.  11:55 sees 5002ft.  12:10 we dropped the packs again for 20 minutes.  12:37 we broke 5450ft and the snow cover was nearly 100%.  We would have to walk on a snow pack and duck under branches, the pack being 3 to 4 feet deep and 20 to 40 ft long.  Then the pack would end in a 4 foot drop-off back to trail.  The trail, there, covered in ankle deep water.  20 years ago this would have been fun.  Now? Let's say we found it... interesting.

The trail is in there somewhere

     At the Cowlitz junction we met a couple that passed us as we stopped to take pictures by the sign.  They were moving at a good clip going towards the top of the ridge.  Their goal was to get to the "high point" which is a little before Indian Bar.  As we started hitting the rolling terrain we met them coming back.  The wife/girlfriend was completely freaked out and wanted to "get off this hill."  I asked her partner about her attitude.  He said she just couldn't deal with the snow.  It was just too difficult.  The little packs of snow were tough, no doubt.  But certainly not insurmountable.  She should've stayed on the trail.  Still, once you're freaked out up there you best be getting back down or somebody's getting hurt.

     At 12:59 we broke out of near constant tree cover and got glimpses of Bald Rock out to the East.  13:30 brought the first unobstructed view of Mt Rainier and saw us still around 5450ft.  Felt like we'd been climbing, but we'd been dropping as well.  Up on the ridge the view of Rainier was spectacular.  Very few clouds and beautiful blue sky.  Using the binoculars we tried to spy some climbers we'd been told would be on a face we could see.  No such luck.  If they were there we were not expert enough to catch them.

     We broke for a long lunch about 14:00 at a good spot.  We had a great view of Rainier.  A little shade under a copse of trees when we wanted and excellent views of St Helens and Adams to the South.  A couple hundred meters further up the trail I could see the high point.  The approach to the high point was completely snow covered.  The distance was about a half mile but would likely have taken us 45 minutes just to get there and another 45 minutes to get back.  I liked the idea, but we were done to 1/3 water.  Ruth was pretty beat.  I was worried about daylight should something go wrong on the way back down.  We decided a long 30 minute break to eat sandwiches (and drink a Coke!) was the order and then back down.  As I said, the view from where we were was outstanding and we took a lot of pictures there.  One of them has me with no shirt (drying it out) and wearing Ruth's bra.  If you pay off my credit card I'll let you see that one.  Maybe I should pay off your credit card instead.  We'd reached an altitude of just over 5500ft.  Actually, on going up to view the approach to the high point I likely cracked 5700.

The trail continues to the high point.

    We started back down around 14:35.  We hit the junction about 16:24.  On the way down to the junction we met a Ranger who was out with a couple of hand saws.  She was out clearing the path from fallen trees from the Spring flood.  Doing a great job I might add and I told her so.  She wasn't impressed and simply did not seem to want people on the trail.  I have a soft spot for the Rangers and honestly believe they do us a great service.  I've had better conversations with them than this time around.

     We hit Nickel Creek at 17:22.  I was completely out of water and had been for about 45 minutes.  I was a bit parched at that time.  But, with only a mile left I figured I'd pass on the creek for water.  Besides the pills need about 30 minutes to kick and we'd be back by then.  I really should have filled a bottle with snow at the top.  We stopped for about five minutes to soak our feet (and dunk my head).

     At 17:22 we made it back to the parking lot.  Tired, out of water, and still married.
    Ruth turned out to be a great partner.  Need to work on the electronics.  Actually, here in 2011, still do...
     The following couple of days saw us driving up the back forest roads to take pictures of St Helens.  A helicopter ride over St Helens, and generally just out viewing the scenery.  The helicopter ride is horribly expensive, but frankly, worth going into a little debt for. 

     Someday I'm going to make Ohanapecosh.