Mailbox Peak Hike, January 2016

Mailbox Peak
Date: January 16, 2016
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 7.5 Miles / 12 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to Snow Packed
Hiking With: My wonder dog Macho.

I chose a nasty winter day to hike Mailbox Peak for the first time in 2016, but I was needing an ass kicking hike without avalanche endangerment. After reading a trip report the day before I was a bit hesitant when I reach the open field of boulders and it was spitting snow and ice. I met a couple of guys coming down the summit and they gave me thumbs up on avalanche conditions. So I continued my ascent in blizzard like conditions with my wonder dog Macho.

Macho and I were the second group to summit and I took my first mailbox picture for the year. There were two other groups coming up when I was descending down, they too came up the old steep route.

I took the new long route down crossing paths of many ill equipped hikers coming up, including a guy wearing a pair of running shoes and shorts. He had no traction devices, poles or even a backpack on his back for dry clothes. I would say the 10 or so people coming up the new long route didn’t make the summit. Most all bonafide hikers or hikers that have summited Mailbox Peak before will always ascend the short steep route.

Mailbox Peak Hike, August 2015

Mailbox Peak
Date: August 7, 2015
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 7.5 Miles / 12 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Maxime Tissier and my wonder dog Macho.

This was the third time this year I conquered the famous mailbox peak, but this time I invited a newbie on this heart pounding steep hike. My new recruit was Maxime Tissier, a young French man visiting here on a college exchange student program.

Currently the road to Mailbox is undergoing major road work so the trail doesn’t open up until noon on Fridays. We started up the old steep trail around 12:30 and made good time passing all the people that started before us. We were the first ones to the top so we had the Mailbox to ourselves. After a few pictures and some lunch we headed down the long dreaded 5 mile “easy” route down.

Since traffic back to Seattle was horrendous, we made a pit stop at the North Bend Bar & Grille for a couple of Mac-n-Jacks. Once we made it through traffic and back home, a quick shower was in order. My wife Linna, Maxine and I drove to our favorite Korean restaurant Miraks in Federal Way, Washington for some delicious Korean BBQ.

Mailbox Peak Hike, April 2015

Mailbox Peak
Date: April 24, 2015
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 7.5 Miles / 12 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to Snow-packed
Hiking With: Sam Elder, Rick Massie & my dog Macho

The last time I hiked up Mailbox Peak goo.gl/y3ANNn was pretty much the same conditions, wet with blowing sleet on top. Today’s hike actually turned out better than the forecast which was calling for rain all day. We started around 8:00 a.m. on the old steep trail with cloudy skies, but no rain until we hit the top and it started sleeting some.

I invited my friend Sam Elder to join Rick Massie and myself on this brutalizing journey to the famous Mailbox Peak 34 miles East of Seattle. Sam hasn’t hiked in a couple of years and he had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he made it to the summit with only a few hesitations along the way.

Right before we started up the last steep part out in the open we changed out into dry shirts and left our backpacks behind for a quicker scramble to the mailbox. After a few pictures we descended down the new long 5 mile route. I have now descended twice on the new trail and again it just feels forever, but it still trumps the knee pounding old steep trail.

Mailbox Peak Hike, December 2014

Mailbox Peak
Date: December 27, 2014
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 7.5 Miles / 12 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to Snow-packed
Hiking With: Paul Bates, Carl Brandt, Gustav Brandt, Mike Curry, Emelie Espling and Rick Massie

My friend Emelie Espling had two friends from Sweden visiting and I thought I would introduce them to the thigh pounding Mailbox Peak. The last time I hiked the Mailbox goo.gl/y3ANNn was a year ago August with Rick Massie so I was past due for some grueling physical exertion. Our group consisted of Paul Bates, Mike Curry, Emelie Espling, Rick Massie, Carl and Gustav Brandt from Sweden.

The new trail wasn’t open the last time I was here so I was looking forward to the new 5 mile trail on the descent to save on the knees. The young men from Sweden was quick to take off and we eventually saw them again about 100 yards from the Mailbox on their descent. The last 1000 feet of elevation was snow packed with blizzard like conditions on the final push to the summit.

Kudos to the many WTA volunteers that constructed the new 5 mile route to the top, but after seeing the many ill equipped “tourist” hikers in their running shoes I think Mailbox Peak will see more rescues. The majority people that came up the new easy route didn’t have the proper gear to summit this intimidating peak and only putting themselves and others at risk. I first started hiking Mailbox Peak 13 years ago when there was only a toothbrush marking the trailhead; you only came across bonafide hikers and many climbers training for Mount Rainier, sadly WTA has created another Mt. Si.

Our group took the new longer route down which was nice on the legs but it seemed to go on forever! We ended our hike in a heavy downpour and eventually found ourselves at the North Bend Bar & Grill for cold beers and warm grub.

Mount Teneriffe, August 2014

Mount Teneriffe
Date: August 22, 2013
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles / 17.7 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,840 feet / 1170 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Exit 32, I-90 Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Rick Massie

I was looking for a tough hike and Mount Teneriffe fulfilled the mission. Rick Massie and I took the Kamikaze Falls route and then followed the ridgeline to the summit. This is not an easy hike for anyone…you either hike the 11 mile route we did or the lengthy 14 mile logging road both coming out with 3,800 feet elevation gain.

It took 3 hours to make it to the summit, but as always it was well worth it. We got to enjoy the summit and the 360 degree views by ourselves. We descended via the logging road and ended our day at Local…a West Seattle neighborhood tavern in Seattle.

Mount St Helens Hike, May 2014

Mount St Helens
Date: May 28, 2014
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 10.8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 5,700 feet
Time: 8 to 10 hours
Location: Near Cougar, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: Permit Fee Required (100 per day)
Trail Conditions: Damp to Snow Pack
Hiking With: Dr. Robert McElroy & Dr. Adrian Hillyer

Dr. Robert McElroy was kindly nice enough to ask me to join him and Dr. Adrian Hillyer to climb Mount St. Helen in the middle of the week. Since I have never attempted to summit this mountain, I said to myself….”oh hell yes!”. Our climbing permit was for Wednesday so we drove down to Cougar, Washington on Tuesday afternoon and pitched our tents at Marble Mountain Snow Park just South of the base of Mount St. Helens. I jumped into my sleeping bag at 8:45 p.m. with my earplugs in and was fast asleep with a little help from one Advil PM.

We woke at 3:00 a.m. and the first thing I did was boil water for tea and for my Mountain House freeze dried beef stroganoff. After packing up the tents and everything else back in the car we took off on the Worm Flows Route in a light rain. The first couple of miles were fairly easy with mild elevation gain. As soon as we hit the snow the elevation became steeper and the heart rate and breathing increased. At times you were digging in with your toes heading straight up.

After 5 hours of grueling fun we made it to the crater rim with no visibility. As we were gearing up for the descent we had a couple of minutes of a sunbreak and were able to see the new dome…totally cool. We tried to glissade as mush as possible but the snow was getting softer later in the day, it still helped quite a bit and we made it back to the car in 3 hours.

Mt. Teneriffe Hike, September 2013

Mt. Teneriffe
Date: September 13, 2013
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles / 17.7 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,840 feet / 1170 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Exit 32, I-90 Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: No Permit Required
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Rick Massie and my wonder dog Macho.

Last weekend I was telling my hiking group that the clouds would burn off during our Gothic Basin hike…it never did; I found myself telling the same story on our way to Mt. Teneriffe. Again, the clouds never did burn off, but it was a low cloud bank so we were lucky enough to ascend above the clouds to reach blue skies and fabulous views goo.gl/89vmgq.

Rick Massie and I took the waterfall route instead of the long tedious seven mile logging road up. This was the first time I have seen waterfall without water, I guess the dry warm summer took its toll. We didn’t see any mountain goats along the ridge, maybe Macho the dog wonder scared them off.

We stayed on top long enough to enjoy the views, scarf down a sandwich and change into dry socks and shirt. We took the logging road down and ended our day at the North Bend Bar & Grill.

Gothic Basin Hike, September 2013

Gothic Basin
Date: September 7, 2013
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles / 14.5 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,840 feet / 866 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Mountain Loop Highway
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Wet
Hiking With: Linna Freeman, Rick Massie and my wonder dog Macho.

Wow….Gothic Basin goo.gl/DEj3l1 is a much bigger hike than I thought. Even though this is only 2,840 feet elevation gain, it feels more like 4,000 feet with all the scrambling on steep rocky terrain. The official hike itself is 4.5 miles up, but it takes a mile to get to the trailhead…so your roundtrip is actually 11 miles. You will sweat your ass off on this hike, but it’s totally worth it after you see wants waiting for you on top.

You will want to hike this on a sunny day because the views (I think) are to die for and the basin is filled with beauty. We left the house thinking the day would end up sunny….will it did in Seattle, but the clouds just hung around all day in the mountains. Almost half of the hike we were in light rain. This hike has it all…river, lake, waterfalls, huge mountain views, wild flowers and campsites.

We ended this hike at Sura’s goo.gl/yi9iD8 in Lynnwood, Washington for some delicious Korean BBQ. This place has superb service, great food and a warm environment, it’s our new favorite Korean BBQ North of Seattle.

Mailbox Peak Hike, August 2013

Mailbox Peak
Date: August 9, 2013
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 5 Miles / 8 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Rick Massie and Macho my wonder dog

This is my second time this year I knocked of the famous thigh pounding Mailbox Peak. If you are looking for a personal challenge or conditioning training, the Mailbox Peak goo.gl/y3ANNn is the hike for you.

The new paved parking lot is open now, which is nice to be able to put on or take off your gear and not stand in gravel, dirt or mud. I don’t think most people know that the parking lot is open or even exist; people are still parking in the old dirt lot. The new 5 mile trail hasn’t opened yet, but when it does…I want to be one of the first to utilize it.

Rick and I made it up less than two hours, which is pretty good for a very hot day. Macho my dog wonder was struggling with the heat and we found him hiding in bushes at times to hide from the intense sun. I had no water left for the last hour of the hike and I was pretty dehydrated; I must have drank two quarts of water from the creek at the bottom. We decided to hydrate ourselves at our normal watering hole…North Bend Bar & Grille.

Camp Muir Hike, June 2013

Camp Muir
Date: June 4, 2013
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 10 Miles / 16 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,600 Feet / 1,402 Meters
Time: 6 to 7 hours
Location: Near Longmire, Washington
Users Group: Hikers / Climbers Only
Permits: National Park Pass
Trail Conditions: Snow All The Way
Hiking With: Me and Gustav Brandt

I told myself that the first sunny day in June, I was going to knock off Camp Muir….well that sunny day happened today. I usually hike up to the base camp once a year only when I know it’s going to be a beautiful sunny day. Damn….was it sunny too, I thought I applied enough sun block but I must have been wiping it off with my glove because I ended up looking like a cooked lobster on my forehead and nose.

Hiking up a long snow route all day can be boring unless you have another person to enjoy the pain with you. My hiking partner today was Gustav Brandt, a young man from Malmo, Sweden. He is currently an exchange student living with a co-worker friend of mine in Seattle in the Capital Hill neighborhood. This was his first time on Mt. Rainier and I know he will be back next year to ascend beyond Camp Muir for the summit.