Tag Archives: North Bend Bar & Grill

Mt. Teneriffe Snowshoe, March 2012

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Mt. Teneriffe
Date: March 16, 2012
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,838 ft.
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to very deep snow
Hiking with: Rick Massie & my wonder dog Macho

The Cascade Mountains was getting dumped on by the snow gods and I have been missing the snow action due to my travels and I wanted to get another big snowshoe hike in before I traveled out again. Rick Massie drove over to my house and we loaded up my Bimmer and took off towards North Bend, Washington.

Due to all the snow, the avalanche danger was high….so we decided to snowshow the service road on Mt. Teneriffe. This road is wide and has elevation gain of over 3,800 feet, perfect for a snowshoe work-out and safe too. There was only one other car at the trailhead when we started and we caught up with the two of them about two miles up; one of them had a broken snowshoe and we ended up giving him a couple of straps to fix it. As we passed them, Rick and I were breaking snow and it was getting deeper with every step. After fifty yards of plowing through the deep snow, our legs would start to burn; we took turns taking the lead to give each other a rest.

With the trail already broken, the other two caught up with us around the four mile mark. We let them pass us, but…within twenty yards, there were already exhausted. All four of us ended up taking turns taking the lead. We ended up having lunch at the five mile mark, it’s my favorite part of the trail….a long stretch of the road that is exposed and has big views. After descending and total exhaustion we stopped at our usual spot, North Bend Bar and Grille for a beer and food.

Mailbox Peak Hike, January 2012

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Mailbox Peak
Date: January 7, 2012
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 5 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass (new for this hike)
Trail Conditions: Damp to Packed Snow (only on top)
Hiking With: Rick Massie and my dog Macho

I was due for a brutal hike and Mailbox Peak was the fix. I asked Rick Massie to join me on this steep but short hike. We met up at Starbucks in North Bend, Washington and got started at 10:00 a.m. at the trailhead. There was only 6 cars in the parking lot, which meant there wasn’t a lot of people on the hike today….as it should be! The trail was good up to the opening, where it became packed snow. I was happy to see an inch or two on top of the ice, if not…it would have been difficult. Right before the opening, we put on our gators and mini-spikes. We made good time to the peak where it was cloudy, but no wind. We spent 15 minutes changing out our wet clothes and munching down some food.

The descent was the usual beating of the legs and knees and we both agreed, it’s almost easier to hike up than coming down. Rick Massie had a date later that day, so we had to make the stop at North Bend Bar & Grill short.

Granite Mountain Hike, August 2011

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Granite Mountain
Date: August 11, 2011
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: WTA Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry, if you take the rocks.
Hiking With: Yuta Hagi & my dog Macho

For the past week, I have been waiting for a sunny day to take Yuta Hagi hiking with me. Yuta is Japanese and lives about one hour South of Tokyo. He came over to spend one week in Seattle to enjoy and study Northwest culture. I thought Granite Mountain (exit 47, I-90) would be the perfect choice for my friend….it’s challenging, great views and I knew there would be lingering snow yet. I decided on a later start hoping the clouds would vanish by the time we reached the top, the forecast was calling for sunny skies later in the day.

We started around 11:00 a.m., which was sunny at the trailhead and then got cloudy about two miles in. The cool part, we got above the cloud cover and then had an awesome view of the clouds below and the mountains surrounding us. Yuta did very well on his first Northwest hike, he stayed right behind me; I think this was his toughest hike yet. When we reached the pond, I threw some sticks in so Macho could fetch and cool his body off, we stopped at the pond on the way down too. The last time I did this hike 5 weeks ago, the pond had 3 feet of snow on it.

We took the rock scramble up and the snowy backside down. I helped and coached 3 ladies on the rock scramble, they were stopped at the beginning of the scramble and were thinking about heading back down. After relaxing on top in the sun for 1/2 hour, we headed down the back trail. Coming down in the snow was actually a lot fun, plus it was easy on my old knees. As usual, we stopped in at the North Bend Bar & Grill for a 9 Pound Porter and a cup of Jambalaya soup.

Mt. Teneriffe Hike, July 2011

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Mt. Teneriffe
Date: July 22, 2011
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,838 ft.
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: None Required
Trail Conditions: Started off dry, but mostly wet.
Hiking with: Rick Massie & my dog Macho

I met up with Rick Massie at Starbucks in North Bend, Washington and we decided on Mt. Teneriffe for our Friday hike, it’s the next peak over from Mt. Si. I went into work for a few hours today so our trailhead start didn’t happen until 9:15 a.m. We took the Kamikaze Falls route up and the 5 1/2 mile service road down. After 2 1/2 hours of steepness with a few breaks on the way up, we hit the summit with clouds surrounding us. I was really hoping that the clouds would have moved on by the time we reached the 4,530 foot summit, but no such luck.

We took the service road down and it seemed it would never end (as always). After the long trek down, we changed into some dry clothes and stopped into North Bend Bar & Grill for a well deserved cold beer.

Granite Mountain Hike, July 2011

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Granite Mountain
Date: July 1, 2011
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: WTA Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Heavy Packed Snow (only on top)
Hiking With: Rick Massie & my dog Macho

I haven’t hiked Granite Mountain since last year with Doctor Robert McElroy and I was overdue. I met up with Rick Massie at Starbucks in North Bend on a beautiful Friday morning. After a Starbuck’s egg sandwich and an americano to wash it down we headed to the trailhead. We got started around 9:15 a.m., not an early start…but we both had all day to finish this hike.

The trail was pretty much dry until we broke out into the open and started to hit a few patches of snow. Soon, it was all snow and very deep snow at that. The pond was completely covered with 2 to 4 feet of snow yet….on July 1st! Snowshoes or crampons were not needed, but….we did put on our boot traction devices. We took the snow-ridge along the rocks, very stable and no post-holeing. The summit was filled with sun and fantastic views. After getting down, changing into dry clean clothes, we headed to North Bend Bar & Grill.

Mailbox Peak Hike, May 2011

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Mailbox Peak
Date: May 20, 2011
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 5 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: No Permits Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Packed Snow (only on top)
Hiking With: my dog Macho

I knew it was going to be a sunny warm day and I wanted a big work-out so I chose Mailbox Peak.  It was such a nice day, we hit our first 70 degree day this year…it was a perfect hiking day.  Since I was only hiking with my fearless dog Macho and I had all day to hike, I casually loaded up and got to the trailhead around 9:45 a.m.  There was five cars in the parking lot when I drove up….which meant there were only a few people on the trail. 

The trail was pretty much dry until you came out on the first opening on top, there was packed snow which wasn’t that bad to hike on.  The rock field was free of snow, but most people were taking the thick snow to the north of the rocks.  After the rocks, the trail to the top was free of snow until you reached the top, which had so much snow, there was no signs of the Mailbox.  I found a dry rock and took my boots off and shared a Starbuck’s turkey sandwich with Macho.  It was such a beautiful day, I sat on top for nearly a hour.  On the way down, I was feeling the Mt. Si hike I did two days earlier…my legs were tired and stiff.  At the bottom, I stopped at the creek to wash the mud off of Macho and rinsed the sweat from my face and hair.  On the way home I stopped for a 9 Pound porter at the North Bend Bar & Grill.

Source Lake Hike, February 2011

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Source Lake Trail
Date: February 24, 2011
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 4.8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,400 feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: I-90 exit 52; Alpental Ski Area
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: No Permits Required
Trail Conditions: 12” to 20” of fresh fluffy snow
Hiking with: Mike Curry & Lance Leasure

The Cascades have been receiving snow for the past week and I knew snowshoeing on Friday morning would be perfect timing.  I picked up a couple of good friends, Mike Curry and Lance Leasure at 8:00 a.m. in Seattle and we headed off to Source Lake.  I took our normal route out of town, first avenue to Starbucks by the baseball staduim and onto I-90.  We parked at the last parking lot in the Alpental Ski area and got out in the 18 degree weather.  I brought Macho (dog) along and he got out with us, he stayed busy bothering strangers in the parking lot as we put our snowshoe garb on.

We got about a hundred yards in on the trail when Macho stopped, he had ice balls on the bottom of his paws.  I decided to take him back to the car, because it would only get worse for him the further we went.  There really wasn’t anybody else snowshoeing today, maybe it was too cold or it was a Friday morning….but, there were a few skiers that had their ski skins on.  Besides the cold weather, it was a great day for snowshoeing, tons of fresh snow and the sun was out.  We decided to trek past Source Lake and up to Snow Lake following a couple of skiers.  We stopped near the top of the bowl at 4,600 feet and headed pretty much straight down in waist deep snow.  The snow was deep, but light and actually easy to snowshoe in.  After getting back to the car, changing into some warm dry clothes, we headed to my favorite after hike hangout, the North Bend Bar & Grill for a hot bowl of Jambalaya soup and a cold beer.

Mt. Si, February 2011

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Mt. Si
Date: February 11, 2011
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,400 Feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: No Permits Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to the top
Hiking with: my wonder dog Macho

Another Friday, another hike day; I didn’t get up real early this morning so I got a late start.  On my way to the Mt. Si trial, I was listening to NPR and they announced this morning Hosni Mubarak finally resigned as President from Egypt after 18 days of protests.  The whole world has been watching the protests and waiting for the outcome for the past couple of weeks, so it was exciting news to start my hike with.

The parking lot only had maybe 12 to 15 cars, which some days you could see easily see over 50.  Macho and I started around 12:30 p.m. and casually made our way to the top before 2:30 p.m.  I forgot to bring Macho’s food along, so I ended up giving my beef pouch that I smuggled from China on my last trip to him.  On the way down, my right knee area was throbbing with pain, so I broke out my trusty first aid kit and took a couple of ibuprofens.  After the hike, I grabbed a towel and rinsed Macho in the creek before putting him into his car kennel.  Before I made it home, I stopped for a beer and a cup of Jambalaya soup at North Bend Bar & Grille.

Mt. Si & Teneriffe Loop, December 3, 2009

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Mt. Si & Teneriffe Loop

Date: December 3, 2009 

Difficulty: 6 out of 10

Distance: 9 ½ miles roundtrip

Elevation Gain: 3,200

Time: 4 to 5 hours

Location: Near North Bend, Washington

Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only

Permits: No Permits Required

Trail Conditions: Dry to the top, hard packed snow from Mt. Si to Tenerife road

Hiking With: Mike Curry

 

Mike and I started the Mt. Si trail around 9:00 a.m. on a very chilly North Bend morning; temperatures around 32 degrees.  There was only a few cars in the parking lot, unlike your typical busy summer weekend day for Mt. Si.  The trail was clear and dry up to Haystack; the saddle between Mt. Si and the Tenerife road was hard packed snow.  It was hard enough that you didn’t need snowshoes and soft enough that you had some traction.  Once we traversed over to Tenerife road, there was still hard packed snow for another ½ mile descending down.  We ended the day at North Bend Bar & Grille for a bowl of Jambalaya soup and a Guinness beer.