Monday, July 2, 2012

Church Mountain, Take 1

Church Mountain trailhead
This past weekend Al sent around one of those emails to the Senior Trailblazers asking if anyone might be interested in heading up to Church Mountain today, on the schedule for this Thursday, to assess the current conditions. Last week he and Steve pronounced Hannegan Pass way too difficult for the entire group. Today, three of the female variety of Trailblazers answered his call: me, Jonelle, and Mary.
It was not the bright sunshiny day we were hoping for, but the fog and mist made for a pleasant upward hike. We didn't run into snow until we had climbed most of the way to the meadow, where we hoped to stop for lunch. We had about 300 feet of elevation to climb through snow. It's not a long hike when you can't climb to the top, only a short three miles or so, but we went up a bit of elevation, 2,400 feet to be exact. Last year we went up this hike in the middle of July but only got to the meadow. This link has an interesting picture comparing our first attempt in 2011 with the one in 2010 on almost the same date. Today was somewhere in between. Here's our lunch spot, which should cool down those of you in the oppressive heat.
We had just reached the meadow, and as you can see we had little view. Al is wearing only a t-shirt, because we were working hard going uphill, but once we stopped for lunch we donned all the warm gear we had brought along.
Here were are bundled up to stay warm, looking out at the limited view. Mt. Baker is out there somewhere, and hopefully when we try this again on Thursday you will be able to see it. There was no breeze and we had a marvelous lunch and satisfying conversation before heading back down. I asked Al to take a picture of the three of us women, so I can show everyone that Jonelle and I do resemble each other, but we both have quite different looks. After last week's hike when I put up some pictures of Jonelle, many mistook her for me.
Mary, Jonelle, me
Even with all that snow, it really wasn't cold, but we did need to put on our warm gear in order to stay that way. We remarked on the fact that as we were getting ready to head back down, the sun kept trying to break through the clouds. We had fog and snow, but a very pleasant temperature during the entire day. On the way back down, the sun broke through long enough for me to get this picture of Al:
Al was very pleased with the hike and said it would be fine for the entire Trailblazer group to join us on Thursday, since we are only intending to make it to the meadow. Last year toward the end of August we made it to the actual summit of Church Mountain, giving us the full nine miles and 4,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Here's the link. Although it's a hard hike, the payoff is tremendous. As you can see, if you look at the first link I provided here and the second one, the difference between mid-July and the end of August last year was simply amazing. I'm wondering what the difference will be three days from now. Stay tuned!
:-)

23 comments:

  1. Oh my, how beautiful. Yes, you and Jonelle are similar but different. I hope Thursday turns out to be a very nice day. The fellowship is always wonderful but sometimes the weather is not is what I've gathered from your reporting.

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  2. Oh yes, last year was amazing. I would think you would want to wait until later, or just go again later.

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  3. nice..the fog in the trees is really cool...love all those trees...and i am sure the group will have fun making the meadow come thursday

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  4. Your group really was the scouting mission. Looks like it was a beautiful hike, even if you can only make it to the snow-filled meadow. That snow really did make me feel cooler. Been hot and humid here--I'd love to be standing in snow! I think it will be a good hike on Thursday. :)

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  5. If that's a meadow in summer, I'd hate to see a meadow in the dead of winter! Glad you had a fine time climbing, though.

    Great break from gardening.

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  6. Loved the links as I wasn't following your blog when those were posted (I feel I've missed sooo much...sigh.) And, while at one link, I found the link to the YouTube video of the Phoenix...watched it, and was saddened to see the beautiful bird lost its life.
    Thank you for your blog, Jan. I learn a lot from reading and am in awe of you and your group as you hike and enjoy the majesty of these beautiful places. Continued success to you all.
    Hugs,
    Jackie

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  7. Fascinating to go from one extreme (sunshine) to another (snow), and looks so very steep !
    Your hikes give us all a glimpse into vistas we would otherwise only see in magazines....spectacular !
    ~Jo

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  8. You do some amazing hikes and I love coming with you through your commentary and photos. What a difference a few weeks can make.

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  9. That photo of Al deserves enlargement and a frame, I think. His stance, the relative proportions of human to nature . . . it's a dreamy picture.

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  10. It certainly wasn't Tshirt weather, that's for sure. You and your friend do resemble each other.

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  11. Difficult for me to grasp that you live here in the US and when you were hiking you ran into snow when so many of us are suffering in extreme heat. What a life it is. Things are not the same across the country nor are they the same for all humans living at different ages and levels of learning. Your descriptions of your hikes are eye openers for me in many ways. Partly because I have a special heart for seniors and the seniors I am around here in Nebraska in this little town are retired hard working farming women. You continue to be an inspiration to many of us.

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  12. finally can load your blog. w/o internet the past 3 days and working off cell phone does not a happy blogger make. :)

    you and jonelle do resemble one another. :)

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  13. What a difference a year makes! I like the fog, though I hope it lifts for Thursday.

    We didn't hike today, but ascended 7000 in a gondola into fog so thick you could not see too far at all! We could hear the cow bells though, and now I know why the cows wear bells. I guess the fog is pretty consistent.

    I was sad to miss seeing the Swiss mountains, but it couldn't be helped. There were many hikers we viewed along the way, and I thought of you. The girls both want to return to Switzerland to hike this glorious trail . . . hopefully in clear weather!

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  14. With temps here in the Midwest set for a high of 97 today...that snow looks pretty darn good! thanks for the cool down.

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  15. Gorgeous and dramatic scenery. A short 3 miles: that made me smile.

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  16. the mist is so lovely!
    and the flowers at the trailhead are beautiful

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  17. I love that mist. It does amuse me to see a snowy landscape and yet, still call it a meadow. That last image is just beautiful.

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  18. Yes, I agree that you and Jonelle have sort of similar hair coloring and with the dark glasses, you might fool people.

    I'm in awe of how you hike to the snow level and then back down to the fog. Wow! What an amazing hike.

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  19. Very nice. It looks like the scouting party had a pretty good day. It will be interesting to see the difference three days will make. I'll keep my fingers crossed for sunshine.

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  20. JUST stunning photos DJan. I am amazed at how much snow there is. Yes, when I saw the first photo of Jonelle, I thought it was you, but then I thought no, that's not DJan, or is it. You two look enough alike to be sisters.
    Amazing hike, love the trees n fog and love the snow too. Have a great time on Thursday.

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  21. "three of the female variety of Trailblazers"....cute, I like that.

    And your hike, once again, simply stunning. I am so jealous of the beautiful mountainside country you get to hike in.

    Happy 4th of YOUly.

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  22. Dear DJan, thanks for providing those links. What a difference a year makes or simply a summer. The third picture from the top of the posting--the one with a single person in it--puzzled me. What's all the black beyond the distant mountains. Is that smoke or cloud cover?

    Peace.

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  23. I love that second photo, it's gorgeous with the mist!

    With such changing conditions from one time to another, I guess there's no way you can get bored by repeating hikes!

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