Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Lost Creek Ridge

Start of Lost Creek Ridge trail
Yesterday, Monday, the Trailblazers went on our first "extra" hike of the season. I don't know where anybody had heard of this hike before, Lost Creek Ridge, but only two of the twelve who went had ever been there before: Mike and April, who only go on our Monday hikes in the summer. We met early in the morning to carpool, and managed to get 7 in Mike's car and 5 in Fred's, and then we set off for the Mountain Loop Highway and our eventual trailhead, a good 100 miles away. We started the hike just before 10:00am.
April and Hank looking at the spiderweb
Someone saw this spiderweb as we were hiking along, and I tried to get a picture of it. Although I really needed some dew or mist for it to be fabulous, I did actually capture it better than I expected. The nice thing about digital photography, you can just snap away and if it doesn't work, it's an easy fix to delete it. The temperature and terrain were quite comfortable as we began the hike, which starts out almost level in the first mile, and then it begins to go upward, without letup.
April, Mike, Chris, Rich,  Diane, Steve resting
You can tell by the way we were dressed that it was hot, and getting more so all the time. By this time it was almost noon and some hikers started up the trail while others proceeded more slowly. I ended up hiking for more than a mile by myself, with some behind me, but the majority ahead of me. I stopped to take a few pictures, but mostly just kept plodding along, enjoying the views now and then of unfamiliar mountains, until I reached Round Lake after almost five miles and 3,800 feet of elevation gain. I was really pooped, but the payoff was worth it.
Frozen Round Lake
It was not only a beautiful sight, but the breeze was incredible, cool and strong enough to keep all the bugs away. You can see in this picture (below) that the sweat on my shirt was nowhere near dry when this picture was taken, and I almost didn't use it because of that, but it's just too good not to. We had our lunch overlooking this lake. We knew that if we had gone just another short distance, maybe half a mile, we would be able to see Glacier Peak, but since it was getting late, after 2:00pm, we headed back down.
Diane and me
The views were stupendous, and we even got a glimpse of our old friend Mt. Baker in the distance, from a side we don't usually see. I didn't include a picture, because it was so hazy in the distance that it didn't show up. But we sure did get some other mountains in high relief.
Sloan Peak and more: Doug, Al, and Hank
It was after 5:00pm by the time we reached the cars, tired and very ready for the day to end with a trip to Granite Falls and our favorite eating spot, Omega Pizza. I had a new (to me) beer called "Irish Death." It was great, and went well with my pizza. We didn't get back home until almost 10:00pm, and I was too tired to do anything but collapse. Hence the post in the middle of the afternoon on the day afterwards. Well, I finally did get 'er done, and now I can pick up my book and do next to nothing for the rest of the day.
:-)

20 comments:

  1. really cute pic of you and diane. :)

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  2. Whew! Gorgeous hike, and I like that you included the picture with the sweat you worked up to get to those vantage points and share them all with us.
    Enjoy your book!

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  3. wow. look at those peaks off in the distance...i bet that breeze was nice off the snow...cool things off and give you a breath for the rest of the climb....

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  4. I was wondering with all the exposed flesh if the bugs were out. Glad they weren't.
    Goodness, the lake is still frozen. You do live in another world.
    How nice the be able to eat guilt free after a long hike.

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  5. Wow, wow and wow. Thank you for sharing the incredible beauty.

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  6. You really worked up a sweat on this one. I'll bet you drank buckets of water. I really like the frozen lake in July. I don't think it will lose it's ice this year.

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  7. That was a major hike! Very impressive, and beautiful too.

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  8. I'll say you deserve to sit and read. Thank you for taking me on that hike while I sat in my chair. Truly beautiful. I'm visiting Washington in the next week. First time. Can't wait. My 50th state!

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  9. As we say here in the Maritimes, "Ya got 'er done Son". WOW, what spectacular views and cute pic of YOU and Diane. Its great that you get yourself in some shots, cause its always the photographer that doesn't get in most photos at many affairs. I am amazed by the snow, but I guess its the mountains - we do not have mountains here - we have really high hills and I'm not quite sure what height constitutes it being a mountain. WE have a few places Sugarloaf Mtn, Crab Mtn, Poley Mtn but they look like really big hills to me, when I compare them to your mountains. I guess I never really thought about this before - is there such a thing according to height as "baby or small mountains" - then we would fit into that category. ha,ha Lovely post DJan and always interesting.

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  10. Thanks for the pics -- looks spectacular!

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  11. You absolutely wear me out, and I'm not even the one hiking! Glad you enjoyed the hike, and more power to you. I'll bet that beer tasted good with the pizza after such a day.

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  12. Great hike, and the views- gorgeous!

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  13. Sounds like you had a great time. Those views were stupendous.

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  14. I think I am relieved to see that you sweat climbing up these mountain paths, lady! Makes you more human, I think. ;) You always look beautiful! That was really a whole day of it--goodness! What a great group of people you have hooked up with. :) :)

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  15. You just need a shirt with a pattern! What a beautiful view of the mountains in the background. Sounds like you started off the Monday hikes with a challenging hike.:)

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  16. Sloan Peak and Frozen Round Lake...wow. Well worth the exhausting climb!!!

    Beautiful DJ!!

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  17. You girls look sweaty! What do you use for bug repellent on your excursions? I really haven't found something, DEETless, that works. Mosquitoes are fierce in the Northeast. I friggin hate them and tend to stay out of areas where they hang, which is pretty much everywhere. Part of my abhorrence now relates to my husband's Lyme disease from which he suffered painfully for 3 years. It's in remission now. Mosquitoes can carry & pass it as well as ticks.

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  18. That's enough to make me wish I lived in the mountains!

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