Final Break-in Trip

Every year I try to gauge how much snow is likely to be in the high country and if many of the lakes have melted out yet. Since part of my project is to look for amphibians, it is better to have the lakes and ponds melted out to a large degree when I go to them.

I usually look at how much snow is lingering on several mountains around, Helen’s Buttes and Diobsud Buttes. The snow cap was still on top of Diobsud Buttes and there was still a lot of snow in meadows on Helen’s Buttes by the weekend of July 26^th and 27^th so I had a hunch that many of the places I want to go this year were still under snow. I have already been to many of the lower elevation lakes at 3000 to 5000 feet that would have been likely to be open for sure at this time. So I had about one more weekend before starting to hit the higher elevation lakes. I could have worked the Cultus Mountains area some more but, even though I had gotten in a pretty good hike there the previous weekend, I wanted to do something a little harder to make absolutely sure I was ready for the hiking season.

I decided to go up the Pilot Ridge Trail (U.S. Forest Service Trail 652) which follows the ridge between the North Fork of the Sauk River and Sloan Creek. My ultimate destination would be a small pond or lake that I wasn’t able to visit last year (see Four days, 20 lakes). This small lake is unmapped which is why I wasn’t able to visit it last year. Because I didn’t know it was there, I didn’t budget any time to get into it.

Since this small lake/pond isn’t mapped, it also doesn’t count for my high lake project. If I included all of the thousands of unmapped ponds and small lakes, I would never finish. However, the Pilot Ridge Trail is pretty demanding, gaining something like 3000 feet in 3.5 miles and then going through some pretty good sustained ups and downs as it follows the ridge for another 5 or 6 miles. I figured it would be one last good break-in hike to take my full pack and stay overnight at the little lake/pond. Going to the pond would be kind of a bonus. I figured I would probably see some amphibians there if the pond was melted out.

I ended up fighting leg cramps for about the last third of the way. I kind of expected I might so I made ready use of some pills I had for cramps. I think these cramps stem largely from sheer muscle exhaustion. I have had my electrolytes checked several times and they seem to be okay. Thus far in my career, I have only gotten cramps on the first hard hikes of the year carrying a heavy pack. After that first trip and after and adequate rest period of several days, I seem to be okay and able to tolerate similar conditions without further cramping. This time I figured out that if I took smaller steps, the cramps wouldn’t be so frequent or so bad.

I ran into exhaustion problems in 1996 when I was in school and out of shape and tried to do the ridge between Goat Creek and Downey Creek to get into Bench Lake. I didn’t get cramps that time, my legs just refused to move. Two years later in 1998, I got severe leg cramps on the ridge west of 39 Mile Creek on the way into Firn Lake. I went on to have a banner year that year but the start was pretty miserable.

So it was this year. I had entertained thoughts of maybe going all the way into Blue Lake or Little Blue Lake or maybe going up onto Johnson Mountain which is just above the little lake/pond to the east. But a guy coming out said that Blue Lake was still under snow and maybe Little Blue Lake was too. And all that aside, by the time I got to the little unmapped lake, I was just happy to call it quits for the day. I think it is 11.4 miles, according to the Green Trails Maps from the trailhead to Blue Lake. I ended up stopping a mile or mile and a half short of that.

I did see a number of Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae) at the little lake/pond which wasn’t too surprising and made the trip even more worthwhile to be able to collect some more data points.

I made it out just fine after a night’s rest, tired legs but no cramping. I weighed my pack when I got home. It was 62 pounds. I didn’t weigh it before the trip because that would be an added mental burden when I was slogging up the hill, feeling like I was going to die with my thoughts straying to dark, gloom and doom scenarios and struggling to keep motivated to keep going and not give up. The thought of the weight of the pack would be added to the knowledge that, less than a year ago, I had been over the same trail with a heavier pack and, though I was tired and hurting, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as on this trip.

Now is the other part of the recovery phase where everything is sore and I am tired and, mentally, it seems impossible to do another trip. Now is the time for self doubt and feeling sorry for myself. I also did a lot of that over the weekend on the trip. But I know from experience that I will probably be itching to go again by the weekend (actually as I sit here editing this on Tuesday, I am already gearing up for the weekend ahead). If I had my druthers, I would have broken in much more slowly. As it is, the trip up Pilot Ridge wasn’t anything to brag about, I certainly didn’t break any records but, overall, I am pleased with the results.

The only kicker is that Sacha caught some kind of stomach bug over the weekend and if I get it, that will put me out of commission for a bit. The whole family, myself included, just recently got over a bad cold too, one of the very few summer colds I have ever experienced.

Hopefully between illness and work pressures, I will be able to hit the mountains on a regular basis. You lose everything you gain as far as muscle tone and strength in two weeks if you don’t use the muscles.  

Helen's Buttes with a few snow patches lingering on the east face. There are a number of factors that determine when a lake will melt out. This includes how much snow fell the previous winter, how warm the spring was, how much sunlight a lake receives-lakes that sit deep in holes between ridges don't get as much sunlight during the day and so melt out more slowly, aspect-lakes in basins facing north melt out later and elevation. The amount of snow left on the buttes tells me that the time is about right for lakes at around 5000 feet to be open but probably a little early for some. These snow patches can also be useful in indicating how much water, in the form of snow or seasonal springs fed by snow melt, one might find on ridges and other areas that will be very dry late in the season. 

Diobsud Buttes. When the small snow patch on top is gone, just about every lake that is going to be open for the year will be open. I also look at a large rock in Diobsud Creek. When it is no longer covered with water that is a good sign the major spring and early summer runoff is done for the year, meaning that the majority of the snow is gone from the high country. 

Foggy Peak and vicinity from Pilot Ridge Trail (Trail 652) where the trail gains the top of the ridge and the first large openings in the forest. 

Sloan Peak from the same area as the previous photo. 

            Glacier Peak from the same area as the previous two photos. This is one of the first large openings in the forest on the trail. 

Mount Pugh on the left and Whitechuck Mountain behind the ridge to the right from the Pilot Ridge Trail. On the way in.                               

Wider view of previous photo. 

Glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum). These lilies are one of the first plants to grow after the snow melts, forming large yellow carpets. According to my last information which is maybe a decade old, these flowers are notoriously difficult to grow, and, if I remember correctly, have never been propagated in an artificial environment. The bulbs of these lilies are an important food for grizzly bears in some areas. I have heard from a bear biologist that grizzlies will create huge excavations in alpine meadows while digging for bulbs. Evidently this actually helps the soil by aerating it and doesn't hinder future plant growth. 

Western anemone (Anemone occidentalis). This member of the buttercup family forms a distinct mop top when it sets seed. It is also one of the first to grow and bloom after the snow melts. A close relative to this plant, the pasque flower or wild crocus actually generates heat to help melt the snow. I don't know if western anemone does as well. 

Sloan Peak with Pilot Ridge in the foreground. This is from near my destination for this trip. 

My destination for this trip. A small lake or pond just west of Johnson Mountain that I didn't have time to get into during a trip the previous year (See Four Days, 20 Lakes). 

The view from my camp spot near the lake back at the meadow the trail passes through. The lone tree near the middle of the meadow is pictured a little left of center frame in the previous photo. 

View of the lake from my camp spot. 

Cascades frog (Rana cascadae). One of the key features that distinguishes this species from our other frog species is dorsal spots. As the reader can see, this individual doesn't have very many though there are enough to tell that the spots have distinct, crisp edges. The edges of the dorsal spots in the red legged frog (R. auroroa) and spotted frogs (R. pretiosa, R. lutieventris) have blurry edges. 

This Cascades frog has lots of dorsal spots. Some individuals of all species don't have any dorsal spots at all. 

The other key feature of the Cascades frog is yellow ventral (belly) surfaces. The legs quite often have a red or orange under color that, with the yellow color gives the legs a honey color. The ventral surfaces of the leg and belly are useful features for species identification when an individual doesn't have dorsal spots. There are other features such as the length of the hind legs and webbing between the toes that may be more definitive than my methods but my methods are much quicker and can often be used without having to capture the animal, though it is nice to catch a few for a really close look.  

I also look at the groin, which is a key feature for identifying the red legged frog which has a green mottled groin. There is sometimes a green tinge to the groins of Cascades frogs but they are pretty much yellow. 

I also look at the dorsal spotting more closely of the individuals I manage to capture. The photos are for later verification if needed. This handling might look cruel but the frogs usually don't seem to mind it much. The second photo in this series of frog photos was the frog that I am holding here after I released it. It didn't go very far. 

Cascades frog hiding in last year's sedges. 

Sloan Peak with the small lake/pond in the foreground. 

Mount Rainier from the Pilot Ridge Trail on the way out. 

Mount Pugh and Whitechuck Mountain from the Pilot Ridge Trail on the way out. This was from the same spot as the previous photos of Pugh and Whitechuck but the light isn't as interesting in this photo.  

The snow pattern in the foreground caught my eye. It seems to create the effect of something swirling and flowing. I would have been very nice to have some nice cirrus clouds to set off the swirl pattern but no luck on this day. I could see clouds moving in, they are visible in the photo above of Mount Rainier but they were moving so slowly that I couldn't wait for them. In days gone by I might have. And I might have gotten a really interesting photo. That is one of the secrets to taking really good photos. If you see a situation developing that might lead to an interesting photo, you have to stay until it develops. Sometimes it doesn't and there you are, having wasted hours for a shot that didn't happen. Unfortunately I don't have time for this type thing nowadays. By continuing on instead of waiting for the clouds, I was able to get home in time to pick about a quart of wild blackberries, mow the lawn and do several loads of laundry while Sacha was away with the kids. 

Vertical view of previous photo. Foggy Peak is just out of the frame to the left.