On Saturday with weather front moving in I decided against trying for hiking up Mount Jupiter and settled on Mount Rose instead. I like Mount Rose. My first trip up Mount Rose was right after I had started up hiking again once I had recovered from child-birth. Sitting on the summit that day reminded me of why I like hiking so much and made me really glad that I had started hiking again.
My second attempt at Mount Rose did not take me to the summit because there was too much snow but I had a nice hike anyway because I met a woman on the trail who joined with my for most of the hike.
This Saturday was my third time up Mount Rose and my second time on the summit. I had a hard time getting out of bed for this hike though. First of all I'm dieting and that is making me weak and lethargic second my least favorite aunt decided to come visit today. So I was tired and in a really bitchy mood.
I almost did not go hiking but then I remembered the plan I had made last night. My plan was to get a 12 inch subway sandwich and eat half before the hike and half after the hike. Oh food yes food! The thought of good fattening food got my fat ass out of the house. I knew that the ultra strenuous hike up Mount Rose would more then make up for eating a giant sandwich. So I could eat well today and still lose weight.
I started my hike at noon and was pleasantly surprised with how well my body performed. My backpacking trip must have gotten me into shape. I am only a bit sore this evening and that's saying a lot. The Mount Rose trail gains 3,400 feet in about 3 miles. Today's total mileage was 6.9.
There was a fire on Mount Rose last year and some of it went over the trail. But some plants have come back to the burned areas already. Those plants are bear grass, bracken fern, trailing black berries, and salal and of course fire morels.
The mushrooms I saw on this hike included Panther Amanita’s, lots of them, rotten chicken of the woods, a mystery mushroom and one giant fire morel. I saw two salamanders, several banana slugs and two dead baby birds. I guess the baby birds fell or were plucked out of their nests. Just as I finished up my lunch I saw a soaking wet gray jay. I felt bad that I had nothing left to give it.
I took the shorter summit route up and the longer ridge route down. I lost the trail on the summit route for a good 15 minutes and at the worst time; my GPS was reading that I was just ten minutes from the summit. I would have turned around and hiked the summit on the longer Ridge if I had to. I was not going to give up on bagging this peak today. Finally I did regain the trail but only after putting my GPS in my pocket and following my instincts. One problem with using my GPS there was that it was right at a spot where the actual trail diverges from the trail on my GPS map by a whole bunch.
Once I made it to the top it felt really good to sit on the summit of Mount Rose but there was no view. As predicted a big weather front had moved in and I hiked in the rain all day. But one nice thing I noticed is that when it rains in June the sky is much brighter then it is when it rains in December. I was in a cheerful mood for the entire hike (except when I lost the trail) in spite of the constant rain.
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