Walks with Moss: Smoked out on Mount Rose

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Smoked out on Mount Rose

Over-ripe chicke of the woods

I left my house at 9:05 and we met up at 9:15. As soon as I left I realized that the socks I wore for this hike were not long enough to be comfortable under my ankle brace. I also remembered I had taken the socks out of the shoulder straps of my GGG pack. So we stopped at the only store in the county and I bought two pairs of socks. My pack holds socks in the shoulder pads. This saves a bit of weight and uses the sock for two purposes. I’ve been using this pack for a few years now and I’m quite happy with it. But I wonder if it is wearing out? It does not hold the weight as well as it used to. Maybe it is sagging? I had to sew the metal frame into place, it’s held with Velcro so it can be removed but the Velcro got dirty and quit working so I just sewed it into place.

We hit the trail at about 10:30, the dirt road to staircase is in great shape and I had no trouble doing the speed limit in my little car. One person pulled in behind us, but the mobs of idiots seem to have left for the summer. We only saw one other person on the trail. There is still a lot of toilet paper and garbage on the mountain but I could tell that most of it had been removed. The Mount Rose trail crew cut out a few logs and covered up some illegal fire pits. I could see no sign of the big trashy fire that some idiot had on the meadow at 4,000 feet. Fires are not allowed above 3,500 feet in the Olympics. The trail crew also had to do some work where folks have been cutting switchbacks.

There was a fresh fire pit ON the summit rock... WTF?? There were signs of another fire pit in the middle of the trail much lower down and garbage strewn all around it. There were several spots where the herds had been cutting switchbacks. But the Mount Rose trail crew fixed it all up. I wonder what they thought when the saw the mess up there. Hoards of idiots descended on Mount Rose this summer because the Forest Service closed the nearby Ellinor trail and failed to put up a closure sign. So people drove all the way in to the dirt roads before they found out the trail was closed. Why can’t the forest service put up signs out on highway 101? Also why those goats can’t be removed or shot?

Anyway we summited at about 2 and stayed on the rock until about 3 when the only other person we saw that day arrived. She was a young German woman who was travelling. Germans sure get around. I wish I had been that brave when I was young.

The view from the summit was poor due to forest fire smoke coming in and filling up the valley from the East. I wonder where all that smoke came from?

Very smoky view

The mountain through the smoke

The trip down took just as long as the trip up because I was hiking with someone who is just starting to get into shape. Because we hiked down so slow I noticed a few things that I don’t normally see such as a possible eagles nest.

The trail was very dry thanks to the summer drought. I think it was the driest I have ever seen it. The weather was pleasant, it felt like about 70 degrees F at the top.

When we got back to the car we found that while we were out hiking the outhouse had been removed. Summer is over, thank goodness for that! I feel pretty good today, I’m sure I could have done another 1,000 feet in elevation gain, so next week I’m going to tackle something a bit more challenging.

6.3 miles 3,200 feet elevation gain