Walks with Moss: A soggy good time on Mount Rose

Rough skinned newt

What a wet day on Mount Rose, but I had to do it. I had already scheduled my dial-a-ride to the trail head and it was too late to cancel. I was also depressed, but I knew that hiking might help cheer me up. I was depressed due to our financial situation and due to it being exactly one day to the year since my oldest daughter flew the coop. I have not seen her once since then.

I left my DSLRs at home and packed along my waterproof point and shoot camera for this soggy trip.

My bus picked me up at 6:15, there was already one passenger on the bus and she got dropped off at the Port of Shelton. The bus left me at the trail head at 7:04 am and my return ride was due to pick me up between 3 and 3:30, so I had ample time to hike all of the Mount Rose trail.

For this hike I wore my boots so I could keep my feet dry. I also left Patches at home. I knew she would be wet and cold and miserable out there. I sure missed her, she is so cheerful when she runs up the trail ahead of me. She loves hiking and when I go without her she howls and cries and makes the most pitiful noises, or so I am told. But she did just go hiking two days before so she probably needed to rest her arthritic knees.

It took me over an hour to reach one hour rock, I was depressed and moving slow and I am not a morning person. I must have perked up after I passed one hour rock, because I was at horse camp before I knew it. Shortly after I passed horse camp I saw the first snow on the trail, then as I got near the summit it started snowing. The snow was wet and fat and mixed with rain, so I knew it would not stick.

I had my tea on the summit and I managed to stay warm because the snow and rain stopped for a bit and I had my hot tea to warm me up. If Patches had been with me she would have been miserable and I would not have been able to take my break on the summit.

I headed down the loop in the long direction as and I headed down the rainfall gradually increased. First it was just misting, then it was drizzling and by the time I got down to the benches it was raining. When I reached the road it was pouring, but I did not really care because I was in a good mood by then.

I got to the road nearly an hour before my pick up time so I wandered down to the lake shore and had my tea. Then about ten minutes before my pick up time I decided to start hiking up the road in the direction that my bus would be coming from. I did this so I could keep warm, I knew that if the bus was at all late I was going to get quite cold.

I made it all the way out to the pavement before my bus arrived at 3:30. The driver was very glad that I had walked out to meet her, it saved her some time and she was unsure about where the Mount Rose trail head was.

By walking out to meet my bus I added and extra 1.3 miles to my hike. Also by being out there for 8.5 hours I got quite a work out. I'm still tired today and I know that I'm in pretty good hiking condition but I think that being out there for so many hours kind of took it out of me. Also I had just done Mount Walker two days before.

Thanks to Mason Transit I can keep hiking even if there is no money for gas in the monthly budget.

7 miles with 3,500 feet elevation gain