Mount Rose

Remnant of the original trail that  the Mount Rose trail crew rerouted the trail around.. It did not go anywhere

just back to the new trail, still it was interesting to see and there was an old tin can shoved under a tree there.

7.5 miles 3,500 feet elevation gain

Off Trail on Mount Rose

I was still a bit under the weather but I needed some exercise. So I headed up Mount Rose. It's mushroom season and there were a few of the usual mushrooms out. No one would ever go to Mount Rose just to hunt mushrooms, it's far too much work and the mushrooms are too spread out. I missed a trail junction so I decided to brush crash until I hit the trail again. But I went too low and had to regain a bunch of elevation. It was fun to be off trail on Mount Rose. Mount Rose is getting crowded so I am doing more and more off trail stuff these days.

I was very tired so I moved up the mountain quite slowly.  My off trail travel slowed me down too.  I made it out just before dark but slightly after sunset.

The creeks were all high and water was plentiful on my route.  My handmade pack ripped near the corner of one of the side pockets and I had to stop and repair it so I could keep using that pocket.  The other side pocket is reinforced in that same spot.  I will fix up my pack before my next hike.

It's less work to repair my pack than it is to make a new one, but I am thinking of making a new one just for fun.

 6.5 miles with 3,500 feet elevation gain.

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I caught a snail trying to eat a slug and the slugs reaction. I hope the slug was able to get away.

Snail trying to eat a slug

Wood ears

Bear Head in the sky

Milk Cap with Peltigera Lichen and Kidbergia moss

English Springer Spaniel

Purple Corts

if you know anything about this guy please contact me

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

Mount Rose loop plus some road walking

This feather was standing up like it had been dropped there just for me

Slime mold on the move

illegal campfire at 3,500 feet on the steep half of the loop

 Ptilidium Liverwort

Hot tea on the summit, note my patented tea bag
toe warmer on my left foot

fairy slipper orchid

crucified on Mount Rose

Lake Cushman bus stop

My bus just reaching the dirt

My view at lunch time

Mount Rose sunrise dial-a-ride

The bus picked me up at 6am and left me in the dark at 7am.  I headed up with my headlamp on, but soon the sun came up.  I had 8 hours to do this 5 hour hike, so I took my time.  I did not want to get cold before my pick up at  3:15-3:45.

It was cold and windy at the top and it was snowing, so I did not linger.  I dropped back down to just above horse camp and had my second hot cuppa there.  I had my first cuppa at about 800 feet because I thought I felt a migraine coming on.

I am not a morning person, so these early morning bus trips take it out of me, but at least I get to see the sunrise and catch the morning sweet light.

I broke the trail and did a lot of postholing on the ridge.  at 1:40 I saw two guys in their 30-s to 40's heading up with no packs and wearing  nothing but cotton tee shirts, shorts and running shoes.  That's crazy.

My bus went right past the turn off for Mount Rose and I was afraid it was going all the way to staircase, but it did not. The driver turned around and picked me up 5 minutes later.

I never get solitude on Mount Rose anymore.. has my blog got something to do with it?

7 miles 3,400 feet elevation gain.

dappled sun on moss

Deer track

Patches!  U no like this bridge?

Panorama from near the top

The mighty Summit

The mighty Summit from a different angle

I got to break the trail

Glad I brought my gaiters!

Pipe Cleaner moss lines the trail

Mount Rose during the drought of 2014

To cold to linger on the summit today

Again I was feeling much unmotivated; I just did not want to get out of bed.  But I did want to get in at least 4 good hikes in January and today would be my last chance.  I drug myself out of bed and fiddled around with my pack a bit.  Then I jumped on the internet and thought about just staying home and playing on my computer.  But Patches knew I was preparing to hike and she was so excited.  Patches enthusiasm to hike is what finally got me moving.  I thought about doing Marmot pass, but in the end I settled on boring old Mount Rose.

I started hiking in light rain.  Two other hikers were on the trail ahead of me.  They were wearing blue jeans and only had one tiny pack between the two of them.  Another hiker passed me just at the wilderness boundary; he also had a small pack but was probably much better prepared.  Maybe one day in the summer I will run up and down Mount Rose with nothing more than a water bottle.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to climb Mount Rose in February without packing extra clothes, rain gear a head lamp and a first aid kit. 

It took me three hours to reach the summit and I was kicking myself a bit for being so slow and wondering if I could ever do a through hike of the PCT as slow as I am.  I would love the hike the PCT and the AT when my daughter is younger.  In all of the times I have hiked up Rose I have never once passed anyone.  EVERYONE is faster than me EVERYONE!

The summit rock was wet and cold and slippery.  Snow was blowing sideways too.   I opted to have my lunch at the little ridgetop meadow rather than on the summit.  If I had waited a bit I might have gotten a good view from the summit as the sun came out while I was having lunch on the ridge. 

I’d say that about a quarter of an inch of snow fell while I was hiking.  The ridge was mostly bare of snow.  Normally this time of year the ridge has so much snow on it that I can’t even guess at its depth.  This is such a strange year!

Lunch on the ridge today was one Luna bar, one orange and a cup of hot instant coffee.  Patches had her very last TurboPUP bar for lunch.  Patches won a weekend supply of TurboPUP bars as her prize for being TuboPUP of the month in December.  She really liked her bars; I hope I can buy her some more in the future.

I took my time hiking down since I was tired and sore and my boots are just tight enough to make my big toes hurt on the down hills.  It actually took me more time to hike down than it took me to hike up.  I took a lot of pictures on my way down.  To save weight I packed just my 50mm 1.8 prime lens.  I would really rather has a 35mm prime lens.  50mm is just too much zoom for me with my crop sensor camera. I’m hoping to find someone who wants to trade lenses. 

When I pack just my little prime lens I can wear my camera over my neck and shoulder because it is so light and does not suffer from zoom creep.  My normal hiking lens is the Nikon 18-200mm; it is heavy and has terrible zoom creep so I have to carry my camera in a holster when I hike with it.

At horse camp I took a 20 mintue break with my feet up and I ate a banana.  After horse camp I quicked my pace and I made it back down to the trail head at about 4:30

I reached the trail register just in time to see a forest or park ranger slam on their brakes down on the causeway road and then sit there for a moment or two.  I have no idea what that was about.  Was he watching me or was he watching the lake?

Light snow near the summit

Lichen or fungi?

Shouler of either Mount Ellinor or Mount Pershing

Taken with my puppy portrait lens

No snow at 4,200 feet!

on the summit some snowflakes land on my pants

Moss sporophytes with the light hitting them just right



One hour rock.  It took me one hour and 8 minutes to reach
One hour rock today.  That's my slowest time I started keeping
track last year.

Just a dusting of snow near the top

Snow sparkles in the sun

Yay for wilderness!