TNAB'ers:
The weather was warm and sunny for TNAB's latest task: Silver Peak. I fully expected a large crew, but was surprised when only seven total showed up. At least we had one newbie, Lonnie, who comes to TNAB via Maren (Lonnie was looking for Rainier training session and brought along a full pack!!!). Dan, on the other hand, taught us that you can improvise hiking boots by visiting the Eastgate RiteAid. Bets were made how long his new tennies would stay white...
Fast forward to Exit 47 and the trailhead for Annette Lake. No sooner had we arrived when the lot quickly filled up with cars. Enter the "other" Thursday night hiking club, lead by Ryan, an associate of Larry's. They are, for the most part, younger and with a nice ratio of males to females...hmmm, wonder where they're hiking next week?
In the blink of an eye, Don took off on the trail. By the time the rest of us got our act together, we were primed to catch Don and leave the other group behind, so of course we missed the first turn and ended up on the adjoining nature trail. Argh!
A 15 minute warmup later, we were back on track and in full pursuit mode. We caught Ryan's group after the switchbacks. Next step - look for the blaze! Once again, Larry arrived early and skillfully marked the spot of departure. Now, what would a TNAB event be without a bushwhack? We took a hard left and headed up into forest. Fortunately, the thick spots were few and far between as the slope became increasingly steep.
The bushwhack finally gave way to the fields of rock, bathed in the early evening sunlight. I once considered this to be a talus field, but now I know better. It's neither talus or scree, with few of the advantages of the former and many of the negatives of the latter. Scralus? #*$&$@ rocks?
Looking up, I spotted Larry nearing the ridge. Some areas of the slope were still covered with snow, but nothing worth traveling on. A few minutes later, noise off to our left gave away Don's position. He was doing his best to utilize partially vegetated edges of the $*%& field to gain better footing - a veteran move.
Finally, we gained the ridge and got our first view of the peak. A glance at the watch indicated it was well after 8:00 PM - no time for rest! Determined, we pushed on to the summit. After all that effort, it felt real good to finally be on top. The local views of the surrounding summits were spectacular in the reddening light, as was the Big Dog, Rainier. If only we could stay longer...
All too soon, the long slog out commenced. If it wasn't fun going up the $&## field, it was worse going down. We made the edge of woods just as the last light of the day dwindled away, broke out our headlamps and made for the trail. Our tired feet and legs greeted the trail like a lost friend. I tried desperately not to think about how late it was getting - we were almost on Teneriffe time! As we regrouped in the parking lot, sore and bruised, it was 11:00 PM. Oof, work's going to suck tomorrow!
Attendance: Alicia, Dan, Don, Larry, Lonnie, Mark, Mike
Good luck to Lonnie and his group on Rainier next week!
Next Week: Snoqualmie Mountain - I personally have not been on this one since the original bushwhack of legend - I will be there this time!
On Deck: Summer Solstice hike on Granite! Set your calendars now - June 17th will be here sooner than you think.
Hasta,
-Mark
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