September 14th
I’ve slept at the Snow Lake trailhead before, and I should’ve remembered I’d be kept all night by the constant sound of car doors slamming. Nonetheless, the day started around 6am, with some green tea from my favorite tea shop in Seattle, the Vital Tea leaf (much might I say than instant coffee).
As I started moving, I saw the sheriff was already posting parking tickets to those across the road (the parking lot and road was completely parked up by this time). I headed over to talk with the sheriff about the ticketing situation, so I could make sure I wouldn’t fall prey. En route I ran into my new climbing friend, Takeo, from the Seattle Mountaineers branch.
Before I knew it, we had started on the trail, ascended to 2500 ft and were bushwacking our way to the base of the Snow Creek crag. My battery was almost dead by the time we were there so I had been judicious with my Gaia usage. As a result we missed the turnoff to the trail and were finding our own way over boulders, through thick bush and up rotting logs.
The log we initially tried to cross to get up to the base of Orbit.
We started climbing up a gulley and, again, realized that we were not on track. We were climbing fifth class terrain without protection and it was getting sketchy. We traversed over and intersected with the first pitch. That 30 minutes and wasted energy could’ve been avoided by studying beta with a large magnifying glass the night before. Will be sure to print the actual climbing map with some features from the Washington Weekend book next time!
The climb was challenging, and I learned that the distinction between a 5.9 and 5.9 sustained is significant. We swang leads with me feeling pumped at the end of pitch 4. I set up an anchor above the rusted bolts before, later finding out that those bolts were precisely where the anchor was supposed to be built). On pitch 5, the battery ran out and I was scrambling up some choss (again off course). We used a series of tugs on the rope to indicate to Takeo that he was on belay. We topped out after passing goat cave and enjoyed our respective lunches, all the while enjoying views of the valley.
We walked off the top, utilizing the second gulley from the Orbit route. A couple of times I saw Takeo take a tumble, with me even taking a spill on the scree. We decided to take a detour to try to connect to the base of Outer Space. However, there wasn’t a clear connection and we ended up body rappelling down a particularly steep section. It had been a day of route finding that could’ve been avoided with some study of the beta. It was easy to see how a relatively straight-forward trip could become dangerous affair involving rappels in the dark (something I’d experienced earlier on Canadaians on Horseback with my friend Reid the year before). Luckily it didn’t come to that, and we were able to meander our way back to the parking lot.
We enjoyed a hazy IPA at the car, and I washed off in the Snow Creek below the parking lot. It was a fantastic evening, and all the hens were beginning to come down the trail to roost. I drove out of the parking and found some camping on Forest Service road 112, just off Icicle Creek Road. One of those days that you just marvel at, appreciating the wonderful opportunities that come our way sometimes.
September 15th
Woke up this morning to light slipping under my deflated 3-D sleeping mask. Checking my phone to find that I overslept my alarm by that hour. It had grown cold over the night, to maybe be 45 or 50° (about 10 degrees colder than the night before). My well-worn 45° bag wasn’t warm enough the night before so I slipped into my 15° sleeping bag liner during the night. The stars last night were popping and there was limited light pollution except of that from the moon.
I made quick work packing up camp, parked at Snow Lake an ascended up to Snow Lake. I ascended the 4k feet in a little under 3hrs, trail running when it made sense. I even harvested some chicken of the woods on the way up the trail. I’d later accidentally through it way when I tossed the other half of my bagel in the gas station dumpster on the way out of town.
The water in Snow Creek was incredibly clear. This was where we had crossed into deep bushwacking the day prior.
The Snow Lake trail is a popular one and attracts all walks of life. On the way I up I passed a casual hiker. As I passed, I over heard her telling her friend that she didn’t have a lot fat, but rather was carrying a extra water weight. I also crossed paths with an older gentleman with grocery bag hanging from his belt buckle. To make things even better, it was Walmart grocery bag.
For lunch, I had a bagel loaded with sea salt. The sea salt replenished my sodium and I didn’t require any electrolyte supplements since the amount of other minerals lost while sweating, (e.g., magnesium, calcium, and phosphate) are basically negligible.
On the way down, I noticed the granite boulders. They cascade around the trail, as if they could give at any second. But as you climb down them you realize how sturdy they are. These boulders are analogous to scaled up sand – gritty sand that interlocks and forms structures that are as strong as buildings. In fact, I learn in podcast back home that day scaled down granite chunks are exactly what they look for when mixing concrete. They want course sand with lots of edges that can catch and interlock with each other. This contrasted with sand that has been worn into smoothed grains. Scaling smoothed grains into the builder-sized rocks around my in that valley would’ve been scary. Those boulders would create an structure, they would just slide past each other smothering the unfortunate hikers below.
In the parking lot, I saw a sticker on someone’s car that read LFP. I’d later look this up. It was either shorthand for Lithium Iron Phosphate, a key ingredient in batteries, or ‘Lake Forest Park’- a random suburb on the north end of Lake Washington. I didn’t know there was so much pride in LFP, or much less stickers being made for them.
I took a dip in this pool at the base of the Snow Lake Trailhead parking lot after finishing the ascent. I’m a real sucker for a post-hike dip in cold water!
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