Wednesday, April 30, 2014

September 4th—Day Hike from Klapatche Park to Tokaloo Rock

Ahhhh. Finally a day of rest. A day where we don't have to tear the tent down in the morning and set it back up at the end of a long, hard slog. Today is one of three days to which we have allotted a day hike. A nice, easy, relaxing day hike. Today's hike will be to Tokaloo Rock, partway up the Puyallup Cleaver.

Since this is an easy, local hike, we sleep in a bit and spend some time relaxing around camp. One of the first things I do, as the sun rises over Aurora Peak to the East, is to photograph chipmunks. One thing I learn on this hike is that there are zillions of chipmunks in Mount Rainier National Park and there aren't very many squirrels. As I snap away toward the edge of camp, Kerri wanders over. I mention that there are squirrels all over the place darting around—these little guys are amazingly quick. She says "you mean chipmunks?" I say "I don't know. What's the difference?" She explains that chipmunks are tiny with stripes down their backs. Squirrels are larger, darker, and have no stripes (chipmunks are actually a member of the squirrel family). Well, I guess I've got lots of great photos of chipmunks, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for squirrels for the duration of our hike.


Tip:
Wear waterproof shoes or boots, and Gore Tex pants or gaiters in the mornings and when it rains. If you don't, you'll get soaked to the bone from the knees down.
Matt and I have our usual hand warming and stomach warming breakfast before packing. Today, we pack light. I'm glad I brought a day pack. I use it several times and it fits the bill perfectly. I even let Matt borrow it once. We pack only what we know we'll need and also what everyone should always have with them when they're bumming around on The Mountain. I take all my camera gear (Minolta Maxxum 5D, Sigma 12-24 zoom lens, Minolta 50mm macro, and Minolta 70-200 f/2.8 SSM zoom lens) and we both pack extra clothing. Matt carries our food. We both carry water. Matt manages to put my tripod inside his monster pack. We set out in the late hours of the morning.

There's a long hill leading up to St. Andrews Lake and I'm dragging, probably because of the difficult hike the day before. As usual, I take several breaks on the way up and before we know it, we arrive at the lake. Surprisingly, we see a trail leading up toward Tokaloo Rock. There is no trail indicated on the map, only a climbing route, so this is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the trail won't last for long. We want to see where we're headed, so we pull out the map, compass, and Matt's sweet GPS receiver. We get an idea how far we have to go and verify that the trail is heading off in the right direction. The hiking is easy initially, as we circle along the north shore of St. Andrews Lake. We're actually hiking along the north shore of a largely dry lakebed, as the lake, itself, is really more like a large pond. I wonder where all that water went? Shortly, the trail steepens to the point where we are climbing large steps. This is tantamount to doing a hundred leg presses. If you've ever done weightlifting, you know what I mean. This is the kind of climb that makes your thighs burn.

It doesn't last long, thankfully. We break out onto a more level section of trail and stop at a small tree to get our bearings. The lake is behind us. There is a ridgeline to our right and a massive scree field in front of us, running along the base of the ridgeline. Again, we get out the map and GPS. The trail is gone, so we enjoy trying to figure out where to go next by reading the map and compass and taking advantage of the topographic software Matt has loaded onto his GPS. At first, we surmise that we will probably have to cross the scree field. Upon hiking a bit further, and because of cairns we keep spotting—some quite difficult to locate—we see that we must navigate straight up this hillside to a saddle at the top. We begin making our way over the slickrock that spans the distance between us and the saddle.

Matt isn't too thrilled about the direction of travel as he isn't a big fan of heights and the only direction we're headed is up. With a little encouragement, we continue up towards the saddle. I think I see a cairn at the top and I try to find a reasonable pathway to get there. The hillside is pretty steep so I create my own switchbacks, choosing my way carefully. There are loose rocks everywhere and some steep spots, so the route we choose is important. Before we know it, we break out on top of the saddle.

We have come upon a dry lakebed. How cool. This is the last thing I expected and a fun surprise. It is quiet and cold. We're protected from the wind by the rocky hills surrounding this low spot. Nevertheless, we're not moving anymore, so we begin to get chilly. We're going to rest for a bit, have some food, and check our location, so we put on our fleeces to keep warm. The Stanley shows this lakebed, so we know we're right on track. We're more than halfway to Tokaloo Rock. With a little coaxing, Matt decides to press on with me after our break.

It's a pleasure to navigate the tundra and we come across yet another dry lakebed. It's cold, so we put on all we've got. Matt adds his shell, his fleece hat, and gloves. I do the same, except for the gloves. I would put them on if I had them. We look down a cliff, and across the Tahoma Glacier. We see Pyramid Peak, the goal of our next day hike. We now see that this is no narrow ridgeline as we had expected. We could play a football game up here. Heck, you could land an airplane here. The terrain is expansive. In fact, every aspect of The Mountain is on a scale that is unimaginable. When I planned this day hike, I thought that this would be easy. We'd hike to Tokaloo Rock, then, with the remainder of our day, we'd just bum around a little more on Puyallup Cleaver. Maybe we'd make it up to St. Andrews Rock (although I seriously doubted that). The terrain is rugged and getting from point A to point B is nothing like you might imagine when looking at the map. A hike that looks easy on paper can, in reality, be grueling and difficult, if not dangerous or impossible. For the remainder of the trip, I make jokes about doing a day hike to this point or that peak. Matt grins.

We eventually get to the final ridgeline that leads to Tokaloo Rock. This is a ridgeline on which you cannot play football (making a diving catch would be one heck of a way to go). Matt sits this one out as I proceed carefully, placing each footstep with care. The going is easy initially, but there are a few tough spots that require both hands. One spot has me concerned, but I find a way around rather than over. Although the going is relatively easy at this point, falling one hundred or two hundred feet onto rugged rocks wouldn't do anyone any good. I proceed with caution. Before long, I see a tough looking section ahead. The toughest yet. Being alone and feeling that it wouldn't be worth the risk it would require to get to Tokaloo Rock and see nothing but white (clouds, not snow), I decide to turn back. I'll return for an overnighter with some friends on another occasion. Besides, the weather doesn't seem to be improving any.

Matt and I head back down and none too soon, as gravity wins out over the clouds. The clouds become fog and light rain begins to fall. We have to navigate back down the slickrock and are concerned about, well, the slick rock. We move slowly and step carefully. We're back down to the halfway point relatively quickly...the little tree. We can now relax. We made it down the hard part without cracked skulls or broken legs. From here on, we just follow the trail.

As happens more than once on this hike, the leaves of the Lupine flower collect water droplets, just waiting for my passing so they can leap onto my pant legs and shoes, soaking me from the knees down. By the time we get back to St. Andrews Lake, my shoes are making squishing sounds, since that's what water logged shoes do.

We meet a couple other gluttons for punishment, Stu and Rachel, at St. Andrews Lake, just as the rain is dying down. They began their day at Devils Dream and are hiking together for the benefit of strength in numbers, as they have heard of bears in these here parts. Lies, all lies! Matt stays back, offering to help Stu carry the gallon of water he has just scooped out of the lake. I head on back to camp to unpack and dry off.

Shortly after I get back, the others arrive. Matt whispers to me from the site next to ours, where Stu will be staying, that there are two deer in the camp. As I tend to do, I ignore the fact that I am wet, cold, and uncomfortable, and grab my camera gear, and begin photographing the deer.

After I finish photographing the deer and Matt finishes visiting with Stu and Rachel, we make our way back to home base. Matt wishes out loud that we had a clothesline. Of course, I am prepared for this situation. I whip out some lightweight cord and string it up between two trees. I fail to point out that if I had been prepared for the trail conditions, I wouldn't need the line to dry my clothes on. We hang up a few items on the line, which is mostly sheltered by the two trees to which it's attached, just as it begins to rain again. Thankfully, we're at camp and we can crawl into our tent. We listen to the rat tat tat of rain on the rain fly. When we're in the tent, it's a soothing sound. We warm our hands and bellies with hot lasagna as we sit on our comfortable down sleeping bags. We're dry now. The tent is cozy. It's good to be back. Ahhhh.

Photos of the Hike

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