10-27-24
Gary
and John were free for a Sunday hike. I was at Alpha's big fund raising
dinner. It was our 50th anniversary. We had a very wet Sunday on top. I
was home by 10 pm and ready in the morning. We had settled on a trip
through the Snoqualmie Tunnel. It is dry in all conditions. It is also
closed for the winter starting on November 1st. It all came together.
Gary picked me up and we met John at the Sunset Way Trailhead in
Issaquah. It was not raining. Hmm... should we hike here or head for
Snoqualmie Pass? We chose the dry tunnel over the maybe dry Tiger hike.
It was pouring in North Bend and raining all the way to the Hyak
trailhead. There were two cars in the lot and one had people in it. We
saw two people hiking away from the tunnel in the light rain. We
arrived at 8:35 am. By 8:42 am we were on our way. It was 44 degrees
and raining. We hiked the .33 miles to the tunnel in 8 minutes. We put
our umbrellas away and pulled our our headlamps. There was a steady
wind blowing from the west. With our 3 mph speed added to the 5 mph
wind it felt like 8 mph. I pulled my hood over my head and it was much
better.
We did not see anyone on our way through the tunnel. At 9:28 we reached the western portal of the tunnel. I headed on to the outhouse while Gary and John stayed near the tunnel entrance. It was raining lightly. I looked across the valley to Granite Mountain and could only see a bit of a ridge. We were soon ready to head back. We had completed one of four trips through the tunnel. As we started down the tunnel we could see bobbing lights in the distance. Somebody was heading towards us. On our way in we noticed a doll atop a metal something in a niche in the wall. It had a green head and its clothing had the number 999 on it. We took some photos. On the way back Gary and John had been playing with their red lights. Back at the doll, we turned it upside down and took some photos. It was all cast against a red background while lit with the red lights. We now had a strangely lit doll with the number 666. We found "good doll" and "bad doll". We also noticed another smaller doll.
We passed some bikers and runners going the other way. We also saw family lit up with Christmas lights. We reached the east end of the tunnel at 10:22 am. After a quick food and water break it was time to head back into the tunnel. We walked back into the wind for about 5 minutes when John noticed the strong odor of cigarette smoke. We kept going and it became worse. Another half hour of it did not sound good. We decided to turn around and head back to the parking lot. I have used the trail numerous times the past half dozen years to escape wildfire smoke. This time we were chased out of the tunnel by smoke. It was lightly raining on the way back to the trailhead. We considered continuing on the trail towards Keechelus Lake. The rain was a strong deterrent. We checked the Doppler radar and it was looking a little better back near Issaquah. That would also give us a chance to get in a little elevation gain. Away we went.
Rain was off and on on the way back. At Tiger Mountain it was raining hard. As we dropped into Issaquah it stopped. We arrived back at the Sunset Way trailhead and packed up for another hike. My loop up onto the Plateau is six miles with 1300' of elevation gain. That plus the 5.5 miles we had already hiked sounded good. We zipped up onto the plateau and took the Wetlands Trail. There were some mushrooms along here but fewer than I had hoped. They have been all over the past few weeks. At the next junction we turned right onto the Adventure Trail. We had packed our wet umbrellas as a dry start did not ensure a dry hike. The Adventure Trail climbs and then drops down to the High School Trail. We took this up to the start of the Section Line. The SL Trail is very steep higher up but is just a steep old road lower down. We slogged up the trail. My jacket had come off and I was still getting hot. We had seen so many conditions so far this morning. We left the Section Line and headed over to the Talus Caves. At the high point we stopped for lunch. It was now 12:50 pm.
As we finished lunch, the rain began to fall. Light at first, I soon did open my umbrella. We dropped down the Nook Trail. The creeks had been dry recently but now were running again. As we descended, the rain fell harder. At the Bus Trail we turned left and headed back to the trailhead. My 6 mile route turns onto the Around The Lake Trail and then the Swamp Trail. We just headed back on the shortest route. We saw some other hikers as were were very close to the main High Point parking lot. The rain kept falling harder as we headed back. It felt a lot like our recent hike over Bean Peak where the last few miles were in hard rain. We all had umbrellas and the wind was fairly light so it was not so bad. John and I kept stopping for mushroom photos. As we dropped off the plateau the rain began to let up. It was much lighter back at the cars. We reached the trailhead at 2:20 pm. We had driven and hiked a lot of places since we met at the same place at 8:00 am.
This turned out to be a great hike. A simple dry tunnel hike turned into a hybrid with a flat tunnel segment and a forest hike with 1300' of elevation gain. We had rain at the start and the finish but it was mostly dry in between. Headlamps in the dark, mushrooms on the trail, and most everything else for a hike. I set out to hike 10 miles with no elevation gain and ended up with 11 miles and 1300' of gain. November and December are rainy months and this was not unusual for late October. With a little planning and rain gear we still had a fun day on the trail.
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Trips - 2024
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We did not see anyone on our way through the tunnel. At 9:28 we reached the western portal of the tunnel. I headed on to the outhouse while Gary and John stayed near the tunnel entrance. It was raining lightly. I looked across the valley to Granite Mountain and could only see a bit of a ridge. We were soon ready to head back. We had completed one of four trips through the tunnel. As we started down the tunnel we could see bobbing lights in the distance. Somebody was heading towards us. On our way in we noticed a doll atop a metal something in a niche in the wall. It had a green head and its clothing had the number 999 on it. We took some photos. On the way back Gary and John had been playing with their red lights. Back at the doll, we turned it upside down and took some photos. It was all cast against a red background while lit with the red lights. We now had a strangely lit doll with the number 666. We found "good doll" and "bad doll". We also noticed another smaller doll.
We passed some bikers and runners going the other way. We also saw family lit up with Christmas lights. We reached the east end of the tunnel at 10:22 am. After a quick food and water break it was time to head back into the tunnel. We walked back into the wind for about 5 minutes when John noticed the strong odor of cigarette smoke. We kept going and it became worse. Another half hour of it did not sound good. We decided to turn around and head back to the parking lot. I have used the trail numerous times the past half dozen years to escape wildfire smoke. This time we were chased out of the tunnel by smoke. It was lightly raining on the way back to the trailhead. We considered continuing on the trail towards Keechelus Lake. The rain was a strong deterrent. We checked the Doppler radar and it was looking a little better back near Issaquah. That would also give us a chance to get in a little elevation gain. Away we went.
Rain was off and on on the way back. At Tiger Mountain it was raining hard. As we dropped into Issaquah it stopped. We arrived back at the Sunset Way trailhead and packed up for another hike. My loop up onto the Plateau is six miles with 1300' of elevation gain. That plus the 5.5 miles we had already hiked sounded good. We zipped up onto the plateau and took the Wetlands Trail. There were some mushrooms along here but fewer than I had hoped. They have been all over the past few weeks. At the next junction we turned right onto the Adventure Trail. We had packed our wet umbrellas as a dry start did not ensure a dry hike. The Adventure Trail climbs and then drops down to the High School Trail. We took this up to the start of the Section Line. The SL Trail is very steep higher up but is just a steep old road lower down. We slogged up the trail. My jacket had come off and I was still getting hot. We had seen so many conditions so far this morning. We left the Section Line and headed over to the Talus Caves. At the high point we stopped for lunch. It was now 12:50 pm.
As we finished lunch, the rain began to fall. Light at first, I soon did open my umbrella. We dropped down the Nook Trail. The creeks had been dry recently but now were running again. As we descended, the rain fell harder. At the Bus Trail we turned left and headed back to the trailhead. My 6 mile route turns onto the Around The Lake Trail and then the Swamp Trail. We just headed back on the shortest route. We saw some other hikers as were were very close to the main High Point parking lot. The rain kept falling harder as we headed back. It felt a lot like our recent hike over Bean Peak where the last few miles were in hard rain. We all had umbrellas and the wind was fairly light so it was not so bad. John and I kept stopping for mushroom photos. As we dropped off the plateau the rain began to let up. It was much lighter back at the cars. We reached the trailhead at 2:20 pm. We had driven and hiked a lot of places since we met at the same place at 8:00 am.
This turned out to be a great hike. A simple dry tunnel hike turned into a hybrid with a flat tunnel segment and a forest hike with 1300' of elevation gain. We had rain at the start and the finish but it was mostly dry in between. Headlamps in the dark, mushrooms on the trail, and most everything else for a hike. I set out to hike 10 miles with no elevation gain and ended up with 11 miles and 1300' of gain. November and December are rainy months and this was not unusual for late October. With a little planning and rain gear we still had a fun day on the trail.
 Rainy At Trailhead |
 Umbrella Time |
 Into The Tunnel |
 West End Of Tunnel |
 Granite Mountain? |
 Waterfall |
 Bikers Approach |
 A Small Doll |
 Good Doll Going In |
 Bad Doll On Return |
 Really Bad Doll |
 Hikers Ahead |
 Now At Tiger Mountain |
 Leaves On Trail |
 Guys On Section Line Trail |
 Very Mossy |
 Hanging Above Trail |
 Narrow Trail Ahead |
 Another Waterfall |
 Pipsee's View |
 Wet & Colorful |
 Round Lake |
 Small Mushrooms |
 Best Shot Of The Day |
 In Final Mile |
 Sunlit Mushrooms |
 Coral Mushrooms |
 Wet Mushroom |
 Contrasting Leaves |
 More Wet Mushrooms |
 Underside Of Shrooms |
 Mossy Arch |
Trips - 2024
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