| Hours Sleeping: | 6 |
| Pulse (waking): | |
| Pulse (rising): | |
| Difference: | |
| Weight: | |
| Body Fat: | |
| Time of Day: | 5:45 PM |
| Distance: | 9 miles |
| Time (total): | 3:45 |
| Time (moving): | 2:53 |
| Time (stopped): | 52:40 |
| Speed (moving): | 3.1 mph |
| Speed (overall): | 2.4 mph |
| Total Ascent: | 3745 feet
max elevation - 5588 feet |
| Weather: | 70 to start, partly cloudy |
| Workout Type: | hike w/TNAB |
| Breakfast: | 6:30 AM - cereal
10:30 AM - TONS of yogurt, jam and granola, I think I'm going to be sick… |
| Lunch: | 12:00 PM - fruit salad, mixed green salad, Asian noodles, juice |
| Dinner: | 11:00 PM - bread, cheese…? I don't remember anymore… |
| Workout Food: | water, 2 mini (sample?) Clif bars, Shot Bloks |
| Course: | Mt Defiance with TNAB |
| Results: | |
| Comments: | Okay, this hike was supposed to be 7.5 miles but Andy G (a friend and co-worker) and I evidently did not take the correct fork from the main trail and ended up walking a bit farther than needed before heading up towards Mt Defiance. Not a problem, at least we did not get lost. :)
Based on what my friend Carla S told me about TNAB and what their web site states, the group meets at the trail head at 5:45 and then takes off. Sure, no one waits while you hike but at least you are supposed to start together. Well that has not been the case. It seems that people are starting at pretty much any time they want to get a 'head start' or whatever. This means that if you do start at 5:45 you may or may not (more likely) have any company. Too bad really. But Andy and I had each other for company so that was good.
The trail starts out as a virtual freeway, it's really wide and smooth and the grade is constant and gradual. I found out later that it used to be a road and is now mostly grown over so that makes sense. There were a couple of washouts here. When the trail does diverge from the old road it kicks up and suddenly is not so gradual...
LOTS of wild flowers up here, very pretty. The trails winds a bit and crosses a large talus slope on the way up to a couple of small mountain lakes. To get here you cross a saddle/ridge and then drop down just a bit before you get to the water. The lakes still had ice on them! All this was north facing so I expected snow but to see the lakes still partly covered in ice was a surprise.
Once we rose above the lakes the trail started to disappear under the snow. It was about 50 percent covered for a bit and then it was totally gone. In cases like these it really helps to have previous experience on the trail or to have a GPS. I could see the trail on my screen when I zoomed in so even though we lost it for a short while we were never that far off.
To rejoin the trail we had to traverse a big snow slope and then bushwhack up to the spine of the ridge where the trail was. Ouch, that was steep. Once on the spine the slope mellowed again and after a bit it flattened totally as we traversed the slope. But leave it to TNAB… Soon our route diverged from the trail and headed straight up to the peak. This last bit was a grunt.
From the top you could see EVERYTHING. And in all directions. It was really amazing. There were some clouds at around 7000 feet or so but we were at 5500 and it was like looking at a poster of NW peaks, trails and lakes.
Andy and I decided to bail on the usual summit chit chat and descend ASAP. We both wanted to get back home and it was going to be a late night no matter what. On the way down we were able to stay on the trail (thanks goodness) and Andy kept falling down. He fell once, twice, three times, four times and I'm laughing my head off! Then all of a sudden I'm on my butt. :) I'm just glad that neither of us hurt ourselves; it was just our lame shoes slipping on the loose, dusty trail surface.
The light was really cool on the way down. I think the official sunset time was around 9:15 but it stayed light for a bit longer and since it got dark so slowly, our eyes were able to adjust fine and no lights were needed. I gotta say though, by the time we got to the car it was pretty darn dark!
This time I had to put on a long sleeve fleece shirt on the summit and kept it on for the descent but towards the bottom of the trail when we got out of the wind it warmed up again and it was super comfy by the time we got back to the car.
All-in-all a super excursion and I'd love to go back for more. Thanks also to Andy for his company and for driving! His Honda Fit barely made it past the first wash on the road and we had to bum a ride across the second one. No one made it past the third one and on the way back to the car we just walked the extra .25 miles back to his car. |
| Equipment: | old running shoes, 'trail running' socks |
| Clothing: | shorts, sleeveless wicking t-shirt
extra short sleeve shirt and long sleeve fleece for the descent |
Here are some pictures and video.