Rattlesnake Ledge and Rattlesnake Lake

 Monday evening we got a text message from one of our friends asking if we were still on for hiking Tuesday. We had invited him to go with us on a hike (that we ended up not going on) last Tuesday and he asked if we could do it this week instead. We said sure, and then promptly forgot. So when he messaged us we said sure, see you at 9 a.m. He's dependably late, so we figured that meant we'd get out of the house by 9:30 a.m.

We decided that an overcast chance of rain Tuesday morning would be as good a time as ever to finally hike the ever so popular Rattlesnake Ledge. When we got there we were pretty surprised by how many people were still there, still not nearly as many as usual. There was several large groups of kids presumably out with camp and youth groups. We were happily surprised that besides occasionally passing people coming back down, the trail was pretty vacant.

Rattlesnake ledge is a 4 mile round trip out and back hike with elevation gain of over 1100 feet in the two miles up. It's basically just a bunch of switch backs on a very worn and well taken care of trail. There's isn't much to see on the way up. Honestly I don't really get why it's so popular. It was an alright hike but when comparing hikes in the same area, I prefer its neighbor Cedar Butte.

The view at the top was nice but within a few minutes of getting up there we were joined by about 4 other groups. Since the rock platform with large gaping hole didn't strike me as being very toddler friendly and safe, we opted to just snap some pictures and head back down the trail instead of stopping to eat lunch. We did see one guy running the trail in some Vibram Five Fingers.

At the base of the trail head for Rattlesnake Ledge you'll find Rattlesnake Lake - the lake the ledge looks out over. Another beautiful Washington lake. I hiked this one in shoes as to not over do it since we had done a 1.5 mile run + .5 mile walk Monday (slow and steady slow and steady) after hiking that 9 miles in my Lunas on Saturday.

Pete Lake

Pete Lake

We are rather notorious for getting late starts. We don't ever really rush, take things at our own slow pace and do things when we feel like it. So it's not surprising at all that we got a late start on our adventures today. We were originally going to head up to Rachel Lake but the trail book we have said that it is always exceptionally crowded on weekends. Crowds + hiking is a no go for us, so we headed up to Pete Lake instead.

It's a bit of a drive for us. Once off the highway we started our adventure by not being able to find the turn off. We went back and forth down the road about 3 times before we found the proper road. By the time we got parked and settled, it was around 3:30pm (see, I told you we got a late start).  Exceptionally late for a 9 mile hike, but I regress.. 

We lathered up with sunblock and headed in. I decided to wear my Luna Sandals on this hike and I'm glad I did. There were quite a few cars at the trail head which was a little worrisome, but we'd find later that most were camping in. We only encountered a few people along our way, including  a group of 5 on horseback. There was a fairly large handful (somewhere between 7-10) of water crossings. Some were about half way up my calf in depth. As I watched other hikers precariously balancing on logs and stones to cross, I just splashed right in. I was wearing sandals after all, and knew they'd dry right out.

The horses had left muddy sections of the trail a little worse for wear. We also ran into a few areas where we had to climb over huge trees that had blown down. The mosquitoes were out in force and would only get worse as time went by. Parts of the trail is covered with large rocks. When we finally made it up to the lake, we thought we'd sit down and enjoy some sandwiches we had brought, but soon discovered by doing so the mosquitoes thought they'd have a snack of us.

We didn't hang around too long since we wanted to make sure we got out before sundown. This area has a population of bobcats, cougars and coyotes. I'd much rather never encounter any of these out of a controlled environment. When I lived in Arizona, I once had a too close for comfort run in with a rattlesnake while hiking. I'd like to keep that my only too close for comfort wildlife encounter.

As we headed back the mosquitoes got down right nasty. Close to the aggression of the Montana mosquitoes (they will bite you during the day, while you're moving, even if you're moving at 20mph on a bike), but with the population of the Minnesota or Wisconsin mosquitoes.

We ran parts of the trail trying to keep the mosquitoes at bay and also trying to get out of the forest before we became a giant bug bite. I think I only got about 3,000 bug bites. I've decided that trail running really feels more natural than road running. Perhaps I just think about it less, but when I run on a dirt trail I run and hop, sometimes I increase my stride to make it over an obstacle, sometimes I reduce it to make it up an incline. There's no thinking about it, it just happens. I'm not concentrating on running, I'm concentrating on not tripping over that root, or landing in middle of the mud. 

 

Nine miles was likely farther than I should have went in my Lunas. By the time we made it back to the car, my feet were a bit tender. I did a quick inspection (the best I could, they were pretty damn filthy) and decided that they were fine. I found one area that looked like it had blistered and popped under one of my small toes. I'm guessing that it was from the wet dirt trapped between my foot and the sandal. I scrubbed them off when I got home, and as I sit here and type this they feel fine. The wool laces did great, didn't bother me the entire hike. Even wet I had no problems with them. 

PS - I ended up with a lot of nice photos from this hike. You can click the picture below to view them

Margaret Lake - Sort of

On Saturday we decided to go for a hike. We have the book Day Hiking:Snoqualmie Region that we keep in our car, so when we decide to go for a hike we flip it open to a page and where ever we land on we go. This led us on a hike of Margaret Lake.

Now the book says that this is a hike to do from June - September but I have to disagree with them.

The dirt road leading up to the trail head was very poorly maintained with huge pot holes littering the way. We were originally going to hike a different trail that was slightly further up the road, but had to turn around because the road was blocked by a few feet of snow still.

We made our way to the trail head after walking a ways down a rocky service road. As we continued hiking the narrow trail we started to come upon parts that were covered in snow. The snow was melting, since it was 70 degrees out, and at certain points you could tell there was nothing underneath supporting the snow sheet.

At some points the snow was several feet deep still, and since there trail was basically just the water drain off ditch we lost the actual trail under the snow and ended up following others footsteps hoping they knew where they were going....

Turned out, they didn't.....

We ended at a steep incline filled with rotting tree trunks. We debated what to do. There was a summit up at the top, though we were sure this was no longer the trail, we came all this way already, we wanted to get to the top of something. So we climbed, quite literally - holding onto protruding rocks, stumps and anything else we could get our hands on.

Did I mention that our friend came along with us, who just had surgery on his wrist a few weeks ago?

And don't forget the two year old tagging along in the Ergo.

At the top was a beautiful view of the neighboring mountains and a lake below.

We never made it to Margaret Lake - even though we think we found where the trail was supposed to go after we slide/walked down the slope we were ready to call it a day.

Maybe we'll go back to Margaret Lake at the end of summer - the lake is supposed to be beautiful with camping along it's edge.

Iron Horse Trail and Cedar Butte

The view from the summit of Cedar Butte

We headed out this weeekend with intentions of hiking rattlesnake ridge, but when we got there it appeared a million and a half other people had the same intention. Since standing in a solid line and walking isn't our idea of enjoying a nice hike, we continued up a little bit and came upon Iron Horse Trail. Iron Horse trail used to be the site of old train lines which is still evident along parts of the trail.

Iron Horse Trail

 

Salmonberries line the path along with the occasional small water falls. This trail is used by bikers looking for a nice leisurely ride with beautiful scenery.

After walking the Iron Horse Trail for a bit, we came upon the trail head for Cedar Butte and decided to give it a go. It's a trail surrounded by lush forest area, not another soul in sight and ground that would be perfect for trail running.

 

This hike would be perfect even on sunny days with all the shade that's provided by the landscape.

After we made it to the top, ate a snack and sat for a bit, we headed back down the trail and continued on the Iron Horse Trail. Small offshoots of the trail also offered some stunning views of nearby mountains.

It was an enjoyable hike and I'm glad we went. We'll probably head back to this area to do some additional exploring.