Forum Index > Trip Reports > The North Bend Triple - 3/3/18
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics
Location: Snoqualmie, WA
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 1:16 am 
Well, I certainly didn't break any speed records with this one. irierootsnw's time from about a month ago stands unchallenged by a good margin. I was just happy to get through it.
My order was Mailbox > Teneriffe > Si. Old trails for Mailbox and Teneriffe, and the new trail for Si. I expected to be the first person -- or at least one of the first few -- up Mailbox Peak this morning. When I pulled up to the trailhead at 5:50 AM there were already THIRTEEN cars there. Mind blowing. There was a good bootpack all the way to the summit, and I only saw a few people on the way up. I guess most people were over on the new trail somewhere.
My next stop was Teneriffe. The trail was in good shape up until the falls. Then it got really sloppy. Lots of post-holing on the way up. Just shy of the summit, a few people coming down warned me about a "dance party" at the summit. Sure enough when I got up there I found a group of FOURTEEN people occupying most of the summit area. I waited about 15 minutes for them to clear out so I could get some pictures without their circus in the frame. On the way down I had to pass all of them, and none of them were too eager to step aside. Once I finally got by all of them I hauled ass back to the trailhead.
The last stop was Si. I guess technically you're supposed to do the old trail for this one as well, but I'm not familiar with Si's old trail and I wasn't sure what the conditions on it would be like. As such, I decided to just go up the new trail which was sure to be a packed sidewalk all the way to the top. I was feeling pretty tired by this point, but the real crux of the hike up Si was responding to all of the hi's and hello's. Just...leave me alone. When I got to the summit area I checked out the conditions of the haystack. It was looking pretty spicy and I didn't have the appropriate gear to get up it safely. That left me about 850 feet short of 12,000. To make up for that, when I was just about back to the trailhead, I turned around and hiked back up until I made up the difference. The frustrating thing about it was the fact that Si's switchbacks are so low-angle that I had to do a couple more miles of hiking (round-trip) to reach my target.
At the end of the day, my GPS said that I did 23.66 miles with 12,057 ft. of elevation gain.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
christensent
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Nov 2011
Posts: 658 | TRs | Pics
christensent
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 7:31 am 
Although the physical exertion is certainly impressive, I'm most impressed by the mental capacity to climb those three trails in a day.

Learning mountaineering: 10% technical knowledge, 90% learning how to eat
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
neek
Member
Member


Joined: 12 Sep 2011
Posts: 2329 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle, WA
neek
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 8:27 am 
Nice day for it. Sorry you had to deal with...people

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
cascadeclimber
Member
Member


Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1427 | TRs | Pics
cascadeclimber
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 8:49 am 
Just_Some_Hiker wrote:
I was feeling pretty tired by this point, but the real crux of the hike up Si was responding to all of the hi's and hello's. Just...leave me alone.
Get off my TRAIL! I can relate.
Bravo! This is a strenuous day and I have mad respect for anyone who does it in suboptimal conditions, like with snow. I waited for a perfect day- May with all the snow gone, and unusually cool- low 50s. We need a patch for this. I'm going to make one. Three peaks and a bottle of Ibuprofen.

If not now, when?
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Jake Robinson
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Aug 2016
Posts: 521 | TRs | Pics
Jake Robinson
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 9:43 am 
Nice! You had a lot more snow than when we did it. Hope you enjoy a well-earned rest day and gluttonous amounts of food. P.S. Old Si trail all the way...but don't tell anyone wink.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Mike Collins
Member
Member


Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 3086 | TRs | Pics
Mike Collins
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 10:35 am 
You are living proof that all men/women are not created equal.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
awilsondc
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Apr 2016
Posts: 1323 | TRs | Pics
awilsondc
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 10:59 am 
Nice work man! The north bend triple is a hell of a chore! I agree about with the part about mental toughness being a requisite for this kind of thing. I'm not sure I could subject myself to this kind of torture without a super cool objective as a reward. I'm especially impressed with going back up for the extra 850 feet to reach 12k on the day. That's a lot of gain, obviously. Well done, hats off. up.gif up.gif up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics
Location: Snoqualmie, WA
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 12:32 pm 
Jake Robinson wrote:
Hope you enjoy a well-earned rest day and gluttonous amounts of food.
Literally the first thing that I did when I finished was pick-up an extra large pizza and eat it almost entirely by myself. lol.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 3:11 pm 
Great effort! With your report, and others, I am now motivated to try this Triple this summer. I wonder if this ancient bod can get 'er done. With further thought, I might do a Nooksack North Fork version of the triple: Church Mountain to lookout site, Welcome Pass, and Goat Mtn. to west summit. That would be challenging, very uncrowded compared to the I-90 madness, very scenic, and for those of us up north at least, local.
Just_Some_Hiker wrote:
On the way down I had to pass all of them, and none of them were too eager to step aside.
Curious phenomenon, isn't that? It's as if some are oblivious to the notion that some people want to and can move faster than they are. Kinda like the slow driver poking along a narrow mountain road with a chain of vehicles pressing from behind ( an exasperating issue that has been addressed on this forum). Why don't such people just step over a bit (or pull over)? rant.gif

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
nordique
Member
Member


Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 1086 | TRs | Pics
nordique
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 4:22 pm 
Have you tried shouting "Runner Back!" when you encounter people in front of you? Or "On your RIGHT!" I use these shouts just to get around folks in my own group!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 6:31 pm 
nordique wrote:
Have you tried shouting "Runner Back!" when you encounter people in front of you? Or "On your RIGHT!" I use these shouts just to get around folks in my own group!
Sure, and that works...sometimes.. I always try to be super polite when requesting to pass, too. I wish that worked when driving those narrow roads behind a slugmobile.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
cascadeclimber
Member
Member


Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1427 | TRs | Pics
cascadeclimber
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 9:02 pm 
nordique wrote:
"On your RIGHT!"
In my experience, the most common result of this, by far, is that the person stops in place and turns toward the side of the trail they are not on to look, thus blocking most or all of the trail instead of just some of it. It is very rare for a person down trail of me to hear this and just step to the side. So much so that I've stopped saying it.

If not now, when?
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostSun Mar 04, 2018 9:47 pm 
cascadeclimber wrote:
that the person stops in place and turns toward the side of the trail
There is the common response upon hearing "On your left!" the hiker about to be passed will move to their left just as you try to pass them on their left! We would hope they would realize we are announcing we would like to pass on their left so they will move to the right. That happens with me quite a bit, and I think this what cc is referring to above. It wouldn't work to give a 23 word mini-address: " I am coming up behind you and want to pass on your left, so please move to the right side of the trail!" I am not doing time trials on the trails these days, so a few extra seconds of delay by not just rudely blowing by or bowling over a hiker is not my style. It is more important to me to set a good example so that all trail runners aren't disliked as just selfish rude dudes and dudettes! Trying to pass a packstring of horses/ mules from behind is a whole ' nother issue. I don't want to get started on that one... hmmm.gif

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
DadFly
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Jul 2012
Posts: 402 | TRs | Pics
Location: Redmond
DadFly
Member
PostTue Mar 06, 2018 8:54 am 
I gave up on the popular trails long ago. Running Si is "rude" if you consider you are in the minority. dizzy.gif

"May you live in interesting times"
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostTue Mar 06, 2018 9:39 am 
DadFly wrote:
I gave up on the popular trails long ago. Running Si is "rude" if you consider you are in the minority. dizzy.gif
I agree fully! I am not running on any trail that has something like 100 hikers per mile at the time. That indeed would be rude, not to mention no fun. I was thinking of a trail with few....maybe one individual or small group evety ten or 15 minutes.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trip Reports > The North Bend Triple - 3/3/18
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum