[Quark]

Fear and Loathing on Sulpher Mtn. Janet and I love the Suiattle Rv Road area, and last weekend enjoyed Milk Creek so much, we decided to do Sulpher Mtn today. The last thing she said to me Tuesday night when finalizing our plan was, "be sure to bring a nice ass." Well, thought I, how strange; but who am I to argue? I have one, and it'd be no trouble to bring it along, so it wasn’t a problem, so I just said “yeah, ok,” hung up the phone, and went to bed. It turns out that what she really said was, "be sure to bring an ice axe. Ooops...Luckily, I keep my ice axe in my rig, and since I drove today, it wasn't a problem. The trailhead starts at 1600', and does NOT waste any time in gaining elevation (we stopped counting switchbacks at 49). There is only one chance for water on this trail, at 2200’, at an old bridge, so tank up. The tread is in excellent condition - indeed, it's too steep to hold water, and falling trees have nothing to stop them, so they continue rolling off the trail from the uphill side, crashing into a pile downhill. Sulpher Mtn trail is a combination of Downey Cr, Sulpher Cr, Milk Cr and Green Mountain trails all rolled into one. The trees aren’t as enormous as Downey and Milk Creek trails, but it has the incredible lushness of Milk Creek in places, and the fir needle-carpeted forest floor and gully-hugging trail of Downey Creek at times, and the overall feel of the lower portion of Green Mountain. At about 3600’, Janet stated she was sweating like a pig. Now, I have never seen a pig sweat. Indeed, I don’t even know if they do. Normally I jump headlong into any opportunity to rile up Janet with a debate of this sort, but the trail was steep and I didn’t feel like doing a dissertation on this particular subject, so I simply thanked her for the charming information. I didn’t want to rock the boat. If you stay the hand that rocks the cradle through the eye of a needle as the stones are gathering moss instead of crying over spilled milk, wellsir, you’re just asking for a cloud with a silver lining. At 4500’ we hit solid snow, but our snowshoes and ice axes were not needed. The trail bench was fairly easy to follow, as it was built old-style - the trees are blazed. At 5600,’ however, we lost the trail, and ran into a boulder field. Since the snow was rotten, and Janet had already punched in up to her hip in a boulder well, and I had most gracefully draped myself over a hidden log once or twice, we decided to let sleeping dogs lie, and called it quits. We had lunch in an open area with peek-a-boo views of Box Mtn and Lime Ridge. Any photographers or dayhikers who don’t care for insane gain should be delighted to go in to about 2200’ (about ½ mile) and photograph the very old moss-covered bridge with a little waterfall next to it, all surrounded by very lush, mossy forest. I took a photo and will post it later. Grin and bear the switchbacks and gain; its worth the photo!

[Slugman]

It is sooo not fair to say you have a nice caboose and not show us a picture! I demand proof!

[Don Key]

You might see one or two on a lonely trail like Sulpher Mtn, but you'll see lots of arses at the Grand Canyon. Streaming up and down the trail all day long, but the nicest looking ones can often be of the most obstinate temperment. Be forwarned!!! I am almost embareassed to post the next link on this forum but Grand Canyon is a long drive for some so...Oh Well!