[Mesahchie Mark]

On a typical cool and overcast August evening, TNAB ventured out the I-90 corridor once again for a night in the hills, this time setting our sights on McClellan Butte. We numbered thirteen: Alexei (Magellan); Chris M and his friend Jim; Chris S (CHR15) - first time out since injuring his back (good to have you "back"!); Dale (onetwolaugh); Don (Malachai Constant); Jim S; Joseph; Kirk (sospeso); Larry (and Digger); Steve (Yukon222), Yet and Yours Truly. The main group started out by 5:55 PM. As many of you know, the trail is undergoing "renovation". The recent damp weather has left portions of the trail kinda goopy where the ground is soft. On the long, eastside traverse, a couple pieces of equipment denote the line of progress. The gully crossings seemed strangely small without snow to negotiate. After 100 minutes of hiking around the forested ridge, we arrived at the Butte with its requisite summit scramble. The suddenness of being able to stare down at I-90 without obstruction makes the scramble feel very exposed. Still, it is a simple affair, no more than borderline class 3. In due course, our party was on the summit by 7:45 PM. Some sunbreaks added color, but it was chilly and a bit windy on top. Larry spotted a trip of mountain goats on the ridge south of us, their shifting white bodies contrasting with the thick greenery. Wild life, two weeks in a row! We stuck around for about 20 minutes, then started our descent. About halfway out, it was necessary to use headlamps. We exited the trail by 9:45 PM. A half dozen of us then made our way to the North Bend Bar & Grill, where the service was subpar (apparently our waitress had a hot date and was eager to get off shift). Expecting more from our party to show up, we ordered WAY too many nachos - oh well! Overall, good hike! 6.2 miles round trip 3.4k elevation gain Cheers, -Mark (In the right place now! )

[Yet]

What a fun night. We're back in sync once again! Joseph and I watch yukon in action as we debate the summit scramble.

TNAB descends.

[Yet]

[joker]

She was on top when I got there, so she made the scramble. Thanks for being nice to a newbie! It was a pleasant evening to be up on a summit with a view out toward the sound. Here are a few pics: Chris playing "name that peak"

chris-points

Chris getting a shot from another vantage point

chris-shoots

A few views of the waning evening light

sound-sunset

sun-setting-over-North-Bend

Folks packing to go, demonstrating the characteristic TNAB sense of motion (from what I can gather from TRs and one outing)

time-to-go

Heading down...

heading-down

[Mesahchie Mark]

Yes, welcome to TNAB, joker! Of course, I didn't make the connection until now.

[huron]

Its good to be BACK!

5 x-rays and a CT scan to find two broken vertebrae.

Resting on Mclellan Butte summit pyramid

Climbing for summit

Trail up East ridge

[Mark Griffith]

[yukon222]

Trail improvement work is still underway but they are making good progress. Didn't check the elevation but they are probably halfway up.

trail improvement.jpg

chester morse lake.jpg

Caught up to Yet and Joseph at the summit base. I wasn't too anxious to look at the rock face and drop for very long so I grabbed a handful off sound rock and went up. It looks worse than it really is. The rock is very stable with multiple grab points.

joseph & yet debate butte.jpg

mc clellan rock scramble.jpg

yet's scramble.jpg

summit hug.jpg

Cool temps with light wind on the summit but interesting sun beams lit up the valley floor and pushed thru the slots in the nearby ridges. Stayed up on top as long as possible to watch the sun slip away. Summer (what there was of it) definitely seems to be leaving.

magellan on the edge.jpg

mc clellan rock descent.jpg

chris's back.jpg

ghost tree.jpg

mc clellan sunset pano.jpg

[Magellan]

Great stuff guys!! I will get some pictures and video posted tommorow. Yet rocked that rock! Joker, good to meet you. Chris, you the man!

[Yet]

Magellan, thanks! I wasn't sure I was going to do it. When Mark got there, he said let's go, and I did it before I could overthink it and lose my nerve. It turned out to be really fun! (I didn't look down.) Joker, I didn't realize that was you, either! Nice to meet you. Nice pics, joker, Chris, and yukon - love the summit hug.

[joker]

It was nice to meet you guys too! I took this shot last night on the way home from being leashed at Snow Lake. The view of the left skyline near the peak gives a small sense of the A-I-R exposure that you have behind your butt as you feel somehow more cautious along the scramble to the top of the Butte than you do on a typical 3rd class stretch of similar difficulty.

[Magellan]

Another great night out with TNAB. Our upper road start placed us between a shooting gallery and an ATV course. No problem, it's a multiple use forest. I dropped down just below this road to inspect some relics. I believe they are from an old loggers camp.

Ancient ore crusher

Foundation for house

Radiator of some kind?

The newish trail is not quite as steep as the old. It seemed like we avoided a couple of the gullies that have snow well into spring. The raw earth of the trail proved the work is fresh. What appeared to be ATV tracks were in fact the trail machine. Kind of interesting to see a mini-track-hoe a couple of miles up the trail.

Peekaboo

Raw trail

Easy way up the mountain

Steepish look at I-90

Why the trail wraps around

With fast in fronter and faster behind, I had no time to rest, and barely took pictures. Somehow we made it to the scramble area very quickly. I did not realize how cold it was until I touched the rock. Multiple layers were needed on top.

The sun was not shining on us, but for us. A few goats appeard on a knob nearby. The group ate, hugged and even posed. It was sure nice to see Chris back after his vertabrae bashing. It was sad to wish Kirk 'Bon Voyage' as he travels back to NY with his family. Dale and Chris (Joker) were the new faces to me.

Chris is not broken

Three blurry goats

The gang

Chris on the edge

Queen of the mountains

Nice light

We did not stay long. The lure of NBBG was too much for some to resist. Headlamps came out, and I think I even saw my breath! Brrrr! Approximately 7 miles R/T, 3150' of cumulative gain, 1:55 up, 1:30 down.

[Yet]

Wow, Magellan! Those videos are cool as heck. I even look like I knew what I was doing. Thanks for sharing them!

[H. Hound]

[EastKing]

That look like a good scramble!