Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:27 pm Mt. Margaret (Surprise Lake yesterday) 10-28-07
Well - that ol' rowdy gang of mine was split up this weekend. Blissful silence in the Cascades, I'm sure!
So, Bryan's report on Surprise Lake earlier in the week reminded me that I wanted to visit Sadie before the season's snow enclosed her in a wintery silence, so Joanna - wanting to find that wonderful Hericium that Bryan photographed - Banjo and Holly joined me on a trek to Surprise Lake.
Unfortunately, someone decided to destroy the lovely Hericiums that Bryan and "Dr." Payne captured - but we did find some unfrozen specimens that Joanna gladly salvaged for a spectacular gourmet meal, I'm sure. We ran across a few very frozen Chantrelles too.
There was only one other hiker at the trailhead when we got started at about 9:00 a.m. - stupidly the Driver managed to leave her pack at home(!) must have been the Nyquil the night before. But, I wasn't worried - know the trail well - and it wouldn't be a long trip and the weather was picture perfect. So, up we headed, the trail conditions haven't changed much from Bryan's report, however, it was definitely icy in spots. There is about 6" of snow at the lake. My mission was to visit Sadie's resting place at the south end of the lake and we discovered that no one had been down that far since the snow. Holly and Banjo didn't want to venture over the boulders, so I went by myself to leave a couple of cookies. (The sandwich I had packed was still back at home where I left my backpack!) Here are some lovely views of a very still and beautiful lake. Sadie would have liked the fact that Banjo went in for a very chilly dip!
We got back to the car before 2:30 p.m. - passing several people heading up for a beautiful day at the lake. (although, not as many as I would have expected on such a great weekend). A couple of guys were going to overnight up at Glacier Lake. (Stats: 9 miles, 2700' gain)
Sunday, Oct. 28
One of the reasons it was so much quieter in the Cascades this weekend is because the driver has laryngitis! There is peace in the valley. However, Hiker Jim was up for an adventure today. Since both of us had done a trip yesterday (HJ went to Mildred Point with Gary), we thought a modest little hike would be in order. Initially, we were thinking Lichtenwasser Lake/Lichtenberg Mtn. - likely could drive right up Smithbrook (I hate Smithbrook! I hate Smithbrook) to the trailhead and it would be a fairly short hike with modest elevation gain. But, we also were worried that there would be a relatively minimal amount of snow and it would be icy (at least in the morning) - so just before hopping onto the freeway, we agreed that good ol' Mt. Margaret might be a better option for today - not as long of a drive and we could actually drive to the trailhead (most of my trips to Mt. Margaret recently have started almost back at Gold Creek - in the winter - adding about 3 1/2 miles to the trek). We got to the trailhead about 8:30 a.m. and there was one other car in the parking lot - they had stayed overnight somewhere. We weren't sure if there would be any snow, but we knew there was a bit of a weather inversion - so it likely would be warmer at the summit then it was at the car. Up we headed. This is a favorite hike any time of the year - but today was particularly nice, because the weather was so good and the skies were relatively clear - a little haze. So, here's our trip.
We reached the junction at the ridge where you can travel on to Lake Margaret (there were footprints in the snow heading down that way) or you could go on to Lake Lillian.
We went about 100 yards north of this junction and found the trail that heads up the ridge route to the False Summit and, eventually, the real Summit. When we were here earlier this year (February) Sadie, Clover, Jim and I encountered quite a bit of snow as we made our way up to the summit - here is what the approach to the False Summit looked like today and then earlier this year:
It was a little slippery going down the short connection to the real summit, but we made it fairly easily down about 100' then back up about 250' to the actual summit - where the views were spectacular. We ended up staying on the summit almost an hour - it only took us about an hour and a half to get there!
It was much warmer on the summit - in fact, at about 3700' a warm "blast" of air hit us (just as we were entering the forest). Reluctantly, we headed back down towards the car.
On our way down, we ran into about 6 or 7 different groups of folks heading up - most heading toward Lake Margaret (although, that could have been slick on the descent from the ridge because it's on the north side and out of the sun). Probably 14 people and 4 dogs. In all, it took us about 4 hours car-to-car and that includes almost an hour on the summit! 2300' gain and 7 miles. There isn't a lot of snow on the trail until you are at about 3900' and even then, it's sporadic - very little where there is a lot of forest cover. But a lovely little trail when you just need to get out and have an alpine experience! We stopped by FS 9030/9031 (Mason andor Talapus Lake routes) on our drive back to Seattle and discovered it appears that the roads are open in both directions! Who knows for how long, but at least for now. Gorgeous September weekend! (enjoy before Daylight Savings Time ends next weekend )
Glad you had a good trip to visit with Saide, minus her sandwich
Mt Margaret looks like it might make a good destination for me on Tuesday as I'm hoping for a two hike weekend (messed up work schedule).
Thanks for the pictures
.....We stopped by FS 9030/9031 (Mason andor Talapus Lake routes) on our drive back to Seattle and discovered it appears that the roads are open in both directions!
Wow! Talapus is one of my favorite jumping off spots since you can get so close to the Wilderness border. Did you try to drive up it very far?
We were very surprised to see not only that the barrier at the end of pavement but also the barrier on the road to Talapus were gone. I just called the North Bend RS and they said that the road is open. They did mention that there are some ruts in the road but that is driveable by most any car.
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the lovely Hericiums that Bryan and "Dr." Payne captured - but we did find some unfrozen specimens that Joanna gladly salvaged for a spectacular gourmet meal, I'm sure. We ran across a few very frozen Chantrelles too. 
the Driver managed to leave her pack at home(!) must have been the Nyquil the night before. But, I wasn't worried - know the trail well - and it wouldn't be a long trip and the weather was picture perfect. So, up we headed, the trail conditions haven't changed much from Bryan's report, however, it was definitely icy in spots. There is about 6" of snow at the lake. My mission was to visit Sadie's resting place at the south end of the lake and we discovered that no one had been down that far since the snow. Holly and Banjo didn't want to venture over the boulders, so I went by myself to leave a couple of cookies. (The sandwich I had packed was still back at home where I left my backpack!) Here are some lovely views of a very still and beautiful lake. Sadie would have liked the fact that Banjo went in for a very chilly dip!
We stopped by FS 9030/9031 (Mason andor Talapus Lake routes) on our drive back to Seattle and discovered it appears that the roads are open in both directions! Who knows for how long, but at least for now. 
Gorgeous September weekend! (enjoy before Daylight Savings Time ends next weekend 
)
I hope no one heard him!!!! 
