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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Tue Sep 23, 2003 11:55 pm
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Rob (of 2drx fame) and I headed out from the badlands of the Sammamish plateau at 7 am Sunday. We hit the Middle Fork Snoqualmie road #56 at 7:30, and were at the trailhead at 9:30, two hours to drive about 20 miles. Ouch! We hiked for about two hours when we heard an ear-splitting explosion. Gun? No. Sonic boom? No. Forest service blasting rocks out of the trail to make it into a superhighway for horses? DINGDINGDING! Bingo! They are using dynamite to blast out every root, stump and rock even partly encroaching on the trail, even though the trail is in excellent condition overall already. A member of the work crew told us they were contractors working for the Forest Service to make the trail equestrian-friendly from Waptus right through to Middle Fork trailhead. Once we got through the "death zone" of blasting, we chugged on up to the fantastic Pedro camp by 3:30, six hours to go six miles (and about 1,500 VF gross). That was my best effort, and Rob was very patient with slow pace. We both were happy with camping there since it isn't too far to the places we really came to see, and it is an awesome place in itself. There is a beautiful wet meadow with a meandering stream, mountains ringing the camp with interesting cliffs and peaks, and just a feel of being somewhere special. We hung out on the ridiculously overbuilt bridge and drank cheap whiskey straight (Rob) and cheap rum cut with hot chocolate (Sluggo). Then it was dinner time, so I whipped out my giant rack of barbecued spare ribs, and Rob added some chili mac and sourdough rolls, and we shared a feast. It was really cool to have such an outrageous luxury as barbequed ribs in the wilderness. There are only a few campsites, but we were all alone so we got the best one , and there was exactly one place I could set up my hammock, but I only needed one. We competed to see who could make a regulation bear hang the fastest, but modesty prevents me from saying who won . It got pretty cold, but we were prepared. I walked around the meadowy area by myself in the dark after Rob went to bed, and the stars were bright and Mars was huge! It was kind of spooky, I kept whipping around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on me from behind. I then hit the "hay", and fell asleep looking up at the milky way through the mosquito netting on my hammock.
Monday morning was already warmed by the sun when I emerged from my cocoon at 8:30. We had a leisurely breakfast, did some camp chores, and took off at about 11 for Williams lake. We wandered on up to the trail split with DMG, taking pictures of each other and everything else in sight along the way. There are some nice meadows in this stretch. The trail to Williams has a little steepness to it, but it is short. The lake was better than scenic, set in a virtual bowl of towering mountains, and it has an interesting shoreline lined with colorful vegitation and meadows. We worked along the right hand shore, over some fairly rough boulders, to the far end of the lake. There we headed up a faint path to an old mine shaft. We clambered about inside the mine taking pictures of "old pokey", an old excavating machine or something. We had lunch up there because of the nice overview of the lake and the perfectly table-shaped rocks. We had to decide at that point whether to scramble up to Chain Lakes, or hike down and then up to Dutch Miller. Rob had been to both already, so he let me choose, and I was desperate to see Dutch Miller. We went back around the other side of the lake to circumnavigate, passing someone's camp on the way, the only sign of people we saw from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon. The hike up to DMG was steep and somewhat rough, but well worth it. What a cool place! There were cliffs practically overhanging us, meadows, rock gardens, fall colors, tarns and ponds, one that looked like it hovered above a cliff right down to Lake Ivanhoe, until we got to the edge and realized the drop was only 20 feet or so to the next ledge. The views of Ivanhoe were breathtaking, and we coud see a corner of Waptus Lake far below. Rob showed me where he camped as a teenager a couple of decades ago. We would have hung out longer but the wind was howling through the gap and Rob had brought no warm clothes. My flannel shirt was barely enough, so I was actually glad to leave anyway. We flew back to camp at normal speed with the slug benefiting from the "gravity assist" of downhill hiking. A more traditional backpacking dinner was followed by more "beverages", then to bed. We saw no mice like we did the first night (forgot to mention those). I did another late-night solo jaunt, this time to spooky music from Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman.
Tuesday we slept late and explored the area around Pedro camp, taking beaucoup pictures. At high noon, we bailed for home, doing the six miles in three hours of hiking and one hour of resting and eating lunch. The numerous giant explosions were somewhat disturbing, and when we got near the site of the blasting, I tooted my air horn to let them know we were there, and it turned out they use an air horn blast to signal "all- clear-go ahead and blast", so that turned out to have been a mistake. I kept hanging back, letting Rob go first, while I asked "Is that a blasting cap there? Or there? until it was no longer funny. We waited while they counted down to the next blast, which was stupendously loud so close by. We were told that the signal for a blast meant a 30 second warning, then the blast came about 15 seconds later. Oh, well, what's a few seconds more or less? We got back to Rob's truck at 4 pm, and hung out a bit drinking some Redhook Rob had prudently stashed in a cooler with ice. Good job, Rob! It took us 1 hour, 58 1/2 minutes to reach the freeway, listening to Allman Brothers and Wet Willie all the way.
A great hike with great company! Pictures to be posted once I resize a few.
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Good report el Sluggo. Lots of us netters have found ourselves in that area this summer. Damn shame it's going to the HAY BURNERS!
We should have a Dutch Miller Gap parking lot GTG over night and party hardy this fall before the gate closes the world off forever.
TB
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Wed Sep 24, 2003 12:25 am
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I'm with you 100% on that one, Joe. It may still be a while before the "horse highway" is finished, since there are still many rough sections of trail to blast away. However, it is a good excuse to get in a nice trailhead party. The only rule should be that anyone who drinks heavily must spend the night! Safety first and all that.
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
I agree. My point was why go all that dang way and NOT spend the night?
Be a good place to crash too.
TB
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Wed Sep 24, 2003 8:19 am
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Driving that road twice in one day would probably cause internal bleeding in most folks anyway.
P.S. The WTA already posted my trip report, for once the same report filed here. They didn't edit out my semi-diatribe against the trail maintainence happening there and the horsey reason for it. I am kind of surprised, since I almost edited that stuff myself, knowing the WTA is kind of sensitive to that kind of thing, understandably so in my opinion. After all, they are in the trail maintainance "business", so to speak.
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kiliki Member
Joined: 07 Apr 2003 Posts: 2310 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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kiliki
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Wed Sep 24, 2003 3:41 pm
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How disheartening. I don't mind sharing trails with horses but I never thought about all the time and expense put into horse friendly trails.
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-lol- Member
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 767 | TRs | Pics
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-lol-
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Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:25 pm
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kiliki Member
Joined: 07 Apr 2003 Posts: 2310 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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kiliki
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Thu Sep 25, 2003 2:10 pm
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Now my conspiracy theorist side is wondering if the horse folks lobbied to have the road gated? More for them, less for hikers?
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Sep 25, 2003 10:38 pm
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Here are three more pictures, this time featuring Rob of 2drx. Thanks, Rob, for the kind words. I also gained from the experience, since I never would have seen both Williams Lake and DM Gap if I had gone by myself.
PS- This was my first-ever backpacking trip as an adult (sort of) when I went with someone else, except for a trip to Rachel Lake etc with my son Jesse a few years back.
Rob and Old Pokey Rob at Mugwhump Tarn Japanese garden at DM Gap
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Allison Feckless Swooner
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 12287 | TRs | Pics Location: putting on my Nikes before the comet comes |
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Allison
Feckless Swooner
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Fri Sep 26, 2003 1:13 am
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Excellent trip report! Sounds like you two boys had a swell time. I excpecially liked the picture of Turtleboy's meat.
I hope I can assume Rob's pictures were taken on his newish Canon s40, you went and got one, right? I sure like mine!
www.allisonoutside.com
follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
www.allisonoutside.com
follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Fri Sep 26, 2003 7:57 am
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The camp chair is an indipensable part of the slug's arsenal of comfort. Combined with a pillow, it cradles my buttocks in cushiony pleasure. It is almost weightless. People's first reaction is "You brought a Chair?" The second is "I wish I had a chair!" Besides, when you sleep in a hammock with two pads underneath, you don't need a couch!
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-lol- Member
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 767 | TRs | Pics
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-lol-
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Fri Sep 26, 2003 11:01 am
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Kat Turtle Hiker
Joined: 05 Oct 2003 Posts: 2560 | TRs | Pics
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Kat
Turtle Hiker
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Sun Oct 05, 2003 7:03 am
Update on DMG
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Went up to Dutch Miller Gap ystdy, day hike. The blasting has moved past Camp Pedro. They do have a "guard" on both sides of the trail to stop folks, so don't need to worry about getting a foot blown off or something.
Also, there was a wild looking dude grading the road between Taylor River and Dingford. I could have kissed him on the way back, he took out a bucking bronco section we came over on the way in (2WD).
It is a shame this road will be closed. Overall it is in good shape from Dingford to DMG, just a few scary sections.
It was a beautiful hike, fall colors on a gorgeous sunny day - the views of Lake Ivanhoe were fantastic. I am so sad that soon, I will never be able to go back.
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marcrew Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Posts: 9 | TRs | Pics Location: Woodinville |
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marcrew
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Wed Oct 08, 2003 4:44 pm
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I was up at the Dutch Miller Gap a few months ago but we came up from waptus lake very nice up there and a very long hike. I wish I could spend more time up there. There is so much to explore and so little time.
Change is inevitable growth is optional.
Change is inevitable growth is optional.
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