EastKing Surfing and Hiking
Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 2082 | TRs | Pics Location: 77 miles from Seattle! |
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EastKing
Surfing and Hiking
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Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:00 pm
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Short on time this Sunday and in search of something new, my friend Aaron (my wife wanted to go but had prior plans and Quetzal Curttismo had car issues) and I decided to do a quick five mile walk up Cedar (Echo)Mountain near Lake Desire (really an 800 foot hill) and around the nature area. The nature area located between Renton and Maple Valley is home to a number of easy trails that are good for both trail running and hiking.
As for the trip, it was nothing more than a fast-paced walk to the summit. With maybe 1 1/4 miles and 400 feet of elevation gain. It took maybe 20-25 minutes to get to the top. What views there were are blocked by the clouds. I'm sure this peak has a great view of Mount Rainier but today, because of the off and on snow and hail showers we could see just the valley floor.
On the way up we ran into a local who suggested that we take a longer way back to clearly see all of the park. This where we ran into a number of nice side trails that took us close to a smaller second summit where a blowout had occurred. Then the trail continued to pipeline route that brought us back into West Spring Lake Road where the original trailhead is. It took us about an hour and a half but it felt good to get out and see a new summit and nature area where if the weather was better and we weren't short on time we would have skipped this place.
Easy hike (500' feet elevation, maybe 5 miles loop roundtrip, 1 1/2 hours)
Cedar (Echo) Mountain 001 Cedar (Echo) Mountain 003 Cedar (Echo) Mountain 012 Bad hero picture! Surviving the tough scramble (ha ha!!) Cedar (Echo) Mountain 012
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
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