[Bluebird]

I went on a nice trail run with a friend at Sunrise Sunday night and since I have Mondays off for the rest of August, I opted to stay at Sunrise. It's not the shortest or fastest way, but I could claim my 69th Smoot in Jake's honor, Old Desolate. Camping isn't allowed at the Sunrise parking lot, but I slept in my car. There's a lot of activity in the lot, with cars driving in at all hours of the night but I sleep in an eye mask and earplugs so all was well. Woke at my usual 5:30am and was on the trail by 6:15.

sunrise at sunrise

looking towards snoqualmie pass

1.5 miles in, just ?? to go!

Trails were frosty and chilly, so I started the hike wearing everything I brought (t-shirt, warm baselayer, pants and wind jacket/pants plus gloves). I took a short break for breakfast at the lovely Skyscraper Pass, enjoying the view of my upcoming route and all the lovely terrain around me.

meadows

little tahoma peeks out

skyscraper pass views

I expected I'd warm up quickly, but the trail was in shady forest after the Pass so it wasn't until after crossing the White River at the base of the Winthrop Glacier and heading up hill that it was warm enough to delayer a bit. The Wonderland trail is in excellent condition with not even a blowdown. River crossing has a footlog with a rail and in the morning the water level wasn't particularly high.

winthrop glacier

more glacier

river at the footlog crossing

The Wonderland is familiar terrain for me, having through-hiked it a few years ago, and having also backpacked the Northern Loop. It was pleasant to see it all again, particularly so with a light pack instead of the full backpack! Upon reaching Mystic Lake 3 hours in, I took a break to filter water, enjoy the views and eat a snack.

mineral mountain above mystic lake

old desolate above mystic lake

The pleasant trail continued uphill to a pass and then downhill to Moraine Park. Around 5800 elevation, at a large trailside rock, I left the trail in meadow bordering forest. I kept the forest to my left and soon found a faint trail with goat tracks and droppings. I continued up, following the faint trail until reaching a large boulder field. I hopped up talus for a while, noting a the sound of a small stream to my left near the forest if I needed water on the descent (Moraine Park was dry). I reached a plateau, the high uplands of Moraine Park. It was lovely, sandy with talus, flowers, snow patches and tarns. And somehow no significant bugs. I filtered more water here since it was available.

goat trail

looking back down the draw

found the talus!

lots of this to hop around on.

I wandered around the basin a little, admiring the beautiful scenery and started up the talus. I reached the ridgeline, but was too far south and it wasn't clear if the ridge went. Solo and in trail runners, I decided it would be smarter to descend and do the dreaded talus sidehilling. It didn't take too long before I was below the summit, which wasn't obvious from where I had been in the basin. Some loose annoying choss and I was there! 5 hours 20 minutes from the trailhead... and almost 12 miles.

basin beauty

footprints

The views from this summit are excellent so I spent almost 90 minutes here. I signed the register, as it is my 69th smoot peak. I found a new looking naked playing card in the register, which neek didn't see when he visited in July so that narrows down who leaves them in registers. A mylar balloon floated past and I tried to grab it but it was too far over my head. I enjoyed the summit views so much, I decided that Mineral Peak would be meh in comparison so instead of scrambling that next, I decided to trail run as much of the return as possible.

sluiskin peaks

The scramble descent went quickly, but even solo I wished I'd carried a helmet-- sometimes the shifting rock beneath my feet would loosen the rocks uphill and they rolled onto/past me. When I met the Wonderland Trail, I met a couple who were extremely puzzled about where I came from and why I only had a running pack on. I quickly reassured them that I am well prepared for what I do. I had difficulties passing a few large parties who were oblivious to me, sometimes even after I called out 3-4 times! But then I was finally past them and able to start running towards Mystic Lake.

looking down the choss ballet

The run out took about 2.5 hours from Mystic Lake, including a couple of water filtering breaks, walking most of the uphill between the Winthrop and Skyscraper Pass and a snack at Skyscraper Pass. The river crossing footlog had water right up to the bottom, i was grateful it had a handrail.

looking back at old desolate from SKyscraper

I have a face and a dorky hat

me and the mountain

My total elapsed time just under 10.5 hours, moving time closer to 8.5 hours round trip. My GPS showed 7800 gain and 23.5 miles

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[neek]

but again, not seeing isn't the same as not remembering seeing..."summit porn" is common enough that I may not even register it anymore. or maybe I've just been caught (also that card looks...well, "used" doesn't quite sound right, but certainly not new.) impressive stats anyway; I'll stick with the easy bike approach!

[puzzlr]

I've seen those cards on a couple peaks, but I don't remember which. I think they were in the Chiwawa area. The ones I saw were "claimed" or signed by some group with a name I can't remember.

[Bluebird]

I've heard of the cards on far flung summits but this is my first time finding one. Not my thing, and based on the photo it's "vintage" 1980s or roundabout. I humbly suggest someone start leaving Chippendale cards for those of us who favor men. 😆

[mountainflamingo]

Was I really the only entry for 2020 or are those pages non-sequential?

[Bluebird]

Far as I can tell you were the only 2020 signature, unless someone else signed in an odd spot.

[Brushbuffalo]

[Bluebird]