Double Rainbow Guy

This guy knows how to appreciate nature! OR he is on drugs. Perhaps both?



"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???? IT'S SO INTENSE!!!!"

Mt. Townsend, July 13th, 2010

Mt. Townsend

Stats: Roundtrip mi.: 8.2 

Elev. gain: 2900 ft 

High point: 6280 ft

 Party: Laura Bradford, Michelle, Deb, Beautiful views, and Shelby
Words to describe: "Oh Wow. Look at that!"

SUMMARY: So I have done this hike twice now, and I can confidently say that it is one of my favorites. It is totally worth the 2 1/2 hour drive out to the Olympics. This hike has so much to offer! -Wild Flowers, Mountain views (Olympics, Rainier, Baker), And an amazing bird's eye view of Puget Sound!

I could write about this hike all day, but really, the pictures are much more telling! Here we go! (P.S. I have done this hike twice, and I am using pictures from both times, so don't be concerned that I am switching outfits for the photos! haha)

One cool/funny thing is that the ranger station in the small town right before the hike (I forget the name...) gave away a bunch of free "Smokey the Bear" propaganda! (AND had a really nice, beautiful, glorious, clean restroom! Saying that a restroom was "beautiful and glorious" might seem silly to those non-hiking types, but after having to pee and poo outside in a variety of "mountain toilets" (ranging from a really stinky shack, a slightly barricaded camp toilet, a hole in the ground on top of an exposed peak, and of course.... leaning against a tree or rock and trying to go as fast as possible!) you will fully understand how one can describe a bathroom as "Glorious." Also, I would HIGHLY recommend using this glorious bathroom, as Mt. Townsend is a very popular hike, with not very many hidden spots (and by not very many, I mean ONE at the very top, across a ridge, and down a rock cove thingy)). Yes. I just had two parentheses inside of a parentheses. I do what I want. Here is a picture of my sweet Smokey the Bear temporary tat!

WILDLIFE? Well, the first time I did this hike, we saw two mountain goats, REALLY close up which was incredible! (They are a little stinky, however!) But this time- no dice. It is a really popular hike, so I wouldn't expect a lot of wildlife to make appearances, but there ARE mountain goat there!

CONCLUSIONS? This hike is an absolute MUST. Seriously. You must. I am obsessed with it. I couldn't stop looking around and going "WOW! Look at that!" as if my party wasn't looking. haha

If you don't believe me: WTA trip report

Shriner's Peak- July 5th, 2010

FIRST HIKE OF THE SEASON! 

Shriner's Peak

Stats

Roundtrip mi.: 8.5

Elev. gain: 3434 ft 

High point: 5834 ft
Party: Michelle, Deb, BEAR, and Shelby

SUMMARY: As you can see from this photo, there was just a lot of snow. So much snow in fact, that we were unable to reach the top. (However, we did this adventure on July 5th, and according to the WTA trip reports, the snow is melting and people are making it to the top.) This hike was difficult...as in... I wouldn't send a n00b on this hike. My booty ached for a few days afterward! The elevation gain was almost 3500 feet, which is intense! We loved it, but yeah.... I wouldn't take a new hiker here. They would hate you forever. There are beautiful views of the mountain, but the weather wasn't that great, so my picture doesn't do it justice.

Also, when you get to the top of Shriner's peak, there is a fire look-out. We didn't make it to the top, so this isn't my photo, but this is what you are supposed to see!

But don't cry for me, Argentina. I've done this hike before and made it to the top! No worries!

HOLY SHIT BEAR: Yup. We saw a bear. And by "we" I mean Michelle and my mother. My mother whispered "Holy shit! Bear!" Then Michelle runs up to see it and goes "Oh my God, it's running toward us" and up until that point, I was walking in the direction of the bear to get a sneek peek, but when I heard "Omg, its running toward us" I stopped dead in my tracks and reached for the bear spray. Turns out the bear was actually running in the opposite direction (the running motion had just scared Michelle.) HOWEVER, the opposite direction was down the trail....the trail we were also going down. We were headed in the direction of a bear. Great. So I start doing what you do when you see a bear. Waving my poles like a lunatic, and having conversations VERY loudly, and when I ran out of things to talk loudly about, I just started screaming things like:
"I LIKE KOALA BEARS. THOSE ARE NICE. GUMMI BEARS. ALSO DELICIOUS. TEDDY BEARS CAN BE CUDDLY SOMETIMES....." attempting to mask my blatant dis-like for bears. Michelle and my mother continually laughed at me, because for some odd reason, they enjoy bear sightings. I on the other hand get anxious and feel like peeing myself. Like how a normal person reacts when they see a bear. Not my mother and Michelle. They love it. In addition, they revel in my agony. They think I am hilarious. So eventually I start to calm down.... and then we see this:

Yeah.....the bear that was somewhere ahead of us was sharpening it's claws. GREAT. My eyes grew wide.

Shelby: "NO WAY"
Michelle: "Woah! That is so cool!"
Shelby: "That is NOT cool!"
Mom: "That is awesome!!! I'm going to take a picture!"
Shelby: "WHAT?!?!? There is a bear somewhere around us, sharpening it's claws.... and you want to take a picture???"
Mom: "Look how cool it is! I bet its fresh...like, that just happened. I'm going to smell it and see how fresh it is"
Shelby: "THERE IS A BEAR CLOSE BY SHARPENING ITS CLAWS AND YOU BITCHES WANT TO STOP AND TAKE PICTURES AND SMELL THE BARK????"

Michelle and Mom *start sniffing and taking pictures*
Shelby *Sighs but decides it is safer for her to stay with the pack....even if the pack is "stopping to smell the roses" of death. *

And it wasn't just ONE tree....it was at least TEN that were fresh... and about 30 that were old. I hadn't noticed the old claw marks on the way up, because it was never something I was aware of, or knew that I should be looking for. Upon finally noticing all the claw marks, I start shouting "OH MY GOD. LIKE....THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVE! WE ARE IN THEIR HOME. YOU KNOW WHAT I DO TO SPIDERS THAT ARE IN MY HOME????" while becoming increasingly paranoid. And Mom and Michelle just laughed away....

CONCLUSIONS: Shriner's peak was a good time. Its a rough hike, and you might meet a bear.

Welcome!

Welcome to Rainier Love! This blog has 3 purposes.
1) Chronicle and share my hikes. I like to look at my hiking photos, and I thought it would be fun to share with others too!
2) Help you choose a hike! Whenever I mention that I hike, inevitably the question "what is your favorite hike?" is always asked. And I always reply "Third Burroughs," but my quick response doesn't always convince people to trek off the map to get there. If I can provide photos, it may spur people to actually go.
3) Help you figure out the when, where, why, and how! I will include a little trip report with every hike, so you can figure out when you should go, how to get there, if there are potholes in the road, if the bugs are horrible, if the snow is melted, ect. Hopefully this will help you decide if the hike is good for you or not!

-RainierLove