Tatoosh Ridge
God damned the drive to Tatoosh Ridge was far…I wanted some alone time but 2+ hours of driving is a bit more than I had in mind. I didn’t realize how far it was when I was looking at the map, I just wanted a tough hike with gorgeous view. There’s not that many from the WTA site that looks any closer (I generally look for “Most Difficult” + “Best” or “Pretty Good”). I plugged the address into my car GPS in the morning and thought about maybe switching back to Mount Si…but I really didn’t want to.
The trail was excellent for solitude hiking because there really wasn’t anyone there. Most of the hike up the initial part of the trail was like any other hikes…lots of trees…lots of bugs. Oh god, the bugs! Actually there were more bugs per square inch than all my other hikes combined. Swarming! Nothing bad and bloodsucking, just gross. It’s yechy to hike through a cloud of gnats, they just cover you. Even though I know they’re not trying to eat me alive, it’s unnerving to see my arm dotted with these little bugs…not to mention you end up breathing them in…getting them in your mouth and sinus. EEEEK! Oh…and in the forest part of the hike, it was like spider D-Day. Seriously they were just dive bombing from trees everywhere. I found yet another good reason to bring a wide brimmed hat, because it’s infinitely better to have spiders hanging from your hat than crawling along your breasts. EEEEEK!
Getting out in clearing up top was so nice, even with the sun cooking me alive. I’m sunburned all over again. Even my girls are getting toasty…I seem to have forgotten to put sunscreen on them, because contrary to male fantasies, we don’t sit around rubbing lotion on our breasts all the time.
I really really lucked out though because right around 2/3 of the way, a couple hiked up and apparently they had hiked this trail about half dozen times. They were my tour guide angels because for the last mile or so, the trail was completely covered in the snow without any old tracks to lead me to the lookout point.
As we hiked along, they suddenly stopped and pointed behind me, Mount Rainier appeared out of no where. They were just adorable people with a lot of hiking experience, they mentioned that they were surprised to see me there because hardly anyone hikes there (I really lucked out in finding them). The dude was even more of an angel by leading the way and helping with kicking in steps in the snow (kicking in steps is so fucking unbelievably tiring). I seriously would not have made it to Tatoosh Lookout without them.
The place is just unbelievable…the view…stunning. After we rounded the first ridge, the guy said they were stopping because he was too tired to go on. I look up at the viewpoint that was oh so close and yet so far, and freaking covered in snow…and bid them farewell. I didn’t make it this far to stop.
I slogged on, at least at this place even if I tip over the edge and fell, it looks like a slightly less steep dropping…it’ll hurt yeah, but I’ll probably still have a few of my teeth and live to tell. I still think I’m sometimes God’s idea of a bad joke...I can see it now:
Let’s make a girl that loves hiking really hard hikes so she’ll need lots of elevation gain to enjoy it, and then let’s give her an insane fear of height. Excellent! This is almost better than making her love video games but they make her sick to her stomach. Brilliant!
I got to the top of the lookout…and WOW…360 view…Mount Rainier up close, Mount Adams right behind me, Mount St Helen next to it. I can even see a bit of Mount Hood. The day was just so beautiful and clear. Ever see anything so beautiful it makes you stop breathing, and it overwhelms you so much you almost want to cry? Yeah, well...me neither. *flexes biceps* I figured I must be getting all emotional from being tired and hungry (I'm a big girl, I'm allowed to cry when I'm hungry), so I sat down and ate lunch on that ridge in between all those mountains. I sat and stared at the crag on Rainier where Muir is tucked in…I still remember how much I wished to be able to camp there two weekends ago. I still hope to do so some time this year.
At some point during lunch, I heard the other two hikers stomping their way up. They got up, looked around and smiled…and the guy thanked me for hiking up, “I wouldn’t have continued on if you didn’t.” I thanked them both in return, “I wouldn’t have even gotten to that first ridge without the two of you.” Nice to see that I could inspire them to keep trekking, missing the view from where they first stopped would have been such a pity.
I feel a bit bad that many prehistoric animals died to fuel my trip out there…but god damned, the place was so beautiful. I keep thinking on the way up, why they hell did I drive all the out there just to hike around some mountain, and then it all comes together when you’re at the top…even on the path back, just watching Rainier along the path back…so beautiful it hurts.
Photos from the trip here.
The trail was excellent for solitude hiking because there really wasn’t anyone there. Most of the hike up the initial part of the trail was like any other hikes…lots of trees…lots of bugs. Oh god, the bugs! Actually there were more bugs per square inch than all my other hikes combined. Swarming! Nothing bad and bloodsucking, just gross. It’s yechy to hike through a cloud of gnats, they just cover you. Even though I know they’re not trying to eat me alive, it’s unnerving to see my arm dotted with these little bugs…not to mention you end up breathing them in…getting them in your mouth and sinus. EEEEK! Oh…and in the forest part of the hike, it was like spider D-Day. Seriously they were just dive bombing from trees everywhere. I found yet another good reason to bring a wide brimmed hat, because it’s infinitely better to have spiders hanging from your hat than crawling along your breasts. EEEEEK!
Getting out in clearing up top was so nice, even with the sun cooking me alive. I’m sunburned all over again. Even my girls are getting toasty…I seem to have forgotten to put sunscreen on them, because contrary to male fantasies, we don’t sit around rubbing lotion on our breasts all the time.
I really really lucked out though because right around 2/3 of the way, a couple hiked up and apparently they had hiked this trail about half dozen times. They were my tour guide angels because for the last mile or so, the trail was completely covered in the snow without any old tracks to lead me to the lookout point.
As we hiked along, they suddenly stopped and pointed behind me, Mount Rainier appeared out of no where. They were just adorable people with a lot of hiking experience, they mentioned that they were surprised to see me there because hardly anyone hikes there (I really lucked out in finding them). The dude was even more of an angel by leading the way and helping with kicking in steps in the snow (kicking in steps is so fucking unbelievably tiring). I seriously would not have made it to Tatoosh Lookout without them.
The place is just unbelievable…the view…stunning. After we rounded the first ridge, the guy said they were stopping because he was too tired to go on. I look up at the viewpoint that was oh so close and yet so far, and freaking covered in snow…and bid them farewell. I didn’t make it this far to stop.
I slogged on, at least at this place even if I tip over the edge and fell, it looks like a slightly less steep dropping…it’ll hurt yeah, but I’ll probably still have a few of my teeth and live to tell. I still think I’m sometimes God’s idea of a bad joke...I can see it now:
Let’s make a girl that loves hiking really hard hikes so she’ll need lots of elevation gain to enjoy it, and then let’s give her an insane fear of height. Excellent! This is almost better than making her love video games but they make her sick to her stomach. Brilliant!
I got to the top of the lookout…and WOW…360 view…Mount Rainier up close, Mount Adams right behind me, Mount St Helen next to it. I can even see a bit of Mount Hood. The day was just so beautiful and clear. Ever see anything so beautiful it makes you stop breathing, and it overwhelms you so much you almost want to cry? Yeah, well...me neither. *flexes biceps* I figured I must be getting all emotional from being tired and hungry (I'm a big girl, I'm allowed to cry when I'm hungry), so I sat down and ate lunch on that ridge in between all those mountains. I sat and stared at the crag on Rainier where Muir is tucked in…I still remember how much I wished to be able to camp there two weekends ago. I still hope to do so some time this year.
At some point during lunch, I heard the other two hikers stomping their way up. They got up, looked around and smiled…and the guy thanked me for hiking up, “I wouldn’t have continued on if you didn’t.” I thanked them both in return, “I wouldn’t have even gotten to that first ridge without the two of you.” Nice to see that I could inspire them to keep trekking, missing the view from where they first stopped would have been such a pity.
I feel a bit bad that many prehistoric animals died to fuel my trip out there…but god damned, the place was so beautiful. I keep thinking on the way up, why they hell did I drive all the out there just to hike around some mountain, and then it all comes together when you’re at the top…even on the path back, just watching Rainier along the path back…so beautiful it hurts.
Photos from the trip here.
posted by SteakGirl at 9:29 AM
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