Tag Archives: Robert McElroy

Mount St Helens Hike, May 2014

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Mount St Helens
Date: May 28, 2014
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 10.8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 5,700 feet
Time: 8 to 10 hours
Location: Near Cougar, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: Permit Fee Required (100 per day)
Trail Conditions: Damp to Snow Pack
Hiking With: Dr. Robert McElroy & Dr. Adrian Hillyer

Dr. Robert McElroy was kindly nice enough to ask me to join him and Dr. Adrian Hillyer to climb Mount St. Helen in the middle of the week. Since I have never attempted to summit this mountain, I said to myself….”oh hell yes!”. Our climbing permit was for Wednesday so we drove down to Cougar, Washington on Tuesday afternoon and pitched our tents at Marble Mountain Snow Park just South of the base of Mount St. Helens. I jumped into my sleeping bag at 8:45 p.m. with my earplugs in and was fast asleep with a little help from one Advil PM.

We woke at 3:00 a.m. and the first thing I did was boil water for tea and for my Mountain House freeze dried beef stroganoff. After packing up the tents and everything else back in the car we took off on the Worm Flows Route in a light rain. The first couple of miles were fairly easy with mild elevation gain. As soon as we hit the snow the elevation became steeper and the heart rate and breathing increased. At times you were digging in with your toes heading straight up.

After 5 hours of grueling fun we made it to the crater rim with no visibility. As we were gearing up for the descent we had a couple of minutes of a sunbreak and were able to see the new dome…totally cool. We tried to glissade as mush as possible but the snow was getting softer later in the day, it still helped quite a bit and we made it back to the car in 3 hours.

Poo Poo Point, January 2011

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Poo Poo Point
Date: January 14, 2011
Difficulty: 3 out of 10
Distance: 3.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,650 feet
Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Location: Issaquah, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: No Permits Required
Trail Conditions: Wet, with light rain at times.
Hiking with: Dr. Robert McElroy

I actually wanted to snowshoe today, but the forecast was calling for rain for much of the area including the mountains.  We could have driven to the Mt. Rainier area where the elevation is much higher and got out of our car in snow, but I was just coming off of a cold and didn’t feel like a long drive.  Besides the increased avalanche danger, starting off in rain during a long snowshoe scramble is just dreadful.  My good friend, Dr. Robert McElroy and I decided on a simple, vigorous hike….and something close to home.  We both drove to the Poo Poo Point trailhead and it was still dark yet.  I hopped in Rob’s car to check out his new Android phone until we could see a little light.  

I started off with a jacket due to the light rain, but within 5 minutes of the hike I was already stowing it.  We made it to the top in about 30 minutes and took a small break for food and photo opp.  Near the top, there are some steep short-cuts Rob was taking and my heart rate hit 173….felt like 190 though!

Denny Creek Trail, August 13, 2010

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Denny Creek Trail
Date: August 13, 2010
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,300 ft
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: I-90 exit 47
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Hiking with: Jim Darmiento & Dr. Robert McElroy

This was the first time I had two good friends of mine finally coming together for the same hike.

Mt. Teneriffe, December 2010

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Mt. Teneriffe (via Kamikazi Falls)
Date: December 22, 2010
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 10.5 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,838 ft.
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: None Required
Trail Conditions: Dry up to Kamakazi Falls, snow at 2,800 ft.
Hiking with: Dr. Robert McElroy

Rob and I met our at usual location, off of I-90….exit 11a and got to the trail around 8:00 a.m..  Since I hiked/snowshoed up the service road last week, we decided to take the Kamikaze Falls trail to the summit.  This is a much shorter route versus the long, sometimes mind-numbing 7 mile service road.  The Kamikaze Falls route has been listed from 3.3 to 4 miles long, either way, it’s a steep assent.

We made good time up to the falls (elevation 2,633′), we took a break to take a few photos of the 150′ waterfall.  After a couple of poses, we kept trekking up the steep slope and eventually hit snow around 2,800′.  The snow started to get deeper and we decided to put on our gators and snowshoes on around the 3,700′ point.  After 3 hours from the trailhead, we hit the beautiful white summit….and of course we took a few more pictures.  We descended the safer route via service road….and endured the 7 long miles down.  According to my heart rate moniter/calorie counter, I burned 4,100 calories and my heart rate peaked at 167.

Source Lake, November 2009

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Source Lake Trail
Date: November 22, 2009
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 700 ft
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: I-90 exit 52; Alpental Ski Area
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: None Required
Trail Conditions: 12” to 20” of fresh fluffy snow
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Evangeline Yu & Dr. Robert McElroy

We met at our usual Starbucks, exit 17  to decide on what hike would suit everyone.  It was raining all morning, so…we decided to hike Source Lake at I-90 exit 52 at Snoqualmie Pass.  The rain kept coming down and it finally started to change to snow at the pass; as much as I love the rain….I would rather put my gear on in the snow than the rain any day.  Finally snowing now, we exited at 52 and drove pass Alpental Ski area to the last parking lot.   

After putting on the gators and MSR snowshoes we started our snow adventure.  It started deep and just got deeper; we were the first ones on the trail, which meant fresh deep snow.  We followed the main snowshoe trail for a couple of miles and finally started to pick-up some elevation as we got closer to Source Lake.  This is where we started blazing our own trail, at times we were going through snow waist deep high.  After hitting the 3,800 foot level, Dr. Rob and I took turns breaking the trial; even with snowshoes on, we were sinking down over our knees.  Linna and Evangeline were loving life with Rob and I compressing the trail to manageable 6 to 10 inches of snow.  

Staying at the 3,800 foot level, we weren’t on the main trail…but just North enough to get around it and head for the east side.  We had to be a little careful crossing the creek that feeds into Source Lake; there were some mini size crevasse that we had to cross.  After getting on the East side, we couldn’t find the trail at first, so we trudged our way up in search for the trail back to Snow Lake trailhead.  We didn’t find it at first, so we angled our way Southeast through the trees until we hit the avalanche prone area.  Even though the chance of an avalanche was low, we crossed this area with care.  After carefully crossing the open area, we found the trail and we were on our way home.

Denny Creek Trail, November 2009

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Denny Creek Trail
Date: November 13, 2009
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,300 ft
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: I-90 exit 47
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Hiking with: Dr. Robert McElroy

Since they called for rain most of the day in Seattle and snow level dropping down to 1000 feet in the Cascades, Rob and I wanted to start our hike in the snow and avoid getting out of the car in rain.  So, we decided to head Commonwealth Basin on exit 52 at Snoqualmie Pass, but due to a traffic accident after exit 47 that shut down I-90, we decided to snowshoe the Denny Creek.  The road leading into Denny Creek trailhead was snow covered with 6 inches of snow and luckily we got passed early on by a large dually truck that made tracks for us.  Turning into the parking lot we got stuck and were just spinning our tires, so I got out and pushed to give Rob’s car some momentum.  We found some bare ground underneath a tree and parked the car  facing out toward the road for the end of the hike.

The snow was still coming down when we started hiking and never did stop for any small breaks during the hike.  Underneath the tree canopy, the trail started off with 3 to 4 inches of snow that increased as we ascended.  It was obvious that we were the first ones on the trail; it was all fresh snow below us.  By the time we hit Horseshoe Falls, snow depth was between 10 to 14 inches of fluffy snow.  About a quarter mile after the large rock field, the snow was getting deeper, so we decided to put on our snowshoes.  Even with snowshoes, the fluffy snow was up to our knees.  We took turns leading to break trail; actually Rob did most of the work though.  After tromping through the thick snow for 2 ½ hours, we decided to turn back, right before Hemlock Pass.  Due to the high stepping through the snow, my thighs cramped up on the way down….I was instantly paralyzed trying to relax my cramps.

Kendal Katwalk, October 2009

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Kendall Katwalk
Date: October 16, 2009
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,700 ft
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Users Group: Hikers, Horses & Dogs
Permits: No Permits Required
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Dr. Catherine Howe & Dr. Robert McElroy

We met up at Starbucks, exit 17 to discuss the numerous trails we could hike today.  We ended up choosing the Kendall Katwalk for the easy gain, big views….and it has been a couple of years since I have done this hike.  It has been a rainy week, but today was a break from the rain.  The trail was free from debris with no snow to be seen.  This was my first time hiking with Catherine; she pleasantly surprised me with her hiking abilities.  Rob and Catherine led the hike with a consistent quick pace.