Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Ridge Lake via Kendall Katwalk: Snoqualmie Pass


I have mixed feelings about the popular Kendall Katwalk.  On the one hand, it offers amazing vistas of rugged crags and dark green valleys, the kind of landscape that normally requires a day's journey to the North Cascades to see. With the Kendall Katwalk, an hour drive from Seattle, and another hour of hiking, and you are above the treeline wandering through austere beauty inaccessible to the masses .  On the other hand, the trail seems like a throwback to the 19th Century when avaricious men with black powder, and later dynamite, blasted their way through natural obstacles to reach pay dirt in the form of minerals, trees, or trade. The work here was done in the 1970s, ironically to complete a difficult section of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Despite my sense of ambiguity, we headed out on a beautiful morning,  arriveing at the trail head a little after 9 AM.  We left the Eastside of Seattle around 8 AM and encountered reasonable summer traffic for a Tuesday morning.  It's always a trade off when hiking in the I-90 corridor--proximity versus crowds.  We found the main parking lot nearly full.  Fortunately, the trails we're not overly crowded. 
The Better Creek Crossing on the Old Commonwealth Basin Trail

One of the cool aspects of the hike is the cross-section of day hikers, runners, and backpackers you encounter along the way.  It seemed to us that nearly half of the boots on the trail were thru-hikers coming down from Stevens Pass.  One couple endured the deluge of weekend rains a Waptus Lake that added a dry out day to their total of a week.  A father and daughter, with streamlined packs like PCTers, finished the journey in five days.

Out of the parking lot, we elected to take the Old Commonwealth trail, (recommended by a friend) which begins just a few hundred feet on the left, past the trailhead.  Officially, we discovered, the trail is abandoned.  It is brushy and steep with more roots & rocks than a Bob Marley album.  It may have save some time, but I got soaked pushing through dew heavy leaves.

At an interesting washed out creek crossing, we encountered a couple who were trail running.  Slightly disoriented, they wanted to know if they were on the right path out.  We assured them they were navigating the trace towards the parking lot.  Soon the sound of water would be replaced by the sound of the freeway.

At the end of the cut, we turned right onto the start of the Commonwealth Basin trail.  In 200 feet, we rejoined the PCT trail with a left, and continued the climb up the forested ridge. 

Eventually, you pop out of the woods of some amazing views to the Southwest of Snoqualmie Pass and Mt. Rainier.  We found some paint brush and fireweed in bloom.  The hardest part of hike is the work acquiring the ridge.  As you switchback up, Red Mountain contrasts strongly against a range of grayer granite. 

For me, the trail doesn't feel as long or as difficult on the way in as the guide indicates.  Perhaps we were lucky to start in cool of the morning, gaining elevation through the forest.  At any rate, we met a number of Senior hikers working their way up the trail, who seemed to be easily handling the challenge.

At the top of the ridge, the Katwalk is an impressive testimonial to engineering.  I suppose it solved a nasty geological snarl created by the congregating peaks above the pass, and it made it Section J of the PCT passable.  There's no arguing about the views, either, though gouging a trail out of the mountain granite  to create greater access to wilderness seems a bit hypocritical. Of course, some people stop here and eat lunch. 

We continued on to the Ridge Lake.  With our route, we recorded just under 7 miles in 3 hours.  Hikers coalesced here.  Two golden labs were splashing in the water.  We hiked to the quieter end of the lake though truth be told, the amphitheater acoustics of the cirque did little to quell the raucous exuberance of man, woman, or beast.  Bugs were present but not a bother compared to a trip we made two years ago. A light breeze thwarted their sinister intents.

We enjoyed wading in a bit to cool our feet.  Trout jumped obliviously.  As we were packing up, a group of fly fishers arrived to dance their lines above the water.
The hike out provides a better sense of the distance in.  With tired legs, and lagging conversation, the easier miles out felt longer, even though we were back at the trailhead in just 2 1/2 hours.  On the way down, we crossed paths with a teenage couple in blue jeans already out of water.  Maybe the heat of the afternoon wouldn't bother them at all.  Personally, I drank about a quart of water.


No comments:

Post a Comment