Rainy Lake — Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

My SO had to flip a coin for me on Saturday morning: Rattlesnake Mountain Snoqualmie to Ratttlesnake Ledge trail run or Preacher Mountain summit attempt? Well frankly I wish tails had won, to be completely honest. Instincts told me scrambling alone on Preacher in the wet season probably not a good bet to hedge. I also figured Rattlesnake would be boring though. I had to start late due to obligations in the morning and figured if I were starting Preacher a little after 11am, I would at least be walking down Rainy Creek trail at night. The math seemed favorable for completing the scramble from Rainy to the summit before dark. And to be sure, at my pace I could have. But I could not have made it back down safely in the dark. The boulders were very slick, and found myself losing purchase about 1/4 1/2 mile along the scramble route from Rainy to the upper tarn. It was raining and – as you may have gleamed – I don’t know the route 1st hand. It was still a great hike… Arrive at Middle Fork Trailhead parking lot around 11:15 am with ample parking but some other hikers also beginning their adventure for the day. Stopped to read the bulletin board and stretch and began running across the bridge and down the Pratt Connector to Rainy Lake trail. The creek was raging at the Rainy Creek bridge, just before the Rainy Lake trail. Rainy Lake offers many more blowdowns than my previous venture at the end of July. The trail alternates between a trail runners paradise and a hikers agony, from tiny lovely pine cones marking a clear, wide trail to blowdowns and brush completing obscuring the trail. With rain and cold I found myself slipping on hidden leaf-covered rocks, sections of mud, crossing smaller runoff creeks over blowdowns on the way up, then all of that plus sliding over slippery tree roots on the way down. In the dark at that if you plan like I did 🙂 I wasn’t really looking for them but did not notice a single ribbon on any of the trees. Previously, sketchy parts of the trail were marked by ribbons. These have seemingly been removed in the last few months. The trail is much harder to find at many sections and the new set of blowdowns can really confuse the proper trail. At two different times I ended up off trail. I found this frustrating and slowing so at one point embraced the lack of trail and headed directly south towards Rainy Lake. This was a fun bushwhack for a while but ended up in leafless eye-height brush that forced safety goggles on me. Some of it even managed to tear one of my base layers through another piece of clothing that didn’t rip. Vicious brush. After 1/2 mile or so of bushwhacking through the brush I encountered several large boulders on very steep hills, surrounded by the brush, with noticeably sheer rock cliffs beyond to the south. At this point I was done bushwhacking so headed directly west and recovered the trail. I do not recommend abandoning the trail, but overall it was kind of fun. The last major blowdown you encounter right before the lake is quite a doozy. It’s 4 or 5 trees mashed together, half rotted. The trail is completely invisible. Climb up and over them. I reached Rainy Lake after 2:35 minutes from the MF trailhead. I took a short break to fuel up, change my shoes and socks then headed for the boot path across the log jam at the Rainy Lake outfall. I’ve heard conflicting reports about this boot path. I followed it until it dissipated and only rocks were obvious, then I mounted the rocks along the high ridge and started scrambling those. Here I felt exposed and was slipping a lot due to all of the mud, moss and general abundance of moisture. I felt safe taking my time, but taking my time meant losing a lot of light. I scrambled until about 2 pm. I sat on a rock realizing that victory was not far, but victory meant downclimbing in the dark or sleeping on Preacher. I’m not an expert rock climber and have never climbed at night, much less in the rain and unpredictable cold. I could have stayed the night. I was prepared to stay the night equipment-wise, but not mentally. Not alone. Not today. I abandoned the summit attempt around 2:15 pm, and headed back down to Rainy. Very disappointed but comforted by the thought of home tonight, I enjoyed some raisins and mixed nuts and headed back down the trail at a jogging pace starting at about 3pm. By 4:30 - 5 PM the situation called for a headlamp and I was about half way down, just before the noticeable boulder field sections of the trail. On the way down I fell 3 or 4 times by slipping on roots. I never use poles. Never. I brought them on Rainy because it can be quite treacherous to navigate some of the higher blowdowns. Coming off one of the blowdowns I slipped, lost my balance and fell, wedging my trekking pole between branches and then falling over with full force onto the side of the trekking pole, snapping it in half. I’m not sure the warranty covers Rainy Lake trail. That says a lot about Rainy though. It’s not particularly steep, it’s not particularly long, but it still manages to take a unique, route-defining toll. Sure, going at it at night was kind of begging for trouble, but ah what an adventure the day was despite robbing myself of this treasured, personally sought-after peak. On the way down I noticed reflective tape nailed into trees, esp. closer to the Pratt Connector. I suspect these are for folks who wander up there at night. However, if you’re on the trail already don’t go out of your way to reach them. There are some questionably marked spots, including a section with two reflectors that look like eyes (and startled the hell out of me) under a headlamp. The reflectors are on a tree directly in front of the creek. If you go to them, you will be in brush near the water. They are useful when Rainy Creek's location is not obvious and you're far off to the west with a flashlight, but avoid if on track. I do wonder who has put all of the work into Rainy Lake trail and Preacher Mountain. I know it was once maintained (see my Preacher Mountain Beta post) and occasionally someone is coming out here doing work. If they ever chance upon this, please leave a comment. I’d love to buy you a beer, coffee, whatever as a token of my appreciation. I love Rainy Lake trail despite having failed the summit all summer long. It’s beautiful, technically challenging, isolated and packs amazing rewards from alpine lake camping, summits and views with clean prominence. Preacher Mountain is a fitting name with how spiritual the journey can be. As for gear, wicking base layers, insulation and rain gear were required on every part of the body. Not so much due to cold today, but due to brush. I also wore gaiters with trail runners and brought along Hillman’s trail crampons and an ice axe in the event the summit already had snow. End of the day: 2:35 minutes up to Rainy, an hourish of trying to scramble up to the tarn, failing and turning around, 2:30 minutes down from Rainy. I can’t wait for next time.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1445124968