Frog Mountain — Friday, Aug. 26, 2022

Where to even start! There's just so much to unpack. 

I've had a very eventful past two weeks. Not one single mile logged on trail due to a lower back injury that had me worried that I wouldn't be able to continue training for Mount Baker. But alas, here we are! On the summit of Frog Mountain! And I have to say, it feels genuinely good to be able to set boots on trail after two weeks of not setting boots on trails.

August 14th

Funny story, (skip ahead if you want to read about Frog Mountain). I was in my kitchen and I saw a little black ant crawling along the base board. I stooped over and followed him with my phone flashlight to see where it was headed. I ended up finding many more in the dust pan near the garage door. And then I found their entry point. As I stood up, I felt minor discomfort in my lower back like I had pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve. No big deal, I thought. I've had that before. Fast forward to Tuesday. While standing at the gas pump in Duvall, ready to tackle Bandera Mountain, (a redemption hike I've been after for a few years) I lifted my left toe in a stretching motion and my knees buckled and I felt a small pop in my lower back. I had to grab the truck bed to keep from crumbling to the gas station floor. Obviously, I had to cancel my hike and head home. It wasn't debilitating but I sure struggled with movement.  

Fast forward two days- I self admitted to Urgent Care because things were not improving AND Mount Baker climb was three weeks out. I also have travel insurance and incase I need to cancel the climb due to illness, injury, etc, I'd need a doctors' explanation as to why I can not continue the climb. They took x-rays, did some tests, and did all that doctor stuff that they do. Then they referred me to a spine specialist for Tuesday the 16th! A spine specialist?? I went back and forth for three days wondering if I should cancel the Mount Baker climb or just want and see. It was a few sleepless nights, et me tell you. 

I will say that the medical staff that I saw are truly amazing and I feel lucky to have such great medical insurance. I don't visit the doctor often but this was sort of a 911 because of the Mount Baker climb. The spine doctor did sort of the same thing that the urgent care doctor did. More x-rays, more tests but I was vastly improving by this time. In fact, I had improved so much that I helped move TWO couches the following day- which was probably not the best idea but my lower back felt good following the doctor visit.

By this time, my back was still nagging me a little but the medicine and the rest was working. I took it easy for a few more days. I iced and took salt baths and stretched and stayed active. I even went recreational shooting with some friends where I picked up 11 bags of trash at the Three Fingers bridge washout. By the way, some of y'all that camp at that bridge, the amount of trash that is left behind- Taco Bell wrappers, beer cans, coke cans, juice bottles, camping gear, water bottles, salad boxes.. it's truly disgusting. I spend three hours picking up around cars, tents and shooting pits. That whole forest service road leading up to the bridge is riddled with shooting pits and it's absolutely appalling how many people leave their rubbish behind. 

Frog Mountain! 

ANYWAY. On to Frog Mountain! I wanted an easy hike to make sure I could lug my 20lb day pack up the trail. I thought about doing Heybrook Lookout in just trail runners but I really needed to make sure I could carry my pack. The parking lot was empty- a cool 64 degrees when I arrived. The fog had just started to lift and I saw blue skies. Back in town, of course was a different story. The blue gate was no longer there so I drove right in to the spacious, freshly graveled lot. I could even still smell the clean, new trail smell. I'm really happy they converted this outdoor shooting pit to a hiking trail. Outdoor shooting ranges in the forests are so detrimental to our environment. I used to partake until I learned how bad they are. The trash, the ammunition that travels way beyond targets and gets lodged in trees which ultimately kills the trees and then they blow over in wind storms creating more havoc. When I go recreational shooting with friends, I'm the guy with trash bags cleaning up the trails and shooting pits. I understand the desire to shoot outdoors- it's free and in the forest. How cool. And indoor shooting ranges have rules and are expensive. Not so cool.  

Okay, back to Frog Mountain. The trail is in fine shape through the forest. It's certainly a very straight forward trail. GPS not need apply here but I always have one 'just in case'. As I progressed out of the comforts of the shady forest, even though the temperatures didn't rise much over 70 degrees, the sun absolutely baked me on the open slopes of Frog. I guzzled on my 2.5L water bladder straw like a calf suckling on its mother teet hungry for nutritious milk. From a wide forest trail converted from an old logging road to now a narrow, no more than 3 foot wide hikers trail, the views slowly started to open up. As I crossed over the North flank of Frog, Three Fingers popped into view. I could barely peel my eyes away from it. One day, I hope to climb that massive rock.

The narrow trail that I was now on has nearly been pulverized into moon dust by hikers and horse riders alike and laden with pot holes that could nearly swallow small tires or severely snap ankles on hikers and horses. There are some areas that are becoming overgrown from ferns and other vegetation that stepping in one of these unforeseen holes may cause great bodily harm if one does not exercise caution through this area. I'm not a horse expert by any means but the two hikers that I encountered on my way down both expressed concern of taking horses up and down this trail. 

Let me be clear- I am by all means in agreement that public land is public land and all uses whether it be ATV, ORV, horse back, paragliding, hiking, etc etc should be allowed to use the trails. But land managers should recognize the destruction that some of these trail users cause and adjust accordingly. I'm not sure if there is a right answer when it comes to who's allowed and who's not allowed. For safety reasons, I would advise caution to horse back riders on this particular trail just because of the sheer slop-age, (slop-age? Is that even a word?) and all the deep pot holes on the trail. The trail is extremely narrow in places and honestly, how could anyone pass each other on horse back, hiker to horse, horse to horse. Even hiker to hiker there is very little room to pass in some areas of the trail.  

I got one final view of Three Fingers at an outcropping during the final push to the summit. The ridge walk re-enters a forest prior to the last little bit to the summit and once I was on the summit, it was heaven! Even at 4,852 feet up, the views were expansive. I looked to my left and saw a weird, green, earthquake sensor machine thingy and I went and explored it a little. Careful not to step on baby blueberry plants and remaining on the social trail to get to it, I got see it in person. Here's to science! In celebration, I ate three blueberries. Tart but sweet, they were good. 

I could have had the summit to myself for probably the rest of the day, if I wanted. Frog Mountain isn't that popular. Yet. 

On my way down, I passed two other hikers on their way up and did my best to avoid the pot holes as I sauntered back down the mountain. Once back in the parking lot, I assessed my back, did some light stretching and determined that I am Mount Baker ready.