Today was my second attempt to reach 3rd Burroughs via the Glacier Basin trail.
Yesterday, I turned around due to heavy wind gusts once up at the junction.
Today, it was a doe that seemed frozen in the middle of the trail about 100 feet just past the switchbacks on the connector trail. I did try to drop down a couple of switchbacks and wait 10 minutes. The doe was still there. I then tried to climb a little up the scree field and waited 20 minutes. Nope. The doe seemed frozen in that spot.
After 30 minutes of inactivity in cold fog, I called it a day, headed down to the basin trail and left the doe alone.
The connector trail had less than an inch of powdery snow yesterday. Today, the trail is mostly snow free. What snow is left on this part of the trail is less than an inch and of the heavy wet kind.
The Glacier Basin trail is in great shape. Wet. Not muddy. It is slippery in spots. Water is flowing in all of the creeks. Great to see after being dry just three weeks ago.
Mt Rainier was visible as I was hiking up the connector trail. It was covered in low level clouds once on the Glacier Basin trail.
I only saw two people all morning. They were heading up the Glacier Basin trail. There were 5 more cars in the lot when I left than when I arrived. Guessing they headed up the WT to Sunrise.
Comments
mcguire_ep on Glacier Basin
I missed you again, I was up there the day before you. Did you notice the sign was missing heading up to 2nd B? Snow can melt quickly...
Posted by:
mcguire_ep on Oct 14, 2023 01:26 PM
Mary&Mollie on Glacier Basin
Can't believe I missed you again. I didn't notice much on Thursday when I actually made it to the junction so didn't notice the missing sign. The wind gusts were unreal! I was worried I would be blown off my feet and not able to recover.😂 I've been up there before in the fall with the wind. Thursday was another level. Plus the cold wind! Seem to cut through my multiple layers! As trails available to hike are shrinking, I am sure we will see each other again this season!
Posted by:
Mary&Mollie on Oct 14, 2023 02:01 PM
mcguire_ep on Glacier Basin
Seeing wildlife passing naturally has its own level of grief and I can accept that. Driving up to the park on Thursday, I saw a majestic antlered bull elk floundering in the ditch, just W of Greenwater. It had just been hit, and I had nothing with me to help put it out of its misery. I admit, I cried. Maybe it's a carryover from the new conflict in Israel. Later...
Posted by:
mcguire_ep on Oct 14, 2023 02:12 PM
Mary&Mollie on Glacier Basin
Yeah it is tough. This is my second week. Last week up on Cowlitz Divide, I heard an elk in distress in the valley below Ohanapecosh Park. Tried to tell myself that it was a young elk trying to bugle. Unfortunately, I knew better what was happening.
This morning, I knew when I first came up on the doe, I could tell something was wrong with it. Plus, too high in elevation at this time of year. Then getting itself stuck on a trail where it couldn't move. Giving it time to move and/or sitting in the upper scree field was more about me processing/dealing with what was happening. I just didn't want to be the person to spook it down a scree field it could not handle hastening the natural process.
Posted by:
Mary&Mollie on Oct 14, 2023 05:02 PM