The destructive power of avalanches is awe inspiring. This photo was taken about 5 miles in on the Gold Creek trail, which just happens to be a fantastic hike less than an hour away from Seattle. Having Snoqualmie as a backyard is pretty amazing.
Sometimes I just need to get outside. Most of the time that means I want an adventure to shake out the monotony of day to day life, but sometimes I just want the company of my dog, pretty scenery, and a pleasant trail. It’s sort of the difference between wanting to waterski and just wanting to sit on the beach.
The hike to Pete Lake is most definitely a meditative hike devoid of adventure. Yes there are a couple of balancey creek crossing but if you know how to walk then they are fun surprises that nature has added to keep you awake. That said I did see a guy donning Gore-Tex head to toe (including the $60 hat
) with one of those super-fancy seam-welded Arc’teryx pack that crossed a stream as gracefully as jello rolling down stairs. Don’t be that guy.
The relaxation starts on the drive there. The road follows the shore of Cle Elum Lake which offers spectacle views at the cost of ten steps from your car. Often times I am in such a hurry to get to the trailhead that I forget I am driving through one of the most beautiful states.
Once at the Pete Lake trailhead it is a short jaunt (about 5 miles) to Pete Lake. I went in early July and the trail was just about fully melted out. I didn’t really mind the early season mud or the random puddles blocking the trail because the forest is calming on a level that only an ancient place can be. This is not a trail for solitude though; rather it is a trail to find a little offshoot, sit on a rocky perch, and just soak in the moment.
The trail had quite a few downed trees that required a bit of bushwhacking. It was still early season so the downed pine trees had not had a clear path trampled through yet. I was fortunate enough to meet two rangers out there doing trail maintenance and stopped to have a chat. It was drizzly and gray in typical PNW fashion but all of us agreed that it was a beautiful day to be outside.
Pete Lake proper offered me solitude on a wet weekday in early July. I highly doubt this is the norm because there are numerous well-established campsites and plenty of fire pits set up for drunken storytelling late into the night. There are campsites all along the north side of the lake that are a little off the trail. I didn’t check out the south side of Pete Lake but there may quieter camping over there.
Two final notes. If Pete Lake is just a pretty view on your way to Lemah Valley or Spectacle Lake and for some reason you don’t want to wade Lemah Creek at the primitive crossing, the signs for bridge crossing aren’t correct anymore. According the rangers two years ago an avalanche took out the bridge. Also if you’re using a GPS with a map from GPSFileDepot.com the Pete Lake Trail doesn’t match up perfectly with the actual trail. Use some common sense when trail hiking and you’ll be fine. I have posted my Google Earth kml file that shows me wandering off trail trying to “find” the trail via GPS. My GPS was also having issues with low batteries so if you check out the kml file I didn’t actually walk through the lake, though that could be kind of cool.
After a two year hiatus from North Carolina rock climbing I finally made it back to climb at Moore’s Wall with my old partner Ben and his ever lovely fiance Tonya. We ended up climbing the super classic Zoo View (5.7+ 2p) and some 5.6-ish line on Sentinel Buttress.
I’ve climbed Zoo View once before during the early days of my climbing career. Ben and I had been hitting all of the classic 5.6′s in NC and feeling confident after climbing the Maginot Line (5.7 3p) at Shortoff Mountain we committed to Zoo View. The thing that establishes Zoo View as a super classic climb is the daunting roof halfway up the second pitch that is home to the most bomber jugs imaginable. The holds are deep and positive and confidence inspiring to even the most novice climber. With these church of the solid rock holds you can relax and enjoy looking like a superhero as you pull a good size roof with great exposure. It felt good to pull that roof again and even better to get to the top with a shit-eating grin on my face and relive the climb with Ben.
I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the rappelling situation at Moore’s Wall. There are not a lot of rappelling options and the set of bolts that dumps you to the Crow’s Nest drops you down a popular route on Sentinel Buttress. When we were there we accidentally rappelled over a team. I am highly embarrassed and it is inexcusable but it happened. Be very careful about what is below you when rappelling on Moore’s Wall and expect to wait at the top or at the Crow’s Nest for the parties below to clear. It is just the way it is, but hey we’re in the South where people are friendly and afternoons are lazy.
My old trip report on Zoo View has more pictures and beta if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Also if you have any thoughts on fixing the rappelling situation at Moore’s Wall I’m all ears.
The immense face of beautiful, beautiful stone.
I’ve been lucky enough to climb with guides both as a client and as a friend. I’ve shared a jetboil’d meal while learning about glaciers as a student and I’ve shared a flask of whiskey and recounted delicate traverses as a partner. But after my few days with a guide I go back to my home and they continue life in the mountains. It is easy to forget what is my escape from “life” is their existence.
A Life Ascending is not a film about a guide or a movie about ski mountaineering. It is not an exhilarating adventure that makes your palms sweat at the thought of taking that line. No, A Life Ascending brilliantly and subtlety shows a way of life in the mountains once the allure of the adventure wears off.
The story of Ruedi Beglinger and his family goes beyond the cliche’d eat, sleep and breath mountains. Their story is one of a tight knit extended family that does all the normal things but with the backdrop of a remote, helicopter access only chalet. The responsibilities that come with their school are immense but my impression is that they could nothing else and still be the people they were meant to be. It is their vocation in the deepest sense of the word.
It is easy to show pretty pictures of the breath taking beauty of remote mountains. It is much harder to share the religious nature of the them. The cinematography was exquisite and I felt the awe of being in an immense temple dedicated to a living idea.
I would highly recommend this film.
A Life Ascending by Ptarmigan Films