Rock Slide

Rock Slide

One of my favorite phrases is Pyroclastic Flow; it just rolls off the tongue.  It's a fast moving current of superheated gas and rock.  It's what comes out of the ground when volcanoes explode like Mount Saint Helens on May 18, 1980 or what buried Pompeii in AD 79.  What's left over after one of these eruptions is a large amount of rock, ash and other debris.  Evidence of pyroclastic flows and volcanic eruptions is evident around Mount Rainer.

Mount Rainier is an active volcano, last erupting in 1894.  As we walked this segment of the Wonderland Trail, the soil is basically volcanic ash.  Somewhere between the consistency of sand and dust, this material is everywhere and in large amounts.  When an entire hillside is made of the remains of a pyroclastic flow, it is not very stable. 

Just before Martha Falls on the Wonderland Trail, there is a rock slide where the remains of a pyroclastic flow is still moving.  This rock slide was identified by the park service and temporarily repaired by the trail crews, but it is obvious when you're on it that it is not stable.  It is not dangerous, per se, but anyone trying to run up a sand dune will tell you that at times you just find yourself at the bottom.  Just stay on the trail and don't linger. 

It is obvious that this section of the trail will be washed out again this winter if no other work is done to stabilize or reroute the trail.  However, it may not be possible given the current route to stabilize the trail.  A large bridge structure just west of the rock slide was destroyed recently.  Evidence of multiple rock slides were apparent along this segment of the trail. 

Sylvia Falls

Andesite Columns

Between Maple Creek Campground and Sylvia Falls, the trail follows the Steven's Creek bottom.  The creek meanders along a valley between 10 and 300 feet wide, continually scouring new channels each year with the spring runoff.  Shortly upstream of Maple Creek Campground, Steven's Creek looked to be making a new channel through a forested area. 

Along this section of the hike, we passed what looked to be an old Lava Flow on the left.  This cliff is comprised of andesite columns, made from hardening of lava flows from the mountain's past.  What I found interesting about this cliff is that the lava flow at the bottom is coming in at a 60 degree angle to the flow straight up, indicating that eruption chamber was not altogether vertical. 

Several times on the trail it crossed into the creek bottom, making it less like a trail and more like scrambling over boulders.  Large talus fields on the left pointed to the gradual decomposition of the andesite columns, which would then be eroded into football sized rocks.  This was the sunniest part of the trail, however, the cloud cover kept the temperature down. 

Sylvia Falls

After about 1.3 miles (2km), the trail passes back into the woods and next to Sylvia Falls.  According to Northwest Waterfall Survey, these falls were named by a park ranger William Stafford after a female acquaintance.  I can only imagine that he took a fancy to her.  

We stopped to rest in this peaceful setting.  It's not the largest waterfall by any means, but it is the first one we saw on the trail.  There's nothing like the first one. 

Maple Creek Campground

Site 1

Maple Creek Campground is located approximately 1 mile west of the Steven's Creek Crossing.  The campground contains 4 sites, 1 group site and toilet facilities.  Water is available at the stream and bear poles are provided for hanging food.

It is a backcountry campground, so each site is little more than a cleared area in the forest.  There's plenty of shade, but no amenities such as a picnic table or fire pit.  (Open fires are specifically banned in backcountry campgrounds, taking a bit off the traditional camping experience.)

Toilet w/ Privacy Screen

Composting Toilet

I was pleasantly surprised at the toilet facilities.  Most back country toilets are little more than boxes out in the middle of the forest.  This was actually a composting toilet with a privacy screen!  I was a bit confused by the sign on the toilet, though.  It read "Women, please do not urinate in the composter.  Please urinate in the woods.  Place the TP in the composter."  Does that mean men can pee in the composter, or do they assume that men are just going to pee anywhere they want? I'm assuming that they only want #2 in the toilet.  Bring your own paper! 

Bear Pole

Another key requirement in the back country is food storage.  Storing food in the tent is not smart for bears don't care if you're in there or not.  The campground had a Bear Pole; a metal tube in the ground to hoist food up on.  It was not nearly as strong as I had thought, but I guess it does the job. 

Random Tidbit (about Snow)

Crystal Mountain is a ski area just to the east of Mount Rainier.  Today, they announced that the ski area will close this Saturday (July 16th).  The ski season was open for 9 months this year. 

Corinne and I followed a couple of boarders home from the mountain on Saturday, so we figured they were still open. 

This was made possible by 51 feet (15m) of snow this year. 

Steven's Creek Crossing.

The first segment of the trail was downhill to Steven's Creek.  The trail passed through wooded areas and downhill.  At first the descent was gradual, however, about halfway down (.7 miles, 1km ) the trail turns sharply right and the descent increases.  There is a large rock here with what used to be a nice view of the canyon and Mount Adams, however, the trees have grown and obscured the view.

At the bottom of the hill there is a nice wooden bridge over the Steven's Creek.  As you can see from the picture, the creek is not wide but is running swiftly.  The water has polished the rocks smooth.  At this point, the creek is not accessible, however, farther up the trail it will be.  As you can also see, flooding does pick up trees and other debris (and if I was a betting man, the old Steven's Creek Bridge).

Also as you can see, my lovely daughter accompanied me today.  Although the bridge looks natural, they hid the Steel I-Beams nicely underneath the bridge.

The trail turns to follow the creek uphill after the bridge, so we quickly shed our long sleeves.

Box Canyon

We started the hike at Box Canyon.  This is a popular stop by the road, for it is unusual.  The Canyon has been carved by the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz River through a fissure in the rock.  If you look carefully, you can see a rushing river 100' below the bridge running through a channel 5 feet wide.  

(Geology buffs can learn an overiew from the Box Canyon geocache or can do a deep dive in the Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier.)  

This section of the Wonderland trail goes down into Steven's Canyon, so naturally, we went up some switchbacks to pass over the road over the tunnel.  I was wary when the first switchback we encountered had a little stream running through it.  I thought that foreshadowed a muddy day on the trail, but I was wrong.  The trail was in great condition, almost completely dry, and clear of all snow.  
The trail paralleled Box Canyon for awhile before it took a right turn as we descended into Steven's Creek Canyon.  And thus, at 9:15am on July 10th, we were on our way.  

Of course, every beginning has to have the obligatory "I was here" photo. 

First Leg Completed!

It's going to be a difficult year to get this accomplished.  As I stated before, a through hike trail is all but impossible due to the demand and the amount of snow.  So after a couple of weeks of summer activity, I decided it was time to make a start on this.  I selected the only section of the trail that wasn't snowed in, a section between Box Canyon and Martha Falls on the southern side of the mountain. 

My daughter and I hiked this on Sunday, July 10th on a perfect day.  51 degrees F when we started, the day never got too hot and the partly cloudy skies kept us cool for the day. 

The trail from Box Canyon started with a 500' (150m) descent into Steven's Creek Canyon, then a gradual climb up about 1100' (330m) to our destination, Martha Falls.  Along the way we saw a blooming wildflowers, a female elk, bear scat and crossed a treacherous rock fall. But those are the subject of future posts. 

As for now, I can say the journey officially has begun.