I made it to the summit! Mission Peak, 6,876'.
Today with three women, we hiked to the summit of Mission Peak, 6,876' near Wenatchee. When the road became impassable, we walked three miles uphill to the trail head. From the trail head, we hiked 7 miles round trip, gaining 2,275' of elevation gain.
"Kathleen, you have never made it to the summit," karen said. "Come on! You can do it."
The last bit to the top always looked too dangerous: a steep, narrow, twisting, rocky path with a sheer drop off. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I made it to the summit!
We ate lunch at the top. At 6,876', it very windy and cold. I bundled up in a down sweater, raincoat, gloves and warm fleece hat.
It was raining in the Cascade Mountains to the west. We could see mountains through translucent rain. We watched the wind blow the rainstorm over Wenatchee.
Karen handed out a homemade, peach-blueberry tart. The ladies sang "Happy Birthday" to me. Lisa made delicious almond biscotti.
Photos:
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Columbia River curves through Wenatchee, WA. Smoky from the Cougar Creek fire, 40,000 acres.
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Rainstorm in the Cascade Mountains. See it raining?
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Beautiful exposed fir tree roots.
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In 40 years of hiking, we never saw this before:
Pikas built three mounds by layering plants with tunnels underneath. Pika eat plants. That's their winter food. "Does this mean we will have a hard winter?" Karen wondered.
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Elusive Pika, a little bigger than a chipmunk. Pika are related to rabbits.
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Trippy Coreopsis flower seed pods.
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16 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.So that equates to 2,275' in 3 1/2 miles. Happy birthday!
JackPedigo
Level 9
Sep 12, 2018
1
Nice pics. Did the dog have any of the peach tart?
alanalorie
Level 7
Sep 12, 2018
1
@alaalorie
Wasps tried to get at our fruit dessert. The dogs got dog food and treats during lunch.
Beautiful- and congratulations! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Not I, however.
After several knee-stressing backpacking trips on the Appalachian Trail I'll never do it again without my galloper invention.
In fact, I don't like climbing that high anyway, since my entire agenda for any outdoor hike or climb is to locate and photograph/observe wildlife, which can't be done if people are stomping along swinging their arms, trying to beat their best time, and we are above the tree line anyway.
I like to glide silently, watching for scat, tracks, and other signs, easing myself through the brush to sneak up on fox and deer, or follow a warber song to find a rare migrant.
I like to hike in the south, in fact; the warmer the better..more birds, and I can dive into the ocean to cool off.
birdingnut
Level 8
Sep 12, 2018
1
Thank you so much for sharing! And way to go!!!
Holysocks
Level 8
Sep 12, 2018
1
@Holysock
Thank you!
Thanks for the pictures. Especially the pica I have heard of them but never seen one.
dalefvictor
Level 8
Sep 12, 2018
1
You're welcome. This morning, I corrected my typo. It's spelled "Pika."
@LiterateHiker Thanks for the picture, I thought they looked like a large mouse, but I do see the resemblance to a rabbit.
Awesome! Looks wonderful!
Umbral
Level 8
Sep 11, 2018
1
@MiltsterD
Trippy Coreopsis flower seed pods.
@LiterateHiker oh wow, never seen that before. Cool
Gorgeous pics!
Green_eyes
Level 8
Sep 11, 2018
1
Thank you, darling!
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