Owyhigh Lakes Trail

Our valley's air quality has been stuck in hazardous range for nearly a week, thanks to nearby (and not-so-nearby) wildfires. Hazardous air means no exercise, indoor or out. No exercise means restless crazy Shaina. In desperation, I moved my weekly trail run up a few days--to Tuesday (Sept 15th) instead of Friday this week. As I researched which trail to run, I discovered that one of our three main mountain access roads, highway 12 through White Pass, had just been closed due to--you guessed it--another wildfire. Since I-90 is still under major reconstructive surgery (involving several key road closures), my portal to the Cascades shrunk to one entry point: state road 410 through Chinook Pass.

The air quality had deteriorated so drastically since Friday that I didn't know if even the mountains would be clear enough for running. The Air Quality Index (AQI) maps sure didn't inspire much hope for fresh mountain air. But I had to check! So when Jeff got home early Tuesday afternoon, I drove 2 hours up and over Chinook Pass and down into Mt. Rainier National Park a short ways to the Owyhigh Lakes Trail. The air may not have exactly been clear, but it was much LESS smoky than at home, so I ran in it... slowly, with plenty of walking "smoke breaks." 

The Owyhigh Lakes Trail winds through the same gorgeous old growth forest as the Eastside Trail, except it goes diagonally northwest, connecting the two main roadways on the northeast side of the park. I ran a simple out and back to get in a satisfying dozen. The trail was steeper than I expected, and every now and then the haze of smoke exuded an ominous feeling. The air felt muggy and the forest seemed more still than usual. Maybe it was the lack of human hikers--I saw one person in my entire 3 hours on the trail--but it felt more significant than a mere lack of humanity, as though the wildlife was hunkering down to avoid the smoke and potential flames. 

Regardless of the reason, I was on edge for the first half of the run. The trail climbed 2800 feet over 5 miles and I was humid-sweaty and edgy. It didn't help that I kept running face-first through spiderwebs. And I was in bear country so I kept seeing tree-stump bears in the gloom of the forest, haha. Eventually, the trail brought me out to the underwhelming late-season puddles that were the Owyhigh Lakes. I was expecting their shallow muddiness due to my research, so I wasn't disappointed. Instead of blue reflective pools, I enjoyed the fuzzy backdrop of jagged mountains veiled in smoke. The surrounding yellow-brown meadow held enough vestiges of summer to make me commit to coming back during wildflower season. I admired the smoky scene, ran a little farther down the trail to get up to six miles, then turned back. 

The return journey was mostly downhill, so my breath came easier and my sweat dried a little with less exertion. At my quicker downhill pace, I had to watch every footstep so I didn't trip on a root and fall downhill, but it was still an easier run and my edginess faded. I enjoyed the silent forest with just a few birds fluttering and a few rodents scuttling. Only one spiderweb grabbed my face, since I had already cleared my own way on the outbound journey. It may not have been as soul-filling of a trail run as last week's, but it was a trail run! 

One picture from the drive--smoke covering the hills in the background, yellow blooming sagebrush in front.

I was sorely tempted to run all the way to Sunrise Road and thus complete the entire Owyhigh Lakes Trail, but the round trip distance was a bit too long for the daylight I had available that late in the day. Not to mention the smoke factor and muscle fatigue and fuel, haha. I was proud of myself for being realistic, especially when my legs started feeling wobbly and worn out around mile ten. 

Solid and thick--those TREES.

My trail shoes are black, but they've been dyed by dirt.

The trees opened up and revealed...SMOKE.

This stump fragment was too orange to be a stump-bear, but there were several others that were startlingly convincing in my edgy state.

Smoke-filtered light through the trees.

A lot of the cute rustic little bridges like this one crossed dry stream beds this late in the season.

Curvy handrail

A little bit of smoky sunshine, barely visible on the trees.

 

Smoky forests are eerie.

This meadow was probably BURSTING with color a month ago!

Smoke-sun.

After about 3.5 miles, the trail was more meadow than forest.

Peek-a-boo, Owyhigh Lakes! I need to learn what in the world the origin and significance (and pronunciation) of that strange name is.

It almost looks like a cool misty rain, but trust me, it was neither cool nor misty. Just smoky and humid.

Lake-puddle.

I had to make this color-leached smoke-background picture interesting somehow, so I walked a balance beam. It was harder than it looks, haha.

I ran a little ways past the lakes on the trail. This side is the more traveled part of the trail, since its trailhead is near the popular Sunrise area of the park. Well-traveled trails are so nice and smooth.

Passing the lakes on my way home, I was inspired by the puffy beargrass.

These berries were so bright. 

Several sections of the trail were very brushy. I was thankful for my tall socks.

Listening to a hundred-plus years of wisdom.

Such CLEAR water.

I wanted to stop here for longer, but it was a bit too muggy and buggy for comfort.

Misjudging my camera timer, haha.

One last waterfall graced the trail near the road.

 Made it! What a climb!