August 6th, 2011 The Beautiful Granite Mountain

Roundtrip 8.0 miles
Elevation gain 3800 feet
Peak Elevation 5629 feet

Archana and I got an early start on this Saturday morning.  We started our hike at 7am, and what a beautiful hike it was!  I carried 35 lbs and braked for 5-10 minutes every hour again.  I had good music to listen to, and even better scenery.  After the first hour, the trail is actually not in the forest, completely different from all the hikes on the Snoqualmie corridor!  It is basically on a small trail, uphill of course, through gorgeous meadows of wildflowers.  There were also streams and mini waterfalls to add to the splendor.  The hike was harder than Mount Si because the first mile was flat, so all the elevation gain was in the last three miles.  In addition, the trail was rocky and more irregular.  But, so much more interesting than Si for sure!  I made it up in three hours.  Archana rocked the hike as well, carrying 40 lbs! 
The last 1/4 mile involves climbing boulders to a tower, we went a little way and decided it wasn't worth the injury.  Not to mention coming down the boulders looked frightful indeed.  Though no panoramic views, the mist did clear on one side to enjoy seeing the jagged mountain and a beautiful field of snow.  This hike, other than Camp Muir, was by far my favorite! 

gorgeous wildflower meadows

Arch, glad to pose without her extra heavy pack

Archana's great photography at its best!

7/31/11 Trek to Camp Muir, the base camp for Mount Rainier

Distance 9.2 miles round trip
Elevation gain 4600 feet
Max Elevation 10,050 feet




Grinning silly on the descent!


Ajay and I headed out at 6 am to Paradise in Rainier National Park.  We met Archana, Reshma, and their friends who are training for Kilimanjaro, Denise and Vanita there.  We headed out at 945 am, after poor Archana dropped her bagel twice.  The second time a loving bug creeped in ruling out the "three second rule".  Poor Archana also sustained a fall on her knee (ouch) early on.
This hike was entirely different and more difficult than any of our training hikes, namely the whole hike was almost straight uphill on snow.  Also, this is the only hike we have had to deal with higher altitudes.
The visibility on this day was quite poor, and only got worse as we headed up the trail.  Ajay and I hiked together, breaking every hour for 5-10 minutes, RMI style (RMI is Rainier Mountaineering Institue, the guide group who we are using for the Rainier summit).  The wind picked up big time by hour three as did the lack of visibility.  At one point I said something to Ajay and he was nowhere to be seen!  He had stopped to tie his shoe and was 30 yards below looking for me.  Once we found each other we also found the RMI group heading to base camp for their summit climb.  Using their foot prints to help track on the snow, we tailed them essentially the rest of the way up.  I have to say, I loved the wind and the crazy visibility, I felt quite adventurous!

Picture I stole from the internet of a clear day at Camp Muir

The last 90 minutes was the hardest, but I really felt great overall, despite the calf and thigh burn.  The visibility improved near Camp Muir and we were rewarded with views of part of the Rainier summit, but very windy conditions at base camp.  Ajay and I made it up in exactly five hours.  We enjoyed hot lentil soup, and then I almost passed out using the disgusting Camp Muir toilet facility.
The way down turned somewhat bittersweet.  We ran into the rest of the team at about 9000 feet.  They had through a combinations of reasons (boot issues, lack of visibility, etc), decided not to continue to base camp.  Resh and Arch also were now worried about the actual summit climb.  This fear was luckily fixed the next day when they both spoke to RMI guides who said they were doing great (I had said this to them as well, but of course it is more meaningful coming from experts).  We did enjoy a team snack on the way down of banana bread from Resh and grilled peaches from Arch, as well as more of Ajay's lentil soup.  Ajay and I then hustled down, enjoying glissading down several shoots.  Total time down was 3 hours.




Me, Reshma, Archana, Vanita and Denise innocently smile before the hike

July 27th, 2011 Tiger Mountain Cable Line

Elevation gain 2100 ft
Distance 3.0 miles
Highest point 2525 feet

I was joined on this sunny Wednesday by Connie and Sandra.  Sandra, who recently returned from China, had already hiked west Tiger trail earlier that day, rock star indeed!  I carried my 35 lbs (still yikes) and scrambled (or should I say stumbled) upwards making it up in 90 minutes.  I beat my time last week by 10 minutes, so I was quite happy.  On the top, Connie fed a bird out of her hand a nutritious fiber bar.  The bird clearly did not appreciate the healthy snack as he did not come back for seconds!
We took the cable line on the way down, which made for more entertainment for sure.  Sandra gave us the details of her amazing trip which was the highlight of the hike.

July 23rd, 2011 Team Bonda takes on Mailbox Peak

Roundtrip	6.0 miles
Elevation Gain	4100 ft
Highest Point	4926 ft

Our team was complete this weekend, as Stephanie, the long-distance bondite, joined us from San Francisco!  Though I was nervous about repeating the dreaded mailbox, the hike was altogether a great experience.  The sun was out, hurray!  We started the hike at eight am.  My brother, Apoorva, joined us, and led the bondites up.  Steph, Apoo, and I took a break at nine and ten to drink water and enjoy energy chews.  Once we were out of the "root forest" the views were spectacular!  The last bit, though steep and hot, was beautiful beyond words.  Panoramic views of Rainier, the North Cascades, the Snoqualmie Valley combined with being surrounded by wildflowers was great motivation for the last leg up.

The root forest

My time up was 2:40 minutes, and I carried 15 lbs.  On the top, we enjoyed potato patties (thank you, Ajay), Reshma's yummy sheera, cherries that a friendly hiker was sharing, and Archana's glazed bananas.  Quite the feast!  The way down was a hard as usual highlighted by: 
a. taking just as long as the way up  
b. all four bondites slipping and gracefully falling at various times, luckily unhurt except for minor bruising  
c. a bee going under Reshma's shirt and stinging her, poor thing (Resh, not the bee)! 
d. Apoo sprinting down the mountain and taking an hour nap in the car waiting for Team Bonda to finish their slow decent



Only the very beginning of the steep descent!




July 19th, 2011 West Tiger Cable Line

Elevation gain 2100 ft
distance 1.5 miles up and down 3.1 miles (down on regular trail)



no switch backs here, straight up a very rocky path



Resh, Arch, and I did took on the cable line at Tiger Mountain.  It is straight uphill on rocky and steep terrain.  It was quite the workout, and the 35 lbs I was carrying definitely had be working up a sweat!  I made it up in 1 hr and 40 minutes.  Helpful to this climb, and climbing in general, was a "how to adjust your pack" video I had watched the day before (yes, 4 months into hiking).  I adjusted mine and Resh's packs (Arch's was already ergonomically sound) and we both felt a huge improvement.  I had also, on advice of fellow bondites, read about correct backpack packing/loading which also helped out.  We ran into these guys who actually were guides for Rainier.  They offered us lots of encouragement and were impressed at our loads.  All in all, a great strenuous week day hike!  go team bonda!

July 16th, 2011 Little Si

Distance 5 miles
Elevation gain 1200 ft
Highest point 1576 feet

On account of sickness and a rough night, our hike was downgraded to Little Si and delayed by several hours to the aforementioned issues in addition to the horrendous traffic in North Bend.  Resh, Arch, and I were accompanied by Chayya and senior citizen canine, Maya.  To make the hike worthwhile, I carried 37 lbs up.  The hike was highlighted by :
-Archana and I practicing and then "performing" our amazing race application video while Reshma filmed us with my flip and onlookers watched with amazement (that may be an exaggeration)
-while my chai, made graciously by Resh, was cooling off on a summit rock, Maya preceded to drink it all!
-"mountain" dogs begged us to play fetch and give them food.  These dogs apparently live nearby and go up Little Si on their own to hang out/play/eat with hikers.

Old M, pre chai fest

The stick fetching obsesses mountain dog!



July 14, 2011 West Tiger Mountain

Distance 6.2 miles
Elevation gain 2100 feet
Highest point 2525 feet

Another reunion of Team Bonda as we welcomed Archana back.  Headed up Tiger with 30 lbs, made it up in 1:45 mins (slower due to socialization).  This is the first time I hiked with mostly water weight and what a difference it makes!  I happily dumped out my water at the top and saved my joints on the way down.  Reshma had us going a quick pace on the way down.