Jolly Mountain

This trip took place on December 7, 2008. Before the hike a few days before I tired myself out and got my self sore on my legs due to an intense game of dodge ball, some running games at youth group and a game somewhat similar to tug of war which very much tired me out but by Sunday I somewhat recovered. Unfortunatly my friends had me stay up and tricked me into drinking soad to stay up until I realized what they were doing so in total I got 3.5 hours of sleep, which is'nt too bad, but I need atleast 10 hours to feel rested and not tired, but can be ok with 8. We were running late when we woke up because my brother made some eggs, we were 10 minutes behind schedule which to my suprise EastKing said we were 10 minutes late and was worried we would not be coming. Unfortunatly the people that were coming bailed out, and it was just me, EastKing, and my brother Michael. My brother drove us there and EastKing paid for the gas.

View on the way		One of the signs		Fork between trails

Misty Trees Across the Valley		Looking at the road while we wait for me brother to return with the car		Off to nowhere

At first we had some troubles once again finding the trailhead, but fortunatly brought the book and EastKing helped us find the way. We started hiking through rainy woods and got misleaded by this broken off sign which someone had point the wrong way. When we supposidly found the trail, it ended up going to nowhere and we went back and Michael ran to get the car because we got onto a road which goes up to the acual trailhead. Unfortunatly as we were driving, the rangers had locked the gate about a mile or mile and a half before the trailhead, which meant road walking. EastKing decided we should cut though the roads switch backs, and I became soaked fast because it was raining, but could see the snow above. The woods were especially hard for me because now only was it slippery mud, but the thorn plants were terrbile, kept on poking me, and a little bit of thick bushes at times. Man was I so incredibly happy when we got out of those dang prickly plants. After a while of being soaked, we eventually hit snow which was a relief because before the rain was very cold. The majority of the view was burried by cloud but at one point while walking along the road, it broke out to a view of some mountain in front of us with misty trees and faintly the valley below.

Panoramic View		Starting to snow

Wintery Road		Looking Up		Mountain Across

Hiking along the Wintery Road		Looking Down the Valley		Snowy Trees

Misty Trees		View before it disappears

		Hiking through snowy woods		The fork in the road

		Hiking to the False Summit		Lots of snow

				Sorta how I saw it because this photo is blurry just like my goggles

At this point it leveled out more and now the hike was a bit more enjoyingsome and was really starting to feel the jolly when looking up at the beauty around me. I said aloud "I'm in a land of Wonders and my what a beautiful world." Evenaully the easiness ended when EastKing said lets take another short cut which went strait up the mountain. For me because I was sore from previous days, and it was snowy, slipery and steep, I had a hard time going up, but managed to endure as I usually do. I probably could have went a little bit faster but no sense in tortering your self, and I can assure you I was not taking my time either. We later hiked up to a point were the road forked but fortunatly took the correct one. It was begining to get a little windier, which at the time was no big deal because I like the cold. When we started getting back onto acual trail, I finally decided it was time for a brake. I had some of my mom's popcorn which was a great idea but was crumbs. After the break we eventually hiked up onto the saddle and started going down which I was worried about going the right way. We got what seemed to be a sorta ridge like feel and at this point visibility was very little. After hiking for a while we got to a creek which we soon realized that we had pasted the summit or summit ridge, which at this point became very confusing. EastKing took a lookat the map and we headed back looking for the summit. As this point my feet were getting very cold and I got up to what I believe is the false summit. But after looking around we could not find it, so we decided it might be a good idea to go back because it was getting late and cold. We took a brake because I was very hungry and felt like I needed a brake. I had to take off my gloves to eat and by doing so my hands had become very cold, plus our motion stopped so I became even colder and put my jacket on, but it was too late, my hands were purple which very much suprised me and lost much feeling in them, and my hair was frozen because I sweated a lot ealier. I was worried at this point because our snow prints were disappearing and I was getting colder and colder and was dizzy and tired and it soon turned into a weak blizzard and we could see the wind blowing snow all around.

Heading down		Looking back up		View through the Trees

EastKing yelled "Lets get off this Mountain!" We were starting to worry, and my snow goggles were foggied up. I could hardly see a few feet in front of me exept in one section of my goggles I could see 100 feet until the fog ahead. Fortunatly we hurried down out of the heavy winds, and I started getting some feeling into me and the trail became obvious. After a while once we got to a good spot we all took a brake and hadsome cheese and crackers to restore our energy. We looked back up and the summit was clearing although we could not see the acual summit but a few minutes really made a diffrence. The way down was so much nicer although I was a bit tired and we saw some deer tracks. I would have gladly taken more photos but the lens on my camera fogged up and everything was soaked plus it was cold and I was tired but I got some. We took the road all the way back and some mountains cleared up more than before and soon it was evening. The mountains at this point were so beautiful that it was perhaps the most beautiful thing all day, and soon we got down to the car. The drive home was nice with many more mountains coming into view and we stopped for me to get a 10 second exposure shot and at night the moon lit up some mountains near Snoquamie Pass. At this point I fell asleep and took EastKing homeand had one of the best Bean and Rice Burritoes ever. Once again a Jollyful hike with the EastKing.

Evening at the car		Last Look before we left