On a clear day in December, my friend (
I left my house in Seattle, hopped on the ferry, met up with Nate and off we went. We arrived at the trailhead around midday. After gathering our overnight supplies and cameras, we hit the trail.
The trail goes on for 4 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain before you reach the top. Not too bad, but certainly not the easiest. Luckily we were still pretty conditioned from summer (we backpacked a ton). We got to the summit a couple of hours after leaving the truck, dropped our gear and started exploring.
The summit of Mount Townsend is maybe a mile long, so meandering around can be pretty interesting. Lots to look at up there!
Once sunset was imminent, Nate and I grabbed our cameras and went our own ways, each trying to find an interesting angle. The top of the mountain was pretty snow free, but, the trail itself was quite the opposite..
The sunset was awesome. Pastel hues and a view of every Washington volcano (Baker, Glacier, Rainier, Adams, St. Helens). You could see the Puget Sound, Canada, the Cascades.. so cool.
The colors faded and I quickly ran back to camp. We had been hiking all day on minimal food, so dinner was on the mind. We started setting up camp. Nate's yellow tent was a really nice contrast to the blue sky so I had to take a few photos.. sorry Nate :)
I mean just look at that tent. That's a nice tent.
After camp was all set up, we started cooking dinner. I believe we both had the same thing. Annie's Mac and Cheese with some flavored tuna packets mixed in. I'm pretty sure I crushed up some chips and threw those in too. Maybe that sounds weird.. but it tasted like a 5 star meal to me. Everything tastes better when you're camping.
The temperature was dropping quickly, so we finished up our meals and crawled in the sleeping bags. Definitely a chilly night.. but it was worth it to be up there. Getting to see these landscapes at sunrise and sunset is amazing.
We woke up a little before the sun came up.. but that's another blog. I'm going to be posting part 2 (Morning on the Mountain) tomorrow.
The trail is called Mount Townsend. Super popular in the summer. In the winter, however, it's a different story. We were alone up there.. made for a peaceful evening.
-Nathaniel
