For our last hike of the season near Mt. Rainier we moved north, starting from the Crystal Mountain ski area. Our trip started a little rugged because we had trouble finding the beginning of the trail and ended up climbing straight uphill on a gravel road. As it turned out, that was an indicator of what the hike was going to be like.
The best part of the hike was that it was quite strenuous, providing a fitting challenge for an end-of-the-season hike. I think Leslie and Paul liked it better than I did, but I was off-put by the clearings for ski trails that we had to cross and the sight of a scalped mountain across the valley. Still, there was a couple of pleasant small streams crossing the trail.
Lake Henskin, where we ate lunch, was also quite peaceful. It felt great to cool off after the steep climb up the trail.
Unfortunately, the silence was shattered by the sound of a helicopter flying overhead repeatedly.
At first, I speculated that it might be involved in fighting the fires that plagued the Pacific Northwest and most of the West Coast this summer, but once it flew directly overhead I knew that wasn’t why it was here. It wasn’t until I got home and put the image up on the screen that it became obvious this was some sort of gun-ship practicing.
I’m not up on the latest weapons since it has been 40+ years since I was in a military helicopter, but that is definitely a gunner with some sort of machine gun peering down on us, and there’s another machine gun on the back of the helicopter. I suspect the opposite side was equally armed.
Luckily, the helicopter’s intrusion into the silence was soon forgotten as we descended back down the trail and immersed ourselves in the comforting protection of the old-growth forest.
It looks like a nice hike there. Although that helicopter overhead and the guy with the gun is a bit off-putting. Going through an old-growth forest is a good way to end hiking season.