Oh Spit! Hike of the Week : Dungeness Spit

Hiking the Dungeness Spit all the way to the lighthouse has been a goal of mine for years. It's 11 miles roundtrip, and while it's mostly flat -- the only elevation change is getting from the trailhead parking lot down to the beach -- it's challenging because the walk is on sand. And in order to avoid spending your hike clambering over logs and rocks at the crest of the spit, you need to time your hike with the tides -- ideally at 6.0 feet or below.

I used the tide tables at Kaleberg.com which very helpfully identified in green days where the low tide is lower than 3 feet and at least 120 minutes after sunrise and before sunset, and pinpointed Saturday, March 18 as a good day to hike. The low tide was late enough that we could take the ferry over in the morning and have a relaxed hike.

The weather, however, didn't look like it would cooperate -- stormy skies on the morning ferry from Edmonds to Kingston.

But we arrived in Sequim plenty early, had waaaaaaay too much breakfast, and burned a little time at the local Wal-Mart where I picked up a whole mess of hand warmers and toe warmers that I think will come in very handy on Kilimanjaro. Did I mention they were on close-out? Woot!

The parking lot was empty when we arrived at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. This should have been a sign. We got our permit and started to head down the trail, which is nice and broad and well maintained. 

The skies had started to brighten up, but it was still super windy. How windy? Well.

Mmmmaybe the wind was all up on the bluff, and there would be none on the beach? Maybe?

We passed this cute sign asking people not to take things off the spit... and a bucket of things people had "returned".

"Sorry I took your stick."

A short way down the trail we got our first glimpse of the spit. Hmm, why do those waves look so big, and why does the beach look so narrow ... the tide is supposed to be going OUT ...  Oh, and as for the lighthouse, it's actually pretty close to the tree at the right-hand side of the picture. It's a long way out there...

Lighthouse? What lighthouse?

I'm sure that I'm not the only long-time Seattleite with this problem, but I seriously can't see the word "Dungeness" without hearing "Dungeness toooooooo!!!!" from the old Sea Galley commercial.

The video quality is terrible, but this triggers all sorts of childhood memories. Fun fact: when I was in high school, I did a one-week internship with the advertising agency that came up with the "We've Got Crab Legs" campaign for Sea Galley. They had the legs in the office and I even got to put them on one afternoon. So, yes, I've had crab legs, too.

We arrived on the beach and were thrilled that there was no wind.

Just kidding, the wind was nuts, and had whipped up huge, wobbling piles of seafoam.

So while it was beautiful, and dry (which was all I foolishly had hoped for...), the wind made for some pretty miserable walking. 

We set off along the spit, the wind coming from behind our left shoulders.

We watched big clumps of foam gather as each wave receded, and then, upon reaching some sort of critical mass, then catching the wind and flying up the beach.

Did I mention it was windy? However, we were warm and cozy in our down jackets. Wil added his heavy Gore-tex jacket and his Gore-tex trousers as added protection. Call him Captain Gore-tex...

At some point a truck taking volunteers out to the Dungeness Lighthouse inched past us. I thought it was remarkable how fast the receding tide still managed to cover up the tracks.

We were moving surprisingly slowly ... the walking was pretty unpleasant, given the crazy gusting wind. Wil wanted to remind me that wind is his least favorite condition. Rain, snow, hail, cold, heat, whatever. Wind makes him unhappy and angry.

But, but, it was super pretty!

After an hour, we were only halfway along the spit to the lighthouse. I just kept thinking about how unpleasant it would be to walk back, this time into the wind. So we called it a day ... well, just under half a day, since we needed to get back.

We're happy because we've decided to turn around.What, you can't tell we're happy???

So we turned to make our way back along the spit, resisting the urge to flag down one the lighthouse shuttle.

It was, indeed, very very windy. Amusingly, while I never felt any moisture, my coat was caked with a film of salt, and my Camelbak drinking tube tasted salty. Ew.

As we approached the base of the trail up to the parking lot, we saw a few people, including a few heading out toward the lighthouse. But most people were just standing within one hundred feet of the trail, marveling at the waves and the wind.

Before turning to go up the hill, we took one last longing look down the spit. I know these pictures don't capture it, but it really was pretty miserable out there. To go 2.5 miles out it took us just over an hour; to go the 2.5 miles back it took us a bit over 90 minutes. So 2 hours and 45 minutes to go 5 miles, and with just 130 feet of elevation change. But one day, lighthouse. One day I will see you in person.

Dungeness Spit

11.0 miles -- we made it 5.5
130 feet elevation gain

Tanzania Tuesday #26 : Clary von Ruckteschell-Trueb

Clary von Ruckteschell-Truëb (1882-1969) moved to east Africa in the early 20th century with her husband Walter von Ruckteschell.

Clary, Walter, and their friend and fellow artist Carl Albert von Salis climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 1914.

Walter and Carl reached the summit on February 13; Clary reached the crater rim at what is now called Gillman's Point... possibly the first woman to do so. (See last week's post on Gertrude Emily Benham for more information.)

Clary and her husband had set up a studio in Moshi in 1913 -- Clary working on her sculptures and ceramics, Walter on his paintings. 

image from Mount Kilimanjaro Wiki

Walter painted this painting of Kili during this period:

image from Mount Kilimanjaro Wiki; you can get your own copy from Art.com

I've been unable to find any account of their climb, but I did find some handsome ceramics that Clary made later in life after moving back to Germany (some currently available to purchase, if you're interested...)

Here's a "jug vase" from designclassics24.eu :

"An extremely rare jug vase by the German potter Clary von Ruckteschell-Trueb / Munich (1882 - 1969). Red clay, with expressive glaze in green/brown-freckled. Around 1960. Height ca. 6.7'. Marked underneath with the engraved artist's workshop sign. Excellent condition, free of damages - no traces of use."

Clary von Ruckteschell-Treub's signature

And a very modern looking stein from steinmarks.co.uk :

The von Ruckteschell's home in Dachau has recently been restored and converted into a museum, studio, and rent-free apartments for sponsored artists. The Art Nouveau style, along with furniture designed by the couple, some of Clary's artworks, and their African souvenirs have brought the house back to life.Their daughter, Ruth von Bennigsen, says that her parents would be delighted. I wonder if there is anything in the museum about their Kilimanjaro climb?

the Ruckteschell's house in Dachau, now a museum. Photo c. Stadt Dachau

References

Clary von Ruckteschell. Retrieved March 8, 2017 from http://kilimanjaro.bplaced.net/wiki/index.php?title=Clary_von_Ruckteschell

"Meine Eltern Wären Begeistert Gewesen", Merkur.de : https://www.merkur.de/lokales/dachau/meine-eltern-waeren-begeistert-gewesen-1409590.html

Walter von Ruckteschell. Retrieved March 8, 2017 from http://kilimanjaro.bplaced.net/wiki/index.php?title=Walter_von_Ruckteschell

Hike of the Week : Poo Poo Point

Up early today -- despite Daylight Savings beginning -- to drive out to Issaquah to hike POO POO POINT. 

There is no point in lying ... obviously we hiked this because of the name. Well, okay, the name and the fact that it was the right distance and difficulty for us to hike 3 hours today, had no snow on the roads to get there, and had no snow on the trail. So it was perfect. And the name... well, that was a bonus. 

We squeezed in to the last spot in the small trailhead parking lot -- amusing to have 5 of 7 cars be Subarus -- and set off down the trail.

Soon we reached the first trail marker and knew we were on track. And this is proof that this really is the name of the hike. Seriously.

We started up a railroad grade trail, nice and gentle, and could see why this is so popular with trail runners.

And cougars. And bears. And Wil.

Eventually we came to a junction and ... yeah, the sign makes me giggle every time. 

The trail continued up up up for a few miles.

There were a few spots where we leveled out, and a couple of brief downhills... but for the most part it was up, up, up.

We crossed a bridge with damaged -- and partially repaired -- railings. I assume a tree fell on it? Or?

Though I instinctively stayed away from the railing, Wil took a nice picture of the creek we were crossing.

I love a mossy, ferny, woodsy trail ... but even I have to admit that a lot of this was pretty monotonous. And just up up up.

But we did see some pretty badass stumps...

... and some mossy, ferny trees ...

... and just the lightest dusting of snow just off the trail.

At one point we reached a trail junction and I was sorry that we started descending -- steeply -- because who wants to lose elevation? But eventually we popped out onto a wide, flattish trail with half a mile to go.

And then, Poo Poo Point!

Just kidding. This is Poo Poo Point:

The GREEN stuff is rubberized astroturf, because paragliders launch off this point. We did not launch ourselves, but we did take the obligatory "hikie". 

For the trip out to the point, we only saw about 5 people the whole time. As we walked the last few hundred yards, there were suddenly quite a few people... maybe 10 in all... which made me quip that the Starbucks / pub / free candy shop must have just closed.

Until we got to the point and saw 4 people and their dogs who had walked up the dirt road and who felt the need to talk very loudly at each other, let their dogs run loose, and then spark up. We may be people who like our nature very quiet, and who are big fans of using inside voices even when we're outside. So this was pretty grating, and we left after a few minutes.

Interestingly, this trail was listed as 4.5, 3.6, and 3.4 miles long ... We think 3.6 is pretty close.

So we climbed back up to the trail junction, then eased into the long downhill. As Wil said, it was surprisingly boring, but a good training hike. And, of course, it has lots of mossy, ferny trees...

As we came down we passed more and more people, and it started to rain. Another well-timed hike!

Poo Poo Point was a great training hike -- plenty of up and down (mostly up, then mostly down...), and I could imagine hiking up to the trail junction just for the exercise if not for the experience.

Poo Poo Point Trail
7.2 miles
2214 feet elevation gain

Hike of the Week (sorta) : Discovery Park Loop +

Yes, we've been hiking every weekend. But I finally actually consulted Jenny's amazing training plan for Mount Kilimanjaro and ... well ... we've got to ramp up our game. Seriously. It's "Phase 2" time... and that means our hiking time starts to climb. 

So on Saturday morning we headed out in a soaking rain to Discovery Park, a former military base now owned by the city. Fun fact: the bluff and surrounding neighborhood is called Magnolia because Lt. George Davidson misidentified the red-barked madrone trees as magnolias during a U.S. Coastal Survey in 1857.

The parking lot at the Visitor Center was surprisingly crowded, given the weather. But we found a spot, bundled up in our waterproofs, and set off to hike the Loop Trail. 

Though we thought we knew most of the park, when we went through it on our Stairway Walk we were surprised to find a whole section of park we'd never seen. Today's walk took us along part of the Loop Trail that we had somehow never seen. 

Wil modeling our pack covers ... which didn't really seem to keep his pack dry...

The trail is reasonably wide, well maintained, and quite smooth -- which makes it a magnet for trail running groups. For the first mile or so we passed dozens of runners, usually in groups, running the loop counterclockwise.

The rain got harder and harder, and we saw fewer and fewer people out in the park. We had considered exploring the buildings of Fort Lawton ... but with the rain we just powered by. Apparently the fort housed Nike Hercules missiles during the Cold War. Neato!

We stopped at a viewpoint ... well, a place where there's usually a view, but today, not so much.

We could put together an album of "shots of us in front of clouded-over views" ...

We soon turned down the South Beach Trail, and realized that we had never been on this trail either -- we have always just gone up the Hidden Valley Trail when leaving the beach. 

Unlike the very woodsy North Beach Trail, this trail offers peek-a-boo views of the water ... and, ahem, on clear days the Olympic Mountains ...

It also has little lookout platforms along the way.

We made our way down the last stretch of the trail...

... and onto a very wet beach.

Somehow we managed to take ZERO pictures of the point, the lighthouse, or the "ghost ships" sailing in the mist north of the park. But here's a lovely picture of the West Point Lighthouse from TripAdvisor...

This photo of Discovery Park is courtesy of TripAdvisor

We walked around the point -- very, very wet and blustery -- and then headed up the North Beach Trail.

The "soft focus" effect on these shots courtesy the very wet weather... but these little leaves are proof that Spring is beginning to spring!

Getting back on the Loop Trail, we walked the last stretch and were soon back at the car.

This is the sort of loop we can do during the week in the evening once the days get longer. It's too short to be our "weekly hike" now, but it's a good way to get 90-ish minutes of hiking in on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. 

Discovery Park Loop +

4.37 miles

344 feet elevation gain