Snowshoe to Commonwealth Basin

Wednesday's sky was at least mostly blue and we decided to make the best of a rare clear day to get some outdoor exercise. The 25-mile drive along I-90 to Snoqualmie Pass was snow-free for most of the way but there was relatively new snow on the 48-inch base by the time we reached the trailhead. Although there were a couple of cars in the parking lot, the trail up Commonwealth Creek looked to have few new tracks. We fastened on our snowshoes and started out from the north end of the summer parking area and almost immediately came upon a big igloo that must have been constructed during the weekend. From there we followed a faint depression in the new snow upward through the trees. After 20 minutes or so we spotted a party of three paralleling our route and realized that there was a beaten trail just above us. Once on that, the routefinding was MUCH easier and so was the walking. Which was a good thing because in the first mile or less the trail climbed more than 800 feet.

Flowing down the slope, compressed between Guye Peak on the north and Kendall on the south, Commonwealth Creek cascaded over at least one good drop. Since the temperatures had not been really cold this January, the water was free-flowing with lots of icicles on the stream edges. Above the falls, the trail continued to climb.










At one point we crossed an open area below a band of cliffs and noted that the avalanche danger must have been pretty high the day before. We could see lots of small slides and several large "snowballs" that obviously had rolled themselves down the steep slope. Prudently separating ourselves by a reasonable distance we crossed the slope quickly. Shortly beyond, as we entered the forest again, we came up an old weathered sign that stated "trail abandoned".

Once up the steep part of the trail, the terrain opened into the basin but remained in the trees. We had to cross various streams on snow bridges along the way. About 2 1/2 miles from the parking lot we found a small glade where the sun was providing a bit of warmth and stomped out a bench for a sit-down lunch break with a view. The party of three passed us heading farther up. Previously we had seen only one other person, a helmeted climber wearing crampons, heading down from a solo expedition to some higher slopes above the basin.

The trip down retraced our steps and was a bit faster. Still, we were pretty worn out by the time we reached the car. I guess we're more accustomed to being able to slide down from wherever we've skied to on our usual winter trips.

(photo, left: snow sculpture along the trail)

New Lockset for Aliner

When C.J. and I purchased the Sportliner, I noticed right away that the key rattled around in the door lock and only worked after shaking and jiggling it. In addition, there did not seem to be any way to lock the door from the inside. Not to mention that the latch itself was wearing away the thin aluminum strip that was all that held the door closed. None of the foregoing problems were anything like crucial, but they went on the list "to do later".

The trailer is living in the garage so this is a good time to work on it. I found a Fastec travel trailer lockset on Ebay for half of what I expected it to cost - and the shipping was included. So that was a no-brainer.

Installation, on the other hand, was semi-traumatic. There were no instructions with the lockset and no template for the size, shape and placement of the large hole I was going to have to cut in the door. Fortunately, the Yahoo Groups A-Frame email group had several photos and a couple of good files describing how other owners had done their installations.

So I measured, measured again, covered the area with painters tape, measured again, drilled holes and cut a whopping big hole. I used my old jigsaw with a fine-tooth blade, then I used the Dremel tool with a (several, actually) metal cutting disk to cut through the aluminum door jamb. I had to remove the styrofoam and the section of paneling inside the channel as well. These operations were done one step at a time with a test fit after each excision. At the end I still had to make a second cut-out to enlarge the original rectangular hole to allow the thicker end of the lockset to fit into the door.

The Fastec lockset is designed to be used with a one-and-quarter inch thick door while the Aliner door is only one inch thick. I laminated two 1/8 inch pieces of automobile gasket cork to make a spacer for the outside, painted it black and fitted it around the lockset.

The next step was to drill and countersink holes in the door frame for the machine screws that hold the latch flush against the jamb. Then the door was reinstalled on the trailer and I aligned the latch and deadbolt with the door jamb. The Dremel tool allowed me to cut into the door jamb fairly neatly. I tried to install the strikeplate over the hole but found that the hole needed to be larger. After more Dremel-ing the strikeplate fit and I screwed it in place. The door closed and latched almost perfectly.

To be sure that it would work the next time we headed out to go camping ("camping"), I rolled the trailer outside and set it up. The door closed but it was clear that the srikeplate was a bit too thick, nothing I can't live with for now. However, the latch did not fully extend into the door jamb and that WAS something I could fix. Removing the strikeplate, I Dremel-ed out another quarter -inch of door jamb material, replaced the strikeplate and, voila, perfect fit!

Even with the painters tape the finish on the door got scratched and I had to spray on a few coats of gloss white paint. The final step was to caulk the seam around the new lockset with clear silicone.


The first six photos are from the Aliner Yahoo Group and the one above, with the black lockset, is from my camera

Camera Repaired

Here's my unsolicited recommendation for digital cameras: my Canon A80, bought in 2004, finally developed problems with the CCD (not to mention a spot on the lens (inside where I can't get at it). Since it's way out of warranty, I checked the Internet to see if someone had an idea how to fix it. Better than that, someone said that Canon had gotten a batch of bad CCDs from Sony back in the early 2000s and would fix any CCD problems at no cost to the owner (including shipping). Whoo Hoo! Too good to be true, right? No lie, they sent me a UPS voucher and I just got my camera back today. They had replaced the CCD, replaced a part of the case that was dented from me dropping it, AND got that spot off the lens - no charge. I'm ready to take some photos now when we get to Nepal (7-27 Feb).

Middle Fork Trail

First to REI to get C.J. some insoles. They ought to work really well since they cost about $45!

It was still early enough to consider doing a short walk when we returned to North Bend so we decided to take the Trooper up the newly-reopened Middle Fork Road and cross the river on the trail bridge (forgot the camera, so this image is from Google Panaramio). I had thought that the trail would go east up the Pratt River valley but instead it followed the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie upstream. [The Pratt River Trail still does not have a bridge to connect it to the Middle Fork Road.]

Along the way we passed under a granite cliff, had views of (I think) Garfield to the north, crossed some BIG slides (probably from last year's January storm) and several streams, one with a missing bridge. We turned around about 2 1/2 miles and 1 hr 15 min out before we came to the confluence with Dingford Creek. We only passed two other hikers the whole time, unlike our previous hike at Rattlesnake where there were lots of dog walkers and even some mtn bikers (pushing their bikes up the trail).


Back at the car we drove up to the Taylor River Bridge (repaired) then headed back to civilization on the still heavily-potholed road (worse for the 5 miles from pavement to the new bridge). The Middle Fork Campground was closed. (for the season?)

Verdict on the new insoles? Take them back - C.J.'s feet still hurt.

Stan's Overlook

Snoqualmie Point Trailhead
on Rattlesnake Mountain




The sun was out so we made a late start (11:30) - better than no start. The almost-manicured trail passes through various-aged forest, crosses the forest road several times and in 2.2 miles reaches Stan's Overlook with benches and a picnic table. We had a somewhat late lunch overlooking the upper Snoqualmie Valley and Mt. Si. This time we had our trekking poles so the trip down was less painful for my knee, if not for the ball of C.J.'s foot. Looks like we'll have to see about some padded insoles.

McClellan Butte Hike

"Hike"? Why the heck a hike in the middle of winter? We actually set out to do a snowshoe trip at Snoqualmie Pass. But when we arrived at the trailhead for the Commonwealth Basin trail, i.e., the parking lot at The Summit ski area, we found out that I had taken the ski poles out of the car the last time we used it. The rental folks at The Summit would gladly have taken $12 for a set of poles - Hah! Fat chance! We even checked with the very friendly Forest Service people (BTW, they have a nice little station with a cheery woodstove and lots of information) but they needed all the poles they had for their guided snowshoe walks. They did, however, have some suggestions for alternate destinations and we decided to head back toward North Bend and hike up McClellan Butte as far as the snowline.

McClellan Butte, named for the Civil War General who surveyed the area for a railroad route through the Cascades, is about 5200 ft high and about 3700 ft above the new parking lot off Tinkham Road. The trail ascends gradually but continuously in switchbacks, crossing an abandoned road (or roadbed?) to the east of Alice Creek. After another short climb we reached the Milwaukie RR grade, now a bike trail (its length unfortunately interrupted by several tunnels that have been closed to hikers and bikers) and turned west for 0.4 mi to reach the continuation of the McClellan Butte trail. Just before crossing Alice Creek there is a tiny campground with picnic tables, tent pads and a bright orange outhouse for those using the John Wayne Trail. Continuing uphill from the junction, the next landmark is USFS Road 9020 (accessed from the Garcia/Exit 38 frontage road when the gate is open).

By this time we had met the one other person on the trail today, a young man who had made an attempt on the summit but turned back when the snow seemed to be unstable, not to mention steep and slippery in the couloirs. He told us that we wouldn't hit snow until we had climbed another thousand feet and that there was a good viewpoint just above that. We now had a goal.

He wasn't far off, and just about 1300 we carefully negotiated the last icy switchback and stopped for lunch with a view up the valley past the Bandera emergency airstrip to the pass. Temperatures were near freezing but there wasn't much of a wind so we were pretty comfortable with another layer of fleece and a hat (and some hot cider).

The trip down was considerably faster, only slowed somewhat by hip pain (C.J.) and the usual downhill knee pain (G). We took a slightly different route along the abandoned road (bed?) below the RR grade which gave us a chance to see if our boots were really waterproof.

Although the sun had sunk behind the ridge we were descending, the sky was still partly clear and the sunlight on Bandera Mountain was welcome in the dark forest. The "increasing rain" threatened by the forecasters had not materialized. Tomorrow will probably see us back in the "rain, rain and more rain" regimen that seems to be this winter's weather.