Mailbox Peak

August 29, 2015

Mailbox Peak. It is an uninspiring peak in the Alpine Wilderness area of the Snoqualmie-Mt Baker National Forest that bears an ominous reputation. Amongst the hiking community, the trail is legendary and the name uttered with quiet respect. The 'old' trail ascends 4,000 feet in a little over 2 miles; it's unrelentingly steep and treacherous. More rescues have been performed on this trail than any other trail in the state. Trip reports from many hikers simply state "I did it." Last year a new trail was completed that is longer, safer, and easier on the knees. My ascent up Mailbox Peak utilized the newer, saner route.

The newer trail up Mailbox Peak is longer and not as severe, but it's still steep. We climbed for about four miles up switchback after switchback, through a second-growth forest with little understory. At some point in the past a forest fire burned through this area, but it was hard to tell how long ago by the size of the trees through which we hiked. I trudged uphill at my slow-but-steady pace, stopping only occasionally to catch my breath. My legs continue to strengthen and I'm happy with how well I am doing with the ascents.

Just when we thought we'd never get there, we came to the junction with the old trail and the real fun began. In the next half mile we covered 960 vertical feet. To put it in perspective for my non-hiking readers, we stair climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Realizing that this 'combined' section of the trail was indicative of what we'd passed up by hiking the new trail, we were happy with our choice.  


Portion of the combined trail

Storm brewing on the horizon

Watching Jorge finish his ascent

As soon as we emerged from the relative protection of the tree line, we encountered the day's forecasted wind storm, which wasn't supposed to hit for another two hours. We were hit with steady 15-20 mph winds with gusts of 25+ mph. The winds made an already difficult hike much worse. I would take a few steps forward and a gust would almost knock me off my feet. I had to turn my back to the wind, dig my trekking poles into the ground and lean into them with my chest just to stay upright. I'd wait until I could stand more or less upright, take a few steps and repeat the process. With roughly 200 vertical feet to go, and no reprieve in sight, I chose to stop where I was and retreat to one of the few available trees to wait out the storm. My hiking partner forged on ahead and eventually made the summit. 45 minutes he returned to where I was taking refuge from the storm. The winds continued to build, the gusts intensified, and rain and hail had joined the party. This, apparently, was not my day to summit. We turned to face the wind and started down the mountain.

I continue to be pleased with the progress of my conditioning as I noticed less difficulty with the descent. We stopped for lunch about midway down as our bodies were screaming for recharging nourishment. Refueled and energized after a meal of salmon, cheese, eggs and nuts, we continued our journey down the mountain.

I didn't summit Mailbox Peak, but not because I wasn't physically able to. I didn't summit because it simply wasn't safe for me to do so with the weather conditions such as they were. I am okay with this fact. The mountain isn't going any where and I definitely plan to return. Soon.

Distance hiked: 9.25 miles
Elevation gained: 3800 ft