Sunday, September 28, 2008

Norse Peak Wilderness Run 2008

Fog hung low in Puyallup as Steve and I ventured out at 6:30 AM to run the 17 mile Norse Peak Wilderness loop. I expected rain and made sure that I had warm running clothes expecting wet conditions.

We arrived at the Corral Pass trailhead to clearing weather. With hunting season in effect for elk we donned our yellow vests and jackets and headed out on the trail. The first 3 miles of the trail are open to hunting and then the trail descends into the Wilderness section which is off limits to hunting.

We could not have asked for better weather and this truly was a wilderness adventure. The loop starts out at around 5700 ft. elevation and drops to 3000 ft. about at the half way point. It's a much more gradual climb if you run in a clockwise direction.

The run took us 4:50:00 to complete including many unscheduled photos. It was an awesome day!


View from Mutton Mt.

Koble Knob

Wilderness Section

Turn at Koble Knob

Start of Wilderness Section

Fall Colors, Alpine veg.

Fall colors

View to the North at Treeline

Lost Lake

Trail to Quinn Lake

Rocky Outcrop

Steve's Trail Runner Pose

Greenwater River

Greenwater River

Feeder Stream

Steve

Steve at Echo Lake

Echo Lake

Echo Lake Trail

Mt. Rainier

16 comments:

Joe said...

What a beautiful run, Eric...thanks for the pix.

Our only runs here see soybeans or, now, harvested soybeans.

Gotta get a plane ticket sometime and do one of these with you...awesome.

Unknown said...

Great photos with the exception of the poser pic. Even though it was a short run it looks like I missed out on some great scenery.

Darrell said...

More beautiful trails.

The bow tie is so you!

Thomas said...

What a stunningly beautiful area, and what a stunningly ugly pair of mugshots.

Journey to a Centum said...

Joe - Just tell us when you can make it to the Pacific NW and we will get you away from those soy beans!

Rob - Imitation is the best form of flattery don't you think?

Darrell - There is a feeling of change in the air out in the mountains. The dark days of rain and snow are just around the corner.

Thomas - Using yearbookyourself.com is like Halloween without having to get dressed up.

runningtwig said...

Those are some awesome pictures! they made my day and as i've said before - so jealous you guys have that so close to you!

Gotta Run..... said...

You commented on my blog about being tired last week... sorry i don't beleive you :) You never stop and you just keep going and going and going.....

Ran a 5k road event this past weekend (6000 plus runners) and it reminded me why I love the trail events. There was WAY to many people.

Now after reading and looking at your pictures it just further proves that the trails are the only place to be.

Donald said...

Awesome pics - all except the yearbook ones. Those are funny!

Laura H said...

Man those yearbook photos SCARE me! But the rest of 'em are pretty cool! Nice run!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

ahhhh my tummy hurts I can't sleep, I think I had tooo much Powerade today :-(

great pics especially the classic bow tie look !

Mama said...

Eric, the hair is all wrong. I will pull out the real yearbook photo for you.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. By that I mean the scenery. Why is there a picture of Andy Griffith in this post?

Ryan said...

Never a dull moment over here, what a spectacular run, great photos...lol I wouldn't want to run into those two fellas in the woods.

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

Nice pics. ;)
Jenny

Scott McMurtrey said...

Awesome photos. Isn't this the run you tried last year but were defeated by the evil snow wizard?

Will Cooper said...

Cool blog...nice photos. Looks a little nippy up there!