Mt Aix and Dogged

Went on first real cascade hike of the summer. Would have loved to do an overnighter, but decided to make it a day hike. Knew this would be a big slap in the face with a round trip distance of 12 miles and 4000-ft of elevation change, but it was such a nice day, and it WAS my first real hike of the summer.

Left the Tri-Cities around 7:30 and basically left the Aix trailhead around 10:00. Before heading up, we were greeted by a Ranger. She was swarmed by my two dogs. She just wanted to remind us that there are no camp fires and that the fire hazard was very high. She was really nice, and we ended up picking her brain about the hike (I hadn't done it in many years). She said it shouldn't be bad and there would be fifteen switchbacks we'd have to contend with, sounding like she was trying to scare us. I was a little scared.

We hit the trail--my two short-legged corgis and a couple of co-worker friends. Conditions were great. Wasn't too cold or too hot (although I always sweat even if its -30!). Within the first 10 minutes we hit our first switchback, and another, and another.... Honestly, we hit 15 switchbacks within the first 30min or so--easily. Man! Ranger Lady, why are you messing w/ our heads?!

For much of the first hour you walk through a forested area, and cross a few springs /creeks. It was somewhat ho-hum. But within the first hour or so, you start getting little windows between the trees which yield views of "the big one", Mt Rainier. As I said the weather was awesome, and the visibility was infinite. We had great views of Rainier.

Kept on hiking and the higher and higher we got the trees started thinning out. This yielded open meadows which were blanketed with light purples, yellows, oranges, and bright reds---wild flowers were doing their thing. The approach to treeline and the opening up of the scenery is when the hike became really interesting.
Reached Nelson Ridge around noon-ish (hike up wasn't too bad). Now if we were doing an over-nighter, I'd probably camp somewhere around here. Camped here once before and there was snow, but w/ the weather like it was, it would have been paradise camping up here. You are at a bit of a "crossroads", and can look down into several valleys by taking a few steps in a few directions. Up here we were able to see three volcanoes: Rainier, St. Helens, & Adams. Would liked to have seen a few more (Hood or Baker maybe?), but they were elusive.
Saw a group of fellow day-hikers who were getting ready to head down after making the final trek to Aix. So, we had a bit of a hike left to get out up to Aix. The two-leggers weren't too beat, but the four-leggers were looking a bit fatigued. We had a quick snack break, and then decided to head to Aix.

At the base of the Aix peak, the climb up the peak looked fairly craggily, and it was decided to have the dogs stay put. We then flipped coins to see who would scramble up, and then went for it. The climb up wasn't too bad, in fact it was pretty fun. The views were awesome. Once up, stood on the highest point and took a panoramic view of the mountains. There's a survey marker up on top on this rock. There is also evidence of Fire Lookout (rock steps, cabling, etc.).

It was around 2pm at this point. Decided to start the trek down. Unfortunately, one of my dogs went into "mule mode" and wasn't having it (the other dog was tired, but he'd atleast move. Had to carry one of these guys down. It was totally my fault---this was the longest day hike they'd ever been on by far.


The hike down was fairly uneventful, other than carrying a dog. My knees didn't like the hike down either. For next time, I think an escalator should be installed to make the hike up all-around more easier. Just jokin....but I'm sure Gomez could go for an escalator next time! ;)