In the great trails category are the ones that make my eyes light up just thinking about them. Places like Second Burroughs Mountain in Mount Rainier National Park, Rampart Ridge in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and Gothic Basin in the North Cascades. The effort is high, but the reward is worth it.

Good trails? How about Granite Mountain and Red Mountain? Close, great views, and not too hard.

The "not good trails" aren't actually that not good. They offer easy trips with decent experiences, but they're just not super special. Hikes like Little Mt. Si and Mt. Si itself. My sometimes buddy, sometimes nemesis Mailbox Peak also fits in this category.

Few trails fall into the terrible, terrible category with the Cable Line. The Cable Line trail is barely a trail. It was originally the route of a power cable to the radio towers on Tiger Mountain. Although you can still see the cable in a few areas, even the telecom companies have rerouted.

All that's left is a loose, rocky, muddy, nasty trail that climbs straight up the mountain. 2,000 feet in 1.5 miles makes it a little steeper than Mailbox, but what sets it apart is a lack of any redeeming features. If you're not training there's literally no reason to climb.

And that's why I have been known to take the Cable Line trail. In my ill-considered quest for 100/500/200k in 2010 I climbed for the numbers. Since then it's been mostly hiking to stay in shape or with TNAB. To enjoy the great trails you need to put in the effort on the terrible trails.

This trip was with TNAB. It's one of the early season conditioners and that's all there is to say about it. We were treated to a great sunset, but even that won't make up for the Cable Line. I've done my duty for 2016 and now I'm back to more interesting climbs and none of those will have a buried cable underfoot. If I start feeling like I'm falling further out of shape I'll just double Mailbox. That will be less painful than the Cable Line.