Lilly wasn't napping well so I did the grab the milk and head up the stairs only turn around half way when she stopped routine at least three times. In the end I left the milk with Amy, threw Tokul in the trunk, and headed east.

The trail starts at Windy Pass on the PCT. This is a pretty familiar trailhead for me. I've headed north from here to Lodge Lake and south on the PCT for the Cold Creek Loop. Windy Pass itself is a blueberry paradise when they're ripe, but that's a few weeks away yet. (The berries were there, but still green.)

I was stunned to see another truck at the trailhead with a couple of guys getting ready to head out. I asked where they were going.

"Tinkham and Abiel."

"Huh. That's where I was going. You part of TNAB?"

"Yeah. I'm Jeff."

"I'm John."

"Are you moosefish?"

(Now I know how Amy feels when she tries to tell people about events they've already read about online.)

Turns out it wasn't just Jeff, but Jeff R. On nwhikers Jeff routinely posts amazing trips the type most of us dream of, but either can't find the opportunity for or realize we'd likely not return in one piece. He was with his friend, John.

Since I hadn't been up Tinkham Peak I figured I'd follow these two and save myself some trouble... if I could keep up.

Turns out it wasn't that big a challenge to keep up. John had broken his ankle severly last summer and was still conditioning it so we maintained a fairly mellow pace. We passed the usual Silver Peak trail in order to gain the saddle closer to Tinkham Peak. We left the PCT on a snow-covered talus field and passed by a lake on the left heading straight up the slope.

At the saddle we found a pretty good boot path and made good time up Tinkham Peak. The trail ran the boundary of the Cedar River Watershed (source of much of Seattle's drinking water), which is strictly forbidden. Near the top the trail left the trees and scrambled up some rocks giving Tokul a bit of the fear. She refused to cross one section, but I was close enough to the top that I continued up. I found the register and signed quickly before returning for Tokul. Tokul was bothering John who was just getting to the rocks. With a bit of whining and a bit of lifting I got Tokul up the rocks to the summit.

The views were spectacular. At almost 5,400 feet the west summit has little blocking its sightlines. The Cascades to the north stood against a blue sky. To the west the South Fork Valley was bracketed by familiar peaks and to the south Rainier looked close enough to touch. To the east was Tinkham's other peak. The map showed it as higher so I tied Tokul to a rock, dropped my pack, and accompanied Jeff across the ridge. It looked farther and and harder than it really was. In the end it took only five or 10 minutes to get there and back.

Back on Tinkham's west summit we saw two of the TNAB crew crossing the saddle heading toward Abiel so in order to catch them we had to get moving. John, however, didn't think he'd be able to get up Abiel. In the end it was decided that Jeff, Tokul, and I would head down and up Abiel. John would stay on Tinkham until Jeff was ready to head down and they would meet at the saddle before heading out.

Tokul showed her fickle nature and decided to hike with Jeff while I labored up the knoll between Tinkham and Abiel. I lost their tracks and chose the steepest snow-covered slope to the top. Tokul burst from the woods so I knew I wasn't that far off, but realized I had been turned around when I looked up the hill in front of me and saw Silver, not Abiel. Argh. Back up the knoll and down the other side and I found Jeff, Joan, and Larry with Digger running around enjoying the snow.

The four of us found the weak trail up the steep slope and made for the top. About half way up I ran out of gas. Tokul was with the others so I had little choice but to continue by putting one foot in front of the other. It seemed forever, but at last I made it to the top. Ugh.

From Abiel we could see Tinkham to the east and Silver to the north. I wasn't so sure I was really up for Silver after the climb up Abiel, especially since I'd already done Silver back in 2003. Luckily, my snacks started kicking in and we had a bit of a wait while the final group of three TNAB hikers made their way to the summit.

The watershed boundary ran right along the crest of Abiel so there wasn't much opportunity to explore, but we had great views of Annette Lake below us and a field of glacier lillies on the south slope.

Mark, Damon, and Chris joined us on the small summit and we looked toward Silver. The sun was starting to dip in the west so we all started down the slope. Back in the snow on the knoll Joan and Larry decided to return on the PCT. Jeff headed off to find John. That left four of us plus Tokul looking up at Silver Peak. We figured we'd climb up the normal trail and then run the ridge down to the cars.

We started up among the loose rock trail and found wild flowers everywhere. Mostly phlox, but Indian Paintbrush and tons of others as well. Each time we'd peek over the west side of the ridge the sunset was even better. We hit the summit just as the sun dropped to the horizon and realized it'd be foolish to try to find our way down the ridge where there was only a rumor of a trail.

We made quick time of the trail back to the saddle one more time (number four for me and Tokul) and from there headed back to the PCT. The real trail was hidden by snow so we followed tracks for a while, but then just started heading down and trending south. We ran out of luck atop some cliffs, but had only a little trouble working around them. With headlamps blazing we trucked out the PCT to the cars.

I was on the trail for almost exactly seven hours, though a lot of that was chilling on the summits. Tokul and I hit three named peaks (Tinkham, Abiel, and Silver) and two other high points (Tinkham's east peak and the knoll between the three peaks). The total was only 7.5 miles and 3,720 feet of gain, but felt like a whole lot more. Doing all three peaks at once is a bit brutal, but definitely the best way if the goal is just checking them off. Tinkham was by far the most rewarding of the summits, though Silver was the highest.

(The TNAB report is here.)