Trip Reports

Dependably perfect September has morphed into opportunistic October as far as hiking weather is concerned and Sunday was a slim opportunity so I took it. Cool and cloudy are perfect conditions for climbing a steep, exposed slope and today that was Bandera. The trail is clear and water is minimal. Autumn colors are reaching for their full glory. The climb from the Ira Spring trail to the ridge is as stiff as ever and the rock scramble up to the summit is still an effort. It was snowing on top of Defiance and a bit of flurry on Bandera hinted at winter's approach. Still this is a good hike any day until the snow gets thick.

Karen & I took a short hike in Cowiche Canyon this afternoon. The red from the sumac & other shrubs is about at its peak. The yellow in the trees is just beginning. It should be beautiful in here for the next 3 weeks or so (though unless the red hangs on, it won't be quite as nice as last year).

The drive up FR to the trail was a little rough in the area where some work is being done. Otherwise easy. Took a wrong turn at one point trusting the 100 Hikes book. The mileages in these books are always significantly off for me (and not by a consistent degree).

The trail is in fine condition. There were hordes of people. Lots of berries. Good fall foliage. The only possible obstacle was that the trail crosses a stream that grew significantly in volume over the course of the day. Did not require any wading however.

I made it up to about 6400'. Some people were skiing down the Easton Glacier. Looked like fun. From the summit I think you can drop to around 6300' before having to take off the skis. That makes something like 4400' of vertical. Not bad.

http://www.flickr.com/jasonracey

This trail is almost a Sunday walk in the park - after you get to the Malachite junction. Road 68 and 6835 to the trailhead for the West Foss Lakes trailhead is in very good shape. Most of the potholes have been filled and it is free of ruts and almost all washboards. The first half mile of trail 1064 is a cobbled stream bed but it soon emerges onto a nice trail. At one mile is the crossing of the stream. The bridge is history, but a well marked series of cairns directs you across a convenient log. On the other side the trail is very easy to follow. The river has carved out deep swaths of the side of the avalanche slope. Blowdowns are numerous from the trailhead all the way up to the Malachite bridge. The trail up to the Malachite junction is rocky and brushy and there are a lot of blowdowns. From the Malachite junction to Little Heart Lake is very nice trail, some steps, 3 blowdowns two of which are large. The trail to Big Heart Lake is strenuous but very clear and only 3 blowdowns. All in all this is a good hike and worth the effort. The autumn colors are just coming in and mushrooms abound. Trail time was 2 hours to the Malachite bridge, half hour to Copper Lake, half hour to Little Heart and another hour to Big Heart. The Malachite Lake trail is signed but appears to be heavily overgrown.

I had not previously had a very high opinion of Talapus Lake because it's usually such a mob scene. However, on an October Wednesday, it's quite charming. We did encounter a few other hikers but, as we ate our lunch and looked out over the lake, we could almost believe it was untouched by humans - except for the overly friendly chipmunk and the fishing bobbers snarled in the branches above us.

The trail is in excellent shape, and shady most of the way. No bugs at all during the day. I heard a few mosquitoes at night, but they weren't biting. It is hunting season, but we encountered no evidence of hunters.

The large information sign at the trailhead had lost its legs and was propped against a rock. When we returned to the trailhead, a crew was remounting the sign. Part of the road had also been freshly graveled.

About halfway to Talapus Lake there is a nice little lunch nook off the left side of the trail. A log bench overlooks Talapus Creek just before you reach the lake. Much of the Talapus lakeshore is blocked off for restoration.

We intended to camp at Olallie Lake, but missed the turnoff and headed up toward Pratt Lake instead. When we returned, we saw the Olallie Lake sign, but it was posted on the north side a large tree, so it's not surprising that we didn't see it coming up from the south. For future reference, the Olallie Lake turnoff is on the near side of the next real river crossing after the Talapus Lake outlet.

A September 20 Forest Service report posted at the trailhead mentioned hearing migratory birds. We didn't hear many birds, which may have just been the weather, or maybe they've moved on.

Very few plants were in bloom, except for some foamflower and a tall larkspur off to the side of one of the boardwalks. The low maples around Talapus Lake are starting to turn, and are quite lovely. We also saw (among other things) vanilla leaf, queens cup, twinflower, rattlesnake plantain, thimbleberry, salmonberry, one-sided wintergreen, five-leaf bramble, skunk cabbage, trillium, pipsissewa, and an interesting assortment of mushrooms.

The site where we ended up camping abounded in resin - on the ground and the trees. We've learned to remove it from our persons by first scrubbing with dirt and then with lots of Purell. We haven't yet mastered getting it off fabric.

Brilliant scarlet and purple huckleberry leaves and scads of juicy, ripe berries highlighted this 9.7-mile loop hike. While other areas of the Cascades are experiencing berry crop failures this year, Indian Heaven is enjoying its usual bounty.

We feasted on berries as we hiked the Thomas Lake Trail to its terminus at Blue Lake (4 miles). The first 2 miles of the trail have seen much work and are in fine shape, with turnpikes and boardwalks over wet areas. Beyond Rock Lake, the trail is very badly eroded at water crossings and in desperate need of some WTA trail crew attention.

At various times, the PCT has had three routes across central Indian Heaven. They can be described as the Old Old PCT, the Old PCT and the modern PCT, which now traverses the west slope of East Crater and misses most of the meadows and tarns that give Indian Heaven its charm. After lunch, we backtracked on the Thomas Lake Trail to its junction with the Old PCT and hiked it about a mile to Junction Lake where we then took an abandoned connector trail to the Grand Meadow. We returned to Rock Lake on the Old Old PCT. Despite being abandoned, these trails get plenty of horse and hiker traffic and the erosion is really bad. I think these trails should be returned to the "system" so they would get some maintenance from either Forest Service crews or WTA volunteers.

From Rock Lake, we returned to our cars at the Thomas Lake trailhead. A glorious, warm, sunny day spent in a very special wilderness: Emily, visiting from New Zealand, said it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.

ROGAC (Really Olde Guys Alpine Club) members Jim Champa and Jerry Myhr planted their really old tired souls on the summit of Hadley Peak by way of Cougar Divide the last day of September 2008. By all measures, a spectacular day in beautiful country.

Wells Creek Road (USFS #33) to the trailhead is in remarkably good shape: only two short sections with washboards, few potholes, and the best news is the road beyond the bridge (crossing over Wells Creek) is brushed. Make no mistake, beyond the bridge, the road has rocky stretches, so you need to slow down and contend with the bumps. Also, there is one steep section that becomes narrow with a hair-raising drop-off, so you need to pay attention to the road and have both hands on the steering wheel, as well as temporarily suspending sight-seeing.

Okay. From the trailhead parking area at 4,920 feet, the trail ascends gradually to a knob with a magnificant view of Mount Baker. The tread forks here: take the right fork for a short steep descent and continue to descend while also negotiating a few blowdowns. The blowdowns are not show stoppers, so no worries. The path follows the ridge crest through stands of tall conifers and occasionally breaks out through openings, providing stunning views of Mount Shuksan. The trail then rises above timber to open country along the divide for magnificant views. The image tells all. Considering this trail receives little to no maintenance, it is very good shape and is a highly recommended dayhike.

Most folks will be content stopping where Cougar Divide toes into Chowder Ridge, about 2.5 miles from the trailhead at 5,800 feet elevation. We continued onward and upward to gain Chowder Ridge for more unbelievable views of Mount Baker, including Coleman & Roosevelt Glacier, as well as Twin Sisters. The route to Hadley Peak's summit is airy in spots and requires route finding skill. If you are not an experienced scrambler, then this is not the route to attempt. Views from Hadley's summit are nothing short of breathtaking.

My husband (LookingGlass) & I hiked the Naches Peak Trail as recommended, clockwise, so you will be facing Mt. Rainier further along the hike.

The hike is easy. It's only 500 ft. of elevation, roughly 4.5 miles roundtrip in a loop and takes about 3 hours to hike, which includes a lot picture taking. I've done this trail before in the summer, but it looks totally different in the fall when the fall foliage colors come out from the bright red huckleberry bushes. It's really breathtaking.

There are few fun & easy short spur trails that offer different views than from the main trail. The lakes were beautiful, particularly Dewey Lake, then you turn a bend and there's Mt. Rainier in all it's glory. It's always astounding, no matter how many times I've see it before.

There was talk of bear in the fields eating huckleberries days before. After taking tons of pictures, we neared the end of the hike and then there it was, an enormous bear, munching on berries along the slope below us. I sat there and watched the bear in awe with it's luxurious dense dark brown coat, with a smattering of tan fur on it's back and a light brown nose. I've seen bear before, but never so close. Sometimes the bear watched us, but briefly, then went back to eating berries. The berries are getting soft and most are gone along the trail, but the color is still there.

My wife and I set out to find the Eagle Lake fisherman trail today and we didn't quite make it. I'm starting to think we hiked the wrong trail off FSR 6514. We arrived at the FSR 6514 bridge that crosses over Eagle Creek and there was a forest service pickup truck parked at the bridge. We assumed that he might be out at the lake and followed the ribbon trail markers up the creek. The markers were great at first but then got scarce and we finally came out to a meadow with the eagle creek running through it and the ribbons turned to the right and led us up Townsend Mtn. After realizing this wasn't the way to the lake we tried to find the trail in the meadows with no luck. Is following the Eagle Creek trail even the right route? We never did see the Ranger and when we got back his truck was gone so we figured we might have taken the wrong trail. Any help with directions would sure be appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick

This year we chose High Camp as a base camp for our annual larch trip. We stayed 2 nights and did day hikes to Loch Eileen/Lake Donald and to Larch Lake. The staff at the camp we're gracious and helpful and the hot outdoor shower and hot tub under a star filled sky made for a relaxing way to end a day of hiking. The trails are all in excellent condition. On each hike there was a stream crossing which required a short detour and some boulder hopping or crossing a log jam. Not a problem this time of year. The larches are colorful, but not yet at their peak. They we're a mixture of lime green and pale yellow. Lots of red huckleberries and vine maples. The area around and above Lake Donald was alive with a variety of colors. Ewing Basin was a spectacular open valley in full technicolor and Larch Lake was quite beautiful. We we're sorry that we we're not prepared to spend the night at the lake and had to to start back by 4 PM to reach High Camp before dark.