Trip Reports

I saw the report from Hiker1 who questions the various trail heads, but I cannot make a comment on his report for some reason (the feature for commenting isn't present on his report).

There are 3 trail heads; the one described in the hiking guide entry, which has been the most popular one for many years. That trail head has been recently rebuilt and moved closer to the road and is visible from the highway - not hidden as it was in the past. The 2nd trail head which Mr. hiker1 used, is beyond the original trailhead, and is brand-new, not yet on maps. The signboard is empty because the trail head just opened this past fall - this next season, I bet that signboard will be full of information! This trail head is an ADA trail head and offers a nice loop option, and several areas for wheelchair to park for nice views of the forest and the river.

The 3rd trail head is a wide spot in the road, has an interpretive sign (about salmon), and is hard to locate unless you know where it is. For kicks, instead of looping out and returning to the ADA trail head, go straight and you'll end up on the highway at that 3rd trail head. I hope this makes sense.

We hopped onto the Whitehorse Trail, the old railroad grade that runs along the Stillaguamish River between Arlington and Darrington, and parallels Highway 530. There are several trailhead entrances; we chose Fortson Mill, a few miles west of Darrington (there's a Wildlife Viewing sign at Fortson Road).

The old trains stopped at Fortson Mill, and dropped loads of freshly cut logs into a giant holding pond for storage, awaiting their turn at the sawmill. Now it's a place to see eagles in winter!

At Fortson are a couple of small trails that lead to the Stilly; fishermen were out!

We saw lots of salmon carcasses in the Mill Pond - and where there are salmon carcasses in January, there are eagles! We saw and heard quite a few this day. We also witnessed a couple of angry Blue Heron's flap and squawk while chasing a full grown bald eagle.

A perfect leg stretcher. Walk toward Darrington just a short ways beyond the mill pond for an excellent view of Whitehorse Mountain.

The color is at it's height now. The vine maple patterns are varied and simply amazing - yellow leaves with red veins, brown leaves with green veins, red leaves with green veins - simply awesome.

Lots of salmon in the creek.

We walked around Gold Creek Pond, and then continued onto the Gold Creek trail to the brilliantly colored slopes about 1/2 a mile in. We didn't go farther - didn't need to - we spend so much time enjoying the colorful landscape, and we were there to just roam, not do a big excersize hike!

THIS is THE place for fall color!

3 of us visited Slide Lake today, and we all agree it is a great destination! At 1.2 miles (one way), just about anyone can get this lake!

The Illabot Road is in excellent condition; a sedan could drive this road with no problems. Nice views of Sauk Mtn & Picketts, etc. Advice to a passenger - you should pay attention to the driving as well - you might need to bring the driver back under control when he or she gets distracted.

We were surprised at the use of this lake and road on a Friday!

There were 4 or 5 cars at the trailhead when we got there around noon; 4 people were gearing up for a dayhike. A man and his toddler son were just coming off the trail from a morning of fishing, and 3 guys on motorcycles drove in, and relaxed at Otter creek that runs under a wooden bridge at the trailhead, then headed back out.

The trail is a boot-trail; I don't think it was ever a built trail. It is rocky here and there, and brushy, but it's soft brush and not annoying, at least not at this time. The trail starts out a little steep, but soon the grade lessens and is very gentle for the remainder of the trip to the lake. Someone has logged out the trail, thank you.

At the lake was a man and his adult son on their way out; they had been exploring the lakes and mountains there since Monday; they've spent multiple days at the end of the Illabot Road each year since the son was 12 years old, and the trip has become a yearly tradition.

It was reported to us by fellow hikers that getting to Enjar Lake,2 miles beyond Slide, is quite a bit more work than it has been in the past, and they did not recommend it.

We marveled at the big hemlocks, Douglas-fir, and silver fir trees. There are mossy boulders that created a talus cave that was oozing out an icy-cold breeze that was much appreciated on a warm afternoon. Canadian dogwood was beyond prime, but there were quite a few patches of Single Delights - such a pretty little white flower!

No snow, very few bugs as of today (no guarantees for tomorrow or the next day though!)

To get there: From Darrington, continue on 530 toward Rockport. Turn right onto Illabot Creek Road (well-signed). Drive 17 (ish) miles to the trailhead at the end of the road (road ends at Otter Creek - googlemaps show the road continuing, but it no longer does).

The N. Fk. Sauk road (#49) and trail is open for business. The Road opened Friday. The Darrington trailcrew is already hard at work, logging out massive trees from across the trail. Trail is clear to nearly Red Creek. Anyone going in, please take them some cookies or a bit of candy; they're working hard and will be out a few more days (or longer).

Trail tread is in good condition; some areas brushed in the beginning, but the crew is working on logging out as a priority. The brushy areas are those that are always brushy - soft brush, not a big deal. Shuffle the feet and watch for stinging nettle.

The new bridge at Red Creek is still there. I'd like to know how many other bridges (not including naturally placed footlogs) were built at Red Creek. There's a giant cedar stump on the far side with springboard notches, so it looks like another offical crossing was built long ago.

Not quite ready for most people. A few stubborn scary snow patches with bad runout are still hanging on in the open meadows. 90% of the several hiking parties turned back today. Too early for the big flower show; early season flora just beginning to bloom! - salmon berry, wood violet, Queen's cup.

Give it another week or longer before taking the kiddies up to the pass.

Columbia Mountain is at Sherman Pass, east of the town of Republic.

It's a nicely maintained Loop trail that circumnavigates Columbia Mountain a few hundred feet below the broad summit. The lookout cabin was recently restored, using a Passport in Time grant. Restoration was done by the same technique as the original builders of the cabin in 1915.

I chose this hike because of the lookout restoration project that was highlighted by WTA and the US Forest Service, and it was an opportunity to hike more of the Kettle Crest Trail, which is the "driveway" to the Columbia Loop trail.

Hop onto the Kettle Crest North trail at Sherman Pass. Hike 2 miles to a well-signed intersection to Columbia Mountain. Hike this trail about 1/2 mile to the Columbia Mountain Loop. While it is possible to turn left and pick up the trail to the summit, we wanted to hike the entire Loop, so we turned right.

Wonderful views all around - from White Mountain and the White Mountain Fire to the south, to the green and azure ridges to the east, northeast and north, to lovely local scenes of meadows, sagebrush, stands of larches, Doug-fir, and pine. Above all are the gorgeous cloudscapes of stormy North Central Washington.

The Lookout cabin is very cool. There was a second lookout on the summit, built by the CCC. There are typical bits of old hardware laying about at the 2nd site, and we found a very old hand-make telephone pole and telephone wire downslope from the lookout site.

We were more than happy with our choice to hike Columbia Mountain. 8 miles RT and about 1,200 gain. Very easy hike, but it took us all day to soak in the views and enjoy the flowers, which at this time are not at their height. Someone doing this trail in the next 2 weeks will experience a flower explosion, as evidenced by the myriad buds ready to burst.

This trailhead is the one on Five Mile Road north of Blewett Pass summit. A higher clearance vehicle is best for getting to this trailhead, and the driver should be prepared to back up on a narrow forest road if an on-coming vehicle is encountered - there's no room for error on the road past the 1.5(ish) mile point at a large switchback. Road is fairly brushy. Outback driver might do well - not sure; it's borderline. Hard to say what other drivers and their vehicles are capable of doing.

if you've been to this trailhead before, you'll be OK - the road is no worse than it has been in years past.

Flowers still need a bit more sun; Tweedyii is probably at height (we couldn't quite tell; the morning's hard rain beat them down and they were a bit battered, but there are tons of buds ready to burst open!). Lots of bitterroot popping out as well. Locoweed is blooming, and some are in the odd-ball pod stage. Other lithosoil plants - scarlet gilia, buckwheat, phaecilia, lewisia Columbia - are still to come. Lots of old man's whiskers out, and lots of Columbia clematis.

So half the flowers are at height, half still to come. Sagebrush is fragrant and brilliant silvery-green; lupine and phlox are lush.

This is a beautiful trail; among the favorite early summer hikes for me and my friends.

Hikers won't be disappointed if they go this upcoming weekend! No water on the trail, so take your own.

Not sure if we were too early for flowers, or if the fire of July 2010 burned the roots and they haven't taken hold yet. Buckwheat, bitterroot and lupine buds here and there, but not a profusion (though a large patch of shooting star was found). Even balsamroot was sparse. Some sagebrush, but not much.

Swakane has always been a favorite spring hike for me - and it always will be, but for different reasons. The July 2010 fire (nearly 20,000 acres) took out the colorful vegetation in the gullies and burned the pines atop the rocky outcroppings, as well as much of the flora. Flowers are taking root, and re-growth is active, birds all over the place, but it will be awhile before the canyons are filled with colorful new shrubbery.

So though it is still an awe-inspiring place with big views and wonderful light play and shadows on the topography, and great views on the Columbia, it is not full of colorful vegetation as it once was. The really awesome turn-around lunch spot at the rocky outcropping that looks like a dinosaur spine at 2.8 miles is very nice, and this is where the buckwheat flowers, lupine and bitterroot buds were found.

I will continue to visit Swakane Canyon each year as I have always done.

New trail! The Forest Service had a grand opening today for the Jennifer Dunn trailhead to the Beckler Peak trail.

7 miles round trip, gentle grade, NICE trail, no water crossings, no blowdown, nothing wierd. Suitable for kids (but watch 'em on the summit, OK?) Great views on a sunny day, on a cloudy day - wonderful wisps of cloud swirl on the peak next to this summit, and - it's pretty amazing up there.

The first .3 is on a newly closed logging road. The next .5 or so is on a logging road closed about 20 years ago, and is pleasant (really!). This section is very nice in the fall, when the deciduous tree canopy is yellow. In summer, it's lined with more wild ginger than you thought possible anywhere (of course it's not blooming now, but the lovely heart-shaped leaves are pretty).

The trail pops out at a logging landing - nice views from here. Then --- old growth forest - it'll knock you out! Silver fir, western redcedar, mountain hemlock, Douglas-fir, Alaskan yellow-cedar, and near the top, noble fir.

I won't give more description - it'd be neat to see a trip report from someone who hasn't been there yet. Go!

From Highway 2, drive about a mile past the Skykomish Ranger Station in Skykomish. Look for a highway sign that says Road 6066. Turn left onto 6066 (slow down and get ready as soon as you see the highway sign). Drive 6066 (nice road, a sedan can make it with no problem) to the end, about 6 miles to the end, the Jennifer Dunn trailhead, named after Congresswoman Dunn, who was instrumental in getting the Wild Sky Wilderness bill passed.

Viewless summits on a foggy day don’t bother me, and Jim’s an idiot – so we’re perfectly suited for a trip to Gee Point in Sunday’s conditions.

I’ve been curious about Gee Point and Finney Peak, located in what’s known as the Finney Block (south side of the Skagit 8 miles east of Concrete) in the Mt Baker District of Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for a long time. In a stroke of genius and to resurrect interest in the Finney Block, Craig Romano included Gee Point in his Day Hiking North Cascades guidebook (The Mountaineers Books). Craig reports summit views of Baker, Whitehorse, the Illabot Peaks, Cascade Pass, and Glacier Peak. Jim’s summit view was me, and my summit view was Jim. No matter; we were thrilled to be there.

Finney Creek Rd (FS 17) is in excellent condition. FS 1720 and FS 1722 are both in very good to excellent condition as well. I didn’t find FS 1720 and 1722 brushy at all (Craig reports it as brushy in 2007). Note that there are relatively deep engineered dips in FS 1722 which may inhibit low clearance, long wheel-base vehicles such as station wagons, Honda Elements, and the Scion -- but perhaps with care, even these vehicles may successfully negotiate the dips. Potholes are minimal. The parking area for this hike is a large area; there is plenty of parking and turn-around space. The area is popular with hunters, so I suggest wearing bright colored jackets or an orange vest. It is bear-hunting season now.

FS 17 is a lovely drive. There are deep canyons, and lots of waterfalls to enjoy.
The trail begins as a 15 minute road-walk/brush-bash (willows). When dry, as it was at the end of our day, this would not be a problem. But for us in the morning, it was a shower of water because a massive fog-bank had parked its fat ass atop the Finney Block for several hours prior to and including the time of our arrival, drenching said willows. We were prepared for a wet day, however, and had donned our full-on rain-gear at the trailhead.

After a short road-walk, keep your eye on the slope, for an obvious trail that shoots upward toward the ridge. Since Craig’s book was written, the trail has become more trail-like, and we had no brush issues. There is a view of Gee Point from this spot – it’s an obvious prominent bump with a flat top – clearly once very pointy. Make note of the exposure – you’ll be on it soon (unless you choose to stop at the place Jim and I recommend [read on]).

We entered the old growth forest and immediately slowed down in awe. Absolutely stunning forest up here! Old growth silver fir, and lots of old snags for birds and other critters. There are a few trees across the trail, but none too difficult to clamber over or around. We enjoyed finding old blazes that had been hacked into the trees.

We hit a wall of snow at the “Grand Park” meadow Craig mentions. We picked up the trail again to the right of the snowfield and from there to the cabin site, we traveled across intermittent snowfields and trail-tread. We had to hack around a bit when we lost the trail, but we always eventually found tread again. Local boots have kept this tread alive (and now mine will – I’ll be back).

From the cabin site, we turned left and walked up the (easy) slope to the ridge. (IMPORTANT NOTE: if you’re not comfortable side-hilling on a steep slope with not a lot to stop you if you fall, make the cabin site your stopping point! You can go a bit farther on the ridge for a nice open viewpoint about 10 minutes up, but please don’t go farther if you’re not comfy with exposure. For a nice place to relax for lunch before turning back, continue straight a very short distance from the cabin site, to the talus slope where there are views of surrounding peaks and meadows – very pretty!).

The trail goes up, up, up. Here we noted wire for the old lookout telephone system, old metal clips pounded into snags, as well as more blazes.

The trail narrows as it winds up to the summit. Airy sections of very narrow, out-sloping tread are here. Handholds are simply huckleberry bushes and an occasional mountain ash. A slip would likely result in more than bruises, so we recommend good boots, not tennis shoes. Surely it’s better in dry conditions. We’re both experience hikers (Jim more than me) and we don’t think this portion of the trip is suitable for families or someone who isn’t used to challenging situations – but we enjoyed the challenge, and Craig’s intent with his books is to include challenges as well as non-challenging hikes.

You’ll have to believe what your maps tell you about the surrounding summits. Craig provides an impressive list of mountain views. For us it was fog, fog, fog. For about 8.37 seconds, we got a nice view of the basin we had visited near the cabin, and wow! Beautiful!

Going down the challenging section was less of a hassle than we thought it would be (there is no shame in butt-scooting).

Jim built a snowman at the giant meadow – a novelty to do such a thing in mid-August at 4300’ on the Finney Block.

Gee Point is a beautiful place, and we’ll be back for sure; perhaps in October when the snow has finally melted and before the new snow arrives….

Sarah and I visited Thorp Mtn today via the Knox Creek trail (why is the trail named Knox Creek, anyway?)

The road is in fair condition; washboardy on the main road, and brushy and a bit rocky on the spur road. From Roslyn, continue on the main road 12 miles and turn left onto French Creek Road at the end of the lake; French Creek Road is well-signed (“you can’t miss it"). Drive 4 miles to a spur road signed “Knox Creek trail.” Drive about 2.5 miles to a wide spot which doubles as a parking lot – see trailhead on your right, up a meadowed slope.

Plenty of flowers still; the lower portion of the trail might be spent within a week or so; the upper portion of the trail is in full-bloom and many more to come. In fact, there’s a small snowpatch across the trail (very small) and glacier lilies are still blooming. So odd for this trail in August! And there was a constant cold wind, making it a great day for me (I hate temps over 73).

Trail notes: the beginning of the trail could use some treadwork – it’s sloughed in places, and very narrow – the vegetation obscures the edge of the trail – hopefully people realize that’s air, and not earth under that veg! 5 or 6 trees down, none difficult to negotiate.

My friend Kirsten has chosen very nice hikes for us over the years, by using the District Ranger guidebooks printed by the Forest Service, and often describe hikes that might be overlooked otherwise.

This time, Kirsten chose the Pleasant Valley Loop, hike #999 in the Naches District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Supplemental information was obtained in John & Diane Cissel's book, "Best Old-Growth Forest Hikes."

The trailhead is on Highway 410, directly opposite Hells Crossing campground 15.5 miles east of Chinook Pass. A popular ski route in winter, this lovely forest walk along the American River showcases old growth stands of Engleman Spruce, Grand Fir and Douglas-fir, as well as larches so large that it's difficult to see the canopy to ascertain they are not Ponderosas. We also noted lodge pole pine and a few Alaskan yellow-cedar - small ones - we don't know if they're young trees, or old ones in poor soil conditions.

Though this is a 14 mile long loop, we chose to walk just a few miles on the south side of the river. The trail is well maintained, and though there is river access, the south side of the river has no gravel bars or sandy beaches like the north side does. At 3.7 miles is an obvious horse trail that leads to the river and a wide, mushy shore, where we stopped for lunch. (in fall, this area probably wouldn't be mushy).

Huge ant mounds can be found along the trail, up to 3 feet high and 4 or 5 feet in diameter - watch where you choose to sit or stand - you might be in the middle of an ant highway!

Currently the mosquitoes are thick and hungry - they drove us nuts in some places - so I recommend waiting til fall for this trail, though spring conditions (like now), the forest floor is carpeted with vanilla leaf - I've never seen vanilla leaf so lush as here; and coupled with the silvery bark of young grand fir and the red of old growth larch trunks, it's a colorful forest indeed!

This would be a pretty trail in fall due to the ground cover and occasional larch canopy - the larches are too tall for a huge larch-fest, but it's likely an awesome sight to see the yellow larch canopy poking through the fir canopy - I'll report back this fall.

Another old growth forest walk to fall in love with!

A quick jaunt to one of my favorite lowland trails in early spring (I guess you could say we're in early spring this late in the season). This is a great place for forest flowers - tons of bunchberry (Canadian dogwood) are beginning to bloom, the bleeding heart is abundant, but almost finished for the season. Lots of birds here, skunk cabbage leaves are big, salmon berry, big trees - you name it, it's here.

Nice stroll in the woods.

The trail can be muddy near the Beaver lakelets, but there are work parties scheduled this upcoming weekend to do some tread work and finishing work on some re-reoutes (reroutes are around the washouts from a few years ago - the big one is still there, of course).

From Darrington, turn right onto the Mtn Loop highway. Trailhead is on the right, directly opposite the Whitechuck Boat Launch.

Not much to add to Blisterfoot's fine trip report.

The good news is that the trail to the waterfalls is clear, the waterfalls lovely, as always.

The bad news is that the blowdown is huge, and should be a deal-breaker for families with little kids. The blowdown is a few minutes beyond the falls. Some WTA volunteers might recognize the location as the beginning of that portion dubbed by Greg Ball as the "best 100 yards of trail in Washington," where the trail winds aesthetically along the mountain slope, passing by the biggest trees along the trail.

An easy scramble around a fallen tree at the rocky switchback, then a few minutes farther, and - - oy, vey! A boot-stopper for us, due to my friend's recent knee surgery recovery. Another couple of hikers went on ahead, but turned around after encountering a few more trees laying on the trail paralell, like the first one. They didn't want to invest that much energy in what they hoped would be a walk through a pretty old growth forest.

As soon as they can, Darrington District will go out & assess the blowdown and hopefully come up with a game-plan. I'm hoping the trees can be removed before next summer, or a reasonable route facilitated around them - the slope is mushy, and a lot of vegetation is being damaged by hikers trying to find a way around.

Though only 4-5 inches at most, as of yesterday, snow is continuous past the creek crossing just below Hemlock Pass. Most definitely still doable without snowshoes.

Thankfully the precipitation was in the way of snow, and not rain, so we remained relatively dry all day. No trail issues. The bridge over Denny Creek at the slide rocks is still out, but a nice, easy boulder-hop has been installed. Even I could do it.

Remember to plan for shorter days - getting up to Hemlock Pass always seems to take a lot longer than it should.

And of course, remember that confusing junction! Upon leaving the lake to return back to the Denny Creek trailhead, take the leftmost trail going slightly UP - not the downhill trail, which leads to the Pratt Valley and has swallowed many a wintertime hiker, some of them being lost for days.

Flowers are just barely getting started, marmots & pikas just waking up. There is still some snow on trails in the basin below Frozen Lake, but easy to negotiate. Best to wait a couple of weeks; one of the volunteer rangers guaranteed flowers will be out en force then.

I felt bad mushing through some meadowy spots where the beaten snowpath ended at a meadow of trail tread, and won't do that again. Let the snow melt off the trails so you won't have to slog through meadows between bits of tread buried beneath the snow patches. That's what I'll do next year if I show up and find patches instead of either solid snow to walk on, or no snow.

The Teanaway River Rd has been graded, and is now suitable for any vehicle. Excellent road conditions!

The flower show is not yet at its height, though it is obvious it will be soon. Northern Anenome is past, but must have been impressive. Zillions of scarlet gilia are already blooming, and zillions more to come. The gilias companion in flowerscape, the lupine, are mostly in bud, but will burst out any minute. Still, enough are in bloom that it was a very pretty walk. The Arnica is blooming in full force in the forest, and the heady scented snowbrushy is at its height (I've never seen it looking so healthy).

Beverly Cr crossing is easy on logs, but within a week, it will probably be a rockhop or less.

We took Beverly-Turnpike trail to the County Line/Fourth Creek trail on the right. Take this, and in .6 miles is a pass with beautiful views of The Enchantments. Stuart is hidden, but you see all those from Argonaut to Little Annapurna. We made this our stopping point, and it is a reasonable place to lunch and relax. It's only about 6 miles round trip to the pass, and in my opinion, it is a great destination-place.

Access to Beverly Creek is good in 2 locations along the trail - once when you exit the forest, and again when you re-enter forest at the jct. with County Line trail. There is a fair water source on the short stint of the County Line trail between Beverly-Turnpike and the pass, but it is shallow now and may not last much longer. It's best to fill up at the jct. on Beverly-Turnpike trail.

By next weekend, the flowers will really be happenin'. I don't often see many people on this trail - they're all over at Bean Creek. I don't blame them, but this trail never disappoints, either.

What a gem of a trail! There is a lot of variety on this trail; meadows, forest, slope, flat, rocky slopes, huge, old growth spruce and a few gigantic Doug Fir - and Red Top Lookout at the end!

From Hwy 970 (Swauk Pass), turn left onto a FS road just past Mineral Springs resort. Travel a few miles and turn left at the Y. In a mile or so, cross Blue Creek, then begin looking to your right for the trailhead. The trailhead sign is parallel the road, so though it’s not hard to see, you do to look for it.

Don’t be scared off by this trail being a dotted line trail on Green Trails maps - the trail is now very well maintained. It is moderately steep in places, but no wild ups and downs. Very nice, very pretty. Lots of ponderosas, white pine, larches, spruce trees and tons of birds! Lots of nootka rose lining the trail, and getting ready to burst open, and more silver crown than I’ve ever seen anywhere – what a sight it will be when it all blooms!

Near the summit of Red Top, the Blue Creek trail crosses the Teanaway Ridge trail. Cross the Teanaway Ridge trail, and up the slope to the lookout.

This trail is a beautiful alternative to driving up to Red Top. We very much enjoyed this hike.

Wow! Each time I’ve driven by Barlow Pass on the Mountain Loop, I would say to myself, “I wonder what’s up that trail?” I didn’t think it would be very interesting.

Wrong again.

Though the trail is named “Barlow Point,” this trail begins on the Old Government trail in the Mountain Loop area.

After a short walk, there’s a cutoff trail that takes you down to the old railroad bed. I took this cutoff, and followed the railroad grade a little while – lots of birds in the sunshine – varied thrush, winter wren, several grouse drumming about how handsome they are, and a chorus of frogs in a pond below the railroad bed. I didn’t walk very long here – it was hot and sunny - I turned and went back into the cooler forest of the Old Government trail.

After several more minutes, you have a choice to continue straight on the Old Government trail, or take the switchback up to Barlow Point, another ¾ of a mile. I went up through the dark forest – there’s little understory in this forest, so instead of lush mosses and fern, this is a brown forest. While some may think it boring, I find brown forests interesting. Fire patterns on old logs, usually saphrophytes are growing up from the forest floor, and interesting rocks laying around.

You’re tricked a few times into thinking you’re near Barlow Point, but just keep going, you’ll know when you’re there. Barlow Point is a very beautiful rocky outcrop with wonderful views. I lay in the sun and listened to the grouse nearby, and the wind in the trees – a great place for a picnic.

This trail has just about every tree possible in the western Washington mountains. The lower portion of the trail includes Sitka spruce, Western Red cedar, silver fir, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, and yew. Higher up, mountain hemlock and Alaskan Yellow cedar make their appearance as well. There are so many Alaskan Yellow cedar trees in this area that the slopes opposite Barlow Point are slightly yellow.

There is evidence of an old burn here. Post-logging torch, or natural fire? Does anyone know? I didn’t see much evidence of logging.

I really enjoyed this trail, and recommend it to anyone having a bit of time after a longer trip, or for someone like me, who just wants to hang out on a rocky outcropping and listen to grouse.

The Whitechuck Bench trail is slated for repair/reroute this summer, and will once again be 6 miles long, terminating at the Whitechuck Road. Currently, you can walk about a mile and a half before hitting the trail-stopping washout, where it’s a nice drop to the river to bask on large rocks in the sun, when the river is low enough to do so.

From Darrington, take the Mtn Loop Hwy toward Barlow Pass. Turn right at the Whitechuck Boat Launch (sign on left) and cross the bridge over the Sauk River. Continue up the road a couple of switchbacks and past the gravel pit area. See the Whitechuck Bench trail sign on the right.

This trail starts in a recently logged area, but within 5 minutes, you’re in old second growth forest – My guess is that this forest was logged about 70-80 years ago, so the trees are big here. There are quite a few large cedars, and hemlock & Douglas fir are battling it out to see who among them wins the battle of succession. There are a few silver firs here, too.

The forest floor is a blanket of moss, Oregon grape, and false lily of the valley – more lilies on this trail than I have seen anywhere else. Groves of alder are dotted here and there as well. The trail is close to the edge of the slope, there are some open views of the Whitechuck River, and a chanced at dollops of sunshine.

There is evidence of recent bear or cat activity here – lots of scratched snags, freshly dug holes in the trail tread, snuffled up chunks of moss, and there was one very old alder snag that was recently upturned – I assumed by a critter looking for chocolate truffles. Or slugs.

I walked to pretty Black Oak creek. This particular creek is interesting because it has a thick border of mid-sized alders lining each side of it, more than any other creek would typically have. I don’t know when this flood even took place, but it must’ve been big – Black Oak doesn’t seem to have reached that flood stage since. I have an old, old map that shows a trail leading up the side of the creek, but to investigate means bashing through salmon berry and devils club.

I hung out there awhile, and headed back. I wanted to sit in the sun at the edge of the cliffy spot where the road switchbacks down toward the Boat Ramp. Nice place to have lunch, and views of Whitechuck, Mt Pugh, and the Whitechuck Valley are very, very nice indeed.

Next I went to Beaver Lk trail directly across from the Boat Launch (turn right off Mtn Loop instead of left to the Boat Launch). This trail never disappoints when you’re looking for skunk cabbage (at the appropriate time of year, of course).

The last time I was on this trail, my buddy Jim Kuresman and I met Phyllis Reed, biologist with MBSNF, who pointed out the old railroad pilings near the trails’ beginning, used as a bridge to cross over the Sauk River.
This trail is lined with bleeding heart and yellow violet– for almost a full mile (and beyond, if you feel like negotiating the washouts). Acres of wetlands are home to thousands upon thousands of swamp lanterns (skunk cabbage). None of these flowers are at their height yet. I’d give it about a week for the bleeding heart. Maybe a bit longer for the height of the swamp lantern show. O yeah - and the trail is also lined with nettles. Locals hit this trail to picked nettles for whatever they use them for. I think greens – apparently if you boil ‘em, they’re tasty, but they don’t hurt you when they’re slidin’ down your gullet, or after they plunk into your gut.

The trail now officially ends at about a mile, where it was washed out in 2003 (or 06 – I’m getting my disasters mixed up). The FS has tried to survey a re-route, but you see, there’s this rocky cliff in the way….

The 2 washouts are get-aroundable with just a bit of hassle (“hassle” being a relative term) - but if you have little kids, the current end of the trail is good enough – with the washouts, there are now impressive views on this trail where there were no views before.

Wow!!!!

Guidebook author Craig Romano, WTA's Susan Elderkin and I hiked the Lyle Cherry Orchard within the Columbia River National Scenic Area on Sunday. This stunning trail will be included in Craig's upcoming guidebook on the Columbia Gorge hikes.

The trailhead is not signed, rather it's a gravel parking lot a mile or so east of the tunnels on 114 (east of Lyle).

Don't freak about about the first 50 vertical - it becomes reasonable after that first thrust.

Death camas in all it's glory are blooming now, and acres & acres of woodland star. Silvery-trunked and lichen draped garry oak stud the emerald green slopes. The re-graded and re-routed trail makes nice, sweeping switchbacks before starting a fairly steep ascent. This portion is not suitable for children - the trail sidehills on a very steep slope with a long, long drop. Locoweed and balsamroot have just started to bloom here.

The trail flattens and enters an idyllic garry oak forest - Vancouverites and Portlanders might think we;re silly, but this garry oak forest was a delight to us. We're not used to it! Lots of grass widow, larkspur, glacier lilies and shooting star are blooming here. In several places all these flowers are blooming together, making quite a pretty show.

The trail meets an old abandoned road; turn right and continue a short ways to the orchard site. Long gone, but a few old, gnarled snags remain - still partially alive and budding! Unobstructed views of the Columbia to the east, more gorgeous green slopes - well....you'll just have to go and see for yourself.

This trail is something to remember. Please visit, and marvel at the open slopes, the lichen encrusted basalt, and the Columbia River.

WTA's Susan Elderkin and I met Craig Romano at the Wachiacus access trailhead for the Klickitat Rail-Trail. This access is off Horsehoe Bend Rd 3 miles north (or east) of Klickitat. (I highly recommend taking highway 142 from Goldendale - check it out on the Gazetteer - it twists and winds around canyons and hills. Not for the feint of heart - when it descends from the plateau, it's one and a half lanes, no guardrails, and is on a steep hillside. The road is in excellent condition, however - paved all the way.

We stashed my truck, then piled in Craig's car and drove to the Lyle-Goldendale Rd/Harms Road access trailhead to begin our 13 mile one way trek on the trail through lovely Swale Canyon, back to Wachiacus.

A beautiful trail - lots to see. Garry oak and huge ponderosas dotted along the flower covered, rocky slopes. I have never seen so much desert parsley - both yellow and black - the hills were a blanket of them. Some of the seeping canyon walls are decorated with mosses, colorful lichen, lots of shooting star is in bloom now among the several different kinds of ferns. Stunning.

Many bridges have been either re-built or re-decked; all are in excellent condition.

The willows are brilliant yellow, scarlet red-osier dogwood lines the seeps and creeklets tumbling down the walls. Pretty little waterfalls; I assume they're intermittent.

We enjoyed the first 10 miles, however the last three or so nearest Wachiacus, though pretty, weren't spectacular; if I had my druthers, I'd use the trailhead at the Goldendale-Lyle highway.

Sunday, we stashed Craigs car at the access trailhead in the town of Lyle, and drove highway 142 to milepost 10, where we crossed the river on a road, and immediately parked at another access point. Susan and I walked for about 3 miles with Craig, then turned back to prepare for our long drive back to Seattle, while Craig continued the rest of the way back to Lyle and his car. This is a very pretty, relaxing portion of the trail, and runs right next to the lovely Klickitat River. We saw a few other hikers, a couple of bicyclists, and kayakers (they were in the river).

Craig Romano is working on a Columbia Gorge hiking book. Stay tuned!

A wonderful weekend was had by all. We also hiked the Lyle Cherry Orchard (separate trip report).

Jonathan and I were surprised that not only is the entire Mountain Loop snow-free, FS 49 (N Fk Sauk River Rd) is completely snow free, at least to the trailhead.

Even more surprising was that skunk cabbage is beginning to poke up along the trail! The shrubbery has a red haze of new growth, and the lichens are fruiting.

Without the heavy vegetation of late spring and summer, you can see deep into the forest. We didn't go far; not even to Red Creek - we were there to have fun with photography, and the N Fk Sauk trail always, always, always - provides wonderful photo ops.

The Mountain View Cafe is Robe is now open! CASH or CHECKS ONLY! Limited menu for now - hamburgers, BLTs, French dips....sirloin steak, T-bone. No pie yet, but....their Grand Opening is Valentine's Day, and surely they'll have sumpin' sweet to eat then.

Jim Kuresman and I wandered over to Taylor Mountain on this cloudy day. We've both been curious about Taylor Mountain - according to Tim Van Beek of WTA, King County logged the alder and sold it, and planted fir trees in their place. I'm think of it as a human-engineered bypassing of the alder stage of succession and diving into the next stage. An interesting experiment.

Knowing much of the trail winds through a recent logging operation, it was a perfect choice for a cloudy day when you don't want to get up early.

Close to town (Highway 18, exit Issaquah-Hobart, turn left, and see the trailhead a little ways on the left), it's easy to get to.

This is an equestrian/hiker/bicycle trail, and this day, we shared the trail with equestrians and a guy on a bike. Hikers step off the trail on the downhill side. Funny hats spook some horses, so it's best to take off your hat, if you think about it. If you forget, and the approaching horse acts wiggy, doff the hat. Most equestrians know what makes their horses nervous, and will talk you through the hat-doffing, if necessary.

There were no maps at the trailhead, so we just went straight, first in scrubby forest, then the trail opens to the logged hillside, where the views open up to the farms around Hobart and Mt Si in the distance. The trail winds around the slope, and slowly descends to a beautiful unlogged area where a creek winds through, and where large cedars, black cottonwood, alder and big leaf maple grow. This portion of the hike was delightful, and still holds lots of yellow fall color.

We didn't go too much farther, time being an issue because of the late start.

Though its a gentle trail, wear boots, not tennis shoes. The horses churn up the tread and it's fairly muddy in places as a result. I assume equestrians and bicyclists join hikers on WTA work parties to help maintain this trail system.

Taylor Mountain is a good place for a rainy day; I'll be back.

I had a great time wandering around the Darrington/Oso area today.

First order of business: The Oso General Store is open for business! Please visit this fine store when you can - help keep this business thrive! They have lots of convenience store items, as well as an espresso window (open at 5 AM!), and a very NICE wine selection.

The Whitehorse Rail trail is accessible in many places. After wandering various little access places along the Stilly (saw some eagles), I chose to visit the beaver ponds on the Whitehorse Trail a little beyond Trafton (which is 3 miles outside of Arlington). From Arlington, pass the Chevron in Trafton (Chevron is on the left), and continue a few miles to a little beyond the truss bridge at Monty Road. Look to your right, and turn down a road and park at one of the many little access points to the Whitehorse Trail. If you see a sea of dead snags along the right side of Hwy 530, you've gone too far. Turn around and take the first road you come to - the access is close to the sea of snags.

The beaver ponds are a mere few minutes walk, and very pretty with reflections. I wandered about a mile or so beyond the ponds before returning to the truck.

You can go much farther than a mile; but I was wearing sandals, and stopped to visit the beaver ponds on a whim.

This is a nice, quiet, and pretty little rail trail.

This trip report details Cougar Lakes and the Laughingwater Creek trail from Three Lakes.

Craig Romano asked if I would join him on a through hike in and around Mt Rainier National Park. He wanted to survey a particular series of trails for an upcoming backpacking book for The Mountaineers Books, and needed a 2nd vehicle to do this as a through hike. Having done very little in MRNP and long curious about Cougar Lakes in (Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (OWNF), I was happy with the suggestion, and off we went: In to Cougar Lakes and out via the PCT and Laughingwater Creek trail.

We had trouble getting an overnight permit Three Lakes at Ohanepecosh Visitor Center. The website says they open at 9, but they don’t open til 10, and this location caters more to the visitors from the car camp there, so backcountry permits aren’t their schtick. The delay was not the Park employee’s fault, but just trust me on this – get your permits at White River (they open at 7).

We stashed Craig’s rig at Laughingwater Creek trailhead near Ohanepecosh Campground and continued in my rig to the parking lot at Tipsoo Lake.

From there we walked the flower-laden meadows to Dewey Lakes, where we snacked a bit before continuing on to pretty Anderson Lake. After resting a little, we continued to Cougar Lakes. The Cougar Lakes trail shoots off the PCT, and for it is nice tread just past American Lake and the junction with the American Ridge trail, where we turned right and went down to Cougar Lakes.

The trail here is combination boot-beat trail and built trail. Used for decades by horses and hikers, it’s a rock-and-boulder-infested gash. It must have been rerouted, because it’s longer than old guidebooks say it is, and it occasionally switchbacks.

We had the place to ourselves and camped at the spot boasting the classic Cougar Lakes view of House Rock (National Park permit not needed here, because Cougar Lakes is within the OWNF. We filled out a National Forest Wilderness permit at a self-register box near Dewey Lakes).

Friday morning, the fog continually swirled around House Rock. Craig’s mission was the route above the larger lake, across the shoulder of House Rock and to the PCT. We set out, and easily found the path beyond the campsites at the larger lake. The path shoots up – again, this is a combination of boot path and built trail. I suspect the PCT was to have passed by Cougar Lakes and up this boot path, but after tossing in a couple of switchbacks and building some nice traversing tread, the trailcrew dropped their tools when the Dude(s) in Charge decided to place the PCT elsewhere.

Awesome trail! Wow! Hanging meadows strewn with creeklets, shining-white boulders, sedges and flowers – lots of a pretty little purple flower that Craig identified as Veronica speedwell.

The trail then flattens out and follows an elongated hanging valley that runs the length of the ridge. Wow.

We stopped at the National Park boundary and Craig went his own way for the day to continue his GPS project on several other trails for the guidebook.

Alone for the rest of the day, I hung out at the beautiful meadows, then dropped down toward the PCT. The path down to the PCT continues as an odd, half-built, half boot-beat path. I hit the PCT and was enchanted. The fog swirling around the trees and through the meadows, the lovely PCT stabbing through the distant mist made for a beautiful landscape. There’s something about being on the PCT that sends me - I guess it's that when I’m standing on my little 2 square feet of trail (3 square feet early season, when I’m fatter), I’m connected with 2,700 miles of this trail.

Because he wouldn’t have time to do so, Craig had asked me to check out Two Lake trail – this is the old Crest Trail, the PCT having been re-routed above to better accommodate horse traffic. Coming from PCT south, there is a sign at the Two Lakes trail juction. Two Lake trail wends through pretty meadows. I surprised to see some larkspur along this trail!

Two Lake itself, was enshrouded in fog – it mattered little to me – I loved it. The camp here is huge and horsey – very worn out. I don’t recommend it. I wandered across a meadow to the smaller of the two lakes to check that out. A much better campsite here, but the area is likely buggy on a normal summer day, so unless there are grand mountain views (I had none), it’s not a destination place.

I then continued traversing a flowered slope to meet with the PCT. This portion of the Two Lake trail is absolutely gorgeous! Open, rolling meadows, a few sloughy spots, and flowers like you wouldn’t believe. For some reason, this trail really grabbed me. I guess because even though I love the PCT, any portion of the abandoned Crest trail is romantic as hell. Because Two Lakes lost its Crest status, I stopped to listen for the ghosts of past through hikers.

I hit the PCT at a non-descript location. If coming from PCT north, the junction is not signed, so you may not see it unless you’re looking for it.

I continued down to Laughingwater Creek trail. This trail is partly in the Park, partly in OWNF. It’s open to horse traffic because of its accessibility to the PCT. Horse packers do use it, and it is well-maintained. I noticed quite a bit of fine trailwork along the whole length of the trail - much of it looks like it was done this season.

I got to Three Lakes and chose a spot to camp (National Park permit needed). Craig pulled in about an hour later – he had done a lot of GPS work while I was wallowing in the meadows. 16 miles and about 5,000’ with a full pack was his day – mine was about 7 and 400’ (380’ if I leave out the 20 feet off trail to get a photo of a glacier lily which didn't turn out).

It was quite chilly (hence no bugs) and the fog droplets clung to everything. The Three Lakes Guard Station is undergoing extensive reconstruction. No ranger was there this night. Because the 3 Lakes are quite swampy, I give my advance condolences for anyone stationed there during mosquito season.

It was interesting to follow an old path down the slope and find the sunken remains of an old abandoned box toilet, the hole filled with water. It was quite charming, in that abandoned box toilet sort of way.

Saturday, we continued on Laughingwater Creek trail. I love this trail! Old growth forests are great on overcast days, downright dreamy in the fog. Mountain hemlock and some of the largest Alaskan yellow cedar I’ve ever seen grow here. Bright orange snags glowed in the foggy, diffused light.

The trail then enters the Douglas fir zone where candystick is dotted all over the forest floor. Beautiful! This is the third trail I’ve walked this year where I enjoyed seeing lots candystick, and each time I say it’s the most I’ve ever seen. This trip is no different: this was the most candystick I have ever seen on one trail!

If it seems this trail is longer than the 7.3 advertised on the sign – it is. The sign is wrong. It says 6 to Three Lakes and 7.3 to the PCT. It’s actually 7.3 to Three Lakes, and the PCT is about 2ish miles beyond that. Ooops.

This was a wonderful trip – it was great to join my friend and keep him company while he does the lonely work of guidebook author, though I am not fit enough to accompany him on the hardest of journeys. I was more than happy with the fog and cool weather. Hanging around swampy lakes, sloughs, old growth forests and meadows in the fog is a perfect trip after the series of hot, buggy weekends we’ve had this summer.

More photos on my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/

Unless it's a cool day and you can hike in long sleeves and long pants, I recommend shelving this hike til after bug season - I have visited in fall as a dayhike and it's just as gorgeous with fall colors (mtn ash, huckleberries, grasses) as it is now thickly draped with wildflowers.

Monogram Lake shares the Lookout Mountain trail from Mid Fk Cascade River Rd out of Marblemount.

Lookout Mtn is in National Forest, Monogram Lake is in the National Park. NO dogs allowed, and you must obtain a permit at the NCNP ranger station in Marblemount in order to camp there. The ranger said bear cannisters are now required at this lake - it's a new requirement that hasn't made it to their website yet. No problem, it's free, so long as you return the cannister ($90 deposit).

Steep trail, nicely maintained. The brushy spot at about 3300 is full of nettles, so watch out! about 1/4 mile after the creek crossing (no bridge, but not bad this time of year), look to the right for the Monogram Lake trail. It's an acute right, and the signpost is behind a sawn log, so it's easy to blow right by it.

The Monogram Lake trail is an old fisherman's trail and is not super-maintained, but they do log it out. But it isn't bad at all, except for a couple of boot-sucking swampy areas.

The trail pops out at a gorgeous rocky basin. Here the trail conditions deteriorate - it's deeply grooved and mildly irritating - certainly not National Park standards. I suppose it would require a major re-route to take it from a fisherman's route to a proper hiking trail with switchbacks.

The view of the lake and the North Cascades is gorgeous.

The drop down to the lake is a delight in flowers, but hot and buggy on this day.

Thunderstorms rolled above and around us from about 3 PM to after 6. Heavy rains, hail, thunder roaring above. It was pretty gorgeous.

The hike out was uneventful - buggier, hotter.

Some people with their 2 dogs were camped at the lake. Though allowed at Lookout Mountain, dogs are not allowed at Monogram Lake.

This is my 4th time on Cady Ridge, and certainly not my last. I absolutely love this trail. Lots of variety – from forested switchback to meadow traverses to ridgewalking. Great flowers, and Glacier Peak, Poets Ridge, views of the Index complex, Daniel, Hinman, Chickamin, Clark – it’s non-stop.

It's a steep trail, and we didn’t fare well in the heat. Friday night, we chose to camp atop the ridge where we had views galore and a chance at the nice breeze that we had off and on all day. We also had tons of bugs. Mosquitoes are out en force, the black flies just beginning.

The flower show on Cady is mostly just beginning. The nearer the PCT, the more flowers you see. There are as many anemone already blown out as there are beginning to bloom. Glacier lilies and buttercup are still blooming, many hellebore are already in flower stage, and still more are just poking up. Lupine hasn’t yet made the big show, but there are many all the same.

This is going to be an exceptional huckleberry year. Oy vay!

Saturday, we walked over to Lk Sally Ann, still under snow. It looked like most of the campsites are closed for much-needed re-vegetation. The 2 that are open are fairly dismal – one is OK if you must camp there – the other is saucer-like and would be useless on a wet night. Lake Sally Ann needs to rest.

We got back on the PCT and headed up Ward’s Pass and to Dishpan Gap where we visited Cy Stoneburner, whose ashes were scattered under a clump of hemlocks there in about 1997. I don’t know anything about this elderly gentleman, but I like to visit him and think about him when I’m at Dishpan Gap.

We then wandered over toward Kodak Peak, intending on going up and enjoying views, but I never recovered from Fridays heat, so we decided to just head down the Li’l Wenatchee trail and go home.

The Forest Service recently finished re-rerouting the Li’l Wenatchee River Trail, and you no longer descend to Meander Meadows, but stay above it. The trail hits the PCT a few yards from the old junction. This re-route was an excellent decision, and saves the meadows from further damage (if you’ve been on the old trail, you know what I’m talking about). The new Li'l Wenatchee trail parallels below the PCT for awhile – the slope is covered with wildflowers – more than I have ever seen in my life! In addition to the usual suspects – valerian, yellow daisy, lupine, purple aster, bistort, lupine, paintbrush - are tiger lilies and pink spirea. So there is white, yellow, blue, red, purple, orange and pink – a sea of flowers from far below all the way up the slope, to the sky. Absolutely jaw-droppingly stunning.

The new Li'l Wenatchee trail is a delight to walk. Meander Meadows below are very pretty. I’ve never camped there and likely never will – looks buggy, and frankly – the views are above it!

The original, lower portion of the Li'l Wenatchee trail is still in fine tread condition – the Forest Service, WTA and other volunteer groups have spent a lot of time keeping the trail cleared of debris – once the thick vegetation come up each summer, the tread is, in places, completely obscured, so the trail maintenance done to avoid tripping over logs is very much appreciated. Still – keep your eyes out – critters love to dig burrows in trails.

You could wait a couple of weeks to do this loop and still not be disappointed in the flower show – some will be spent, but many, many others are yet to bloom. It seems that the PCT is mostly at blooming height in mid-to-late August, but of course, each year is different.

There are a few snow patches covering the trail below Wards Pass – soon snow caves will be forming under them, so take care.

It was nice to run into 3 other parties on the trail. This place is very much loved, and it makes me proud to live in Washington.

Thanks to Wenatchee-Okanogan National Forest for the Meander Meadows re-reoute.

I hiked this trail by mistake a few years ago. I won’t get into that, but the reason I mention it is because I recall the huge slope of glacier lilies on the Curry Gap trail and large number of marsh marigolds and the pretty waterfall along the Quartz Creek Trail. I didn’t have time to explore the trail much then (raining, dark) and had wanted to get back here ever since, early enough to see the marsh marigold and glacier lilies. I also wanted to see if I could find where the original trail meets the re-route at about 1.5 miles (nope).

The huge trees start out immediately on this trail. Huge Douglas Fir – amazingly huge – a couple of Western Red Cedar and interestingly, 4 or 5 Alaskan Yellow Cedar – just this small patch of cedars are the only ones I saw all day.

Soon it’s clear that in the battle of the stands, Western Hemlock and Pacific Silver Fir won. Nary a Doug Fir to be found after the first ¼ mile or so. The hemlock and fir are huge. I think the hemlock must be nearing the end of their life span (usually about 800 years), as many are crashing to the forest floor, their hearts rotted out. Silver fir usually die fairly young (a couple hundred years) from decay - to find this many gigantic ones like this in a large stand is a treat – not sure how rare it is though. It looks like a fire once tore through here as well - there are lots of neat things to think about and wonder about if you have time to just wander and explore instead of blasting through the woods.


I walked to the big waterfall at about 3 miles, and sat near the cool breeze created by the gully and icy-cold rushing water. I considered wading through the pool at the base (the trail is underneath the plunge-pool) but decided against it. I’m a klutz, and the last thing I needed was to be swept down the cliffy spot.

Lots of stuff in bloom – yellow violet, wild ginger, some marsh marigold (the biggest display is beyond the falls, and I didn’t get there), Queen’s Cup, rosy twisted stalk, and Other Stuff.

Met some nice folks on their way up, and another set of folks who were out for a stroll along the creek with their fishing pole.

Lots of people in the forest this weekend – every commando spot along the Beckler Rv Road was taken. It’s nice to see people out enjoying it.

I would imagine the waterfall will be down enough to enjoy this trail’s full length within a week. It really wasn’t that bad, I just didn’t want to tempt fate in the mountains when I was by myself.

This trailhead is in the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness and shares the parking lot of West Cady Ridge and N Fk Skykomish trails at the end of Beckler River Rd.

I'm fascinated by abandoned trails, and I love the Suiattle area of Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and I love Green Mountain. Combine all of these, and that's what we did this weekend.

My freinds Jim (HikerJim), Randy and I biked the Suiattle River Road on Friday evening and camped at Downey Creek. Saturday morning we set out on the old original trail (elev 1495') to get to the summit of Green Mtn (6500'). What the Green Mtn Road does in 6 miles, the old trail does in 2 - but it never seems steep - it's a nice steady grade.

It was thrilling to see the old tread and walk on it. Abandoned over 50 years ago when the Green Mountain road was built, this wonderful old trail is in very good condition underneath all those downed logs. I suspect it's used by hunters in the fall, but not enough to keep the salal and moss from growing in the tread. We lost the trail here and there, but overall were extremely happy with our progress. We found a couple of old ceramic telephone insulators and wire, one set still attached to a tree (that had fallen). It was as if that when they closed the trail, they simply walked away - this was like taking a walk through time.

Once we were out of the salal zone, through the bare forest floor poked candystick, coralroot and pinedrop. We then entered a lush mossy zone - the trail was covered in moss. So very, very pretty.

The old trail pops out unceremoniously onto the Green Mtn road about 1/4 mile down from the current trailhead.

WE continued on the current trail to the tarns at 5300' where we set up camp. The massive meadows are lush and - well, green. Though just beginning it's bloom, the flower show here is sublime - simply amazing, as many of you remember. We hit snow when the trail curves around the slope and heads NE. The basin is still covered in about 4-5 feet of snow.

We set up camp, relaxed in the warm sunshine and listened to the pikas, thrushes and marmots. After and early dinner we grabbed our ice axes, cameras and puffy coats and headed up the snowy slope to the summit ridge, then followed the summer trail a few hundred linear feet to the summit where we spent an hour relaxing and being happy.

Spectacular views around - Glacier Peak, Dome and Whitechuck being prominent - the Ptarmigan Ptraverse, Sulphur Mtn, Bonanza, blah, blah, blah. You name it, we saw it.

The next morning we reluctantly left this gorgeous mountain and pounded back to Downey Creek. Route finding on the old trail was more difficult on the way down, and we lost the trail more often, and for longer periods of time, but were still on our bikes by 3 PM and headed back to milepost 12 where the rigs were parked.

The Suiattle River Road is slated for repair next summer. Let's hope this beautiful mountain can be visted again in 2011.

If anyone is interested in this old trail, or if you know about it and wish to share something with me, please feel free to email me at brownk3@myuw.net.

The Mtn Loop highway is completely snow free and open for business.

I always enjoy the N Fk Sauk River trail.

Currently road 49 (N Fk Sauk Rd) is closed for repairs at about 1/2 mile before the trailhead. There is room for about 3 cars near the repair spot. The FS is installing a culvert - I don't know how long it will be out of commission. You will get wet crossing the creeklet, but it's not a scary crossing at all - it's just wet.

Lots of stuff in bloom right now. Tons of wild ginger, and trillium is at it's height. Blue bell, yellow violet, star flowered soloman's seal, false soloman's seal, and bleeding heart.

The trail has been logged out recently, and is in good shape.

about 4 miles in, the trail is very recently out from under snow - nothing is blooming yet, so if you miss the early spring blooms along the first portion of the trail, a few weeks from now the rest will be in bloom, and likely Red Creek will be crossable by the average hiker (NOTE: The Forest Service is going to install a footlog at Red Creek sometime this summer!)

Check WTA’s trip report for Chewuch River, and you’ll see my (Kim & Sarah’s) Memorial weekend trip to the Chewuch on May 26, 2001. By the time the next trip report of the Chewuch was written by Bev in July 2002, over 9,000 acres of this forest had burned as a result of an unattended campfire, and 4 fire fighters had died.

I loved this 2001 trip so much, and loved the color of that river so much that when Sarah and I left that day, I dipped my hand in it and told it, “I’ll be back soon!” It took 8 years, and the valley has gone through some hard times, but I finally made good on my promise.

This caramel colored river runs through its groove, frothing in its rush during the high snowmelt season, as it has done for eons. The surrounding forest in this valley is burned, the reddish rocks are cracked by the heat. But the river is still that gorgeous color, it’s still digging its gouge in the topography, and still tumbles and falls down the canyon – basically doing what rivers do, regardless of man’s folly or his disappointment in the loss of vegetation.

The downed trees have created a type of a dam here and there, and the water ponds into a beautiful clear brown pool. Birds have returned in earnest! Buck brush, service berry and aspens abound, and an occasional young pine dots the hills. It’s too early for the bulk of wildflowers – the snow is just recently melted.

I stopped at the big bend in the river where in 2001 Sarah and I marveled at a serviceberry in full bloom, though at the time we didn’t know what it was. Service berry is back, but the bend looks a little different.

We crossed the Pasayten Wilderness Boundary – the tree where the sign was once nailed is now a burnt snag, but still standing. The sign is propped on a large rock next to the trail.

I think I spotted the area where Sarah and I had camped in 2001. Many trees had survived in that area, and Jim and I stopped to have our lunch in the shade – Jim first wringing out the sandwich that had somehow escaped its baggie and went swimming in the meltwater of the ice chest the evening before. I laughed like a jackal (I’m a fairly lousy friend, if you want to know the truth).

What the fire did was open the views. The river is visible throughout its journey down the canyon – now a far off sliver of whitewater, now a frothy white and brown turrent, now a glassy calm pool.

We heard the falls and felt them in our chests before we saw them. Wow, what an impressive falls! The water is simply gushing through a deep slot in the rock. There is one live tree at the base of the falls, and we sat there a long time in awe of the power, and of the color – that amazing color of the Chewuch.

There was a cool breeze for us, so the heat was definitely not an issue, though without a breeze, it would be very hot – there’s not a lot of vegetation to absorb the heat of the sun – it’s all rock and sand. Luckily, you can get a good feel of the beauty of this place by going just a couple of miles. There’s no real destination.

Not too many trees across the trail – it’s been fairly recently logged out, but of course there always will be trees across the trail, so be prepared to hitch up & over or scurry under.

This is a gorgeous hike, and extremely interesting to see the forest recover. Plus, those 4 firefighters like the company. They would like that we’re continuing to visit and love this place.

I’ll be back.

First off – throughout the Washington Pass to Winthrop area you’ll notice brown shrubbery and looks as if its dying. I called the Methow Ranger District and spoke to a very knowledgable woman who was ready with the answer: It’s buck brush, or snowbrush – it’s not dying, but is suffering freeze damage. The leaves froze before the snow could insulate them this past winter – the buck brush will come back nice and green.

Driveway Butte trailhead is just before the Klipchuck Campground several miles beyond Washington Pass toward Winthrop.

I did Driveway Butte many years ago with Sue and Bob Adler. I recall it being steep, draped with lush grasses, and idyllic meadows. This is all still very true of Driveway Butte, an old fire lookout peak.

But the 2003 Needles Fire changed it a little. Without all those trees clogging it up, the views are way better. The burned forest is its own special place that wasn’t there before. It was certainly special before – full of birds and critters. It’s much quieter now – some birds, and rather than a whispering wind through the pines, the wind whistles and whooshes.

Lots and lots of balsamroot and parsley are in bloom on the south slopes of the Driveway Butte trail. And acres upon acres of silvercrown are getting ready to bloom – I am going back to this area next weekend to do some trailwork, and I plan on hiking this lower portion of Driveway Butte solely to see the spectacle that it must be these millions of yellow silvercrown are in bloom. We noted a slope covered with chocolate lilies in full bloom! I’ve never seen so many!

We met a couple on their way down who did not make the summit. The woman told great tales of a massive mud hole so big that they sunk to their knees, and they were beaten back. The thought of a mudhole big enough to turn back a couple of hearty hikers smart enough to start early this hot trail was intriguing.

Once the trail hits the Pass at Delancy Ridge, you enter the edge of the Needles fire damage. The trail dips down a little, and hits some marshy areas. Here we met yet another couple who reported that a huge muddy pit turned them back. They chose instead to take a sidetrail to an unnamed peak to the right of the pass.

Well, now we were EXTREMELY interested in this mud pit. Thus far, it daunted 100% of the hikers we met this day. Like any other red-blooded Americans, we were drawn toward this pit of sticky mud. It had reached the status of legend.

The burned snags here are silvery/orange/black, and through them you can see the mountains. There are willow shrubs growing, currently their new growth adds a pretty red haze as a bottom layer of the forest.

We walked through some mudholes, but nothing of note. We kept on, visions of mud in bibliblic proportions in our minds eye.

We soon hit solid snow. Postholing wasn’t too irritating, but I would imagine that by this writing it is quite irritating, and fairly ankle-twisting as the snowbridges collapse over the shallow intermittent creeklets. For safety, I’d give Driveway Butte summit til this next weekend or the one after (even at their greatest flow, the creeklets should not pose a problem).

We came to another Pass, mostly snow-free, and chock-full of yellow glacier lilies.

Driveway Butte itself was mostly spared by the fire. The western portion was burned, but the eastern slope is cloaked in green grasses.

The trail is faint on the slope below Driveway Butte, but we did not have a problem staying on the trail. Please do – what vegetation that is returning needs its space. We enjoyed some time on the summit, resting, drinking water and eating. Such a beautiful place.

Thanks to my friend Jim Kuresman (HikerJim) for joining me for this trip – I have wanted to visit this beautiful place.

PS: We did not run across any bibliblic mudholes. Being 206’ers, what mud was there seemed perfectly normal to us.

A few trees down, as you would expect from a burned forest. Though this trail receives good maintenance, the trees are always falling, so be prepared to get sooty.

This trip is about 8 miles round, 3100’ gain and well worth the effort. Go early, wear lots of sunscreen, and enjoy this place.

A wonderful place, almost directly opposite Black Canyon.

Hardy Canyon begins on an old road and wends through idyllic flower and grass-draped slopes before delving into Hardy Canyon, shaded with birch and ponderosas.

I've never seen so many yellow desert parsley as in this area. In the canyon are the beautiful black fern-leafed desert parsley; huge flowers and stalks. Myriad birds flitted and sang, and a soft, cool breeze was welcomed on such a hot day; too hot for us, we didn't reach the top of the hike. We forgot what it's like to hike while hot, and felt we didn't have enough water. Janet is still healing from knee surgery as well, so we turned back after about 3.5 miles of desert wandering.

WFWD parking pass required. $12 at any Wal-Mart or other place where fishing stuff is sold.

I know folks are probably wanting to take their kids on a backpacking trip here, but it should wait.

Trail is 100% snow covered (deep stuff), and doesn't seem to be in a hurry to melt.

The road is clear to about 1/4 mile from there trailhead where it suddenly becomes continously covered in 3-5 feet of snow.

Some voids under the snow are present on the side of the trail, at water crossings, and surrouding rocks and tree roots. Post holing wasn't too bad at this time. I punched in several times and went down up to my knee, but it'll get uglier in days to come.

I don't mind snapping a leg bone, but God please don't let it happen at Barclay Lake. Make it something more daring and heroic.

Big views, big, rolling hills, fun wander.

The flower show hasn't started yet, but it will within a week or so. We saw plenty enough - balsamroot, blue bells, spring beauty, even a few shooting stars.

The shadows on the hills and the seemingly perpetual spring showers creating cloudscapes over the Waterville Plateau make this a beautiful place even without the flowers. The sparkling Columbia River below and the meadowlarks are a great treat for west siders.

The road is rough, but its only a few miles. A sedan should be able to make it, if one takes care.

We wandered the road where it snakes around to the north, and through an old burned area - ponderosa bark is quite burn resistant, and the pattern of burn scar and bright red bark is striking. I think we did about 10 miles, 2700 or so gain. It's a steep road-walk, but you don't really feel it - too busy marveling at the views!

Take a jacket even if it's warm out - I've been here twice, and was cold in the biting wind screaming down the canyon.

WDFW parking pass required. $12 at Wal-Mart in Wenatchee. It only took us about 5 minutes in & out to get the pass. The Swakane Cyn road is 5.4 miles north of Hwy 2 on the 97-A side of the Columbia.

Drive Palisades road south of Wenatchee. Palisades Road runs through beautiful Moses Coulee. Turn left onto Wagon Road, and drive up, up, up the steep slope a couple of miles to the end of the road and trailhead (not suitable for a passenger car).

This is a walk along an abandoned RR grade-turned-hiking trail and motorized user trail. I saw several different groups of folks of all users - ATV's, motorcycles, bicycles, and folks taking a walk. A very freindly group of folks, all out to enjoy the desert.

I walked a couple miles - forded the creek twice (once was fairly deep, but it felt good). I came upon an old abandoned homestead. Old, gnarled apricot trees are in full bloom - and full of bees. I continued another 1/2 mile or so, then turned around and came back.

No flowers yet - I spoke to a gentleman ATV'er who said the flowers are about 2 weeks behind schedule - the area was still in freezing temps at night until recently.

This is a wonderful drive and a great walk. Tall sagebrush cloaks the slopes and is a beautiful color.

Within a couple of weeks, it will be too hot to enjoy this place.

I’ve been jonesing for a visit to the White Bluffs at Hanford Reach on the Columbia. This is near Mattawa or Othello, depending on how you look at it. I found this place in the Nelson/Bauer “Best Desert Hikes” book and fell in love with it (both the book and the place). This was my 6th or 7th visit to White Bluffs.

I am interested in the revegetation of the White Bluffs, after the 2007 lightning-caused total burn of 21,000 acres of sagebrush habitat.

The road into the National Monument from the highway skirts the edge of the sand dunes, and some flowers are beginning to bloom; patches of sand dock are blooming, lots of yellow bell poking out of the sand are in full bloom, locoweed is blooming, and a mysterious yellow flower that HikerJim found. Beautiful cushions of pink phlox as well. These flowers are scattered – there’s not a sea of color here – but the dots of flowers here and there make it almost more special to find and enjoy them. I parked the truck and we got out and wandered around the sand a little, to find these flowers.

At the end of the driveable road, I parked the truck at the parking lot/viewpoint. What we saw was that much of this area is still void of vegetation. We saw nothing but sand and circles with charred black dots in the center of them; each circle being the ghostly aura of an sagebrush that once grew there.

We walked the abandoned road that heads south and down, down, down. The road is now choked with tumbleweeds. With nothing to check their flight, tumbleweeds race across the sageless land. These noxious balls of spines are taking over the folds & contours of the slopes. However, the tumbleweeds seem to give a place for the birds and small critters to live. Though non-native plants interfere with restoration, without these tumbleweeds, there would be no place for birds to flutter, and no place for small critters to hide from prey – we saw eagles and coyote and what we think must be badger dens - so predators are here again, which means there is prey – which means life. I don’t know what they’re planning to do about the tumbleweeds, but they (WDFW) have closed and likely will continue to close the area on occasion as restoration efforts continue.

Further south, on the banks of the river near the abandoned and charred orchard, the some has returned. Tumble-mustard cloaks the slope above the Columbia River, it's brilliant yellow flower a gorgeous color against the green grasses that are coming back, and the aqua river. Desert parsley and biscuitroot are popping up as well. Saw some lupine beginning to poke up.

I saw some shoots of tall sagebrush dotted here and there – it looks planted, but I can’t say for sure that it was planted; as far as I know nothing has been planted there yet, and there wasn’t a huge number of these shoots – but they are there.

It got quite warm, and going further down the road meant coming back up in the heat of the day, so we decided to just head over to Gingko Petrified Forest and wander the slopes there. Some flowers are coming out, but the big show is a couple of weeks out.

We also stopped at the Wild Horse wind power farm at Whiskey Dick. There’s a Visitor’s Center there now! Very nice – you drive to about the summit, and there’s a brand-spanking new building there complete with information boards, video of the installation of one of these windmills and interpretive displays. Very interesting – open 7 days a week 9 – 5:30. GO!

Find this trail behind the farthest campsite at the Howard Miller Steelhead County (Skagit) Park in Rockport. There's another trailhead near the maintenance shop - don't park there, they need the space as a turnaround - park elsewhere (guess how I found out).

The county purchased this railroad bed from the railroad last year. The trail begins in a wetland area that includes information boards on salmon and eagles. Very nice.

I came to a "T" and followed the arrow that pointed to "Dead End." I find that taking the roads less taken are interesting, as in this case. According to the State Park guy I spoke with later in the day, the rail-trail goes back about 5 miles or so. I only went about 2, maybe more - and then turned around, as it was getting late, and raining like crazy.

The rail-trail skirts a pretty swampy area that has evidence of beaver activity. Soon you're walking above and alongside the mighty Skagit River. Beautiful views, and very quiet forest. Lots to see here.

A wonderful way to spend a rainy day - the early spring colors on new growth pops in rainy weather.

Sarah felt like visiting old growth forest. We love the beer at the Birdsview Brewery, we love the bulk candy department at the Food Pavilion in Arlington, so Rockport State Park was the natural choice.

I was very happy with the trails we chose to hike. The last time I was there, the Evergreen Trail was closed for repair, and I had never taken the Broken Fir trail before. All the trails we walked today are in excellent condition. Huge Douglas fir and cedars at this park, and big leaf maple.

We started on the new accessible West Loop Interpretive Trail. This trail was built for the State Park by the Forest Service and state corrections. They did a great job. The interesting old growth forest interpretive signs are in place. The trail winds along creeklets and next to wetlands and open spaces where big leaf maple are aplenty.

We then took the Evergreen Trail. This trail gains a little elevation and the forest canopy closes; it's darker here, and the mosses coat everything. Nurselogs with 6 inches of forest litter on them are scattered all over the place. Here are what I call the "octopus" trees – green mossy bent branches radiating from every tree. Simply amazing. No one can walk this forest and not marvel at them.

We then hit the Broken Fir trail. A portion of this trail skirts a deep canyonic slope and also boasts a picturesque curved puncheon that spans a marshy area. The Broken Fir is a wonderful fellow to visit. No cause to mourn this 314 year old giant; snags are useful for many, many years after the tree dies.

Such a beautiful park. Closed for camping due to a certain inherent nature of old growth - falling trees and limbs. Day use is open; nice, clean restrooms and a great information kiosk at the parking lot that is always stocked with lots of brochures and park maps.

Afterwards Sarah and I went to the Birdsview Brewery where we had burgers, brats, and beer. And a cookie, of course. Birdsview Brewery is on Hwy 20 a bit west of the Baker Lake road. Its eating area is kid-freindly, so bring 'em in.

Rockport State Park is on Highway 20, east of Concrete and before the juction with Hwy 530.

Janet Putz and I hatched a plan to drive to the coulees. I invited HikerJim Kuresman, who mused aloud, “Hmmmm…it’s probably not going to rain over there…?”

“No. Freezing fog,” I said.

We learned that Dry Falls Interpretive Center is open on weekends this winter as an experiment. We arrived just as the ranger was closing up, but she would love to have folks drop by and pay a visit.

We camped at Steamboat Rock SP – currently under about 6-8 inches of snow. But the restrooms are open (and warm). The temps Friday night dipped to 21 degrees. According to the locals I spoke with (I love the locals here), the temps aren’t uncommon, but the amount of snow is.

Twice during the night, Janet and I heard a pack of coyotes howling. And twice during the night, I heard some live-action frost-wedging going on up at the Rock. A loud, popping CRACK, and then rocks rumbling and tumbling down slope. 2 wedgies within a few minutes of each other. Geomorphology at work. That was really, really cool!

It dawned clear and cold. We went into town to the dam Visitor’s Center, and walked the bridge/museum, we headed to Northrup Cyn (definitely do the bridge walk – there are history readerboards installed on the walkway; very interesting).

Northrup Cyn is gorgeous in winter. Tall sagebrush retains a silvery-green hue and the grasses are golden, the red-osier is beginning to attain its glorious scarlet color.

Eagle-watchers present, but no eagles at Northrup this day, though we did see some at Thompson Lake at Steamboat Rock SP. This is eagle-watching season for the Grand Coulee – there’s an eagle festival next weekend! The freezing fog rolled just as we were leaving Northrup Cyn; a spectacular bank of fog lit up by the orange/pink sunset. Simply amazing.

The fee for camping at Steamboat is $19 per night, and is open year-round

This is a wonderful area for a family to explore. Rosario Head trail is at Deception Pass State Park on the north side of the bridge over Deception Pass. The CCC museum is closed for winter, but it is definately worth a visit if you go when it's open.

Watch the wobbling little tykes on the Rosario Head trail - it's a long drop to the water. There's a nice wooden sculpture and native American legend to read before the final ascent to the top of the Head.

Goose Point trail is located at the South side of the Deception Pass bridge on the east side of Hwy 20 (opposite the parking lot). Access is via the trail under the bridge and to the other side. You have a few choices; we started on the Perimeter Trail and went to the other side of Goose Point, then took the summit trail and back down to meet the Perimeter trail. There are lots of big madrona trees on the cliffyish, south side of Goose Point.

This is always a great area to spend the day. There is also a very nice wetland trail at Cranberry Lake, and of course the beach, which is home to some of the most colorful beach stones I've ever seen!

I won't go into details for this well-known hike off Canyon River Road outside of Ellensburg, but wanted to let folks know the conditions.

This is a wonderful winter walk; colorful willows of coral, scarlet and orange contrast with the brilliant white snow, last years' dull sagebrush and the coulee walls.

The trail is covered with a thick coating of solid ice, and currently that is covered by a dusting of snow. We walked on the outer edge of the trail or off trail as much as possible. The rainwater used the trailbed as a creek, then froze solid. Some folks were there in Yak Trax, but advised even those were slipping. Several local people were there enjoying the sunny side of the canyon.

We just wore regular boots and thankfully had trekking poles, so it's doable regardless. Just wanted to give folks the idea that January is a wonderful time to visit this place, and if you go now, to expect slick conditions.

Saw several eagles perched in trees along the Yakima River. That was pretty funny, because Janet and I drove all the way up to the Bald Eagle Festival in Rockport yesterday and though we saw eagles and Janet had her super-duper eagle camera lense, none were close enough to get a good photo. The eagles along the Yakima were a lot closer for us to see, they were posed perfectly, and the lighting was ideal. Of course today she didn't have her super-duper eagle camera lense; which was even funnier (well, not really).

I picked up my friend Bob, who lives in Arlington, and we headed toward Silvana/Stanwood. He wanted to see how much the floodwaters receded; he was there on Wednesday and said a lot of this area was under water, as you can imagine a mudflat would be during a bi-annual 100 year flood event.

We turned right after crossing the canal from the parking lot, and walked the top of the dike for awhile, then dropped down and walked along the water as well. Lots of trumpet swans were making their musical horn sound, and several eagles were perched in trees. Duck hunters were few; according to one gentleman, the ducks left for awhile, because the floodwaters destroyed their hidey-holes. I’m not a birder, so I can’t report what we saw. Not many birds, but that’s alright, we weren’t there for the birds, just for a nice stroll.

We went to the end of the public access part of the dike, then came back.

A very nice walk along a salt marsh – tons of reeds, cattails and colorful rose hips. Nice tree reflections in the canal.

Directions are from the Washington State Tourism website. I don’t know how the heck we got there; Bob knows the area, and we took the back way.

ACCESS: From I-5, take exit 221 (Lake McMurray/Conway). Turn south onto Pioneer Hwy. Drive 4.6 miles. Turn right (west) onto Old Pacific Hwy. Immediately turn right (west) again onto the unmarked gravel road. Drive 0.6 mile to the parking lot. (Note from Kim: there is a hard-to-see brown sign off the main road pointing to the Big Ditch walk).

Exit off I-90 as if going to the popular trail. Turn right, but instead of turning right again for the popular trail, turn left and park at a gate. Walk the road a bit, past the old logging mill pond, then find the High Point trail on the right.

Lots of nice wandering here; there's Lingering Trail, Dwights' Way - we chose to head up to the Tiger Mtn Trail.

There are a couple of small trees down, nothing to hinder - but that's because the snow was deep enough to make it easy for us. Without snow, one tree might be a hassle.

HikerJim and I strapped on our snowshoes at the RR grade, but we could have used them earlier. It was strange to see so much snow on Tiger! Snowshoes! And we needed them, too!

Nothing fantastic to report, just a heads up that there are other trails than the main Tiger Mtn trail to enjoy on Tiger Mtn.

I am interested in photos of that old logging mill. Anyone?

There are 2 approaches to Squire Creek Pass. Shep Griswold and I hiked the Squire Creek Trail a couple of weeks ago (see trip report titled "Squire Creek" if interested). This is a shorter approach on the Eight Mile Trail. Shep, HikerJim and I were the visitors today.

The Eight Mile trail is located 8 miles up the Clear Creek road opposite the Clear Creek Campground a few miles from Darrington on the Mountain Loop (when you come to the fork in the road, go up). Road good for all cars - a few rocky patches where washout repair has been done, but just take it easy - my buddy Bob was up there last week with a Honda Element (zero clearance). The trailhead is at a wide spot when it’s obvious the road ahead deteriorates. See trailhead sign and bulletin board on right.

Past trip reports begged the Forest Service to not allow this trail to slip away – well, they’re working on it now!!! The Forest Service brushed the trail and logged it this summer, so it was in great condition (relatively speaking) for us this day.

The Eight Mile trail to 3 O’Clock Rock is a perfect example of different user groups pulling together for a better trail. In the late 1990s, WTA worked extensively on this trail with Matt Perkins and the Access Fund (not a 1950’s rock & roll band – Matt, avid rock climber, arranged the work party, sponsored by The Access Fund). Among its other program agendas, The Access Fund advocates continued access to climbing areas. Without climbers, this trailhead and the trail leading to the climbing area would likely have fallen into decay due to low usage years ago. Thanks to climbers and The Access Fund.

There’s more to this trail than 3 O’Clock Rock and the stupendous views at the end. There are many rock slabs with slippy-slidey waterfalls spilling down them, similar to Otter Falls (Mid Fk Snoqualmie trail). Also there are hundreds - if not thousands - of old growth Alaskan Yellow Cedar trees here. Among the oldest possible trees that grow in our region (up to 2,000 years old), these grand old trees are worth a visit. The wood is valuable, so it’s not common to see any of the age of these trees at Squire Creek Pass trail. They are beautiful trees.

The trail begins on an old, old logging road. Mildly irritating, the rocks are perpetually wet, so they’re slick. But it doesn’t last long; you’re soon on a mildly irritating steep trail. The forest here isn’t the prettiest I’ve ever seen – but no worries – the upper portion more than makes up for it. However, a humongous western redcedar thrives a bit before you reach the open slope to 3 O’Clock Rock. You’ll know it when you see it.

After 3 O’Clock Rock, the trail shoots upward and becomes more primitive. It’s “built trail” characteristics mysteriously come and go. Now a boot-path, now an excellent tread through a rock slope.

While the trail maps indicate no creek crossings, there are intermittent streams that slip down exposed rock waterslides. We had no trouble crossing these intermittent streams, and though the rock looks slick, it was not (at least not at this date).

Views of White Chuck Mountain to the north are very nice; when you near the Pass, Pugh Mountain and Glacier Peak also poke up. They’re more difficult to see, but are surely there.

Once you get to the Pass, Three Fingers steals the show, and understandably so. It’s so close that you can see the lookout building. Spectacular views all down the Squire Creek valley from Big Bear Mtn down to White Horse.

On the way up and while at the Pass, I thought how I wish people would get off the I-90 hikes and get over to these other tremendous areas and hike them and love them and advocate for them before we loose them forever. I-90 is nice, but once you hike it, love it, and advocate for it folks, try other places, too, ok?

Past trip reports on WTA’s site are pretty harsh for this trail, apparently notorious for brush. But since the largest portion of this trail is in old growth forest, I can’t figure out where all the brush is save for a few obvious places – surely not enough to render the full 2.5 miles as horrible…? Other comments bemoan the roots and rocks that have to be dealt with, yet I don’t read vicious complaints about the Rachel Lake trail, the Sunrise Mine trail (Headlee Pass), the beat-to-hell Forgotten Meadows, Pinnacle Lake trail - and the eyesore that is Mailbox Peak with views of a freeway is praised as a great trip. This trail is only 2.5 miles long – though I don’t recommend it for children, anyone who can huff those other eyesore ankle-twister trails ought to be able to handle this one. Just watch your step. I’m a world-class klutz and only fell on this trail once - and it had nothing to do with the trail conditions – I slipped on hemlock cones.

There's a pretty gnarly sinkhole on the road starting at about 1 mile from the trailhead. It's on the creek side of the road, and is corraled off by a make-shift stick-&-flagging-tape crib.

When you get to the clearcut area nearest the trailhead, watch for it. OK for cars & trucks to get around now, but the mud on the side of the road might become mookey and slick with time, so I don't know what folks will have to deal with in weeks to come.

Trail in typical Boulder River trail condition; from great tread to boot-sucking mud - but a joy to hike, as always.

A brand new Boulder River Wilderness, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF sign has been installed - but they mispelled "Snoqualmie." *








* Ha! Just joking.

I added Goat Lake as the name of this trip, officially named "Elliott Creek," because it's more known for the Goat Lake destination. Many folks choose to hike to Goat Lake via the upper trail that runs along a closed logging road. Many others prefer to use the lower trail that runs along Elliott Creek.

Without the Elliott Creek portion of this hike, it wouldn't be nearly as spectacular. Also for me, it's wonderful to walk history - the Elliott Creek trail follows an old miner's puncheon road, the puncheon still intact in many places.

Trail is well maintained all the way to the lake.

We hiked along Elliott Creek going into Goat Lake as well as coming out - I recommend doing this, because in returning along the creek, you get a different view of the creek that you didn't see while coming in.

Wonderfully huge trees on this trail that winds though a forest of hemlock, cedar and silver fir. We were snowed on, quite heavily in the afternoon - the snow sifted down through openings in the forest canopy creating columns of brilliant gleaming flakes in an otherwise dark green and brown forest. The snow accumulating at the base of the snow columns created round pools of white snow. The whole scene looked like ancient greek columns here and there, standing with grace, next to the ancient columns of nature, the trees.

Additional stuff:
Last time I was on this trail, the route down to the creek started at the parking lot. This was a repair of a portion of trail that was washed out in the 1980's or in 1990 floods. It was great, and views of boulders larger than houses stacked in the creek. Stunning creek views. But (there's always a "but") that nice new trailwork was obliterated in 2003, and this small portion of the trail is closed again, probably forever. To get to the lower Elliott Creek trail, you have to again access it by taking the road/trail a little ways.

On the way out from Goat Lake yesterday, we decided to check out the closed portion. It's strange to walk this section of trail - practically new checksteps, a new bridge, turnpike, tread, slowly being reclaimed by nature, except for a stretch that nature reclaimed pretty quickly in 2003 - a portion of the trail is gone, and you're left with a cliff. Oh, well - we re-traced our steps back to the new new trail and back to the truck.

I do not recommend bringing children along to investigate the closed portion of the trail. Some of the blowdown is slick, unsettled, and one slip and you're in the drink. If you're going to let your kid slip into a creek, Elliott Creek is not the one you want him to slip into.

A trip report from last week prompted me to visit West Cady again; mainly so I can write up a trip report and remind folks that, as Janice Van Cleve pointed out in her May 2007 report, that the Index-Galena Road is washed out and this trail is not accessible from Index. It IS ACCESSIBLE from Skykomish, on a very nice gravel road suitable for all cars, even Steve Fox's Prius.

To get to West Cady trailhead, take Beckler Road, a.k.a. FS 65 (at Skykomish) and drive it up & over Jacks Pass (this is a confusing intersection, but just stay on FS 65 - it's clearly signed). After Jacks Pass, the road winds down, down, down. At the base of the road, hook a right onto FS 63, clearly signed. This is easy to spot, because you cannot go straight - this is the east end of the Index-Galena closure, and the orange gates are fairly noticeable.

Drive FS 63 til you can't drive any more. Maps show it continuing, but the Wild Sky Wilderness, designated this year, closed the road at the West Cady and Quartz Cr trailheads.

Now. West Cady is a gorgeous trail, nicely graded and well-maintained. When the trail traverses to the upper switchbacks, you'll run into some mud and water running down the trail, but compared to Squire Creek trail the day before, this was like a stroll in the desert. I laughed at this trails' pitiful attempt to get me wet. Ha!

A few inches of snow at the upper-upper switchbacks. A sunny, warm day for us. Glacier Peak was out in full glory; Sloan, a wierd view of Pugh, Kyes, Columbia, and Indian Head Peak. And Mt Rainier too, if that's what floats your boat.

Old growth trees, creeks, moss galore, sunny climes.

In spite of the 2001 road washout, this spectacular destination is within dayhike range!

This impressive landslide happened in 2001, and wiped out quick access to the Squire Creek trailhead (from the town of Darrington). The slide is still labeled unstable by the MBSNF website; we found it to be settled in this day, though several large boulders look recently fallen.

To get to Squire Creek Pass trail from Darrington, we turned south onto Darrington Street, the main drag in Darrington, and drove out of town on a good gravel road, then up the hillside, and to the end, where it’s blocked first by man-made barriers, then Nature-made landslides. This slide is visible from Hwy 530 if you know where to look. Impressive.

We easily picked our way across the slides, to the intact portion of the road on the other side. It’s about a mile to the official trailhead. The trail begins as a road-turned trail, closed when Boulder River Wilderness was created in the 1980’s. A couple of creeks have cut through it, so expect wet boots. Trekking poles helped me across a few of the creeks. Here’s a tip: Don’t expend a lot of energy trying to keep your feet dry. Unless you’re a freak about picking high and dry foot steps, or are extremely lucky, it’s probably futile anyway. Read on.

At first, peek-a-boo views of White Horse and Three Fingers are to be had, and long ribbons of beautiful waterfalls sliding down the spalding rock faces

Soon the old road ends, and you’re on a true trail. After you enter the Wilderness, gigantic cedars begin to make regular, impressive appearances. This is a good trail, if you’re not too picky. Frankly, I expected less of a trail; the tread is sound, for the most part. There’s a pretty good-sized gully created, I assume, when a creek gushed down in 2001 when the landslides came down. No more creek; but it left a huge swath of boulders as wide as a 2-lane freeway. Easy to negotiate, easy to find the trail on the other side. A freind of mine said that each time he has been to Squire Creek Pass, this swath has not had water in it.

When the trail begins its switchbacks, pull on the gaiters, if you’re of a gaiter-wearing sort – at any rate, prepare for wet feet. The trail is more a creekbed for the next ½ mile or so, at least on this day, after a week of extremely heavy rainfall in the Cascades. Unless you spend more time trying to keep dry than you do getting somewhere, this will not slow you down very much. We found it fairly amusing. I find it more efficient to just plow through water.

The trail flattens after the trailcreek, a couple of yellow cedars make their appearance, then you emerge from forest to above treeline in a sea of brilliant, white granite boulders encrusted in moss. The trail is easily followed, but the views are what will hamper you. In-your-face views of Three Fingers here; from its tippy-top all the way down to its root, buried deep in the Squire Creek Valley far below. A majestic, awesome mountain.

Despite the wetness of this trail, it’s in very good condition; recently logged out and brushed by the Forest Service, we had an easy time of it, and appreciated the trailwork done on it.

I would like to see this trail used; it’s not a long trip to the views, the road is in excellent condition, and from Seattle is about and hour and a half drive. To see White Horse and a close-up view of Three Fingers, don’t you think it’s worth this small effort to get there? Yes!

I have not done many trails along the I-90 corridor in the 13 years I've been hiking in Washington. A rainy fall day after larch season is the perfect time to delve into the lower elevation lakes in Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and that's what I did.

I took the upper Talapus Lake trail to a crossing of the outlet of Olallie. Crossed the creek and took the connector trail to the Pratt trail, which travels above Olallie. Just beyond Olallie, the trail splits - down toward Pratt, or straight, to Rainbow and Island Lakes.

Lovely trail; nicely maintained. A bit worn at Rainbow Lake; but not by anyone this rainy, foggy day. I was the sole visitor. The colors on a rainy day are vibrant and brilliant. The skillentons of shrubs and tall stalky plants are yellow, golden, red and orange, especially near Rainbow Lk.

The connector trail from Talapus trail to Pratt trail has received some work, as well as on the Pratt trail. I love to see old puncheon; alas, many are being removed, and no-to-low maintenance structures or tread are taking their place - a much needed bit of maintenance on these heavily used trails.

Thanks to MBSNF for working on this trail; nice job.

A very beautiful place.

While Mt Lillian Loop is not a trip to view larches, the drive to the trailhead on FS 9712 to Haney Meadows from Swauk (Blewett) Pass most certainly is a larch viewing extravaganza. Elk season began today, so we wore obnoxious orange garb.

Once on the trail, there are glimpses of larches here and there, but you never get the Big Wow. However (there’s always a redeeming “however” with me), it’s a place of special beauty in fall; many interesting plants in their late stage, and in the particular light we had today, the grasses, mosses and other plants were vivid to the point of cartoonic. The fog added a special beauty, moving in and out of the ridge below Lillian.

Ghostly white, missing their chlorophyll, the hellebore and vetch in their late fall stage were eerie. Lodgepole pine and it’s scraggly, wiry whitey-grey branches looked ghostly in the foggy, dark forest. Absolutely beautiful!

We parked at Haney Mdws and walked the road a piece to where there’s an obvious trail to the left, going uphill. This is the beginning of the loop (the trial also begins within the Ken Wilcox Horse Camp, but I’ve never started the trail from there). We followed this about ½ mile or so and exited left when it was apparent the terrain was open, and views were to be had. This took us to the edge of a cliff, overlooking Wenatchee.

We investigated the gassy-bubbled rock formations, and then followed the trail as it dropped down, down, down, through the dark lodgepole pine forest to a road. TURN LEFT HERE and walk a few minutes to the Howard Creek trail, #1372. We followed this through more trees, and enjoyed following it along Howard Creek as it serpentined through meadow after meadow, lined with lodgepole pine, white pine, and Engelmann spruce, (huge Engelmann spruce). Some other pointy tree too; (amabilis?)

The trail then intersects with the Old Ellensburg trail and steadily, but gently, gains elevation to a high point before dropping down to road 9712 a bit beyond Haney Mdws, where you complete your loop. The stretch from Old Ellensburg trail to the dip to Haney is chock full of humongous old growth larches; they’re so big that the trunks look more like Ponderosas. Crane your neck to see the tell-tale golden needles to see they are indeed larches.

The 9712 road is in good condition to Haney Mdws. Past there, vehicles are prohibited from Oct 15 to some other date. Can’t recall the end date, but the point is, no vehicles allowed for the rest of this season. Some slick mudholes in the last 2 miles before the meadows, but not too bad. The scary portion of the road is of good roadbed with pullouts. You can see the entire length of Scary Road when you approach from each side, so if someone is on it, you can await your turn.

The road is fixed and driveable to the parking lot.

This is among the best old growth forest hikes near Seattle. We chose to drive the full Mountain Loop Highway; through Granite Falls to the trailhead, and continued out through Darrington.

Several cars were in the parking lot, and as we were putting our cameras together, a family with 4 children exited the trail, happy from a day of walking the trail and enjoying the warm, sunny rocks at the riverbank a few miles in.

We didn't go very far; we had arrived very late in the day, and there were so many wonderful things to look at! The mushrooms and fungus are coming up; chantarelles, russulae, coral fungus, some wierdo-looking brown stuff (they look like honey mushrooms but I don't think they are), and I was happy to find a beautiful earthstar, and mushroom that I had only seen pictures of.

Skunk cabbage leaves as big as any I had ever seen are still green and lush this late in the year. We even saw a few bleeding hearts in bloom, as well as spring beauty!

This is such a beautiful place. Last year I hiked to the Red Mountain Lookout -that trail shares the same trailhead as the N Fk Sauk, and shoots off of it almost immediately (look to the left, hard to find in the lush forest). Both of these trails (Red Mtn and N Fk Sauk) have huge old growth trees to gawk at in wonder.

This trail is well-maintained (not logged it out yet, because the road just opened last week. We encountered only a couple of easy blowdowns, but I understand there are others farther in).

Thanks to MBSNF for getting the road opened for us!

PiB and I used The Mountaineers' Day Hiking North Cascades by Craig Romano to choose the Ruby Creek trail. We wanted something suitable for a drippy day.
We were both very happy with this choice!

The trailhead shares with the East Bank Trail. After you cross the bridge and walk a little, turn right, instead of left.

The vine maple is very colorful right now; gorgeous yellows of black cottonwood, reds and oranges of vine maple. Talus slopes are draped in beautiful mosses and lichen of various shades of green; deep green moss, mid green, silvery green lichen. Gorgeous stuff. We passed by quite a few now-dead vascular candystick plants.

This trail is in excellent condition. It has recently been re-rerouted in several places; but often you are walking the old trail. I found an abandoned portion of the very old trail on a talus slope, and followed it a little ways. My feet got all tingly.

We enjoyed the lush flora of this trail; mosses, lichens, Oregon grape, tons and tons of wild ginger, silver pathfinder, and vine maple. Each time I lay down on the ground to photograph something, the fragrance of ginger surrounded me. Wonderful stuff.

There are bits of remnants of old prospector claims and cabins along the trail. Janet found the remains of an old wood stove, and I found several pits that were dug into the slope, and one right off the trail a ways. Several signs are nailed to the trees; government notices that the old stake at the sign site had been officially taken off the US claims record.

A very interesting trail, and beautiful as well. Definitely a worthy visit.

I hope you go!

After setting up camp at Klipchuck Campground, Janet and I hiked the Goat Peak Lookout trail. I wanted to see if Lightning Bill was still manning the lookout this season. We were lucky; he was there, and this was his last weekend for the season. He's going back home Saturday the 27th. Hopefully he'll get his website up and running (lightningbill.org) this winter. He's planning on selling postcard sized pen & ink and watercolors, scenes of Goat Peak and other areas. He's quite a talented artist.

We were surprised that the larches at Goat Peak have indeed turned golden. Some are at their height, some are just turning, so the show should last a few more weeks; but the important thing is, is that it's not too early for golden larches at Goat Peak! We did not see any other golden larches; they haven't started to turn along the highway or visibly on other peaks.

The trail is dry, bring water. It's usually windy up top, so take a jacket, hat & gloves.

The views are lovely here, but for us the mountains were mostly obscured by smoke that Bill said had blown in from Leavenworth and fires down in Oregon.

A beautiful hike, only 5 miles RT. Directions in Day Hiking North Cascades are dead-on.

(FYI: gas at Mazama store isn't any more expensive than anywhere else).

Cascadian Farms near Marblemount is about ready to begin selling their pumpkins, gourds and squashes. Beautiful pumpkins for jack o lanterns, and sugar pumpkins for baking. Gourds, some brilliant scarlet, some white, some yellow/green for decoration. A wonderful place to stop on the way home.

Cascade River Rd is now closed at Eldorado Creek for the remainder of the hiking season. The road is to receive a permanent fix of the washout there. It's an additional 3 miles or bikeride to the Cascade Pass trailhead until next year.

The fall color is petty spectacular now; it'd be worth that bike ride to the trailhead. Scarlet huckleberry leaves, golden hellibore, orange and red mountain ash. Wow!

Snohomish County has brushed and worked on parts of the portion of the old railroad grade that ran from Arlington to Darrington.

Friday I met a freind at Swede Heaven Road on Hwy 530. We then stashed my truck at the Darrington Ranger station and went back to Swede Heaven to begin our 6 mile rail-trail walk to Darrington. We walked on Swede Heaven Road a few minutes and picked up the rail-trail. It's still covered with a couple inches of hard-packed snow, but with Craig in tennis shoes and me in summer hiking boots, it was no problem. The trail is wide and free of brush. If it encroaches in summer, it's blackberry and no fun, but this portion is typically well-maintained, being so close to town. A bridge over pretty Squire Creek is very nice, as are the many wonderful views of the Stillaguamish river, peek-a-boo views of Round Mtn and Higgins, and an in-your-face views of Prairie Mountain and Whitehorse.

This trail ends at Price Street, in the Forest Service Compound (but only a couple buildings belong to the FS nowadays).

Sunday I joined freinds in Trafton to walk another portion of this trail. Trafton is at the Chevron station on Hwy 530 3 miles beyond the Jordan Road traffic light in Arlington. This portion of the trail is accessed from 115th Avenue a bit west of the Chevron. Drive this pretty road to the end, where there is a small parking lot at a farm that Snohomish County now owns (I'm hoping they'll make it a park museum!).

There is no snow on this portion of the trail, and is very recently brushed and cleared, and some new gravel put down as well. Walk west on the trail, through old farmland, and to a big railroad bridge over the river. This bridge has new decking suitable for feet. Hold onto the kiddies, though; it's a train bridge and there are no railings.

This is a very pretty walk along the river, and skirts some nice wetlands at about 2 miles from the trailhead. We saw a couple of eagles and bobcat tracks. You can go farther, but the trail ends at a railroad trestle in Arlington that is closed to the public. It's big, tall, and not suitable for young'uns to walk on (railroad ties, not decking for feet).

An excellent way to spend a day. A rail trail is always great for a rainy day, and when it's sunny, the trail is wide enough to let sun shine on your face.

To sum it up: Access one portion on Swede Heaven off Hwy 530. Access another portion west of the Chevron at Trafton on 115th Ave.