Trip Reports

Started from the White River side. First time on this trail though I'd driven past it about 100 times. Fairly easy grade and travels through nothing but forest until you get to the lakes. No views of the mountain. Good choice for a rainy day.

Forest is dense and mossy. Meadows are probably decent in summer but couldn't comment on that this time of year. View of the lakes and surrounding ridges is ok but not spectacular.

Lots of day hikers and some overnighters on the trail. Parking is limited.

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During a break in the wet weather I thought about taking a short hike and was tempted to go to Talapus Lake to get into the snow but looking at the mountains I thought this would not be a good plan so went to Squak for a low land hike.

The trails on Squak were covered with a carpet of Maple Leaves, pretty but also hiding slick stones which did not prove a problem on the hike down. At the summit I met Dick who knew the trails and area quite well. We both decided to hike the Old Griz trail down to the East Side trail and then back to the Mountainside Trail Head. The Old Griz trail is in much better shape than the last time I was on it 7 years ago. It has been slightly rerouted and is now an official trail with a wide tread and good grade.

Squak is mainly a forest hike with limited views. The rain for me held off and I was able to hike in a sweater without rain gear. Work on the trails has reduced mud due to excellent drainage and other improvements. It was a pleasant 5 mile hike with some fall color.

Ralph and I departed from the Pratt Lake trailhead at 0815 and went up trail #1007 reaching a snow-covered trail at 3200'. It got deeper as we gained elevation, especially in the open areas. We finally stopped at 4300' (on trail #1009) since the snow was up to our knees and we did not bring snowshoes.
We traveled about 8 miles total in 6.5 hours. It was warming up so the trees were releasing their captured snow and dripping considerably. While we didn't make our objective, we got some good exercise and realized that next time out we would take the snowshoes.
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I joined Suzanne, Barry, David, and Lauren for an early winter assault on Mt. Pilchuck. Last fall I hiked up Pilchuck for the first time in half a dozen years. The mountain was a sheet of ice. I have been up to the lookout many times but never on snow. This would be my first snow trip. With the snow level around 3000' the past few days there was a little concern about reaching the parking lot. The road is in much better than usual shape and we hit snow several hunded feet below the 3150' lot. We pulled in to find a solid six inches of snow. With two all wheel drive vehicles we did fine. Barry and I had to push the next arrival into a space. There were five vehicles in all that arrived nearly at once. We were the first to hit the trail at about 9:00 am.

The first bit of old road was wet and slushy. Things improved when we started up the real trail. There was only about 4 inches of snow in the trees and we set a good pace. We were in the clouds and views out provided only different shades of gray. The trail is in fine shape with the exception of one large tree which has fallen across the route. We all managed to hoist ourselves over it. At the switchback in the talus field we were on snow with rocks still poking through. A minimal trench still existed from the day before but overnight snow filled it in mostly. Barry and Suzanne took off around here and we did not see them again until the top.

Another group with two guys and Jasper the dog caught up and stayed near us the rest of the way to the top. Some light snow fell but it was not bad and the wind remained light. We had none of the views one expects from this trail but the snow provided a white and gray beauty of its own. I could not see very far and it was hard to spot any landmarkds. The latest version of the trail remains pretty tame though we had to gain 2200' in just under 3 miles. Many switchbacks, some hard to see, took us higher on the mountain.

We finally crossed over the ridge and began to traverse to the south side of the peak. We saw a number of icicles and some were really spectacular. Even as we neared the lookout it was still not visible. We were very close before its frozen white shape was seen. Suzanne's dog Gusto was not going to be negotiating the frozen snow covered rocks and icy steps to the lookout this day. Barry had been up and they were just below when we arrived.

I went after one of the other party and David and Lauren followed me. The boulders were very slick and large voids were hidden by a light coating of snow. I slowly worked my way up the rocks and was very careful on the icy ladder. The south side of the walkway was very windy. We huddled on the east side and David reached up to upen the door. With the shutters locked down ove the windows there is a "doggy door" opening one can crawl through to get inside. It was much warmer in there. I did the climb to the lookout without gloves to keep them dry on the wet rocks and my hands were flash frozen. They warmed quickly in the lookout with gloves on.

Suzanne and Barry headed down as we broke out our lunches. Soon it was time to depart. There is a small whisk broom inside we used to brush out all the snow we tracked in. The railing and guy wires of the lookout were covered in rime ice. Visibility was about 75'. We slowly crawled down the ladder and the boulders and prepared for our descent. It took about 2:15 coming up. We expected the descent to be much faster. It was.

Coming down we met a number of hardy souls slogging through the snow. Many were woefully unprepared for a full on winter hike. Blue jeans are not a good idea and packs are. The benign days of summer and fall are over. Lower down the fluffy white snow we trod through earlier was brown slick slush. Slick but not bad enough to add any traction devices. We reached the parking lot in 1:30. It was still only 1:00 pm.

This was a fun trip. Enough snow to make an easy trail seem like a bit of an adventure but not so much as to require snowshoes. The avalanche danger was near zero and that won't be the case for Pilchuck much longer. Nor is the road likely to be open for long. All in all, we had a good time.

Photos have been posted at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips-2009" on the left margin.

My original destination this morning had been Humpback, but after reading traffic advisories for Snoqualmie pass, seeing the snow accumulating on the higher peaks of the I-90 corridor, and watching the fog thicken in the interior mountains, I opted against the obscure for something familiar. The joy of that discovery can wait until my girlfriend returns from Nepal.

At 8:45am, my car was alone at the parking area. The first part of the Mt. Washington trail is a tough, steady climb on rocky ground, now especially slick from fallen leaves, flowing water and slush that starts a mile in. By the owl hike point, there was a consistent half inch of snow on the path, but the new trail's grade tapers soon after and the walk tends to have long stretches of flat with graceful inclines punctuated ultimately with a good, steep rise.

The higher I climbed, the deeper the powder became until, a mile before the summit, I was despoiling two feet of heavy, wet snow with each fatigued, frolicking step, which faithfully followed the summer trail until the junction of new and old. At that moment I thoroughly lost the path and strongly considered returning despite the proximity to the peak. After as much progress as regress, I found an approach from the east, instead of the south, and evetually saw the tower through the trees.

The wooded summit on Mt. Washington provides great shelter on wet and windy days. As I ate and yawped and sang a few out-of-tune bars of "Peaceful Easy Feeling", the precipitation stopped, the wind settled, short-lived breaks of blue appeared and fog rolled across the snow caps.

On the way down, a fellow hiker, who had been following in my tracks even as they diverged from the main trail, was stepping through the punched post-holes without regretting the lack of the kind of tall gaiters that I had worn. As the season advances and snow accumulates, I would highly recommend that anyone bring them. Also, even though I did not break mine in today since the snow was not packed or slick, I would definitely recommend trax or small spikes. Snowshoes would have been perfect.

Toward the bottom of the mountain, there were four other intrepid hikers, but considering the late hour, I cannot be sure how many reached the peak. By 3:00pm I was driving home.

Had a wet hike on the Lake 22 trail, there was a lot of water on the trail below 2000ft and a decent amount of snow above 2000ft, reaching a few inches at the lake. The lake itself was partially frozen and really lovely, with some birds wading around. Not too many people but we did see about a dozen groups total on the hike, most of whom had dogs on leashes. About 90% of the fall foliage was gone along with 100% of the wildflowers. Our footwear wasn't ideal for the wet, slippery snow, but we managed just fine. Bring appropriate footwear and poles and you'll have a great hike, great views of the surrounding valley and a truly gorgeous lake at the top.

We've been off hiking for 3 weeks due to H1N1 and decided to look at hikes in Snowshoe Routes--Washington By Dan A. Nelson. Coal Pass,p 46,

 looked ideal as it was close to Glacier and about the right difficulty to get back into hiking.

Checking the topo we saw there was two choices, the south or the north approach. We opted for the North Approach which is done by turning south in Glacier right next to Grahams (after our usual stop at Harvest Moon Bakery in Maple Falls).

We traveled up this primitive road until the snow was deep enough for snow shoeing (aka Honey, I do not want to put on the chains!).
The upper portions of the road had slide-downs over the road but nothing problematic. At the end of road, the trail continue along a former narrow road that was heavily overgrown with some washouts. The trail was well marked with yellow and red tapes. The trail was more a scramble than a trail at spots. The snow dripping from the trees soaked us quickly so we turned back once we caught site of the pass (did not want to catch a chill after the flu).

We parked once the

Originally started the day planning to go to Mt. Pilchuck but decided to go where the snow was and boy were we pleasantly surprised. Although I have not been here during the summer, there is something to be said about the fresh snow covered trails and the clouds gracing the mountains.

The trails were very wet but given all the wooden/bridged paths it is not too bad. But the plus side to all the water is there were dozens of waterfalls that ordinarily would not have been there. Over all a fun hike!

On a rainy Sunday, the trail started off wet and muddy with some snow, but it was easily hikeable all the way up to Talapus Lake. By the time we got to the lake it was pretty snowy on the trail and there were lots of very watery sections. After that, it started to get significantly snowier until we were walking on solid packed snow with foot-deep powder all around for the last mile to Olallie Lake. The trees were regularly dumping fresh snow on the ground and our heads. We were fine in hiking boots, though, and you probably will be too for another week or so. Both lakes were beautiful, with a very thin layer of ice just covering the water and fog covering over the mountains just above us. The scenery is amazing with the green conifers, grey-blue ice-water and white ground, so if you've never been hiking in the winter I highly recommend it. No apparent avalanche danger that I could see. The road to the trailhead is in good shape.

It was very cold so be sure to dress warmly and remember that it gets dark early now, especially under the forest canopy. I was amazed to meet a couple heading uphill from Talapus Lake at 2:30 wearing jeans - don't do that, wear layered synthetics and plan to be back by 4 unless you like hiking in narrow snow tracks after dark.

Despite the nice weather, the parking lot was less than half full when we arrived at noon, and the trail wasn't crowded.

Days are getting short, so we didn't hike in more than a few miles before turning around. The trail up to that point was almost like a stroll in the park; just two small stream crossings. The trail branched several times; we always followed the more worn branch. Not sure it even matters...

Other than birds, the only wildlife we saw were several Bighorn sheep (on the south ridge of the canyon).