Trip Reports

Our group of seven was headed up for a snow scramble to Phildelphia Mtn. near Lake Serene. The parking lot at 600' did not have any snow, but we started hiking on it with in the first half mile. Several creeks have water running across the trail and a new foot bridge has been built over the first creek. There were a couple of blow down trees to get under. The section of the trail that switch backs up through the old growth forest now has the steps covered in snow. The two boulder fields that we crossed before getting to the lake have some man size post holes that you get lost in, so you need to watch your step.

After getting to the lake, we straped on our snowshoes and heading easterly up the ridge to Phildelphia Mtn. A few spots were steep and all the new snow was pretty soft. As we headed up, the wind came up and it began to snow, but it soon stopped and the sun started coming out. Snowshoeing up along the ridge we had nice views to the north and could see Heybrook Lookout far below us. It was hard work snowshoeing up to the top of Phily Mtn.(4,258'), but we spotted some tracks, so weren't the first ones up in all the new snow. Looked to be Elk tracks, as they were larger then a Deer's. Why they would be way up on a mountain in the snow is a mystery.

With a quick lunch and some summit photos, it was back down to Lake Serene. The clouds had blow off Mt. Index so we had a nice view of the peak above the froze over lake. Going down the ridge was much better then going up it and we could snowshoe ski down some of the steeper areas. A short distance before getting back to the trail near the lake, I saw that some one had tried to hike up our snowshoe trail, but didn't get to far as they were post holing bad. Off came the snowshoes and the hike back down to the parking lot. The trip was 9 miles RT and 3,600' gain. If you hike up to the lake, bring your snowshoes for exploring around it, you will need them.

Not knowing the current snow level, I headed up Schweitzer Creek road (Forest Road 4020) off the Mountain Loop looking for enough powder to put snowshoes to use. At the bottom of road 4020 there are a few inches of snow, so either good snow tires or all wheel drive is a good idea. I made it to about 1800 feet before pulling off and parking. After straping on the snowshoes, I headed southeast on the road staying to the left where the road splits to form the loop. Significant recent snowfall has wipped out any sign of previous visitors, so beaking trail provided the workout I was looking for. The road climbs gently to 2800 feet in 2 1/2 miles from my parking spot. There are several clearings on the road that offer gorgeous views northeast across the Stillaguamish river valley that would make good turn around points or lunch spots. There is at least 3 feet of snow on the road at 2800 ft. I slipped past my turn around time since I was so close and continued on to Lake Evan on trail 704 that also leads to Boardman Lake. Lake Evan is less than 100 yds from the trailhead. The lake is frozen over and is snow covered. The route was 5 miles round trip and took about 4 hours with rest stops and brief lunch break. There is virtually no avalanch danger due to the thick forest bordering the road. What a perfect day!

Lanham Lake is a very convenient snowshoe outing. You can park for free at the Stevens Pass Nordic Center and take advantage of their facilities. The trailhead is directly across from the building there. The first half of the trail was very well packed and easy going. Then we went past the outermost reach of the casual visitors, and had to break trail to the lake. Luckily I had been there a couple of years ago and had a pretty good idea of the route.

There was at least three or four feet of snow on the ground, and it has not consolidated at all. Travel was difficult, and we broke through to waist deep several times. I had Jack, my teenage son lead because he is young and vigorous, and most important, weighs a lot less than me.

We did find the lake and enjoyed pristine views of untouched snow. But if you break a trail, they will come. On the way back we met many shoers asking if the trail went all the way to the lake. It does now, at least until the next big dump.

First ski trip of season! Went up to second Kendall lake from Gold Creek SnoPark. Light snow when we started. Yesterday it was raining. Many snowshoers had broken the trail. Had tea at the viewpoint then headed over to lakes. 5or6' of snow at top. Telemarked the direct from lake to road and emerged into sun. Very crowed at the bottom. Wonderful start to season.

Annette Lake 3,600’ Snowshoe December 08 2001

The Trailhead is up I90 at Exit 47, Asahel Curtis. Turn right and cross the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River, and park at the access road. They are not plowing the road all the way to the Trailhead.

Joined by Tilmann Gneiting, Doerte, and I got started about 08:45 am. We knew we were in for a fine day, since we could see Little Tahoma, and most of Mount Rainier crossing Lake Washington. We walked the .5 miles to the real Annette Lake Trailhead, 1,900’, before putting on our snowshoes. It is 3.5 miles more to Lake Annette. We worked hard, breaking trail, the going slow. The trail stayed well above Humpback Creek and was not hard to follow until the very end.

As the day warmed up we had to put our Gortex jackets and hats on to stay dry. The great mounds of snow resting in the limbs of the big pines began to fall, sending clumps of snow and rain on our heads. We had fun listening to the sound of snow falling, “thump” “womp” “woosh” sounding like footsteps of a group of sasquatch.

We had wonderful views of Granite Mountain, 5,629’ to the north. The lookout was easy to see. We also looked across the valley to Humpback Mountain, 4,883’. There were six clearings to cross which gave us some avalanche concern, but we finally arrived at the Annette Lake, 3,600’, covered under 4 feet of silky powder. The snowshoes provided no float at all and we sank up to our waists in the snow!

Above us was Silver Peak, 5,605’ and Abiel Peak. The connecting ridge was blown clear of snow. Later in the season the ridge will be nicely corniced. We dreamed of the summits while we had lunch, but headed back down when the day’s weather began to move in.

The trip down was fast and easy. Rain began to fall so we headed for the cabin to warm up and have some coffee. 1,700’ gain, 8 miles, and six hours for the day.

After relentlessly ascending the Pilchuck road in my Rodeo, we finally made it to the trailhead around 745am. High clearance vehicles are necessary, as the snow starts at Heather Lake now. If you do not have a 4X4 with high clearance then do not go up this road. That type of enthusiasm made for a bittersome descent today. There were only 2 hikers (Myself and Joseph) and we saw at least 20 cars on the way down, stuck or whatever. For some reason that I will never understand, people parked their cars at the large turnouts and had campfires alongside the road. This means they planned to do this AND brought their own firewood! Luckily there was a guy with an older jeep that was like a large snomobile and helped a few people out of the jams they got in. It took us almost 45 minutes to go down the road! Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Anyway - on with the trail beta. We decided to break trail and head up the direct route that we enjoy so much! The snow was about 2-4' deep at the trailhead and got deeper the farther we ascended. The first part up to the first plateau was hard to ascend, even with snowshoes we were falling in tree moats, and struggling with the unconsolidated snow. Once over the first hump it got a little easier, and windblown snow was a welcome sight for us. It took us nearly one hour to ascend the first 1000', and once we reached the saddle between Pilchuck and Little Pilchuck it got interesting. Once again, the trail was gone, so we had to do the first traverse quite carefully as the fall would not be fun down the gulley. Once we made it around the otherside of the mountain things got easier, for a few minutes that is. We decided to head stright up the ridge towards the Frozen Lake scramble and got stuck in large snowdrifts, etc. By the time we reached the top (2hr 40) I realized that I had burned off all the ice cream I had ate the past few weeks! The lookout was unrecognizable, as it was completly covered in ice and snow. After finally getting the door open, we were greeted with a nice shelter. Getting to the door is a problem though, as the ice above the deck hangs down about 2 feet, and the snow and ice on the deck is about 1-2 feet, so you have to crawl across the deck and hope the ice does not come down and fall on you. The trail register was quite boring for the past few weeks, with hardly any action or adventure - but I got my fill for the day! The glissading' It wasn't that bad from the saddle down, but we need more people to pack the runs down! scott@nwog.org

The Mtn Loop Hwy is now closed at Deer Creek - about 1.5 miles west of Big Four. Although we were hoping for snow, it was continuous rain all day. There is about 18 or more inches of snow at the parking lot and it seems to increase the further in you go. We made it about half way before turning around since it was getting late. We did encounter two guys who said avalanches had covered the caves and were occuring about every five minutes or so (which we could clearly hear). There were also USFS folks posting avalanche warning signs. Snow shoes are definitely required!

It is touch and go getting to Heather Lake trailhead with deep snow on sideroad from Mt. Loop Hwy. Big tired vehicles have left the potential for high centering passenger cars with standard size tires. It was a toboggan ride which nearly put us in a ditch even though we were driving a Subaru Legacy with all wheel drive. The first half of the road is is pretty fair shape with not much snow which just sucks you into proceeding further up the road where there are no chances to turn around until the Heather trailhead. Be careful!

Two patrollers squelched up the muddy trail early this morning. But the stars and moon were out - did we make the Friday weather window' First time on this very steep trail which reminded us of the steep, forested Eldorado Creek trail. Encountered snow, finally wanting snowshoes near the crest of the long slope from the ground. Still, deep snow made the trudge to the boulderfield difficult, but then a frozen crust made life easier getting to the summit. We chanted from Green Eggs and Ham, knocking a foot-wide sheet of rime ice off the mailbox to get in. Even blades of grass were plastered with thick carapaces of ice - must have been ugly up here! Crisp, clear air, with views to Rainier and Baker. Even the Haystack was plastered in white. Good snow brought us down in 1.5 hours, no other souls.

Hiked to West Tiger 2 and West Tiger 3 via West Tiger 3 trail to Tiger Mt Railroad, Tiger Mt. Railroad to TMT, and TMT and cut off trail to West Tiger 2, then West Tiger 2 via cable trail to West Tiger 3 and down to High Point Trail head via West Tiger 3 trail.

Weather at start of hike was great, cloudy but no rain or wind. Started at 12:20 and arrived at summit of West Tiger 2 around 14:30 (2:30 PM). Weather at this point got worse, snow and wind at the summit with about 1.5 inches of old snow on ground. There is a blown down tree on the West Tiger Rail Road trail just after the first creek crossing (log bridge)off West Tiger 3 trail intersection. This blow down has been on trail since May but is not difficult to navagate. Some snow patches on Railroad Trail but nothing of significance. Last 3/4 of a mile before TMT of Railroad Trail could use some brushing (may be a good idea for me or others who like this quite strech of trail in the Alps) At 2500 feet real snow began but it was not icy and easy to walk on. From West Tiger 2 to West Tiger 3 some of the snow was slick due to temperature drop but this lasted only 0.2 miles and with ice axe or walking sticks should not be a problem.

Arrive at car at 16:20 (sunset)so hike took about 4 hours in total for 7 to 8 miles. Route down should be no problem even in darkness, as trail is an old road bed for last 1.2 miles. (2.2 miles down from summit West Tiger 3).

Summits were not crowded, snow changed to rain at 1800 foot level and heavy rain on last mile of West Tiger Trail. Generally trails were in good shape without high levels of standing water. Standing water is often a problem on these trails in winter season (my experience). Work on trails has helped with better drainage.

Alps are a great place to hike in winter and recommend them strongly to the many who want to keep skills in place during the gray season.

Headed out for the first ski trip of the year, and figured Amabilis Mountain was as good of a place as any.

There was a well packed trail up as far as the main fork in the road. There was lots of evidence of elk(') activity, however, both places where they had slept and sometimes annoying tracks plunging down to the ground under the ski/snowshoe track. Descending this section is a little tricky because it is bumpy and not wide enough to allow you to do much to slow down.

The trail was only broken above the fork (taking the left branch) for a very short distance before I had to start breaking fresh trail. For a while I could partly follow an elk track, although it wasn't quite wide enough for my skis. Most of the time I was sinking six inches or so, aside from the always pleasant (when you are dead tired from breaking trail) wind crust along the ridge in places. The downside, of course, was the wind... by the time I go to the top it had started snowing, and the blowing snow reduced visibility a lot.

After traversing the ridge, I headed back down the other road back to the fork, breaking new trail all the way.

There were at least a dozen vehicles in the sno-park, but I was surprised that no one had broken trail up to the ridge since the previous snowfall. Of course, with the snow that we are getting it won't be long before the trail will be snowed over again.

I like Amabilis Mountain for a non-threatening (easy route finding, once you have done it a few times and figured out how to connect the two roads at the top, low avalanche risk for most of the route) moderate workout. This trip took around six and a half hours, which is longer than usual, but breaking trail really slows you down, especially downhill. It is wonderful up there on a nice night.

Once route I keep meaning to try but haven't yet is trying to head up the usual way, then connect up with the roads on the Kachess Lake side of the ridge, and head down and out that way. With two vehicles and enough people to break trail, it could be a nice route... although perhaps a bit boring near the end. This area is definitely a lot nicer looking in the winter...

I was looking for a snowfree, or at least just patchy, late season hike. I found this in the ""55 Hikes in Snoqualmie Pass"" book, and thought it fit the bill. Trail description was 8.5 miles rountrip, high point of 1750, with an elevation gain of 650.

There was snow on the road from about 900ft on. The trail was completely snow covered. We went in 4.25 miles, all on snow. When we stopped there was a good 18 inches of snow on the ground.

The book says this is a good April hike. I think I will go back when it is snowfree and I can see the trail.

Linda and Tom put together a snowshoe trip to Lake Valhalla to check out the trail to the lake. Paul and Mary came along and of course the dynamic duo, Eco Willy and Chicago Mary. We parked about ¼ mile from Smith Brook Rd, behind a group of snowmobiler's. Why can't they make a four-stroke engine that gives the guys enough torque to be fun, I'm sure it would cut down on the noise and oily clinging exhaust, now with that said I will not mention it again. Linda the optimist was quick to point out that they (snowmobiler's) do pack down the trail nicely. We headed up Smith Brook Rd for a couple of miles (to the third switch back, this is not the summer trail) and then headed up the creek staying on the right side of the creek. There was a faint trail to follow, the easiest way to tell if you where on the trail was if you sank to your armpits you weren't on the trail. This worked for awhile, about ¾ of a mile up you run out of any trail and you have to head straight up, keeping the clearing to your left. We plowed through the deep snow for awhile and turned around, went back to a pretty place by the creek and had lunch. Didn't make it to the lake, but its best not to be too goal oriented when you are snowshoeing in deep fresh snow. Did develop a new sport (snow bouldering). Find a very large boulder (12 to 20 feet high), must be covered with lots and lots of snow, but still give you a good 10 or more feet of vertical. Wrap up in waterproof cloths (batten down the hatches). And try to get to the top. Lots of fun! After the hike headed for Tijuana for some good food. Fun group, great day.

Decided on Heather Lake for a snow hike, as I had not been up there this year, and wanted something not to hard after cross country skiing the day before. When I got to the parking lot one mile off the Mtn. Loop Highway there were several vehicles already parked. Once heading up the trail I caught up to a grandfather and three of his young grand kids out for a day in the forest. There were several stream crossing on the way and places where water was running down the middle of the trail. After getting up the the line between the second growth and old growth forest snow was on the ground. The snow was packed down on the trail to the lake, which is now froze over.

After eatting my lunch, gramps and the 3 kids finally got to the lake. By now the kids cotton jeans where about half wet. They didn't have any gloves or hats either.

I put on my snowshoes for the loop around Heather Lake and you needed them. Most of the time I could stay on the surface of the three feet of snow, but once in a while I'd punch through. Someone had tried going part way along the lake, but they had only post holed. Only a few people had packed snowshoes up with them the explore the cirque on Mt. Pilchuck. Even saw a few bugs flying around or crawling on the snow.

By the time I headed back down from the lake, gramps and the kids had already left. They most have gotten down okay this time, as they were gone when I got to the parking lot. Hopefully some day parents will know not to send there kids out into the snowy mountains wearing cotton clothes.

I had first went up to Heather Lake way back in 1953 when my dad packed me up there on his back. See a photo in the Dec.'01 Backpacker magazine. He rigged a Trapper Nelson home made pack (built 1939) with a kids chair to take me on hikes and I have been going ever since those earlier years.

Three of us planned to hike to Horseshoe Lake by Goat Lake up a faint path from Trail #1005 Myrtle Lake (and Hester Lake) along Dingford Creek from the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Forest Road 5620. And from there we hoped to scramble a few of those peaks that reach just above 5000 feet.

I'm glad we threw in snowshoes at the last second.

Road 56 (5620) is typically rough, with snow beginning at Taylor River approximately mile 15, though several rear wheel drive only vehicles were making it past that to Dingford Creek Trailhead at approximately mile 21 and beyond.

Trail #1005 at Forest Road 5620, 1400 feet, had a few inches of snow. Less than 1 mile of hiking in our boots up a steep series of switchbacks brought us to 10 inches of snow.

We put on snowshoes, nobody had preceded us through the snow. We failed to identify the stream from Goat and Horeshoe Lake; there was 2 to 3 feet of snow in that vicinity and any faint path was fully obscured by snow. Our hopes of those higher lakes were smothered by the abundance of soft snow on that fairly steep slope leading up from Myrtle Trail. Any attempt to ascend was quickly recognized as futile. And we were even using very large flotation old style snowshoes, not anything you can by from REI or on the internet. The new style of 'shoes would not have allowed travel in these conditions whatsoever.

So we continued along the main trail, keeping company with Dingford Creek. Soon the creek made no sound; too much snow covering and the trail pulls away from it. At 3 miles we arrived at the intersection with Trail #1005.1 Hester Lake. We selected to continue with Myrtle Lake because the snow was well over 3 feet deep and relatively soft and the trail to Myrtle was gentler; we could not ascend slopes nearly as steep as the way to Hester Lake.

Navigating was enjoyable but consistenly challenging, there were few clues to keep us on the 'trail.' And about 0.5 mile from Myrtle Lake we gave up; we couldn't find the trail, we couldn't find any reasonable solution to continue going higher - it was just too deep and steep, and it was nearly sunset.

Soon this won't be passable with extra snow - the first mile from the trailhead is too steep to ascend in snowshoes and besides, the terrain is prone to avalanches.

For twelve hours we had constant rain just above freezing temperature. In a single word, adventure!

Trailhead (1800') had about 1 foot of snow, there were some snowshoe tracks that lead up to about 3500 feet where the previous hikers had turned around. We broke trail from here on, and it was slow and rough. There was about 2-4 feet of fresh snow to plow through, and once we got up to 4700' we were pretty much done after we realized that the meadows would most likely be very rough to get through since that area gets dumped on w/o all the tree coverage. We found a nice area under the large rock area to get away from many of the elements as it was snowing pretty hard, but there was no wind like everyone expected up on the mtn loop. On our way down we ran into 2 other guys, but they said they were going to turn around at the spot that we did, after we broke all that trail! (We might have kept on going if they had broke trail for us). After a quick retreat to the car we wanted to go check out Pilchuck, but there were so many people looking to cut down trees that it created traffic jams on the Pilchuck Road! Oh well, got to go early to beat the greenhorn. scott@nwog.org

Went on my first snowshoeing trip on Saturday. Intended to see Ramona Falls on the west side of Mt. Hood but decided at the last minute to go east side. Erik, my guide and snowshoeing mentor, picked me up at 8:30 and we were on the trail (#643 I believe) just below Cooper Spur ski area by 10:00. Trip up to the warming hut was un-eventful other than after about a mile up the trail a 30 ft. tree fell in between us. By in between I mean Erik was only 5 feet ahead of me. It all happened like this: amidst a steady falling snow the wind suddenly picked up probably to about 15-20 mph. Snow started blowing and we both turned our heads down to the left to shield our faces. We then felt something falling on us, which we thought was snow from the branches. I then see Erik fall down the slight slope to the left. I notice branches on him and think ""wow, that wasn't snow falling on us, that was a branch"". I then follow the branch with my eyes over to the right to see the entire tree, root ball and all, lying in between us. Erik was scrambling to keep his head above the two feet of powder while I stood there in amazement thinking ""wow, that wasn't a branch falling on us, that was the whole damn tree"". We both chalked that experience up to ""cashing in a significant amount of karma"". Somehow we both escaped possible serious injury by a matter of feet. Amazing! So we make it up to the cabin, 3 miles, 2,200 ft. gain, and 1 blow down later, by 1:30. Ate some snacks in front of a luke warm woodstove and head back down at 2:00. I didn't know snowshoeing would be so exciting. Erik and I both agreed the lesson learned today was even in blowing snow keep an eye on those trees!

If ski trips are welcome:

The first ski of the season altho, I'm not sure any sports minded person would define some of the stuff I did today as skiing.

First, it was warmer than we had hoped for making the snow a bit heavy altho not as heavy as it might be in the home of Cascade Concrete (aka Cascade Cement). But there was a ton of it. Luckily, some other folks were in front of us but only four of them. Caught them in about a half mile since they were breaking trail. There was anywhere from 8 inches to about 14 or so inches of pretty dense snow. We then took the lead for a while and then gave and took the lead up for about 2.5 to 3 miles where everyone kind of ran out of stream and the weather was now damp and foggy.

The way down was also work - need to redevelop those ski legs. It was a bumpy, irregular surface making for problematic negotiation. Again, it was the first ski of the season and balance was not what I hope it will be.

All, in all, not a bad day and coming home to Seattle where the weather was trash, made us feel pretty good.

While I've reported snow on trail - that is the way it is suppose to be at this time of year

I was doing trail maintenance today along with others for V.O.W. on this trail a few miles east of Granite Falls off of Hwy 92 (Mtn. Loop Hwy.). A rainy 9am start but no wind as forecasted. The tread is in good shape down a series of switchbacks to the edge of the plain where the old town of Robe (founder,Truit Robe, homesteader) was located in the late 1800's-early 1900's. Wetlands can be seen to the west as you walk down the switchbacks, where a sawmill had its millpond floating with logs long ago. Nothing remains of the townsite with its 200 people. Shortly after reaching the flat ground at the base of the hillside you've come down, you are walking on a spur of the old Everett & Monte Cristo Railway. Then you shortly reach the beginning of a long straight stretch of trail- you are on the old E&MC mainline, heading southwesterly until it parallels the Stillaguamish River. This is the upstream beginning of the Robe Canyon, as the Stilly flows thru narrowing 200' cliffs, the water boiling a milky color thru rapids. The trail follows closely the river bank, in places the bank is beginning to cleave away, the canyon in a perpetual state of change. After a couple of minor creek crossings on rocks you come upon remnants of the railroad engineering thru the canyon: due to flooding washing away portions of the track, ties, rails and all, the ties were embedded in concrete. Now, all that remains are a couple ties and gaps where all the others were imbedded. As you follow the trail/railbed along and above the river below, you come upon a black gaping maw before you- Tunnel # 6 of the railroad- blasted and dug thru solid rock, a few hundred feet long and walkable with caution - rubble on the floor. You have to marvel at the thought that decades ago during fall floods the river was running THROUGH the tunnel you are walking thru- at least a good 20-30' above the Stilly's level this day, and it was running fairly high. Shortly you come upon the much shorter Tunnel #5, at whose far portal the trail ends officially at a massive landslide. This can be negotiated fairly easily at your own risk, and beyond you'll come upon where Tunnel # 4 once was (but was made an open cut by the railroad after too many cave-ins) and is now blocked by a large landslide. You can again climb over this obstacle but are then faced with inching along the narrow top of an old concrete retaining wall next to the surging river- where a fall could be serious indeed. Tunnel # 3 is further beyond but is partially caved and dangerous to enter. Most sane folks will stop where the trail officially ends-especially with kids! Kids will love this hike for the old tunnels and railroad track remnants as should adults who can try to picture the full-size, standard gauge trains inching their way along this canyon, steam pouring from the stacks. What history, and beauty! The trail is 4 mi RT. Join a workparty either working on the existing Robe Canyon Trail or the new, under-construction 6.6mi RT Lime Kiln Trail on the other side of the river! Hope is that eventually these two trails can be linked by a footbridge over the river to make an outstanding trail thru this beautiful area. Info: Steve Dean, coordinator/leader for VOW Robe Canyon workparties: 360-652-7181, steveandnancydean@msn.com

Nov 27th - 28th At the last second john and I decided to head up to Pilchuck that night in order fo us to have enought time to sport climb at Cascade Crags the next day. So we got to Granite Falls around 10pm, then up the road to the trailhead. We encountered snow at 1500', then large amounts of it up to the trailhead. We were obviously the only ones there and left the car at 1045pm in snowshoes (about 2 feet at the traihead). We followed the telemarker tracks for the first 1.5 miles until they turned back just below the saddle of Little Pilchuck and Mt Pilchuck. It was hard breaking trail as we were sinking in our snowshoes at least 2 feet as we ascended to the saddle. We got to the top around 1230am this morning and settled in as best we could. There was some snow in the lookout, but it did not pose a problem. The boulderfield just before the lookput is non existent as well now, and only a few steps to go up on the ladder. It was hard to sleep as the wind kept blowing open the door and letting snow in (everytime I got settled in this happened). We awoke to freezing temperatures and strong winds. I never thought that I would need wands on Pilchuck, but they could have helped this morning as there was no site of the trail due to the large dumping of snow. We folowed the landmarks that we knew, and made it down safely to find the car in good condition and only 6 inches of fresh in the lot. Not a soul up there, and no one had signed the summit log since Nov 25. scott@nwog.org

Four of us went to Tonga Ridge for some snowshoeing. We encountered increasing snow on the way up and parked where Road No. 310 goes up to the trailhead. We needed 4WD to get that far and were concerned about getting stuck on 310.

It was an easy hike up the road, and we put on snowshoes at the Tonga Ridge trailhead. There was about 15-18 inches of snow there. For the first half mile or so, we enjoyed a path broken by someone else. We continued on, breaking our own path along the trail. We stopped for lunch a little short of the junction with the trail to Fisher Lake. The snow was as deep as 30 inches, so breaking the trail was hard work, but with four of us on the trip, the path was worked in pretty well. Our return was much easier and took about half the time.

The trees were laden with fresh snow. The cloud cover was too low for any sensational views, but Tonga Ridge was a wonderful place to be today. Anyone looking for a nice snowshoe trip should hustle up there before the road is blocked by more snow and before our work breaking a path is buried in the next snow storm. Enjoy!

The snow has closed the state road from Heather Meadows by the Mt. Baker ski area up to Artist Point. Our group of ten snowshoers left the Mountaineer's Baker Lodge as the snow kept coming down. With all the new snow, we needed to take turns breaking trail. Even with snowshoes on, we still sunk in about a foot. Once up to the parking lot at the end of the road, the visibility was only about 100 yards in the blowing snow. No views today (Friday Nov. 23rd).

The weather cleared up on Saturday morning with the view of Mt. Shuksan from the lodge windows. Some of us who had gone up to Artist Point in Fridays snow storm, decided to go back up again. The snow trail was now packed with snowboarders, teleskiers, cross country skiers and more snowshoers. With only high clouds, the view out to Mt. Baker was open. Some of the boarders and skiers were going down Table Mountain. I snowshoed around the area from Artist Point before heading back to the lodge. If you haven't been up to this area in the Winter, check it out on a clear day for the great views.

This report covers only the trail portions on the North of Muddy Creek. (There is a loop portion on the South side which I didn't take.)

Within 500 feet down the trail, two large blowdowns easily passed. A third blowdown is past the suspension bridge (') which is a little trickier to pass, just take your time and you'll be fine. (I did a mini ""chimney-stemming"" with hand left on the rock wall, and right hand on the sloping log, and lower myself until I could put my feet down and continue.)

By the way this trail is fantastic, for in an hour from trailhead (all downhill :-) you sure get a lot of special effects: Suspension bridge, Steel ladder, many waterfalls, neat swirling solid lava flows in cross-section.

I continued on the Smith Creek trail (I did the North Side portion only) until the confluence where Muddy Creek hits Smith Creek. There was approx 600 feet here and there of mini-stream exactly running in the trail. Perhaps some well placed water bars/depressions would help. But not hard to sidestep the deeper (4"") portions of the water.

Don't know how long you'll be able to drive to the trailhead. No snow as of 11-24-2001. But it'll start accumulating at this elevation soon and it's on ly a matter of time.

p.s. For my return trail from the confluence, I headed North a little bit and took the closed/abandoned forest road back up. Good shape. Road exits 300 feet from the parking lot/real Lava Canyon trailhead. Though very few views in this forest road, it is easier hiking and secure footing.

Decided to try and find some snow worthy of snowshoes - and work off a little turkey - so we headed up the Davis Peak trail under dramatic, wintery skies. The trail is in excellent shape, with no blowdowns or erosion damage. By the 5000 foot level, we decided to quit carrying the snowshoes, as the fresh-but-heavy snow had become consistantly more than a foot deep. By the time we hit the south ridge crest, the wind was giving us a taste of what it would be like on the summit. Slogging up the final stretch, through often knee deep snow, kept everyone warm, but the ice plumes blowing up over the summit ridge suggested we might not be staying too long. It was very beautiful on top, with heavy ice and snow formations on every tree and rock. We never got a good look at Stuart, through the swirling clouds, but we could see north to Daniels, and quite a ways west and south. Soon the horizontal ice pellets began to sting, so we took a few quick pics, and started trotting down hill. Fall line descents in fresh snow - what a hoot! A very nice day, for late November, and more than a hint of winter!

First the road: the road from Lake Quinault to North Fork is open and in fair condition, kinda muddy in places with a few chuck-holes.

We hiked the North Fork Quinault River Trail about 5 miles up to Wild Rose Cr. We intended to go up to Halfway House just beyond this creek but would have had to wade across as the water level was too high to boulder hop. There were several places where the trail is under water, but after all, this is November. Aside from that the trail was in good condition and of course, the forest, streams and rivers are as beautiful as ever. The mushrooms along the trail look very happy! We saw several deer near Wolf Bar camp. There were several recent blow-downs across the trail but all were easy to get over or under.

Started out at 9:15am on dry trail. Weather overcast. Lots of switchbacks. Evidence of this summers fire was right to the trailhead. Lots of switchbacks. At 3700 ft found fresh snow on the trail. At 4600 ft was a large tree down w/lots of branches making it difficult to get around. Easiest way around is to the right. Snow got progressively deeper, about 12"" at 6000 ft, where we lost the trail. So we headed straight up to the ridge. On ridge about 2ft of snow. Snowshoes might have been nice for last mile, but we chose not to carry them. Weather deteriorated. There was rhyme ice and fresh snow on the trees, and fog after 6000ft. Temp on ridge probably 10 degrees, light wind and almost white out conditions.

Also, on the lower portion of the trail there were several places that appear badly eroded due to the fire.

With the bridge back over the Carbon River, the Clearwater Wilderness peaks are back for bagging. I had to be at work by 2pm so the closer the location, the more climbing time available. We drove up the 4WD road that ends at Surprise Lake. We were able to get about 50 yards up the road before being stopped by rough road and snow. Our route involved hiking the old road to the highest switchback at 3900 feet. Then travel through a harvest area (west) and large timber to gain the southeast ridge. At 5000 feet on the ridge, we opened up to the upper basin of grass, trees and talus. By this time, we had the snowshoes on in about 2-4 feet of snow. As we traversed the upper basin, up to the saddle between the summits, we encountered some harsh wind. At the saddle, we were being pelted by ice pellets with 30 second gusts at 40-50 mph. Traveling the ridge top West to the summit was difficult due to the wind and ice missiles. Although the wind was bad, the high cloud layer allowed us to see all peaks and Puget Sound. The only thing that wasn't out was the upper 4000 feet of Rainier. The wind on it's slopes looked extremely bad. We used our snowshoe tracks down but I was still 10 minutes late to work.

Me and my trusted guide set out at sunrise from the iced over 6' slush at the Pacific Crest trailhead to head up into the almost fresh snow. The tracks in the snow from hikers from the day before had the trail pretty well established for the first mile or so'but eventually the tracks dwindled to none shortly after going above 4000 foot elevation. Two feet plus of uncharacteristically soft snow made snow shoes a must at this point, but after the tracks ended, we (actually, uh I) decided that we were far enough into the snowy wilderness for this morning. A great winter hike!

Time for our annual Work-off-the-Turkey hike on Mt Si. As in past years we invited all of our friends and co-workers and at one time it looked like we might have 8 people going....but as we neared Turkey day the various excuses and reasons started flying in so this morning as in past years it was just Mike and I. The first half mile of the trail is very wet. Running and standing water all over the place. There was also a large blowdown that someone thankfully cut up while we were on the trail. Once you get past the half mile mark, the trail is in great shape. A bit damp but very few mud puddles or standing water. We started seeing patches of snow at the 3.5 mile marker. From there to the top the snow gradually increases until there is about an inch or two at the top. Very socked in today so we had no views and with a brisk breeze blowing we stayed long enough to change shirts, have a bite to eat and then headed back down. Lots of people heading up as we made our way back to the parking lot. Happy Thanksgiving to all. See you on the trail. SR

Rialto Beach to Ozette Lake: 11/22-24/01

Followed the travelogue in the Mountaineers' 100 Hikes in South Cascades and Olympics, Hike #99. It seems accurate and current.

If you are hiking solo like I was and need a shuttle call Cate DeShazer of West End Transport in Forks (360-374-2002 or 206-550-2861). For $0.75/mile she'll pick you up at either end of the trail and drive you to the other. I dropped my car at Ozette Lake Ranger Station. It cost me $48 to be driven to Rialto Beach near La Push. It is a very viable alternative for solo hikers and cheaper than driving two cars from Seattle if you figure true costs (mileage, ferry, etc).

There is a nice campsite just north (75 yards) of Hole-In-The-Wall. Since I started late the first day I decided to stop there even though it is only 1 1/2 miles from Rialto Beach.

Stopped at a creek about 1/4-1/2 mile south of Cedar Creek the second night at the site called the Starbuck Mine. There is a secluded, dark, clammy site in the trees on the north side of this creek. Probaly great in summer. A little dingy in November.

The campsites at Cedar Creek seem quite ""used"" and a little ""junky"".

The rope ladder at the Cedar Creek headlands is steep but solid.

The best campsites on the route seem to be at Norwegian Memorial. Be aware that there is a way to drive the logging roads just east of the National Park and hike down into the Memorial area. You might think you will be alone after trudging up or down the coast only to find several groups hunkered down in the woods. Good sites. Protected. Good place to weather a high wind storm, probably.

The coast between Norwegian Memorial and just south of Yellow Banks is sort of like walking on a field of basketballs or beach balls. Your choices are either that or cobble beach or slippery tide pools. Great tide pools if you take the time. Tedious hiking if you are trying to make time.

The hole in the rock at the headlands just north of Yellow Banks is interesting at low tide and I suppose could be even more so at a higher tide.

The walk from there to Sand Point is ""a walk on the beach"". The board walk into Ozette is as slippery as ever. I made 15 1/2 miles over beach rocks and logs safely and then slipped and pulled a leg muscle during the last 100 yards of the 3 miles of turnpike and boardwalk. Be careful.

I took 2-1/4 days and 2 nights. With better company it would have been a good trip for 4 days and 3 nights. It would have allowed for a more relaxed hike with more time to stop and smell the tide pools (sorry.....couldn't resist the bad pun).

My only advice to hikers is to use the tide charts and plan appropriately. It is a beautiful, awesome, gorgeous hike that should be a fun event......unless you don't pay attention to the tides.

Started kind of early at 730am with a large group for an ""appetite builder"" hike for T-Day. It has been along time since I took the regular trail since I enjoy the old trail by Little Si much more. It was wet, kinda wet, and really wet the whole time. New blow down within the first mile. Reached the summit at 9am to have a sandwich and head back down. Found a couple of way routes that made the descent much quicker - lots of tree and root belays, but lost a ton of elevation quickly. No visibility, but a good workout. scott@nwog.org

The hike from Ozzette Lake to Cape Alava is 3.3 miles. The trail is mostly on board walk. Large portions of the board walk have been renovated since I last hiked the trail in April 2001. The trail provides a good place to hike when the mountain trails are covered by snow.

The Ocean Beach at Cape Alava is a great place for bird watching. There were a large variety of birds. The deer along the beach are almost tame.

The only problems were fallen trees. There are three places that fallen trees block the path. Two of the places were easy to by pass. The other is in a low spot which could be a problem after heavy rain. One could get muddy getting around it.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that the board walk is slippery. Two of our party took hard falls.

It's been a while since I'd had a chance to go for a hike so my father, sister and a friend and I decided to head up to Schriebers Meadow. It's been around 3 years since I've been up here and last time I went was in late October.

We got lucky with the weather. It was raining on us lightly but very gently, so it could have been a lot worse. At the trailhead there were some small remainders of snow but fairly dry. The trail up to Railroad grade was very muddy and had a lot of water on the trail (i.e., the trail was a stream bed in a lot of places, which is understandable with all of the rain we've been having). After crossing the last creek, we hit the start of snow.

Luckily the snow was fairly wet and we didn't slip too much. After we got up to Railroad Grade the snow was a few feet deep and the heavier members of our party started popping through more and more.

Overall it was a great winter outing. We probably ended up doing just under 6 miles in around 3.5 hours. Unfortunately Mount Baker wasn't visible but it still is a great environment to enjoy nature in.

Red Mountain 5,890' November 18, 2001

On a climb of Kendall Peak the day before we had enjoyed such a amazing view of Red Mountain that I decided to see how far I could get toward the summit.

I left Guye Cabin at 10 am and headed up Commonwealth Basin. I wound up bushwhacking mostly. When I saw the trail it was a flowing creek. However, I was thrilled to see so much water in November. There was water everywhere as the unseasonably warm temperatures melted the snow. I had the illusion of a real wilderness and had great fun.

On the lower flank of Red Mountain , traversing to the east, I ran into two dayhikers, who looked at me like I was crazy, climbing a waterfall, when the trail was 30' away! Maybe I should update my 1973 edition of Becky' The trail was easier than bushwhacking and ascends to Red Mountain Pond, a beautiful little basin, mostly frozen and covered in snow.

The climbers trail ascends the slope to the summit. There is plenty of loose rock but the going was east until the final 200' on snow and ice. Another solo, Brian from Kirkland, joined with me to make a strong team. Crampons and ice axe were required to gain the summit 5,890'.

We spent about 8 minutes on the cold, windy summit, admiring the views and putting on warmer clothes. We were the third party of two for the day. I couldn't find a summit register. We had a fantastic view of Mount Thompson, and close-up views of Lundin Peak, Snoqualmie Mountain, and Kendall Peak. Brian had been on Kendall the Sunday before with the climber who had bagged his final Snoqulamie Peak (20).

We carefully started back down the 45 degree snow and ice. Brian and I made good time back to the trailhead, taking the old trail.

There is very little snow in the peaks for November 17, and what is there is icy and crusty. 2,890' elevation gain and about 6 miles, three hours to the summit and two hours return.

These peaks were climbed via a circle route over about 10 miles and 5,200' of altitude gain. It was drawn up by Stefan F. who lead the climb. The start and endpoint of the hike/climb is the trailhead for Boulder Lake, located at about 3,000' elevation on the Tenas Creek Road. Take I-5 North turning east onto SR 530 through Arlington and Darrington. Continue on the route when it turns north at Darrington. About 800' past the bridge over the Sauk River turn right onto the Suiattle River Road. Go 8.1 miles on this road until turning left onto FS 2660 which is the Tenas Creek Road. After 2.1 miles take the left fork and drive on that road for another 5.1 miles leaving the car in a large parking area on the right. The trailhead bulletin board is not easily visable from the road. The parking area is just before the road crosses Tenas Creek. The Boulder Lake trail is actually an unmaintained fisherman's trail to the lake. It has water coursing down the middle, many logs to climb over, and sometimes tough to follow. It will always be on the left side of the creek though and we followed it to the outflow for the lake. Once at the lake Hurricane Peak will be revealed. The route up is almost opposite the outflow on the farside. It starts as a broad avalanche slope lying to the right of a rocky nose about 150 vertical feet above the lake. We connected with this area by hiking clockwise around the lake, first the west side and then the north. The avalanche slope narrows to a chute that ends at a col. About 200 feet beneath the col angle right and upward travelling briefly through cedars which connect with SSE slopes that lead to the summit. The high reaches are lowangled without difficulty. There are prime views of nearby Chaval and east to Buckindy. Once there we dropped 400' to the east and made a southerly directed traverse to swing clockwise around Point 6222 connecting with the gentle NE ridge of Boulder Peak (6267'). This should not be confused with yet another Boulder Peak about six miles to the north near Granite and Jordon Lakes. The Boulder we climbed has a triangle on the USGS map indicating its prior use as a summit for triangulation by a surveying party. From Boulder we continued on a ridge route which connects with Huckleberry Mountain at 5856'. The low snow pack allowed us to locate the Huckleberry Mountain trail and follow it to about 5,000' where we then regained the Huckleberry Mt ridge. We followed on the rounded ridge and were surprised to find an abandoned trail up there. It is perhaps the old route to the lookout. Our objective was to climb the western terminus of Huckleberry Mountain at about 5,300' Our descent route was to loose altitude on a north ridge until 4,400' where we then hiked NE to return to our cars. Trip started at 7:00AM and ended at 4:45PM.

Took the long way up mount defiance, figuring all the recent rain would make mason lake access messy. The pratt lake way was nice, with lots of little streams and waterfalls thanks to the rain. It was real windy on the ridges and the wind made it feel real cold. No snow to defiance, just heavy frost and a bit on the north side. this was a long hike; i wouldnt recommend it as a Nov. day hike unless youre a real fast hiker (i ran part of the way). Ran into two other parties headed up defiance, both via Mason lake. Views were nice, but cold & windy! I like rainbow lake the best; peaceful and part frozen. Hope the snow comes to the passes soon, but ill be in the Oregon Cascades til the New Year so this is my last post til then. Remember...think snow!

November is traditionally the month where we become couch potatoes. Stuck between the hiking & skiing seasons we were always at a loss over what to do. It took an event that only happens once in a lifetime to shake us out of our doldrums, a warm sunny Saturday in November! There was also some Leonid thingy too, more on that later.

State Route 542 is still clear all the way to the Heather Meadows parking lot. From there the road up to Artist's point is covered in a think hard packed layer of snow, no addition footwear was required beyond a regular pair of hiking boots. For those in a hurry to get higher you could shortcut the switchbacks in the road via a well-trodden path. In the upper parking lot the snow was quite a bit deeper as one would discover if they ventured away from the pre-established trails. We followed a series of tracks along Artists Ridge and rarely post-holed.

We had been up this way numerous times before in the summer and were amazed how such familiar sights as Shuksan and Baker were transformed in the winter. Even the lesser peaks that rarely gather a second look were striking as the light frosting brought out the detail in their features. It was if you were in the heart of Alaska and not a just a mile away from the car. We tromped along the ridge to a col that directly faced Mt. Shuksan and set up camp. Shuksan is probably one of the most photographed mountains in all of Washington and with good reason. It perfectly captures the many colours of the setting sun and despite all those great photographs nothing beats seeing it in person. However as beautiful as it may be it wasn't the focus for this trip, we retired early and set the alarm for 1am.

'We don't know much about astronomy'' but when someone tells me that this will be the best meteor shower until 2099 we thought it was worth checking out. Wow, like nothing we have ever seen or likely will ever see again. Virtually every few seconds from all corners of the sky shooting stars emerged and just as quickly vanished from sight. Some seemed to explode with bright white intensity (fireballs we are told) and one fifteen minutes into the show put all the others to shame. Streaking out from behind Shuksan it left a trail the size of a jetliner, then once overhead it exploded with such intensity that it lit up the night sky (a shadow caster we are told).

What can beat that' Nothing really but waking up to Mt Baker bathed in early morning light was a treat and then glissading a short distance back to the truck was a blast. Best of all we know what we will be doing next November.

There are a few logs across the trail. There is a light covering of snow and frost on the trail above 3600 feet elevation. Some late pearly everlasting was seen. Skies were broken to scattered clouds and temperatures were cool to moderate.

This sounded like an appealing early-season snowshoe trip in the ""Snowshoe Routes-Wash."" guidebook by Dan Nelson, so I gave it a go on this chilly but fair late Nov. Sunday. All the F.S. access roads are in fine shape, no snow on the road to the trailhead. Driving directions: Take F.S.Rd. # 68 (Foss River Rd.) off eastbound SR 2 just past the Skykomish Ranger Station (closed-but toilet's open!). Proceed 3.5 mi, turn left on Rd. # 6830. Proceed 6.5 mi to junction with Rd. #310, turning right. Proceed 1.5 mi to trailhead or as far as your vehicle can take you depending on the snowline. Trail: it starts thru 2nd growth forest, shortly passing a wilderness sign & you enter old growth & occasional clearings (nice mtn. views west across the Foss River valley)as the trail passes just below the ridge crest, very gradually gaining 500 feet. 2 miles in you pass under the flank of Mt. Sawyer (5501')on your left. When you first see Sawyer at a clearing/meadow area it appears you can scramble steeply up to the rocky summit at an angle- it's approx. 700' above the trail. I didn't allow enough time for that, but would recommend it for the best views. The trail goes another mile, gradually more snow is encountered on the trail, pretty hard-packed after all the recent rain. Finally you reach a large clearing which I assume is Sawyer Pass, but the hoped-for views promised in the guidebook were disappointing-- obscured by the tree tops! Maybe the views were better a bit further on but I had to get going and turned around & had a bite to eat. Left trailhead 10am, nobody else there, reached 3 miles/turnaround at noon, passed 3 parties on the way back, arriving at trailhead at 1:15pm. Trail is in great shape up to the snowline. Never needed the snowshoes.

KEEP THINKING THIS IS MY LAST PEAK TO BAG THIS YEAR, AND YET SNOW-FREE HIKING WEATHER CONTINUES TO PREVAIL. BOTH TRAILS TO MASON LAKE AND ON TO MT. DEFIANCE ARE VIRTUALLY SNOW FREE: BETWEEN JUNCTION #1009 AND #1038 JUST BEYOND MASON LAKE, AND DEFIANCE, THERE IS ESTIMATED TRACE"" TO 1"" ON STEEPER AREAS AND THEN A FEW PATCHES GOING ACROSS FLOWER FIELD SOUTH SIDE OF DEFIANCE. TRAILS ABOVE 4000' HAVE PATCHY FROZEN GROUND.

VIEWS SOUTH FROM TOP AT ABOUT 5500' ON DEFIANCE ARE GORGEOUS: MT. ADAMS SEEN IN DISTANCE, RAINIER, AND ACROSS TO MCCLELLAN BUTTE; THE OLYMPICS SHINED, INCLUDING THE BROTHERS, AND THREE HILLS SW ABOUT 200 DEGREES WAY OFF IN DISTANCE: WHAT ARE THEY' AND, OF COURSE TALL COLUMBIA CTR. AND DOWNTOWN SEATTLE.

WIND BECAME FIERCE ON DEFIANCE: GLAD FOR LOTS OF WINTER GEAR; EVEN THE GATORS ARE PUT TO USE PROTECTING LEGS FROM WINDCHILL: WAS WARM AND FELT LIKE FAT CITY!!

TWO TRAILS AVAILABLE FROM CLOSED ROAD AND MASON CREEK: ABOUT 3 WIDE SWITCHBACKS ABOVE ROAD AT BEGINNING, A GULLY HEADS STRAIGHT UP THE HILL: THAT TURNS OUT TO BE THE ORIGINAL MAIN TRAIL. STRAIGHT AHEAD IS THE ALTERNATIVE CARVED OUT OF HEAVY FORESTED AREAS RIGHT NEXT TO MASON CREEK. LOTS OF DOWN TREES TO NAVIGATE. GRADIENT EASIER THEN OTHER MAIN TRAIL.

ARRIVING AT BOULDER FIELD GOING UP ON THIS TRAIL, IT CROSSES CREEK, AND WINDS UP ON THE NORTH SIDE OF FIELD, WHERE IT GOES STRAIGHT UP THE HILL: A REAL ""GULLYHUMPER""! BOULDERS WERE PRETTY SLICK HERE. NEXT TIME I WILL TAKE THE ALTERNATIVE, BUT REACHING BOULDER FIELD, STAY ON SOUTH SIDE CREEK, REACHING CAIRNS AND MAIN TRAIL.

A NOTE ABOUT MAIN TRAIL. I MET UP WITH ANOTHER HIKER WHO KNEW ABOUT HISTORY OF THIS TRAIL. WE TOOK THIS MAIN TRAIL ON RETURN TRIP, WHICH IS WELL MARKED FOR FIRST 2/3 COMING DOWN. CAIRNS ARE OBVIOUS AS YOU CROSS TWO FIELDS WITH SIGNS/ARROWS ALONG WAY. HOWEVER, LAST 1/3 GOES STRAIGHT DOWN. I'LL BLOW UP MY AIR MATTRESS TO RIDE DOWN FOR NEXT TIME: ANOTHER ""GULLYHUMPER.! EVIDENTLY FOREST SERVICE NEVER SAW CLOSURE ON COMPLETION OF A ""REAL"" TRAIL. HOWEVER, WORD HAS IT THERE ARE PLANS FOR POSSIBLE COMBINED BANDANA AND MASON LAKE TRAIL'' THIS WOULD BE A FANTASTIC ADDITION TO THE HIGH DEMAND I-90 HIKING CORRIDOR.

MASON AND LITTLE MASON LAKE SNOW AND ICE FREE TODAY.

FINALLY, A NICE TOUCH ON WAY HOME WERE THE KRISPIE KREAM DONUTS A NEWLY OPENED SHOP IN ISSAQUAH NEXT TO HOME DEPOT. THEY ARE GOOD, SO BOUGHT EXTRAS TO PAY OFF THOSE PEOPLE I""DESSERTED"" TO PLAY HOOKEY FOR THE DAY. LINES ARE STILL 3/4-11/2 HOUR LONG, BUT I CONSIDER THE WAIT A ONE-TIME EVENT. I'M AFRAID TO ASK WHAT THE CALORIE COUNT IS! ALL IN ALL, GREAT COOL DAY FOR TERRIFIC VIEWS!

Harvey Manning's Footsore books has a route called ""Pilchuck Vista"". It starts on the Pilchuck River road these days due to the road closure. I hopped on my mountain bike, amongst the motorized contingent that enjoys the same area, and road to point 706. Then up to point 1421 shortly before Hanson Lake. Here, took a right for a mile on nearly flat logging road until it climbs to 1640. The grunt from 706 to 1421 is just steeper than practical on a bike, except for those skilled in the art. There I stashed the bike.

Here's where Manning starts his trip, on unrideable logging roads carpeted in moss and grass. I passed a quite nice waterfall 15 minutes into the hike. Suprisingly it's pretty open to 2600' with few blowdowns and little brush. At 2640' I kept straight instead of switchbacking. Now the road was quite overgrown, but thankfully the devils club is leafless this time of year. At 3300' the road ends. According to the 100,000:1 USGS map, a trail used to go up the south side of Mt Pilchuck here. Alas, it appears to be gone. I did see some blazes at the 4000' level and the forest is quite open (once in the old growth). It's a pleasant scramble route to 4400' where I turned around.

Great views of Rainier, Olympics, Puget Sound, and Pugetropolis in the super clear air.

Made another attempt on this favorable hike. After trying to get up a few weeks before (started way too late and turned back on a ridge above Cave Ridge at about 5200') we had to go back and bag the peak before some serious avalanche dangers. The first part of the trail is rough and steep (Trail starts about 20' down the hill from the Snow Lakes Trail) but levels out at Cave Ridge. We decided to ascend the gully heading North East to a spot where we could ascend the East Face. After ascending true crappy conditions of 35 degree snow, dirt, rock, and heather - we got really annoyed as it was not the greatest conditions (although the sun was shining, and all I had brought were my goggles!). We crossed a ravine then up some 40-45 degree snow to a plateau at about 5800'. It was tough and slow as the new snow was heavy and wet. We put on the snowshoes and went up to the North Ridge that we only had to ascend for about 100 yards before reaching the summit. The day was beautiful, and many of the local peaks were out in splendor like Chair Peak, Red Mtn, Kendall Peak, and many more. Pictures and more information located at:http://www.summitpost.com/mountains/mountain_link.pl/mounta in_id/557 scott@nwog.org

Kendall Peak 5,784' November 17, 2001

Beginning at the Pacific Crest Trailhead, at 3,000' at Snoqualmie Pass, the trail to Kendall Peak is a little over 5 miles. The trail is in great condition and sees a lot of use. Often in the summer the parking lot is full and overflowing. On this beautiful Saturday in November there were only 4 cars.

Doerte and I took an ice axe and snowshoes, expecting to see some new snow after all the record rain in Seattle the previous week. The creeks and brooks were flowing and often the sound of water drowned out the drone of I90 below.

At about 5,000' the trail was covered with hard pack snow and ice, especially in shaded areas. The trail was dry in the sun. We had fine views of Red Mtn, Guye, Snoqualmie, Lundin, Chair, Tooth, Denny, and Bryant as the fog in the valley lifted and moved away.

The famous Kendall Katwalk was covered in icy hardpack, and all the hikers turned around here. An ice axe and crampons would be needed to get further on.

I looked for a route to the summit of Kendall but didn't see one. I started up kicking steps in the crusty snow and keeping a good belay with the axe. A couple of course adjustments and a traverse and I was on the summit of Kendall, 5,784'.

Amazingly, the summit register, placed in 1995 was not even full! The last entry from November 11, included a guy who had just finished climbing all 20 Snoqualmie Peaks!

A careful descent, and Doerte and I were on our way back down, enjoying the sunset, and arriving at the trailhead at dark. 3,384' elevation gain and 10 miles round trip.

We started on Saturday morning well below the overcast, but we saw so much blue sky on the way to the trailhead that we knew we'd get lucky! The gate was closed at the Mtn Loop Hwy - bonus mileage and gain. The trail was mostly snow free up to the basin below Stujack pass - just a few small blow-downs.

We put our gaitors on in the basin and hiked up through a few inches of new snow to the pass. Beautiful deep, cobalt blue skies - fabulous! After Stujack, we switched to ice-axes and within a few minutes added crampons. From there to the summit it became more sporting as we scrambled the ridge on rock and ice covered with a few inches of loose snow.

The last section above the ridge to the summit was more rock and ice lightly covered with loose snow. These were not the best conditions, but okay for experienced alpinists. Near the summit the snow started balling up in our crampons, but we just front-pointed and low-daggered into the underlaying ice for the last stretch to the summit.

Incredible views from the summit! And cold - my ice-axe leash froze into some wierd shape during the 15 minutes we spent on top. We scrambled back down to Stujack without any problems.

I definitely recommend the hike to Stujack - not enough snow to be a problem, plenty of exercise and incredible views! Stujack to the summit...only for experienced groups with ice-axes and crampons.

Up to 18"" snow on ground above 4800' (within 1/2 mile of TH). Longs pass trail obscured by snow. Ridge from Long's to Ingalls Pass passable, some ice on rock. Cornices building, but still small. Lee slopes already wind-scoured and icy in spots. Fortune snow-covered. Return through drainage without serious obstacles; leave 2 hours from Fortune to parking lot. We left more time because of unfamiliarity with the ground and got back to the car with 2 hours of daylight.

My curiosity got the best of me while pondering the spectacular grandeur of the west side of Mt. Rainier with its winter plaster of ice and snow. Having visited Klapatchie Park in August, I could only wonder what the setting would look like during the winter months, while contemplating the logistical difficulties of such an endeavor. So when I realized we had a favorable forecast for the weekend and a snow-free approach to our trailhead, I got excited.

With the West Side Road blocked at the highway, it is 11.2 miles to the St. Andrews Creek TH. We chose to cover this distance on mountain bikes, while toting our heavy packs and camera gear. The important thing to remember when attempting this exercise is not only the difficulty of having so much weight on your back while attempting to ride uphill, but how adding 50-60 lbs. of upper body weight creates an entirely new definition to the term 'saddle sore' over such a long haul. The benefit' Covering the 11.2 miles on the return in about 1.5 hrs (1 hr. for the climb back to Round Pass, 0.5 hr. for the remaining 8.5 miles)!

We found very little snow in Klapatchie Park, setting our tent up on about a 0.5' cover of snow. The trail was entirely snow free until just before entering the park meadows. Aurora Lake was mostly frozen over. We caught alpenglow on The Mountain and enjoyed a beautiful sunset to the west. Eventually all the lights came out in the Puyallup and Tacoma vicinity, with Seattle's off in the distance (hey, when the sun goes down at 5:00 you need something to do).

We awoke around 3:30 a.m. to view the spectacular meteor show we had read so much about. It was indeed incredible, as the tails would last for several seconds. What was even more fascinating was the radiant (where each meteor began) was right over Mt. Rainier! It almost appeared that The Mountain itself was shooting these fireworks off into the night sky in every direction.

The next morning we ventured over to St. Andrews Park, which had a few inches of snow on the ground. St. Andrews Lake was entirely frozen. Dale scurried up Aurora Peak to view The Mountain unobstructed, while Geoff photographed his silhouetted image from below. As was the case the day before, not a soul was seen in this wonderland. From the truck on, we had this entire area of the park to ourselves. It was a good trip.

Don

http://www.mountainscenes.com

Just a wee trip to the mountains to get a dose of winter and take in some tasty Leonids. Tried to summit on Friday but the promised freeze did not arrive, which found my dog struggling in the snow. A cold Saturday dawn was just what was needed. The snow surface was firm enough for both me and my dog.

Had to park .5 mile below Yellow Aster Butte TH due to an old growth log embedded in the roadbed. Snow starts in earnest at about 4800'. I measured 3' of snow in Twin Lakes Basin at 5200'. The depth at 6000' was over 5' with no signs of instability. Ice axe recommended. Heavy loads of snow on Larrabee, The Plieades, Goat, Shuksan, Tomyhoi, and Kulshan. A bald eagle soared around the summit once then descended toward Tomyhoi Lake.

The first night was spectacular; I have never seen such a sight. Streaks of red, green, blue lit the sky, startling me at times because of the shadows. What a show. I hardly slept. It was so worth the effort. Low temp of 18 degrees. I could see a parade of cars leaving the Mt. Baker Ski area 10 miles across valley in the pre-dawn darkness.

The second night was a fright as the barometer fell contrary to the weather forecast I had gotten. Winds howled and the snow flew by 3a. I was up at 5a and packed by 6:30 as the snow changed to rain. I fled down the snowy slopes at first light. A crazy trip, but the meteors! My god the meteors! Very memorable.

We hiked from Ipsut Creek Campground to the Carbon Glacier and up the Wonderland Trail to Moraine Park. The road was snow-free, as was the trail up to about 4,000 ft. (well above the glacier). The trail up along the glacier is rough and rocky much of the way. At 5,500 feet, Moraine Park had about 4-5 in. of snow - enough for a wintry appearance. We noted that the Carbon River crossing for the Windy Gap Trail seems to be washed out. Hiking time was 5 hours up, and 4 hours down, at a leisurely pace. Three other parties were seen above the glacier, several more along the river.

Hit trail @ 10:30 on a beautiful, crisp autumn day. We started up and then up. After countless swithbacks we really started going up. Occaisional views of the fog shrouded valley below and glimpses of Shucksan kept us motivated along with spirited conversation and promises of spectacular panoramas at the pass. Hit snow about 4000 feet,slippery in spots but passable. Our efforts were not in vain as the ridge proved to be a spectacular, snow covered wonderland. Stunning views of Baker and Shuksan as well as many other snowy peaks. Spent several hours trekking untracked powder. Some postholing but not too bad. Back at vehicle by dusk and nary another person seen all day. Fall hiking is great!!!!

Hiked to the lookout. Lots of ice where water runs over the rocks on the trail.

Slept on the deck outside the lookout and saw lots of meteors. Perfectly clear night!

No snow on trail.

Ah, now today was redemption to get into the Teanaway after bailing out of the rainstorms of Monday here when I decided to drive toward Vantage to hike instead. Sun was shining bright, but it was COLD even at 10:00am as I hiked across the bridge over the North Fork Teanaway on ice.

It was to stay this way the first two hours of hiking as the low fall sun never reached the valley bottom along the creek. But what a creek to hike along! At the Jungle Creek trail junction 0.7 miles in I headed up the Johnson-Medra Trail to eventually hopefully get up to Medra Pass and further roaming. What a great creek valley bottom to hike through! A rare treat it was to actually hike a trail that stays by the creek rather than just be in the vicinity to hear it but never see it. Many times the trail is a few feet from the creek. Oh, and many times the trail is IN the creek. Four fords of the creek are required going each way, but I managed OK after a little thought at two of them. Early spring' Forget dry feet, but not too bad yet now. One magical grove of cottonwood trees that the creek flowed through provided a yellow-brown carpet of leaves on the forest floor that the creek passed right through--wow! A bit after the last of the four creek crossings going in the trail suddenly decides it is time to crank up about 1700' in 1.5 miles, and my body almost imploded. But I finally got up there to the 5300' Medra Pass area. No snow until about 5000' to hike through, and the last 1/4 mile to the ridge at the pass was on the north side and in 12-16"" of snow. It was easy hiking since it was very hard frozen snow. The lunchtime views were out of this world, with some snow, blue sky, and views up the North Fork Teanaway at every peak imaginable including a crystal white Mount Stuart. Views west were also nice, and I roamed up along the ridge toward Malcolm Mountain some before heading back, but was getting cold in the wind. Perfect clouds highlighted the photography of the views as if I had placed them there.

The hike back out was quick since I was cold and just felt like hiking fast down the steep grade. The four repeated creek crossings went well, and I stopped suddenly in a muddy area of the trail to see a huge bear track. Cool, I thought, I didn't see that coming in. Must have just overlooked it....hey, wait a minute, why is that bear track covering the back 2"" of my boot print!!!' It was a very neat thought to note I wasn't completely alone all day in that area after all. I did manage to whistle a bit loudly and whack a branch here and there when my visibility wasn't great up the trail in case I had company close by.... This was a fantastic hike on a very little used trail that is in excellent condition much of the way. Dry day in late November, not a person to be seen, and who would have thought that it would be snowfree entirely except the last 1/4 mile to the pass this late in the fall!!

The weather report said: ""scattered showers"" and we lucked out. The trail is in great shape, with only small streams in the trail bed between lower and upper Crystal lakes. Climbed mostly with the fog 50 feet overhead, but dry and not another soul. Ate a cold-fingered lunch at the Uppper Lake and enjoyed how different the scenery was from July. The lakes are totally clear, and the snow line is about 5800' (just above Upper Lake.) The Clark's Nutcrackers and Grey Jays harrassed us constantly as we ate. It started to snow as we finished and the walk down was magical with thumbnail sized flakes fluttering softly down in the silence. Got to the car in steady rain and felt rejuvenated by squeezing in one more hike.

This is our third or fourth time back. It is close to Seattle, yet doesn't feel like it. It has rained quite alot and I wanted to see how strong Franklin Falls was. It was fantastic! On the way back we enjoyed the mist in the trees. No sign of anyone else. Hiking back from the falls the trail was obstructed by fallen trees.

I was trying to get into the Teanaway for a photo hike for one project. However, it was raining pigs and chickens even in that typical rain shadow area, so I continued east to find drier weather and work on a different photo project in the desert lands. I headed out the Old Vantage Highway east of Klickatat, and pulled into the well signed Quilomene Wildlife Area's west-most access road area (although this first area north of the road is part of the Whiskey Dick Unit).

I drove in the rough road just a 1/4 mile and figured it was dumb to drive when the real experience is to hike out here. I hiked the road steeply another 1/4 mile and as I approached the first ridge hump I took off cross country to the east. The top of the ridge has an old jeep track on it, but this area was pretty bare so I instead stayed close to the edge of the sloping hill. Here I found large numbers of cactus that will require a return visit or ten next April for the bloom hunting!! This made my day to find these in such large quantities! I then kept just hiking up/down side gullies to this ridge eastward for another 1.5 miles or so, and ate some lunch by an old fenceline cutting across the area near the road that access the wildlife area further from the east (1.9 miles east along the highway is this access point).

From here I made a large loop out of my day, not having time to stomp all the way to Whiskey Dick Mountain to the NW. I dropped down into the large gulch where bird feeding stations are present, as well as habitat that must attract vast numbers of migrating songbird species each spring. Working my way back westward, I eventually climbed back up the steep sage/rabbitbrush/cheetgrass slopes to the original ridge, then back down to the parked rig. Even with party cloudy sky overhead, the ""bare"" fall desert sagelands were alive with textured colors of all sorts, making photography excellent! Seven quail were flushed out from a vast area of old growth sagebrush in a small gully. These plants had trunks on them 12-16"" in diameter, making them longtime survivors of many fires and likely at least 300-400 years old, or more! An enormous badger burrow was discovered with fresh tracks by it, and a back tunnel to it also. Coyote sign was everywhere. Raptors were soaring overhead in many directions. The desert...my favorite place to enjoy wildlife story telling!

Patchy snow up to 8 inches deep stopped the lower clearance rides about 5 miles from the Sawyer Pass trailhead. We made it to within 1.25 miles, finally stopped by a 40"" tree down across the road. We had passed an older fella walking the road about a mile or so before the tree. We wondered where he was headed being that he had no gear to speak of. No pack, no water, no food! His outfit amounted to jean pants, a jean jacket, a sweater, and running shoes! Suitable for a road walk I guess. He wandered passed us as we got all of our bulky gear together: stoves, snowshoes, rain gear, etc., etc., etc.!

Anyhow, we wandered the road for about 20 minutes before hitting the trailhead where we shot up the hill anxious to get the darn hike out of the way, so we could get down to Zeke’s! Up we went for 100’ through clearcut before coming to the wilderness boundary, still no snow on the trail. The trail was steep enough to get our attention and before long we found consistent snow around 4200’. Up we trudged around a few switchbacks and then along a gently ascending traverse to Sawyer Pass, or thereabouts. At the pass, we fumbled through 12 to 14 inches of snow trying to find the ideal place to begin our sidehill to Lower Fisher Lake. We didn’t really find it, er, actually we were looking for the trail too, didn’t find that either. We headed south across the open flat on solid snow then hit the trees where it was posthole city. We walked the toe of the slope at 4650’ until just below Fisher where we veered a bit to the left until stumbling into Lower Fisher Lake. The lake had a hazy layer of ice over it without any snow coverage, cool. There was a small island about 30 feet out from shore, so I told Craig that I’d give him $10 if he could make it out there (and back!) without breaking through. So out he went (I’m not kidding!), but after 2 steps he decided he’d like to see the other lakes we planned on getting to, so he retreated and I kept my money. We circled around the lake where we found the outfall from Fisher Lake, an easy 230 feet above. Up we climbed through 14"" of slushy stuff. Typical conditions for the entire trip, not quite enough snow to justify ""going clumsy"" with snowshoes, but just enough to get us asking ""Is it summer yet!'!"". Fisher Lake is a good sized lake and to our surprise was completely free of ice. As I ate a sandwich I was entertained by several small trout working the shallows and rising to catch pine needles.

Our next move was to complete the ""Lesser Ptarmigan Traverse"" (as it’s know in certain fly-fishing circles I frequent!) from Fisher over to the lower of the two Ptarmigan Lakes. This went quick as the snow actually thinned along the 300’ drop between lakes. Lower Ptarmigan was the highlight of the trip, no doubt there. Entirely covered with a thin, clear layer of ""veined"" ice the lower lake was like nothing I’d ever seen in the high country. We traversed the west shore of the lake working our way up and around cliffs and through thick brush. Just before the island we gained 40 feet up into the trees where we found hints (darn cairns!) of a way path. Continuing south, we opted for the rocks along the edge of the ice instead of the treacherous looking, snow-covered talus blocks outlining the more direct route to the upper lake. It didn’t take us long at all to get up to Upper Ptarmigan, the fourth lake of the day. Not nearly as scenic as the lower lake it almost looks as if there’s been a slide across the outlet causing the lake level to rise. Just my theory based on an intense 5 minutes of observation....um yeah.

Back out the way we came, we strayed a bit higher around Lower Ptarmigan making for a much easier route than on the way in. We dropped to the outlet which presented a speedy conduit in which to reach Lower Fisher. More (yes more) trudging through sloppy snow got us to the outlet of LF where we stopped for a minute to wonder how the ""jean-jacket-guy"" was coming along. We walked back out to the main trail intersecting it about 50 yards east of where we had left it earlier in the day. We ran the mile and a half of trail back down to the road then put in a final 20 minute walk back to the truck, now 5:15 P.M. The trip took us about 6.5 hours. A great 10.5 mile, 3600-ft November day.

As I sat in my truck enjoying my usual post-hike refreshment I noticed a weary figure appear out of the blackness. Initially startled, I soon recognized it to be the jeans dude. I just watched him as he struggled over the log and headed for my window. Before he could get to me, Craig (standing outside) asks him how his hike was. They talk for a bit, while I (in no hurry) finish my drink. Eventually, I venture out into the cold to see how he’s doing. Evidently, he had made it all the way to Deception Pass. His legs were soaking wet, how he could even lift his legs after all that is a mystery to me. He looked cold and pretty miserable, so of course I offered him a ride. Can’t imagine he would have lasted the night if something had happened to him. Turns out he was a retired college professor and reasonably intelligent which, admittedly, I had questioned once or twice. It wasn’t my place to interrogate him on his lack of gear (that’s not me anyway), but still I had to wonder where the common sense was in all of this. In any event, he survived and all was good in the end.

Since we got a late start, we bagged our plans for Mirror Lake and opted for Little Si. I think this is one of the best short hikes around. It packs a lot for such a short journey - valley bottom old growth, sheer clifs and decent views from the top. And all in 2.5 miles. Evidently, someone's been doing quite a bit of work on this trail. Since I was last there, the stretch at the base of the clifs has been re-graded. Kudos! On this wet and somewhat rainy day, the trail had no standing water or excessive mud.

The trail is snow-free all the way to the lake. Most of the leaves have fallen, and those still on the trees won't be there long.

Trail is in great shape, but then it should be with so many stairs limiting any chance of erosion.

It turned out to be a great day for hiking despite grim weather reports. We got back to the car, and as we turned onto Hwy 2 the first raindrops fell.

(Woe to the hiker coming down behind us in platform Sketcher tennis shoes - she probably got caught in the rain and I doubt those shoes have very good traction or ankle support on slippery rocks and roots.)

Despite unfavorable weather forecasts, we had a great day up on Tonga Ridge on Sunday. The road to Tonga Ridge is snow-free up to the last spur to the trailhead. The 2wd cars stopped a half mile from the trailhead and most of the 4wd stopped a quarter mile short. There was a foot or so of icy snow on the road and the first short climb of the trail, but once in the woods there was no snow at all except in places where you come out of the woods.

We headed up the spur trail to Mt. Sawyer, and hit heavy snow and post holing for the first time when it the spur swang around back to a westerly direction.

There were very nice views of snow-coverd peaks in all directions. Mt. Daniel and Mt. Hinman were particularly impressive, decked out in full white. It is a classic look for the season that is upon us.

Iron Peak 6,510' November 10, 2001

The Trailhead is located on the Teanaway River Road just a few miles form the end at the Esmerelda Basin Trailhead. There was snow on the road and it will soon be closed to vehicles past the free logging company campground.

Doerte and I left the Iron Peak Trailhead, 3920', and were in the snow in just a few minutes. We followed tracks but soon met the solo hiker coming down. He said he was breaking through the crust and it was frustrating. We continued on, and when his tracks ran out, we began busting trail up the switchbacks.

The snow was just firm enough to hold our weight for a second, then collapse. It was slow going. We soon had a great view of Mount Rainier and the Esmerelda Peaks across the valley. The Esmerelda Peaks would make a fine adventure!

The trail stays in the forest along a rounded rib and away from the creek, so the avalanche danger is nil. As we neared the saddle another solo joined us for the final push to the Iron Saddle at 6,100'. By now the snow was almost knee deep. Snowshoes would have been a nice touch.

We had reached our turnaround time of 2:00 pm and the final 400' to the summit would of taken another one to two hours. We had a nice talk and snacks on the saddle, then headed back down. The sun never got far from the horizon, and never seemed to be anywhere other than the south.

In the summer this would be an easy 4 hour round trip on a good trail, but on this day it was a struggle. Our elevation gain was 2,590', five miles round trip, over five hours.

Nate-Bomb joined me today. Mostly clear and warm. The color show is over and the monster ferns have all collapsed. A very enjoyable amount of fungus to be seen. The switchbacks up the south facing slope are mostly dry until 4500', with some bigger snow patches above 5000'. Excellent views from Big Tahoma and Dakobed. Look west for views of the big city. R/T 8+ miles, 3200' gain, 2:30 up and 2:00 down. Only two others on this usually lonely trail.

High clouds and about half a route of snow did not seem to deter folks from hiking Mt Dickerman today. There were about six cars when I arrived about 8:15am.

The snow starts just a bit after the waterfall - the place where it generally accumulates during the winter and that is discovered as we venture up it in May or June, conditions dependent.

Today, the snow was not too bad with some slippery areas in the morning but turned mostly slushy by afternoon. Everything close by was out once you got to the top but Baker was pretty obscured and Glacier Peak's top was hidden. It was actually not bad - just a bit breezy on top. I munched a bit and headed down. Others seem to have decided to stay a while.

The snow is not fully continuous from the falls but in the main, most of the trail was covered but except for two areas where the slopes beckoned UP, someone did a good job of following the trail. The trail is well-compressed snow and off-trail, pretty solid crust which is walkable in the main. There were some muddy spots but not much.

Depending on weather, this may be my last time till Spring.

Have a good one.

Trail to Mt Pilchuck is in relatively good shape - there is some water on the trail in several areas of melt from the recent snows. About halfway up, intermittent snowy areas begin, and there are some nasty iced-over slabs and steps. These can be navigated around, but are not fun. There are only about 3 or 4 really bad spots, but take care as there is a lot of ice other than the bad spots. Above the ice, the trail is mostly packed snow to the lookout. I did it in tennis shoes and just took care to test every icy step before weighting it.

For those who have not hiked Mt Pilchuck, it is one of the most ""built"" trails I have ever hiked - lots of structures (turnpikes, steps, water bars)... not exactly primitive. On a clear or hazy day (as today was), the views from the top are tremendous.

I'm not sure what the incoming weather is going to do to the trail, but today conditions were decent.

The lower part of the trail is completely bare and in great shape all the way to about 4,500'. At the ""tree line,"" above which avalanches keep the slopes bare, about a foot of new snow prevails all the way to the observation tower. The trail will continue to be hikable until avalanche danger arises.

Well, the weather gods smiled upon us and set the rain back a day so we had a nice warm dry fall day for a hike to the Duck. The trail was in good shape for the most part, although covered with crunchy leaves in places. We actually had views at the lunch spot on Big Hump and could see the ridge across the river with a promontory called St. Peter's Dome. This same ridge becomes the north ridge of The Brothers.

There is one old bridge out; the spot is blocked and ribboned. Hikers can drop down and cross safely above the bridge. And there was one blow-down lying length-wise along the trail which had dropped a few branches on the trail. Nothing serious.

There were a couple of other hiker groups, but everybody was congenial. There were lots of interesting mushrooms to examine along the path. I noticed some fine wild rhodies on Big Hump and a couple of patches of manzanita. It would probably be a nice spot for a spring hike when the rhodies are in bloom.

On the drive back towards Quilcene, I got a good view of Mt. Constance, up the Dosewallips. Pretty. Nice drive home. Days are getting real short, so get to the trailhead early enough in order to get out before dark, unless you enjoy walking with a headlamp or flashlight.

Enjoy!

This is a description of an alternative, direct scramble route to Goat Flats. It starts lower and is only flagged/boot beaten but it is much shorter and not muddy or rough as the regular trail. Beckey's climbing guide shows the approximate location on a sketch map on page 110.

Drive FS road 41 about 8 miles from the mountain loop hiway where a big concrete bridge crosses the S fork of Canyon Creek. About 0.1 mile after the bridge a bermed road takes off on the right (N). On foot, follow this abandoned road east , and in about 10 minutes rock hop across an unnamed creek. About 40 yards after the creek flagging on the left marks the start of the trail/route. It ascends fairly steeply (not nearly as steep as Mailbox!) thru 2nd growth and then virgin timber (BIG cedars) before emerging at Goat Flats.

An added bonus is no Forest Fee hassles as not a designated trailhead, altho there is plenty of roadside parking near the start. This alternative is most worthwhile when the regular trail has snow or you can't get to the TH because of snow on the road. It melts out much sooner because of south aspect and is virtually mud free. It is not for casual hikers because of its steepness, and tread is faint at times. More flagging in the upper part would be nice.

Great day at parking lot, with a large cloud hanging over Gibraltar rock and up. Only saw Columbia Crest a few times, which lasted a few minutes at the most. Left the lot at 950am with ToTheTop, and some other folks. Trail is pretty much snow the whole way from the lot up, with small patches of concrete in the lower elevations. Pan Point now has a trail going up so alot of time is saved by heading straight up. There is an alternative route that goes straight though - did not look interesting to me, and I knew the way pretty well up Pan Point. Sun was shining brightly till about 7000 feet, and then it went behind the clouds and it got cold quickly with some wind. Stopped for a quick second to eat and it was freezing with the wind chill. Continued up and broke trail at a few spots as I refuse to follow skiiers as their objectives are rarely to hit Muir, they just one hit a good line down. Once in view of Muir, it only took about a half hour to get there and I arrived at 1:20pm. It was a ghost town outside, but the climbers hut was filled with activity. Hung out there until the rest of our party arrived, and ate and drank and then headed down. There were some icy spots at 9000'+, but we got in some great glissading all the way down to about 7500' which my knees were thankful for. Uneventful the rest of the way down except for a incredible sunset where the sun rays popped through. scott@nwog.org

Lake Talapus to Pratt Lake to Lower Tuscahachee No snow on trail

Three of us headed up in the wee morning hours, trying to hike this excellent trail and work a full day too. The trail is in fine shape, but hits snow when you turn into the basin below the summit. In the morning the snow was very icy and slippery. Those in-step crampons they sell on Mount Si would have been nice! No crowds, just views to Adams, Baker and everything in between. Quite windy at the lookout.

THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A GOOD FALL OR SPRING HIKE, AND PROBABLY THE LAST HIKE THIS YEAR FOR ME. HOWEVER, I KEEP SAYING THAT AS THE WEATHER CONTINUES GREAT FOR HIKING AND SCRAMBLING. THE FOREST SERVICE ROADS TO TRAILHEAD ARE IN GREAT SHAPE, AND WITH NO SNOW, PROBABLY DUE TO SOUTHERLY EXPOSURE - MANY NEARBY ROADS WERE SNOWED OVER AT 3600'OR BELOW. THE 3/4 MILE BEGINNING FROM TRAILHEAD IS AN UNINSPIRING OLD MINING ROAD- FOREST SERVICE MAP SHOWS A SUNRISE MINE, BUT THERE WASN'T MUCH EVIDENCE OF LONG-AGO ACTIVITY. WHEN TRAIL BEGINS AT MINING ROADS END THERE IS ABOUT 50 YARDS OF HEAVY SNOW THROUGH A ""XMAS TREE FARM"" WHICH MADE ME WONDER WHAT WAS COMING, BUT BEYOND THAT, THE OLD GROWTH CANAPY STARTS WITH NO SNOW ON TRAIL FOR ANOTHER MILE OR SO.

THE TRAIL BASICALLY FOLLOWS THE RIDGE LINE ALL THE WAY TO SCORPION MTN. THERE IS SOME APPRECIABLE SNOW(6"" OR SO) ON APPROACHES TO SUNRISE MTN., WHICH IS AN OPEN AREA YOU MIGHT MISS, APPROX. 2.5 MILES FROM TRAILHEAD. VIEWS ARE NICE, BUT IF YOU LOOK TO NORTHEAST, SCORPION MTN. AWAITS YOU. THERE'S ABOUT 18' OF SNOW ON TOP OF SUNRISE, BUT HERE AS ELSEWHERE THE SNOW IS NEGOTIABLE.

THIS IS BASICALLY ALL FOREST HIKING, WITH FEW OPENINGS FOR SCENERY EXCEPT ON SUNRISE AND SCORPION. WHILE THE MAP ELEVATION SHOWS GOING FROM 3600' TO 5400' OR SO AT SUMMIT, THERE IS QUITE ALOT OF UP AND DOWN ELEVATION BETWEEN THESE TWO. IN FACT, YOU IMMEDIATELY DROP ABOUT 300' OR SO OFF SUNRISE, AND THEN YOU RIDE A ROLLER COASTER OF UPS AND DOWNS.

THE MAIN THRILL ON THIS HIKE IS THE APPROACH AND OUTSTANDING VIEWS OFF SCORPION. THE SUMMIT IS A ROUND TOP WITH FEW TREES, WHERE YOU LOOK STRAIGHT DOWN AT JOAN LAKE WHICH CUDDLES IN SNOWY SPLENDOR. THERE'S A HARD SNOW PACK OF 24-30"" AND GREAT VIEWS OF GLACIER PEAK, SLOAN, AND MONTE CRISTO'S TO NORTH. VESPER, FOGGY, AND EVEN MT. PUGH ARE VISIBLE. MT. HOWARD AND MASTIFF ARE OFF TO EAST, AND STUART RANGE TO SOUTH. THE GLACIERS ON THE TWO OLD LADIES, MTS. DANIEL AND HINMAN ACTUALLY SPARKLED LIKE DIAMONDS WITH THE SUN TO THE SOUTH OF US, AND EVEN RAINIER PEAKS OUT BEHIND MT. FERNOW.

SCORPION MTN. MUST GET ITS NAME FROM ITS MYSTERY. THE TRAIL APPROACHING IT MEANDERS BUT ALWAYS CLOSE TO THE RIDGE LINE. AND, THE GREEN TRAILS MAP DOESN'T PORTRAY GRADIENTS OF THE UPS AND DOWNS EITHER. WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM SUMMIT, THE TRAIL STICKS TO NORTH SIDE, WHERE SNOW GETS HARD AND A BIT SLICK. SUGGESTIONS FOR SNOW: STICK TO TREES, TAKE GAITORS, AND DON'T LEAVE ICE AXE IN CAR(LIKE I DID)JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO EXPLORE.

ON A WEEKDAY AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, I WAS ONLY CAR AT TRAILHEAD(OR FOR MILES!!) WITH COMPLETE SOLITUDE ALL DAY. SO FOR A 'PEACE AND QUIET' HIKE, CLOSE IN TO SEATTLE(1 1/4 HR. DRIVE), AND, WHEN ROADS TO OTHER HIKES ARE SNOWED IN, THIS MAY FOR YOU.

This is an interesting low elevation hike along an abandoned mining road in North Fork Skykomish region. You wont find this one in the hiking books although I think it is definitely worthy. The valley is far from pristine but there are some excellent remnants of old growth forest especially along the first 2 miles. The mining history apparently goes back around 100 years. Take Hwy 2 to Road 63 toward the town of Index. 9 miles from Hwy 2 make a left and cross over the North Fork on a sturdy bridge. Make a right at the Y. If you have a high clearance vehicle you can go 1.3 miles to the obvious end of drivable road. In a passenger car you can probably drive only 0.3 miles. The trail immediatly traverses a hugh landslide which is obviously the reason why the road is no longer in service. The first 2 miles of road turned trail are the most interesting. There are excellent remnants of old growth forest along the way. Silver Creek runs in a deep gorge that in some spots is about 200 ft straight down from the trail. There are lots of interesting waterfalls and mine tunnels along the way. The water in Silver Creek is amazingly clear. After 2 miles the trail traverses land that has mostly been logged at various times in the past. At about 2.5 miles an occupied cabin is passed. A good size side creek must be crossed on rocks at about 3 miles. This creek would be very dangerous during spring runoff. Soon after the creek crossing, the trail crosses Silver Creek on a well built but slippery bridge. According to my map Mineral City is just on the other side of the bridge. I didn't see any obvious signs of it. The trail starts gaining modest elevation at this point and the tread deteriorates. There is a 1/4 mile segment where the trail doubles as a creek bed. It gets progressively brushier until a large open slide area is encountered about 1 mile from Mineral City. I suspect that the slide was caused by mining and logging activity. The slide area affords great views of the valley and waterfalls. This would make a good turn around point for a day hike. I continued up the valley another mile. Silver Creek must be crossed at a spot marked by a pink ribbon which was not obvious to me on my first go around. Beyond the creek crossing the terrain still looks pretty trashed from past logging activity. The headwaters of Silver Creek with its snow capped peaks is visible from the end of the logging road at about the 4.5 mile mark.

Like most who use this trail undoubtedly, we took it as far as the lake. No hazards on this trail, no snow (although there were some icy spots in the latter part of the trail, where the air felt considerably cooler than earlier on even though we hadn't gained any elevation) and -- on Friday at least -- no people. (Although there were two other vehicles at the trailhead, we did not see anyone either on the trail or at the lake.) The biggest annoyance was seeing bicycle tracks on this hiker- and horse-only trail, including inside the wilderness area.

We decided to take a look at the Pacific Crest trail heading south from Snoqualmie Pass as neither of us had been on that part of the trail. Tinkham Peak looked like a good destination. Beckey’s guide describes it as “no difficulties”. The weather had been dry for a few days and the temperature was about at freezing level when we started out from the trailhead near the bottom of the summit ski area. In spite of the ground being frozen, the trail was surprisingly wet and muddy in many places. It would have been much worse if it had been warmer. I was surprised at the trail condition because north of the pass, the crest trail is in beautiful condition. The worst areas were from the ski area past Beaver and Lodge lakes, around Olallie meadows, and where the trail turns eastward to go around Tinkham Peak.

In spite of the trail condition and the nearness to civilization (road crossings and the sounds of I-90), this section of the trail has some nice alpine woods and meadows, and some great views of the peaks around the pass.

We ran into the first snow on the trail at Olallie Meadow, although there were several icy places below that. The road that crosses the trail south of the meadow was bare and in good shape, at least at that point. At about 6 miles, the snow became continuous.

We left the crest trail below the Tinkham-Silver saddle and followed a side trail up to the ridge. The snow there was pretty hard. We were able to follow someone’s earlier track up the ridge towards the Tinkham summit. Otherwise, without crampons, we would not have been able to kick steps up in the hard snow. When we got to the summit rocks, we decided that the snow and ice on the rocks, and the exposure were more excitement than we wanted (is this the same peak Beckey was talking about'), plus it had taken us four hours to get there and we would be running out of daylight if we didn’t start back soon. We cautiously retraced our steps back to the saddle, using numerous vegetable belays because of the hard snow and steepness of the ridge.

Score: other hikers- 0, wildlife- 0 (except a few birds), creek crossings- many small ones

We had such a good ride on this trail last fall that we've been waiting for a good day for the last two months when we all could go again. Unfortunately we were a little too late since we got an early snow high up this year. The trail is really enjoyable following the river and pasing through huge woods. A little ways before Lost lake is a couple of huge trees over the trail that we were able to go around by going way off trail. Then came a bridge with loose icey boards that jump up when you cross but we survived that too. Lost lake was partly frozen over and very pretty. As we climbed toward the Knob we hit more and more snow on the trail. It was fine for hikers but a little scarey for horses as it was hard and icey and if you slipped-it was a looong way down! So we saw the fabulous view north from the ""almost"" top, though missing the view of Mt Ranier. We returned to Lost Lake for a lunch in the fading sun. Great adventure!

The views were terrific, 14+ miles visibility and nearly cloudless skies. The ascent was snowless until the last half-mile... snow depth up to 4"" in spots and a little slick going up to the upper lake. Even the wind was slight! We reached the top about 1pm and the temperature was a balmy 45 +/- a few degrees and both lakes were partially iced over.

As we departed the ceiling dropped significantly as did the temp. with the sun only peaking through the trees. Some mud accumulated in the areas of the trail where snow began to melt under the sun. Otherwise the trail was clear and well groomed.

Overall, worth the effort to reach Upper Crystal Lake.

Start at trail (elev 3100') just 50 feet downhill from the Snow Lakes trailhead. This is a climbers path and you can tell. This is one of the steepest trails I have been on, and the only trail that it even compares to could be Mailbox. We reached snow at around 3500', which made for a hasty ascent as the trail is mainly rocks, boulders, and roots. After about a mile and a half you reach a junction where there is a sign that points out either Guye or Snoqualmie Mtn. We had a really late start as we had done Tiger Mtn in the morning so we had not left the trailhead till about 130pm. So we followed the trail up to Cave Ridge so we could scope the scene from there and decide. With Snoqualmie having an elevation of 6200, we knew it was too far for us so we shot for Guye Peak. Unfortunately we did not bear right as much as we should have and we hit the unnamed peak the sits above Guye Peak at 5270'. There was plenty of snow and bush belaying above Cave Ridge, and the snowshoes were much appreciated. Turned around at 330pm and made it back down to an empty Alpental parking Lot by 5pm.

I always try to make a late season walk into Manastash Lake to fish for brookies-but I went a weekend too late for fishing, the like was iced over, just solid enough that a lure wouldn't break through, but not so solid or snow covered that I couldn't see fish swimming around, it looked like being in a glass bottomed boat. The fish are spawning and school up so they'd come by in large groups.

This was the last day of the general elk season and I ran into a couple of hunters-the snow that fell about a week ago had melted and been rained upon, so hunting was almost impossible because of the noise of the crusted snow-I heard only one burst of shooting all day. There was about 4 inches of snow in some shaded spots and the trail was icy in spots early in the day before the sun hit. There are a fair number of larches in the Manastash and a good bit of color left, but the leaves are falling fast.

It took two tries, but found the Kelley Creek trail mentioned in the 100 hikes book. Take the first left spur after crossing Martin Creek (much closer than it appears on the USGS map). This is not drivable but nicely walkable after the efforts of Lopper & Son a few months ago (see his report). A sign points you uphill towards Johnson Ridge. The trail was mostly easy to follow, and in remarkable shape. Snow made it a tad more difficult to follow, but we stayed on track all the way to the ridge. There was a foot of snow at the 5000' level. We climbed up to Captain Point on easy scrambling terrain, then up and over to the logging road systems back down the the ""trailhead"". Managed to avoid the rains that reign this time of year until just before the car. A group of 4x4 (about 4 vehicles) had somehow made it to at least 5000', only one was severely stuck in the ditch. We watched amused as we descended on foot.

The trail could use a little pruning and has a couple blowdowns. None seriously impede progress.

After not hiking for 3 weeks, I needed to get out. I sent an e-mail to my friends inviting them for a short hike. I had one taker (a fellow Mountaineer...I can always count on them).

I selected the hike to Rattlesnake Ledge mostly because a friend asks me everytime I see him, ""Have you hike the trail over by Rattlesnake Lake' Huh, have you'"" Now I have.

The weather forecast called for rain. We started our drive from Tacoma at 9 a.m. and the sun was out! Of course! We got to the trailhead parking and saw this beautiful rock formation up above. My hiking partner, Lynette, asked, ""Is that where we are going'"" ""Yup."" I replied. And up we went. The sun was still out and it was a beautiful day. The trail is steep but short. Up, up and away we went.

We got to the ledge (or as one passing hiker called it), ""The Lunch Box"" and had a clear and perfect view. The ledge is a little scary for us folks with ""fear of heights"" problems. I'm starting to notice a pattern in my trail reports. I keep reporting about places where you could fall and fall and fall.

We decided to go further up the trail since to the ledge is just a 2.6 mile roundtrip. We followed the trail a little further and decided to get back to the ""lunch box"" and have lunch. Always a favorite activity of mine.

It's a good thing we hiked when we did because the clouds and rain started. By the time we reached the ledge again, the views were gone and it was no longer warm and sunny.

What I did not like about the hike was the number of people on the trail. I can't imagine what it would be like on a sunny summer day and I hope I never find out.

By the time we returned to the car, it was raining harder. What timing! What a nice day for a hike.

After watching the rain fall all week long I just had to get into the Indian Heaven wilderness when I heard that Saturday would clear up. And did it ever. Possibly the most comfortable hike I've been on all year. Temps in the mid 50's, no clouds, no wind, glorious. Intended to start at the Thomas Lake trailhead on road 65 but somehow missed the signs and ended up a few miles north at the Placid Lake trailhead. Not wanting to waste any more time driving the endless maze of roads I parked the car and hit the trail. Little did I know I'd be greatly outnumbered by deer hunters. In fact I saw 3 more hunters than I did deer. 3 hunters and no deer. So I made it to Placid Lake in a shy 10 minutes. Had to pull out the map and see what to do next. Pacific Crest trail 3.3 miles ahead. Ok. Although the incline seemed next to none, I actually gained 1,000 ft upon reaching the PCT. At 5,000 ft the snow was very patchy, mostly in shaded areas 1 to 6 inches deep. Consulted the map again and opted to head south toward Deer, Bear, and Elk lakes. Didn't see any of the species these are named after but did encounter just one other hiker, Bob with his dog Brando. Had lunch in solitude at Deer Lake, sunned myself on a rock while admiring the stillness, and very much accomplished my goal of just being. Explored the lakeshore, headed north back onto the PCT, took a left on #29 toward Placid Lake and was back at the car by 2:00. Mileage: about 10 or 11 roundtrip with a very gradual gain of 1,000 feet. Trails were in excellent shape the entire way. Two thumbs up! This could hold me over until spring but I'd prefer to find some hiking partners in the Vancouver, WA area. Email me at adam.magee@oceanbeauty.com

The new bridge over the Carbon River is open. See the 11/03/01, Summit Lake report. It looks like this bridge was built to withstand the fifty year floods we get every five years. It is built on massive pillars and the stream bed has been graded to form a wide flat, flood plane around the bridge. This bridge extends completely across the riverbed and does not form a constriction the way the old land filled approaches to the former bridge did. It looks like someone finally did their home work before building this bridge. The wait was worth it. I would recommend a high clearance vehicle for the upper part of the road to the trail head.

I decided to try for Bearhead Mtn.. The trail at Twin Lake junction is snow covered, however, once back under the trees, the trail is 80% snow free with only a few patched of snow an inch or two deep. There are a few blow downs, but the trail is otherwise in very good conditions.

The serious snow begins at 5600 feet, on the dogleg up to the summit. The last three quarter mile has about a foot or more of snow on it. Snow shoes would have been handy, but were not really necessary. Post holing was exhausting, but there were three hikers beating down the trail to the top of Bearhead on Saturday. The views from the top were excellent. There still time to get this hike in before the heavy snows hit.

Took advantage of a precious break in the weather to check out snow conditions in the high country. Managed to drive within 200 yards of the Yellow Aster Butte/Tomyhoi TH. Those with 4WD managed 200 yards further in 12 inches of dense snow.

In the two miles to Twin Lakes a couple of avalaches buried the road with heavy snow. The lakes basin had snow 3 feet deep with signs of instability on slopes of 50 degrees or greater. The upper bowl at 45 degrees probably has depths closer to 4 feet; it was untriggered and likely very hazardous. There is also a sizeable cornice at the notch just past the bowl traverse.

Spectacular views of familiar peaks with heavy loads of white: Larrabee, The Plieades, Goat, Sefrit. The silent fury of wind was evidenced on Kulshan by great veils of white cast from its summit. Peeled off the skins and enjoyed the ski back to the truck, getting a few turns in on the way down, although they were of the head-over-heels type.

This is one of my favorite easy/moderate hikes. It's featured in Joan Burton's BEST HIKES WITH CHILDREN in WESTERN WASH. VOL 1. The trail rises from the hiway at 1100 ft. thru very impressive low elevation old growth big cedar forest to the lake at 2500. The Forest Service preserved this area around 22 creek & lake, the rest of the Stillaguamish river valley has been logged. The lake outlet, 22 creek, parallels the trail and has many beautiful waterfalls. Not all are visible from the trail but 5 or 6 outstanding falls ARE accessable . And at Lake 22 one sees several misty falls coming down the high cliffs on the far shore. There are views north about 1/2 way up where the trail comes out of the forest to switch back up a talus field. My small Mountaineer group was fortunate to be hiking on the only dry day of the week. Skies dry, ground wet. Quite a bit of mud, slick rocks, lots of little creeklets to cross, a couple of downed trees. No snow. The snowline was about 500 ft. above lake level on the north facing cliffs. The small permanent snowpatch at the base of the cliffs survived our low snow drought year and is ready to grow again! We had an enjoyable time out in this pristine mini wilderness. The cedars towered above, the falls roared, a few birds sang, and the deep green lake was a perfect mirror of the cliffs and sky above.

5 1/2 miles 1300 ft. rise. 2 hours up, 1 1/2 hours down.

60 miles and 1 hour 10 minutes from north Seattle

Robert MIchelson 11/3/2001

On my way back from Oregon, i decided to stop at St. Helens, figuring this would be a good time of the year to visit. The park aint exactly known for its fall foliage, so i figured it would be quiet. I was right, since the park was virtually deserted despite sunny skies and temps around 60 degrees! I set off up the South Coldwater trail up the ridge, where one can see the remnants of logging equipment destroyed by the blast. Just past Ridge Camp i saw a herd of about 50 elk climbing single file up the next ridge. The trail beyond Ridge Camp is on a steep slope at times and i wouldnt recommend it for those afraid of heights. Snow was in patches on the ridge top, mostly covering the trail (which made locating the trail easy!) I kept walking on the Boundary trail about a mile past a rock tunnel that the trail passes through. Great views of Adams, Hood, Rainier, and Spirit/Helens Lakes. On the way back i couldnt resist scrambling about 800 feet up Coldwater Peak from the south, to puzzle over the solar panels that are on top. trip stats: ~14 miles; 3,500 ft. The top story on the 11pm news that night was how there have been 2oo+ earthquakes at the Mountain over the past 24 hrs; the most since 1998. I didnt notice any of them (and seemingly neither did the elk). Great hiking day and didn't see a soul all day!

On our way to Green Lake, MRNP, we found to our delight that the bridge is in and open over the Carbon River. Our two carloads of hikers made the only choice on this sunny day - up and on.

The road has been bladed and is in fine shape all the way up to the junction with the Copley Lk road to the right. A far cry from the rough track of past years. The last 1.5 mile, while perfectly drivable, is narrow and in need of brushing. Snow lingers in the shade, with tracks down to the gravel.

The trail starts in a bit of snow, before becoming snow free for a while. The tread is in fine shape after its long years of neglect. Shortly before the junction with the trail to Bearhead Mtn., the snow gets deeper but was solid enough to walk on rather than in. Depth ranged from one to several inches, deep enough at the junction to decide that rather than break trail up to Bearhead, we'd head over to Summit Lake. Twin Lk is in the process of icing up in this cold shady little basin.

The trail climbs a bit more, than traverses over to Summit Lake, surrounded by snow and a few bare patches by the lake, perfect for lunch and lounging in the sun. The lake does not yet show any signs of icing up.

We had a perfect Fall day, unusually warm for November, for this 12 mile round-trip hike to Ape Canyon and beyond to the Plains of Abraham.

To reach the trailhead, drive I-5 to Woodland, which is about 20 miles north of Vancouver. Follow the signs for Cougar, which is about 35 miles east on S.R. 503. Continue beyond Cougar for 6.5 miles to a junction signed for Ape Cave and Lava Canyon. Turn left on Forest Road 83 and follow it for 11.2 paved miles to the Ape Canyon Trail parking area, 2,880 feet. Northwest Forest Pass required.

This trail climbs an old-growth forested ridge beside the Muddy River Lahar, which is an awesome, mile-wide mudflow from Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption. The trail begins on a cliff edge overlooking the lahar - a flow of mud, rock, and volcanic ash unleashed when the erupting volcano melted the snowfields and glaciers on its slopes. On this day, fresh snow above 6,000 feet made the decapitated volcano look fresh and bright.

The first 1.6 miles of the trail traverses a forest plantation resulting from a 1968 clearcut. Then the trail enters an impressive old-growth forest of 6-foot-thick Douglas-firs, occasional wester red-cedars, and western hemlocks. This section of the trail provides a feel for the forest that covered much of the Mount St. Helens region prior to the impacts of logging and volcanic eruption. We flushed a grouse. As the trail moves between the east and west sides of the ridge, occasional views of Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams are possible. At 4.5 miles, the trail enters the singe zone of trees killed by superheated air during the eruption but not blown down. Young stands of red alder are quickly reclaiming the bare slopes. The alders were leafless this late in the season, so we had grand views across to Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, 43 miles away, came into view as we climbed higher, and then the tips of the Goat Rocks appeared on the far eastern horizon. Ahead, the lahar's slopes narrowed and steepened, serrated by gullies. Finally, the trail enters a pumice desert that follows the edge of a precipitous drop-off into Ape Canyon. The 100-foot, narrow, vertical slot of Ape Canyon frames the Ape Canyon valley far below and snowy Mount Adams in the distance. Ape Canyon was scoured by mudflows during the eruption. Just beyond the slot of Ape Canyon, the trail ends at the junction with Loowit Trail #216 at 5.5 miles. This is a good lunch stop with close up views of the east face of Mount St. Helens, views down Ape Canyon, and, if you climb up on the knoll, views of Mount Hood to the south in Oregon.

After lunch, we decided to continue on to the Plains of Abraham and the high point on the hike at about 4,500 feet. Gary had never been there and wanted to see what it was like. Prior to 1980, the Plains were filled with green meadows, wild flowers and clear streams flowing from the mountain's snowfields. Mudflows and pyroclastic flows in 1980 deposited layers of pumice, ash and rock debris. Rock cairns mark the route of the trail across the Plains. The tip of the Dome, a peak in the Mount Margaret Backcountry north of Spirit Lake, is visible through a gap on the north side of the Plains of Abraham. We took in the view in all directions, but the mountain towering above us commanded our attention. The wind whipping across the barren landscape was cold so we didn't linger long.

This was elk hunting season, so we encountered several parties hiking out, as well as spotting dots of blaze orange on the landscape where hunters were walking the lahar. We did encounter one successful hunting party packing out their kill. As they passed us, Kim noticed that one member of the group didn't have a hunk of elk strapped on his pack and commented that he must be the vegetarian in the group. He didn't get the joke and looked at her like she was nuts. Despite our friendly greetings, they all seemed a bit defensive, as if afraid we might make anti-hunting comments.

We were reminded of the lateness of the year on the hike out. Although it was only 2:30 in the afternoon, the sun already was casting long shadows across the lahar and the face of the mountain. We agreed that this was a superb autumn hike.

A glorious, sunny Saturday in early November - too beautiful to waste in town. After trying unsuccessfully to round up a hiking partner, I decided to just make a solo hike up Granite Mtn. This turned out to be the best decision I had made in months. Upon arrival at the trailhead parking lot, I could tell that about a hundred other brilliant folks had reached the same conclusion.

The trail was in excellent shape - there was no snow until nearly to the top of the ridgeline below the snow-fed lake/pond east of the summit ridge (roughly the 3 mile point). From there on up to the top, the track was well beaten into the snow, although I would strongly recommend gaiters and trekking poles (no ice axe needed yet). The views from the summit were predictably stunning from Baker and Glacier Peak to the north to Rainier and Adams to the south - Olympics to the west, and of course all of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness peaks partially snow-covered. The lookout shelter is closed up for the season, so don't count on any indoor cover from the wind and elements on the summit now.

It was a remarkably warm day, and I found myself hiking in short sleeves until the last mile or so. With the conditions so favorable and my legs recovered from a hike earlier in the week, I made it to the top in just a little over 3 hours, down in 2 more.

Everything you've read or heard about this trail is true. The trail is basically a streambed, with all the potential for ankle twising on loose rocks and exposed roots until you get to about 3500 ft.

Our objective was Silvertip, above Silver Lake, but the snow was deep and unconsolidated, and the cross country portion from Poodle Dog Pass heading north toward Silvertip's east ridge proved to be a workout. Finding the right ramp through the cliff bands brought us to the 5100 ft saddle north of the lake, and our turnaround.

On the way back we noticed a snow-covered bridge at the snow line (about 3500 ft) that didn't have our tracks on it, and one of our party recalled seeing a notice about construction of a new trail at the trailhead. We followed it down, and what a joy! This will soon take the place of the old Poodle Dog miners track, and none to soon. The new trail is on the east side of the creek, and in fact is mostly on the east side of the ridge in the Seventy-Six Creek drainage for most of its one mile plus length. Its gentle grade and smooth track will be a welcome addition to hiking in the Monte Cristo area, and a much more pleasant beginning to hikes to Silver and Twin Lakes. Almost as nice as coasting back out the four miles of road on our bikes!

Road up to Ipsut creek campground was in very good shape. Trail had some muddy areas, but less than I expected for this time of year, otherwise the rail was in great shape. No snow anywhere on the trail. The snow line looked about 1000 vertical above the glacier. 3.5 miles each way to the glacier. We wanted to hike up to a ridge above the glacier but we got up there to late and did not have time. It looked to me that the view of Mt Rainier would be worth the climb. The trail up to the glacier had a moderate climb, it gets steeper as you go beyond the glacier. Some very nice level campsites with toilets about 3/4 the way up the trail. Near the glacier there is a suspension bridge over the river. Great November hike that could be covered with snow at any time. The ranger we talked to said that they had snow cover down to the park entrance about two weeks ago, so be prepared.

A BEAUTIFUL PROBABLY LAST HIKING DAY THIS YEAR AS I HEADED UP PAST TULAPUS LAKE TO RAINBOW LAKE AND SCRAMBLE UP PRATT MTN. BOTH TRAILS WERE IN GOOD SHAPE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. LITTLE STANDING WATER AND MUD NOT A PROBLEM. FIRST HIT 1-3"" OF SNOW ON TRAIL AT ABOUT 3700' AND IT WASN'T A PROBLEM THROUGH TO RAINBOW LAKE. THIS IS A GREAT FALL HIKE ESPECIALLY AS ONCE YOU REACH JUNCTION OF #1039 AND #1007 FROM THERE TO RAINBOW LAKE THE TRAIL HAS MODERATE TO LITTLE ELEVATION GAINS. THE VIEWS SOUTH OFF #1009 ARE BEAUTIFUL AS YOU HIKE A PRETTY LEVEL TRAIL BELOW PRATT MTN.

SCRAMBLING PRATT WAS A WEE BIT TOUGHER THAN EXPECTED. THE 100 HIKES BOOK SAYS ITS AN EASY SCRAMBLE UP A BOULDER FIELD. PERHAPS THEY MEANT WHEN IT WAS COVERED WITH SNOW. ANYWAY, THE BOULDERS ""MOVE ALOT"" AND MAKE FOR A CHALLENGE. DON'T EXPECT CAIRNS.THE TERRAIN GETS STEEPER FURTHER EAST ON PRATT SHOULD YOU TRY TO AVOID THE BOULDER FIELD. YOU CAN SCRAMBLE UP PRATT DEPARTING THE TRAIL ANYWHERE EAST OF RAINBOW LAKE, BECAUSE ITS ONE SOLID BOULDER FIELD. I CHOSE TO DEPART TRAIL A COUPLE HUNDRED YARDS EAST OF ISLAND LAKE TURNOFF.

VIEWS FROM TOP OF PRATT ARE SUPER INCLUDING LOOKING DOWN AT ALL THE LAKES, PRATT, ISLAND, RAINBOW, AND BLAZER, AND OVER TO GRANITE MTN. LOOKOUT. RAINIER APPEARS CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH.

MEETING ALOT OF UNEQUIPPED PEOPLE COMING UP ON THE TRAIL DOWN FROM TALAPUS AT 3PM MADE ME WONDER HOW MANY WOULD BE SPENDING THE NIGHT. NIGHT COMES ON FAST AT AROUND 5PM AS I FOUND LAST YEAR IN RETURN TRIP DOWN GRANITE MTN. SOONER IN THE FOREST. ON THAT TRIP, WE WERE EQUIPPED WITH ESSENTIALS,WITH EXCEPTION OF EXTRA FLASHLIGHT BATTERIES AND ENDED UP TAKING TWO HOURS TO MAKE THE LAST 1/2 MILE TO PARKING LIGHT WITH HELP OF STREET LIGHT AS A BEACON. NEVER AGAIN!!

ALL IN ALL, A GREAT DAY AND A REPEATABLE FALL HIKE. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS THAT MY PLANNED BREAKFAST STOP AT THE NEW AND FAMOUS KRISPIE KREAM DONUT SHOP IN ISSAQUAH, WHICH WAS MY BREAKFAST STOP AT 645AM SATURDAY MORN, HAD TO BE POSTPONED: THE WHOLE COUNTY GAVE UP SLEEPING IN ON THEIR SAT MORN TO GET A SUGAR HIGH!! THERE WERE MORE CARS AND PEOPLE PRESENT THAN WOULD STAND IN LINE FOR MARINERS PLAYOFF TICKETS. AND, COMING HOME ON I-90 FOUND THE INTERSTATE CLOGGED GOING THROUGH ISSAQUAH, WHICH IS NOT NORMAL FOR A SATURDAY AFTERNOON. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I'LL HAVE TO POSTPONE THAT PLEASURE.

Six Tigers minus one (Five Tigers). Met Eco Willy and Chicago Mary and a bunch of Mountaineers to walk over the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). Dropped a few cars at the High Point exist and drove around to Tiger Mountain Rd to hike the trail south to north. It is a good idea to have a current map to make this trip as the Tiger Mountains are laced with roads and trails. Eco Willy had a map that had been revised in 2002 (some sort of time machine revision) so we were set. Started out on the TMT at 7:30 and headed for South Tiger. Watch for a large stump that has two springboard cuts that look like eyes, it is a ¼ mile up the hill from the trail and there is a climbing register but no views. Then on to Middle Tiger, there are a series of roads and trails to get to this summit, still no views. Another series of trails and roads took us to a rest area with a toilet that is still open even though the roads are closed. From there, it was a trail to Tiger One and a huge array of communication towers. Before you reach Tiger One, you come across a small evergreen that some one had put Christmas decorations on (there must be a story to go along with this), we stopped and took a group picture and sang some Christmas carols. From Tiger One you are on the road until Tiger Two. There is an excellent view just down from Tiger One, less at Tiger Two. Then back to the trail to Tiger Three and a small rest before we headed down the hill. I sort of picked the trail down and I'm sure there were a few curse words thrown my way for the steepness of this un-maintained section of trail. But it drops you to the Nook Trail, which I think is prettier than the Tiger 3 trail. So we were back to the cars at about 3:00 pm. Not bad for about 13 miles of up and down. Good people, weather and hike.

The trail to Goat lake was in good shape. No snow, although there is some runoff in places which makes water-proof boots advisable. Goat Lake is a pretty emerald-green color. No snow or ice on it yet, though there is plenty of fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. The snow level appeared to be at 4000 feet or so (about 1000 feet above the level of the lake). Views of the powder-capped peaks were spectacular.

There is a large rut at the start of Road 4080 right off Mountain Loop Highway. Passenger cars can just get by, but it could present a nasty obstacle if it gets any larger. Otherwise, the road to the trailhead presents no problems.

Overall, a good choice for a late Fall hike.

There are some muddy stretches due to the recent snow and rainfall. Snow patches start at 3450 feet on the switchbacks above Keekwulee Falls. The trail is mostly snow covered above 3900 feet to Hemlock Pass. Snow depth at Hemlock Pass is about three inches. The trail has patches of snow from Hemlock Pass to the Melakwa Lakes. Pikas were heard in the rocks. Skies were mixed clear to hazy. Temperatures were cold in the morning to warm in the afternoon.

The three of us set out in search of a quiet yet close (to Seattle) trail. This was the perfect choice. It's not the greatest in terms of views but it does offer 'tude. Solitude, that is. We only went about 2.5 miles in (didn't reach creek crossing). Although we encountered no snow, there was a lot of water and mud after about half a mile. We saw no one else on this trail.

This is a nice hike most of the year, following the Carbon River up to the snout of the Carbon Glacier. We had a great day, getting some fair weather in between storms. The trail was in good shape, with two blow-downs (one of which we moved) and all bridges are in place for the loop. The suspension bridge has nice new planking so it's not so intimidating. We had lunch at the overlook near the glacier. There were also some nice views of the Mountain while crossing at the lower bridge. Only caution, some of the log bridges are a bit slippery. And on the way in, the one-lane bridge over the Carbon was icy.

On this trip: Scott, Alison, Bill (ToTheTop) Started at trailhead of PCT by Alpental (elev 3000') and made way towards Kendall Katwalk. Encountered bits of snow on trail on lower portion. At 2.75 miles (elev 3820') or so in you encounter a T where you go right for the PCT or left to Commonwealth Basin. Stay right to go to Kendall Ridge, etc. Then you come into a open moraine of trees blowdown from windstorm and/or avalanche. We encountered two tracks, one set going up, and one set going right towards the trees. We decided to go up since it looked most direct, and we thought we might be able to get to Red Mountain. The tracks got less easy to follow, and scooby the wonderdog was not being much help at all to guide us the right way, so we continued up untill we started going up some steep hills doing the bush and tree belay thing. We finally got back on the PCT and put on the snoeshoes (elev 4700' approx). From here there were some great views of Mt Rainier, Guye Peak, Red Mountain, and Snoqualmie Mountain. We got to one spot where there were no tracks and a small avalanche had buried a portion of the trail. We stopped to take off our snowshoes and get our ice axes out and then I noticed that Scooby started slipping and almost went down the side of the mountain side. I knew at this point we could not go any further as it would endanger him. ""Yeah"" said Bill, so we put our snowshoes back on and went back a little bit down the trail to have lunch. Being only a few hundred feet below Kendall Peak we started to climb the steep side of the face on some unconsolidated snow with rocks and slippery bushes underneath. I got to one spot that involved a few class 3 moves then relaized Bill and Alison, and even Scooby were turning around. After getting myself up over these few moves I realized I did not want to go up the next few spots by myself so I turned around as well, being only a stones throw from the summit. We started our descent and took the long way down the PCT but had loads of fun with the Snowshoes, as always. too much fun on such a beautiful day! scott@nwog.org

Did this nice little hike again while I was in the area, looking for mushrooms to photograph. Only found a few, mostly off trail. As usual, those near the trail had been trampled. There's a bit of water on the trail from all the rain, and the footbridges are a bit slippery. There's one mid-size blowdown about half way around the loop.

We decided to avoid the witches, ghosts and goblins and make a quick trip up Pilchuck on this stormy Halloween Day. The weather was forecast to be rainy and windy in the AM, but lightening up in the PM - not so. It just got colder and windier - but not a problem for this beautiful, short and very accessible hike on the newly-reconstructed trail. By the way, hats off to everyone who participated in the trail repair/construction here over the past year - it is a remarkable piece of work - THANK YOU!!!

We hit the trailhead at 11:30AM. It was drizzling in the woods on the lower part of the trail. We encountered the first snow on the trail at about the quarter-of-the-way point. The trail in the snow was well-compressed by previous hikers and made the hiking easy without crampons (although the hiking poles were a great help - particularly on the descent. No need for an ice axe yet). We arrived at the summit after a little under 2 hours of mushing in the snow and ice. The boulder scramble just below the summit shelter was a little tricky as the rocks were all covered with fresh ice and were very slippery (as was the ladder). The summit shelter was likewise coated in ice, but we were able to get inside and eat lunch with some respite from the 30+ mph winds and driving sleet - the still air temp on top was probably around freezing, not including the substantial wind chill.

No views due to the clouds and fog, but we weren't expecting any on a day like this. After 45 minutes, we packed up, buttoned up, closed up the shelter and beat a hasty retreat downward through the weather. After we got back on the north side of the mountain again, and out of the icy winds from the south, it was a very pleasant descent on the snow track - kind of a controlled slide with the feet and poles, letting gravity be your friend.

We made it down to the car at the trailhead in just 1 hour - feeling very invigorated and refreshed, albeit it soaked and a bit cold. The latter two conditions were remedied with a pitcher of beer at a tavern in Granite Falls before heading back to Seattle.

Four of us left Seattle at 6 pm last Tuesday to hike Granite. It was raining a little bit, somewhat windy when we cleared the forest, but all in all pretty nice. There is less snow there than there was when I was there last time, in June. Of course it may have changed by now. The trail was very nice, the easy scrambling at the top very, eh, easy, and there was enough ambient light to make headlamps unnecessary - a good thing, since I forgot mine at home. We weren't back in Seattle until 2 am, but the hike really shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours car-to-car if you keep a decent pace.

Mount Pilchuck is always a joy. Quick drive, quick jaunt to the summit and great views. The trails is icy and snow-covered, but we managed to reach the summit in 2 hours. After the next snow fall ice axes will be necessary. Views from the top extend from Canada to the Olympics and downtown Seattle. Many of our big mountains were hiding behind high clouds. The summit shack was busy at lunch time but everyone spread out pretty well on the trail so we felt like we had the mountain almost to ourselves.