Trip Reports

Three of us attempted to climb Mt Dickerman on Sunday Oct 28th. We encountered snow about 1.5 miles in. At 3 miles we were in 12"" of snow and the trail that was previously cut stopped at a creek. The snow was falling heavy and the cloud cover was thick. We turned back as we were not prepared to break trail in a foot of snow.

We started up FS road #3065 and had to stop and park within 3.5 miles - snow 12"" deep in the road. We were in a 4wd, but had no chains, shovel and were pushing our ground clearance.

So we hiked up the road to the trailhead for Yellow Aster Butte where the snow was up to 16"" deep at 3500' altitude. Previous hikers and snowshoers had packed the trail down and we were able to hike to about 4600' where we stopped for lunch. It was amazingly beautiful - sunny, great views and new snow everywhere. The camp robbers were bold, taking food from our hands, dive bombing us and knocking my cup of coffee into my lap.

Lunch was our turnaround since we had no snowshoes (It's still October!) and the snow was more than two feet deep - two feet of beautiful powder. If we get more of the same, it will be a great winter for skiing! It's time to winterize - chains/shovels in car and snowshoes on your feet!

The trail has no or little snow, until the National Park boundary marker at 4000ft. A few blown down trees. Then the snow gets deep (several feet) fairly quickly. The long steep sidehill traverse to Sourdough creek is a pain in the butt in snowshoes on the narrow trail. The only other footprints were from a deer or goat, who had left frozen post holes in the trail - a pain! I lost the trail beyond Sourdough creek, and so just headed straight up to the ridge top west of the lookup, winding among cliff bands. Beware of avalanche danger on these south facing slopes - the snowpack was completely saturated, and I saw one climax avalanche.

I was rewarded for getting out Sunday with beautiful, sunny weather. I'd planned to hike Mailbox Peak (still never been there), but the clear sky and sharp profile of McClellan's Butte was too enticing (sorry, Mailbox!). There was snow on the trail halfway up, and I followed Umbo's tracks to the south corner (which I call Windy Point). On the other side of the mountain, the snow became abruptly deeper, but I plodded on in dry, powdery fluff. The summit pyramid had a daunting look, as bits of snow and ice covered the rock. But by moving very cautiously it can be climbed. Mt. Washington, the Middle Fork peaks, Bandera, all the way to Stuart, Rainier, and Baker - the views were excellent. I passed several parties on the way down. Still a great hike.

The road to Goat Peak was snow covered, but the ruts cut clear to the gravel, so the going was quite easy for our AWD Subaru Outback. By the time we got to the trailhead it was getting pretty deep. The trail is all in snow. In the lower sections there are a few big slippery rocks showing and it is a bit icy under the trees. The upper meadow is nice powder. We bushwacked in a pretty direct approach up to the ridge. We followed in the foot prints of one other hiker. We carried our snowshoes, but did not put them on as it was too brushy to get around easily. The views went on forever at the ridge top. No one had been to the Lookout lately as we checked it out by binoculars and didn't see any prints in the snow. The sun was shining on top, but it was cold and we were on the shady side in the woods on the way up....probably around 25 degrees or less. Lots of animal tracks in the snow on the way up. This was a great snow outting for us and probably our last trip over the N. Cascades before it closes.

Second time this season for this hike.

The news is: this trail is clear to the top. No snow yet and is very nice.

Due to the rain this last two weeks there is some water on the trails in various spots. But, nothing to be too concerned about.

There is however some ice to watch out for as you come out of the treeline and begin to traverse around the side of the mountain to approach the lake. Most of the ice was limited to the wood footbridges, but some of the smaller rocks were starting to get an invisable layer on them.

Temps at the top were in the low 40's with some wind creating a decent windchill. The lake is still iceless and beautiful with a dusting of snow above on the basin walls.

Beautiful trail - wish I could have made it to the top. I got to the trailhead at 1PM hoping to enjoy the sunset. Ascending through the snow-dusted forest is a bit perilous with random kamikaze wads of winter dropping from the high treetops. When these slush-heavy balls connect with your noggin it smarts.

Snow bombs aside, the woods are beautiful and the trail is kind. Occasional views through the trunks are filled with gangs of breathtaking snowcapped peaks. I made it to approx 4800 ft, right where the trail leaves the woods. I really really really wanted to press on because the views were just starting to get good, and I am easily seduced by pristine mountain snowscapes.

Three things made me stop: I was beginning to sink to my knees in the fresh snow and had no snow shoes. It was getting late (how cruel that daylight savings robbed an hour of light from such a nice late-season day). I noticed evidence of an avalanche. I turned around.

I'm not sure if the avalanche was large enough to have really caused any harm, but the snow shoe issue was a clear impasse.

At this time, Church is going to require an early summit. Perhaps an overnight in Glacier would facilitate. I'm sure the views are worth it. Mt. Baker seemed like it was at arms length from my turning point. I can only imagine what it looks like from the top.

There are a few logs across the trail towards West Tiger Mountain 3 and some brushy spots and low hanging branches between 3 and 2. There is a bypass trail north of the summit of Tiger 1. This trail meets the Poo Top Trail (no joke) that ends close to the summit. No views here. Snow ranges from a trace at 2300 feet elevation to an inch at 3000 feet. Skies were mostly clear with temperatures ranging from cold to warm depending on exposure.

I wanted a good wander thru some fine old trees, solitude and maybe a little adventure. I got it all on this hike. I started out at the Dingford Creek TH and hiked up to the Hester Lk trail junction. This part was pretty straight forward, steep trail in fair condition. There are several creek crossings that I had to stop and consider for a bit. All the bridges are out on this trail and over the years the creeks have had their way with the trail. But no major problems. I got to the trail junction and flipped a coin. Myrtle Lk or Hester Lk' Hester won so off I went. The trail headed downhill to cross Dingford Crk. When I got to the creek I was not disappointed. There was no bridge and a lot of water. I crossed on a snowy log (Adventure) and managed to keep from falling in the creek til the last step. Oh well. At the next creek I plunged the other foot in. Now I had matching sloshes as I hiked. Or should I say waded. A lot of this trail is under water or flowing water, making it tricky to navigate. I was beginning to curse the TrailBuilder. It looked like he picked the nearest stream heading in the right direction and called it the Trail. It was steep, snowy and wet. I hit serious snow at 3000' but it came and went so my snowshoes stayed on my pack. There were more bridgeless streams and mudholes. After about 2 hours of this craziness I got to the lake where I finally got to use my snowshoes for about 1/4 mi. I had lunch and started blazing out. On the way out I gave up trying to find a dry route and just waded through the creeks. It was a lot faster and I had taken aliking to that slish slosh in my boots as I walked. Got back to my Jeep and changed every stitch of clothing I had on for fresh dry duds. Nice.

It was a gorgeous day for hiking Granite Mt. As reported elsewhere, the snow starts about half way up the trail and gets deeper but not much more than a foot at the top.

The snow was getting packed by others also taking advantage of our brief break in the weather. There was definitely a breeze at the top which required clothing but until the lookout, I was just wearing one layer on top and no gloves or mittens.

The lookout, as expected, was shuttered for yet another winter season.

And for the cross-country/telemarker skiers amongst you - a friend did Green Mountain today and reported excellent conditions from the lookout down to the lakes.

I caught another nice day between storms. The last one left snow on the trees above 3,000 feet, so I decided to visit a lowland hike and just cruise along the White River.

Skookum Flats Trail is popular with mountain bikers and the occasional hiker, no ATV's or horses are allowed. You can access the trail from the north end off Huckleberry Creek Road (FS 73) or on the south from Buck Creek Road (FS 7160). It's an upsy downsy route, a nice stroll next to a pretty river. About half way between Buck Creek Trail junction and Skookum Falls, there is a sunny gravel bar, a favorite lunch spot of mine. I wandered out by the river (which was rather low) and sunned awhile.

Along the route there are occasional views of the Snoquera Palisades across the valley. The Skookum Falls are nice in the spring, but barely existant after such a dry summer. This is a nice route for children, if you watch for the occasional steep bank and bicycles. Also watch crossing some of the old trestles and bridges, they're slippery.

There was a layer of ice in the parking lot at Camp Shepard and some folks were scraping off some pretty serious windshield ice, so it got pretty cold Saturday night. I wore lots of layers and did just fine, but the trail is mainly in heavy shade of mature trees, so bundle up, at least until spring comes again.

Think snow!

P.S. I also checked out a portion of the Skookum Flats trail south of FS 7160, which used to follow the river fairly closely. The White does tend to regularly chew away at its banks and the trail has been rerouted to pass near the old emergency air strip. A plane even landed on the strip when I was standing there looking at it! There is a kind of casual campground here (drive in)which seems popular with the trailer and camper crowd. A little too noisy for my tastes.

Hiked the quick mile from the (closed) Ohanapecosh Campground to Silver Falls. Nice leisurely hike through and old growth forest near the Ohanapecosh River, passing by the hot springs. Lots of fall leaves on the ground, and lots of water on the trail from the rains. Trail is in good condition otherwise. Silver Falls is raging right now.

Most of our larger group bailed, but two of us remained to find something to do on a rainy day. So we drove up road 6514 to about 3400' to a sign ""Eagle Lake 1.5 miles"". Following this road stomping on 6"" of snow, it soon turned up and we took a spur straight ahead. It fizzled out but we could barely detect a trail or path. Sure enough, in the old growth we saw cut logs. Someone has cut in this unofficial path as a shortcut to the lake. In the snow, we lost the trail several times. But the route is obvious through the swamplands covered with a foot of snow. At the lake is a log cabin, labelled on the USGS map, probably built before 1962. The lake has a skin of snow on about half. It appears the hike is more like 2 miles long, but only has 600' gain. We were never rained on, but did get snowed on. Let it snow!

My brother,one of my sons & I did our annual night hike in to Packwood Lake. Partial moon with broken clouds and fairly ""warm"" for this time of the year. Beautiful views of the lights down in the Packwood Area. We parked at the main trailhead, then took the service road in to the lake as this is easier with head lamps. We had my sons 2 dogs with us, with their own packs. The service road going in is in pretty good condition, no logs down, no wash outs. Arriving at the lake we head for the campsite that we use all the time, 1/2 way along the lake. No one else at the lake. Beautiful!! There is one rather large log down across the trail about 1/8th to 1/4th mile from the N end of the lake. It is fairly easy to get across, and since we came in, a couple of people on horses chopped part of it out so it is easier yet to get across. Other than that log, just a few branches down here and there from the wind storm prior to that weekend. No rain on the 26th, and just drizzle all day on the 27th, starting about 10:00 a.m. We hiked to the end of the lake and around that, crossing about 5 creeks which come from the Packwood Saddle and Packwood Glacier area. Of course I managed to fall in to one of the creeks, so embarrising, but not hurt. Lots of elk activity at the upper end of the lake, but did not see any.

The drizzle stopped at 5:00 p.m. on the 27th, and we woke on Sunday, the 28th to beautiful clear skies and fantastic scenery. The snow level was just above our camp, probably about 300-400 feet. It was 28 degrees when we got up. Such beauty! Saw some ducks on the lake, heard a couple of owls but did not see them.

We had a nice tarp over the eating area, so stayed cozy and warm with our campfire and cozy tents. We each had our own tent and that was nice.

The trail is in good condition, not muddy or washed out. The wooden bridges and walkways were very slick coming out on the 28th due to the freezing weather so you need to be really careful. We took the trail back out, and it is in good condition, no standing water and no logs down at this time. There is one area where we are going to lose the trail due to large boulders breaking off and coming down. They are ready to go now and are located about 1/2 way to the lake, just approximate. You can't miss them, on the left side and up, a place where there has been acitivity prior.

Hiked the first 2 miles, to the Greenwater Lakes. Lots of fall color. No snow, at least that far, but did encounter one person with a gun; I assume there will be more than that this weekend. A few muddy areas; nothing major.

It was a rare experience to be the only hikers at Lena Lake, which usually is one of the most crowded trails in the Olympics. While we were getting our gear together at the car we saw some hunters slowly driving past us on the road, but otherwise we were alone all day. The trail was beautiful all the way to the lake--the lower sections especially so with so many big leaf maples in brilliant color. The lower trail is a carpet of maple leaves. I was surprised--and dismayed to see how low was the water level at the lake. It seemed that the lake was half its usual size, a symptom of last winter's drought. This is a great hike for this time of year.

This trail traverses some fine old growth forest on way. About half way up the trail becomes covered with 6-10 inches of soft snow. I only made it to the south ridge where there is a nice view of Mt Rainier.

Went up Granite Mtn with a friend, The 3000' foot level saw snow, and 4500' the freezing level, only made it to the basin at 5200' level. There were several blowdowns all the way up--cleared them, and at 5200' there were snow to 18"" with drifts over 2' up the normal trail, soon the ridge will be good, as the forecast will bring more snow. Turned around as it was late, and equipment failures. The rocks were covered up high and the snow will fill it all in soon. Bill

Tried to make one last attempt at Aasgard Pass before the snows set in for the season. It looks like I made it just in time, considering the storm that blew in Sunday night.

The pond to the side of Colchuck was frozen over with a thin layer of ice.

The route from Colchuck up to Aasgard Pass was clear of snow. There were strong winds, blowing snow and hail, but nothing that stuck to the ground.

Beautiful frozen waterfalls along the route.

I was turned back very near the top of the pass by ice covering many of the rocks along the trail. Looked down on whitecaps on Colchuck Lake.

A great adventure.

FOUND: Ice axe at the trailhead. Pls call Leavenworth ranger station for more information.

I did a quick trip this past Sunday up to Ollalie Lake from the Pratt Lake trailhead. It was a nice little hike up to Ollalie. Mostly under forest canopy until you get above the lake so not too many views. However, the foliage is turning and is really pretty. The snow started sticking around 1/2 mile from the lake and the trail was pretty muddy in spots. Bring your gaiters!

I think next time, I'll start from the Talapus Lake trailhead. It looks shorter and more interesting.

11.5 miles round trip. 2900 ft gain. High point 5400 ft. 6 hours and sore legs. Trail in good condition all the way to Indian Henry's. First 2/3 of trail in lush, deep forest. Wacky 'shrooms. Trail breaks out into meadows on steep slopes (avalache potential w/ snow pack.)Several ups and downs through soggy trail to patrol cabin at Wonderland intersection. Cabin locked to public. Lunch on porch can be ""cool and breezy"" Trail worn deep. One blow down. Weather was windy with drobs of snain (not snow, not rain). Snow and slush patchy above 4,000 ft. No ice. Large storm expected to deliver 6"" to 12"" tomorrow along with high winds that may add blow downs.

Four of us attempted to climb Mailbox Peak on a foggy, wet Oct day following the alternate trail that passes above the Fire Training Center. We met at the parking lot 200 feet east of the Lutheran camp on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road and hiked a half mile up the gated logging road to the trailhead which is about 200 feet beyond the margin of the most recent logging to the north. Fortunately the trail is protected from further logging because it falls within the riparian zone of a nearby environmentally protected stream. The alternate trail begins one switchback above handhold-tree (a log to which someone has generously applied wooden dowels). This rudimentary trail follows above the ravine towards the Fire Training Center where it then switchbacks upward to meet the main trail at about 2400 ft. The alternate trail crosses the main Mailbox trail and continues horizontally for a few hundred feet before climbing up the west ridge (the trail on this side can also be accessed at about 2200 feet from the main Mailbox trail). Following the main trail leads southeasterly to NASTY ROOTS AND MUD which typically leads to FALLING DOWN --especially on wet days -- this difficulty is avoided by following the alternate trail. The alternate trail above 2500 generally follows along the west ridge joining the long-suffering main trail at about 3700 ft. At 3800 feet a single main trail leaves the forest and enters open slopes with views up and down the South Fork Snoqualmie valley and views to the south and on this day, only occasional glimpses of the Fire Training center 2500 feet below. Patches of snow were seen at 4000 feet just below the boulder field. The trail leads to the left of the boulder field, dropping about 10 feet and then climbing to the left through a small grove of evergreen trees to the top of the boulder field where it exits to the final open slope which leads to the summit. We paused at the upper edge of the small grove of trees to put on additional protective clothing before plunging into ever increasing bad weather. I struggled several minutes trying to put on too small modular OR gloves and was becoming cold. As we exited the forest grove we realized we were entering a howling gale of driving ice pellets. Wow, the real stuff. Doug and Lynn were well up the slope when my wife and I started up. Halfway up the slope I realized I was getting cold fast and yelled to my wife we had to turn around. I had unwisely put my raincoat over my pack and the wind had blown it over my head giving me no protection whatsoever. She begrudgingly returned with me to the shelter of the forest to wait for Doug and Lynn to rejoin us. Shortly after they appeared. They had summited which in these conditions was an accomplishment on this otherwise benign hike. Lynn said she touched the mailbox and had actually paused for a moment before plunging down to the protection of the trees. She said there was about 2 inches of ice and snow on top. We returned via the the west ridge route but instead of taking the crossover connector to the southwest face trail we continued down the west ridge to the main trail. We returned like conquering heroes to friends who were waiting in their cars to see if we had actually achieved our “climb”. This was a challenging. invigorating hike – not up to the Steve Fox level but all and all great fun.

Second time up this route. Getting here is easy - follow the mtn loop highway just passed the Mt Dickerman trail and there is a sign that warns you there is a trail on the right some yards before the turnoff. The trailhead parking is not a lot, so oyu need to turnaround and park on the side somewhat like the Perry Creek trailhead. It was raining already, and we left the trailhead at 850am. The first portion of this trail is muddy, rooty, and downright unpleasant when in it's worst condition. A few boulder hops, and a few stream crossings and your through the worst of it, well maybe. After coming out of the trees you ascend switchbacks that have been cut up beyond belief along the side of the trail. I think it was Devils Club before, and it was not that bad in May, but they seem to have cut it back to the roots for several feet back from the trail leaving a really ugly appearance. So just close your eyes and move forward to the top of the basin. At this point we experienced some fluffy snowfall at about 3500'. Folllow the cairns closely once you get into the talus and scree areas. We then started to ascend Headlee Pass. Never has been my favorite, and there was about 1 foot of snow on the ground to make it interesting. There were still switchbacks, so using an ice axe and ascending straight up was not necessary. Once at the pass the winds were blowing hard and the snow was blowing sideways. I thought about turning back since we were wet and cold, but my friend Tom wanted to push on. We traversed the scree field that was covered in snow towards a small patch of trees and that is the only marker for the trail as there are no cairns that I oculd see. Visibility was still about 50 feet, like the whole trip so we pushed forward. Once we reached the outlet stream from Lake Elan we crossed it and ascended the ridge towards the summit. The conditions were worsening and the snow was bad. It consisted of 3-6 inches of powder with pure ice below it. For some reason it took us too long to put on our crampons and we suffered the whole way up. It wasn't until about 5 minutes below the summit that we put the crampons on in real bad weather, and we were determined to make the summit. A few minutes later of intense work we touched the summit and went back down. The snow was in such bad condition for climbing it made it real hard, since there was enough snow to cushion the spikes of your crampons you would slide once in awhile, but w/o them you would slide the whole way on a snow raft. As we descended toward Headlee Pass on the traverse the wind was howling and I could not feel my left fingers. As soon as we dropped down on Headlee Pass the wind stopped and we got feeling back in some of our extremeties. The rest of the trip down was uneventful, but tiresome. I do not believe the mileage for this hike, as the trailhead says 2 miles to Headlee Pass, when it should be about 2.5 to 3 miles. From there I guess it to be about 2.5. So the RT that I have read elsewhere says 10 miles to Vesper should be more like 12-13. scott@nwog.org

This is a great example of hiking in the Columbia River Gorge waterfall area. The trail runs through an old growth forest -- sometimes steep, sometimes flat -- with moss covering almost everything in sight. It follows along a cliff wall above Oneonta Gorge, with excellent views into the valley. The fall colors are fading, but make nice photo accents. The two main attractions near this trail are, of course, waterfalls.

Triple Falls is 1.8 miles from the trailhead and the trail climbs a bit to get there, more than the map seems to show, but it's definitely worth the effort. A small side trail leads to an excellent view just opposite the falls. The trail continues across the river beyond the falls, but I backtracked about a mile to the junction with the Columbia Gorge Trail #400 to catch Upper Oneonta Falls, about 100 yards down in a canyon. This fall isn't as impressive as Triple Falls, but is still quite nice. The view downriver is the top of the lower falls and Oneonta Gorge stretching out beyond.

Like most in this area, the trail is in very good shape. Despite the steady rain for most of the day, there was no mud or water on the trail. There are a lot of rocks, though, which get slippery in the rain, so be careful.

Over the course of the past two weekends I've hiked the entire Tatoosh Trail twice while deer hunting. This weekend was spectacular-Saturday was clear and warm after the frost melted up high-I had views of everything-everywhere-fall colors were awesome. Sunday started with rain then turned to sleet, then to snow up high, accumulating several inches before I left and coming down hard. This place is not heavily hunted, which is part of its attraction, other than myself, there's a horse camp on the east side of the ridge-3 people and there was a guy and his dad hunting goats near the Peak last weekend-would be an excellent hike before the snows get deep which may be soon.

I must know a lot of masochists, since five of my friends joined me for this trip. We started at the Hex Mountain trailhead - or more precisely, at the gate on the logging road about 20 yards from Salmon La Sac road. Accidently took the left fork of the logging road (not on map) about a mile in - should have gone right. Bonus mileage and altitude gain...

We continued up to the junction with the Sasse Mtn trail and dropped our packs for the short trip to Hex Mtn. Then we headed north on the Sasse Mtn trail - lots of up and down getting to Sasse. The weather was perfect and see didn't see any snow. I was disappointed that there were no larches along this ridge crest.

We crossed two logging roads and started running into hunters on motorcycles as we neared the Jolly Mtn trail. We continued on to Jolly Mtn - great views and snow for the last 1/4 miles. Then we returned back to the junction of the Jolly Mtn trail to descend down to the Horse Camp close to Salmon La Sac.

I told my friends that this trip would be about 15 miles and 3500' of gain. I lied - but not purpose! Guess I'm just an optimist - cumulative gain was 7180' (including bonus 700' due to early screw-up on logging road) and 19+ miles.

This was a great trip on a rolling ridge, and some part of it might make a nice snowshoe trip. The views were very good and the trails pretty good. Be sure you have the latest copy of green trails - my six year old map was missing some logging roads near Jolly that have significance.

The pizza in Rosalyn was great - we'd earned it!

Sixth annual trip to Circle Peak. This short, unloved little trail has so many secrets,it would blow your mind. It was gorgeous sunny, with drifts over a foot deep. The crust supported one leg, but not the other. One move on top is very tricky with icy snow on it. Checked the mailbox to discover the register had been co-opted by government agents!! It was the first time I ever saw anyone on this trail. (They were returning the register.) It was truly the year of bountiful bluberries, some bushes still holding over 300 yummy treats! R/T 4+ miles, 1930' gain, less than three hours of actual hiking. Write to alexei@backpacker.com to hear the secrets and the not-so-secrets about Circle Peak.

With the only nice day of the weekend, out group of six headed up the PCT for the great views from the area around the Katwalk. The Fall colors are great on this hike once you get above the tree line. The last half mile did have snow in places and a few sections of the trail where covered in ice, so you needed to watch your steps. We found a nice spot in the boulders a short distance past the Katwalk for lunch. As soon as we got the food out, the Clarks Jays showed up looking for a free meal.

On the way back, we took the old Commonwealth Basin trail. At the junction just north of the waterfall on the PCT, there is a sign that says, ""Red Mtn."". We went about 200 yards down that connector trail to another junction and turned left. There is a sign on a tree that reads, ""Abandon Trail"". The trail for the most part is in pretty good shape, but we had to cross Commonwealth Creek in two spots. The first one was on a fallen tree and a couple of small logs, while the second requires fording in a shallow water area (the same crossing in the Winter when snowshoeing). Bring some gaitors for the ford. It is a nice hike through the basin along the creek in an old growth forest. Only a couple of fallen trees to get over. Once you leave the larger trees, the trail gets steeper and grown over, but is passable down to the trail head.

We chose a nice fall day to do this hike. The colors were superb. I was surprised to see many cars along the road but encountered very few people on the trail. The trail is in great condition with no obstacles. One note - please leave enough room at the end of the road for cars to turnaround.

This is one of my favorite fall hikes. There's great autumn color in the huckleberries, vine maple and mountain ash; great views of the Central Cascades and Mount Rainier; and a good long stretch of easy hiking trail.

Three of us started up the PCT early. It was pretty cold, about 33 degrees F, but after hiking awhile, we warmed up nicely. Since the recent rains, the streams in the area are filling the Commonwealth Basin with the sound of falling waters. There were a lot of close encounters with pikas, also, through the numerous boulder and talus fields on the way. A couple of hikers reported seeing a bear near the waterfall (before Commonwealth Basin junction) and there was doggie encounter with some coyotes. Keep your animals on a lease, please!

We encountered some ice, frost and then strips of crusty snow past the Kendall rock gardens and around to the Katwalk. As we reached the Katwalk proper, we could see Mt. Stewart in the distance, with a lightly snow-coated Chikamin, Alta and Hibox Mountain in the foreground. The sun-warmed rocks at the Katwalk proved to be a superb lunch spot. We enjoyed the views of Red, Lundin, Guye and the other Snoqualmie area summits, as well. Slopes nearby and far glowed with fall colors.

How much snow we get in the next couple of weeks will determine how much longer we all can get to such beautiful places (without snowshoes!). It's been a great fall season for hiking.

See ya on the trails!

This is a tricky trailhead to find. Take the Easton - Sparky Road exit from I-90. Turn left at the T intersection. Keep in mind that there's a nice cafe and cocktail lounge to the right. Proceed a half mile and turn right onto FR-4818. This road turns to dirt and at 0.4 miles, turn right underneath the power trestle. After 0.6 miles of a bouncy road, turn approximately 90 degrees to the left at a five-way intersection. After a half mile, there is a four-way intersection. One road is off to the left at 90 degrees. Another bears right at about one o'clock. Take the one in the centre which proceeds straight ahead. After 0.1 miles, you will find the parking lot at the southern terminus of Trail 1315. This is a fun drive after a good rain - yeehaw...

Ellensburg is from Mars; Seattle is from Venus. If you don't want to get your car dirty, find another hike. It's a perfect ride for a pickup with a Rebel and/or Texas flag in the back window, however.

There were a few logs across the trail. There were many puddles on the trail. Well-defined detours avoided these. Some of the puddles were frozen above 4800 feet elevation. There were some brushy areas. Pikas were heard in some of the rockfalls. Skies were clear giving way to hazy sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures were cool to moderate. This is also not a good time to be running through the woods with antlers on your head.

So we goofed. Okay, doing Mt Si was not a goof. It was a superb day. The early morning sun (not originally expected) was filtering through the trees and lighting up nicely colored leaves. The trail was in pretty good shape with only a few muddy spots and a puddle or two up in the basin area. Rainier was out and it was very pleasant sitting out in the sun.

The goof. Well, since we did not expect mountain sun was to change our plans from something more interesting such as Green Mt on the Suiattle Road. Ah, next time.

As with the other hikes I did in the area today, the fall colors here are amazing, the vine maples ablaze in yellow. The trail to the grove along the Ohanapechosh River is dotted with fall color, particularly around the bridge. And I was surprised at the amount of color in the grove itself. The old growth cedars and firs, some of the largest I have seen, are surrounded by yellow vine maples. I am amazed at this place every time I visit.

I know y'all are interested in this area, so here we go! Nothing like getting in a couple grand of gain after work in the middle of the week. As ""boring"" as this area may be to some, it still offers up a wealth of convenience for those pressed for time. It also has its share of short, steep ruts, that'll have you suckin' some serious wind if you so choose.

I finally pulled up to the gate at the end of the asphalt around 7:45 P.M. Now, the gate wasn't closed, but you're pressing your luck if you pass through and park at the upper lot after dark. I've seen the gate closed on some days, but generally it seems to stay open. I parked at the end of the hard surface then jogged up to the honey buckets where I settled into a brisk walk.

Made my way up the rocky trail so ingrained in me noodle after 12 years worth of visits. For the first time in quite a while I encountered numerous blowdowns, as many as six in the first 3/4 of mile...then I remembered the wind of last week. I made the level stretch (~1 mile in) then decided to prowl up the cable line the rest of the way up to West Tiger 3. The cable line route is obvious, marked by small, white caution signs every 500 ft or so. I haven't been getting out much and have really been dragging on my last couple of hikes. So...I decided to try and run up this section of the cable line which would plop me onto the large flat just below the summit. Argh! I got to the large, rooted stump (a little more than half way) when my calves cramped up and I had to stop for a few minutes to stretch them out. Stretch...stretch.

I wobbled my way up the to the flat then found the last steep section before the summit. A lot of loose rocks in here make the going interesting, especially in the dark. Another 8-10 minutes put me up on 3 around 8:30. West Tiger 3 rocks at night. The sweeping views of the lowlands south and west are captivating. Fun to look out and watch the planes roll by...it's cool to know I can get to a place like this so easily any day of the week at any time. Made the quick walk over to West Tiger 2 which takes maybe 10 minutes (maybe less). The views are more limited here, so I stared at the red lights on the radio tower for a few minutes. Eventually I managed to pull myself away and took the same route down as I had used on the way in. Along the way I realized I hadn’t seen a single pair of glowing eyes! Then I started thinking about the glowing eyes of the beasts (deer!) that like to stand along the edge of the trail at night...spooky every time, let me tell you!! I ran the rest of the way down!

Awesome after-work trip. Highly recommended for a just-to-get-out hike or an afternoon (or day!) of exploring.

This is one of my favirote easy hikes. A nice one mile round trip through a lush mossy forest along Goat Creek, leading to the 10 foot Goat Falls at the end. The forest is sparce on underbrush, so getting to the creek for photos is easy. Fall colors are out, particularly the vine maples, which add a nice element to the photos. It took me over two hours to hike this easy mile because I stopped so often for photos.

I don't know why I said this forest wasn't that great in a previous report. I must have been sick. The old growth tress here are amazing, particularly in the Land of the Gaints. The vine maples are in full yellow, adding a nice accent to the forest.

The Interpretive Center and parking lot are closed, but there is a large pullout with restrooms a half mile west on SR-410 with a trailhead for the one mile West Loop, leading to the Interpretive Center and half mile East Loop. They seem to be gravelling the East Loop or some reason, which distracts from the feel of the trail.

What a surprise I hiked into today heading east to the Taneum region. I drove into the bowels of the area south of I-90 that you see from the area between Easton and Cle Elum. To get there I drove to Taneum Ck. exit #93, then backtracked into this fine region endlessly on FS Road 3300 until I stopped at Plum Creek Timber's boundary that had an open gate with logging and I didn't want to be locked in should I not get out on time! Wow, what an area that must hardly ever be seen by hikers. The motorbikes scare so many away...but now is the time! They have basically stopped, the larch trees are in PRIME, and even during prime general rifle hunting season, this weekday I only saw the lazy folks way down low driving around...too lazy to even drive in there 19 miles.

First I hiked about 1.1 miles of the road to reach in farther to access the trails I wanted today. Sure, I did here see a couple of logging trucks and pickups. But these folks were all about the most kind and friendly bunch I've talked to hiking all year. Each one stopped and chatted, and the one truck driver even said I looked like I could use a cup of his coffee since it was so cold! I hiked the North Fork Taneum Ck #1377, the WAY in upper portion to where it ends at Windy Pass, 5380'. To my east was Lookout Mountain, to my SW was Mount Clifty. I hiked up Lookout Mountain via access on the Granite Creek Trail #1326.1 until it just got too late, cold, and windy. Only a slight 1/2""-2"" dusting of snow was plastered on the trees and slopes over there, and sunny areas this wasn't until above 5500'. Elk were bugling on the southern slopes of Lookout Mountain. This upper N. Fk. Taneum Creek basin is beautiful, and I see why the Cascade Conservation group is working so hard to protect it. Just before the very steep last 700' climb to the pass there is an interesting little cabin/shelter that serves as camp for some folks on occasion who access it with motorbikes. It was a cozy little place!

Even the old logged areas that the lower portion of the trail passes through on occasion were beautiful as at least 40% of the trees are western larch, now in full prime color. Coyote tracks were seen in the mud on many occasions, and one set led to a fairly recent elk kill. The upper meadows around Lookout Mountain would be lush with wildflowers in the spring, and I need to return here for much further explorations.

Hiking out I stayed on trail #1377 along the North Fork Taneum all the way back to almost where I parked the rig, hitting a side road that soon crossed the creek on a bridge and then only 1/8 mile uphill on the original road I had walked to return to ""my trailhead"". Gate was still open but folks were leaving their work area up the South Fork Taneum region, so I still was happy with how I created my great day.

Despite the prediction for rain, I headed out to explore the Hamma Hamma drainage. It was raining when I reached the Lena Lake trailhead. I put on the rain jacket and pack cover and started up.

This trail switchbacks up endlessly, gently graded through mixed conifer forest. At 1.5 miles, it crosses the dry creekbed of Lena Creek on a nice bridge. The creek springs out of the ground about 100 feet below, crashing loudly down the slope. At 3 miles, the trail drops towards the lake and a junction with the upper Lena Lake Trail. I stopped at the big rock for a bite of lunch and then explored some of the campsites and the inlet creek. The lake's water level was pretty low, creating a rocky shoreline. By this time, the fog and clouds were lifting.

As I headed back down the well-tended trail, sunshine broke through the clouds, lighting up the pale yellow and greens of vine maple and big leaf maple, a beautiful sight. By the time I reached the road and then Hood Canal, there was lots of blue sky. It was a pretty drive home along Hood Canal. Quite a beautiful fall day for a drive and hike.

One comment: There is some trash at the Lower Lena campsites. Too bad; it's a nice place for beginner campers. Carry it in; carry it out!

This lookout site offers wonderful views of the Monte Cristo peaks and of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. It is a lowimpact ascent of 1,300' and is a great hike for anyone. The views/sweat ratio is high for this hike. Take US 2 turning left at Beckler Road. Travel on this road (FS 65)until reaching Jack's Pass at about 12 miles. There won't be a sign saying Jack's Pass. It is the place where four other roads meet and you turn your head around like Dorothy did when she met the scarecrow. Take the road which is on your right. It loses elevation but then climbs all the way to 4,200'. The road has had a lot of work recently and is drivable for even family cars. It unfortunately is scheduled to be gated today (I talked with the ranger). Who knows when it will open in the spring' I will let you in on a secret. The lookout can be rented for $40/night from the Skykomish Ranger Station. It is nicely equipped with lanterns and stove. There are mattresses for four people. It is a great deal.

Since the wife took a day off and it was a sunny day (an advantage we've lacked lately), we decided to head up to the Mountain Loop highway. About 7 miles Past the Verlot Ranger Station take a right just before the Red Bridge. Follow the road right at a junction at about 1.5 miles and follow the main road to its end at about 5.7 miles.

This trail is good in spots but contains several rooty, muddy areas. It goes up and down and up to Cutthroat Lakes which make a fine destination. There are a lot of campsites interspersed amongst the lakes. The meadows are still clothed in their splendid fall mantles, there were specks of snow here and there.

We continued up a winding trail that went in the general direction of Bald Mountain, but seemed to be meandering away from it when we cut accross a meadow near the ridgeline to meet a trail apparently built by the boy scouts in 1972 (according to an aging sign). The trail cut around the south side of Bald Mountain to reveal a stunning view. Spada Reservoir rippled below and Rainier towered above all comers. The trail continued to climb and switchback towards the summit. Moving towards a southwest corner, the Seattle skyline and the Olympics came into view.

The summit 'trail' is actually a scramble that Quincy and I ascended to within about 300 hundred feet of the top. It being close to our turn around time, (and being somewhat chicken), we decided that we'd attack the summit another day.

The trip down from Cutthroat Lakes in the mud can be tricky. There are several slick, muddy spots that require care. All in all, this is a great hike and definitely worth the trip to the south side of Bald Mountain.

My plans for a grand day touching snowlines in the Cascades were taken to the cleaners at the last moment. But being home with Christopher all day in the sun got us out the door for a hike anyhow. Since I needed to get by the park anyhow, we headed to the Redmond Watershed Preserve park east of Redmond on Novelty Hill.

This 806 acre oasis of forest is part of the city of Redmond's park system and it now greatly enhanced from about 5 years ago when it was a mess of user conflicts. In other words, it was one big mud pit due to massive overuse by bikers and horses and no place for hikers. Now it has designated hiker only trails, and those trails for bikes are in much stronger shape to handle them. All trails are excellent hiking especially mid-week now through winter. Even with the huge parking lot we were the only people there all morning.

We started with the short 1/2 mile Treefrog Loop which takes you on a nice stroll to a lake and is also wheelchair accessible. From there we headed north on the trail system which in all can result in very nice 5-7 miles of hiking! We hiked up through golden yellow trees and stopped often to photograph mushrooms which are now beginning to fruit up everywhere. I now have some GREAT photos of him taking pictures behind my tripod with my Nikon gear! I had our digital camera with me to get images for an article I'm writing that is due Friday. But he likes now to be able to push the button to take a REAL picture, so I hid beside him and shot him. Will be fun images in 25 years no doubt. We hiked about 2 miles and saw belted kingfishers, varied thrushes, both downey and hairy woodpeckers, and other cool 3 year old things like slugs, snails, salamanders, and leaves on the ground. And, now that he isn't in diapers, he got to pee on his first tree today! He thought that was a riot! So, he also got the talk that this is only done when way out in the forest away from toilets---not in schoolyards, church parking lots after sunday school, Grandma's front yard, etc.... : )

We hiked longer than expected, so rather than just eat the customary cheese and breadsticks on the way home we really splurged and both had happy meals at the golden arches. He got the Bashful dwarf head keychain in his, I got Sleepy. Alas, I was sleepy by the time we drove back out to Fall City in time to fly kites in the howling east winds we had today. Yawn....

A wonderful fall day to climb Mt. Walker. There were several cars at the trailhead--others clearly had the same idea. Although there had been thick fog as we crossed the Hood Canal Bridge, it had lifted by the time we reached Quilcene. I was a bit suprised to see a large grader going up the road--I wonder why they're smoothing out the road so late in the season. They usually lock the gate at the bottom by the end of October. The trail is short and steep (2000 feet elevation in two miles), but well maintained. The view from the north viewpoint was great! It was fun to look up at so many of the places we had hiked this summer--I could even see the high point on the ridge of the Tunnel Creek trail where we had sat and had lunch in August. I couldn't see any snow on any of the peaks--if they've had some it must have been scant. The view from the south viewpoint had Mount Rainier boldly in the center--even though clouds were gathering over much of the Puget Sound area. Faintly through them we could see Seattle. When the wind blew it was a reminder that winter is really coming soon.

It was time to head for the Teanaway and take in the fall colors on the east side. The weather was to be mostly sunny and that's exactly how it turned out. The trail was damp but not muddy. There were patches of snow on Ingalls Pass. The trail to Ingalls Lake was a sheet of ice so I decided to enjoy the views from the pass. The larch were, as they say, golden and the winter snowpack was beginning to cling to the face of Mt. Stuart. All of this made for some great picture taking. There were some clouds to the south so could not see the peaks down there but The Mountain stood out clearly.

Took a small portable radio so I could hear the Mariner game. The first four innings got me to my car. By the way, hurray for the new restroom at the trailhead.

The colors are beautiful on the east side this time of year. The drive was almost as enjoyable as the hike. The deep reds and turning grasses along the trail and golden larch at the pass are unmached though. Another great day of hiking.

A couple of inches of snow at the trailhead (Rainy Pass picnic area) ~4800ft. By Maple Pass (6600ft) it was about a foot deep and crusty, making for difficult travel off the boot path. Headed up to the 7000ft level below the main bulk of Corteo. Up to 18 inches of snow here. Skies cleared in the mid-afternoon. Amazing views.

Sylvester and Crook lie at the southern terminus of the Chiwawa Range. The route described was done as a single 9 1/2 loop trip. The approach described by Beckey via Raging Creek is no longer feasible because of the road being gated adding miles onto the hike. Travel US 2 twenty miles east of Steven's Pass turning left at the Lake Wenatchee turnoff. Turn right at the sign for Fish Lake/Chiwawa Road. Drive on the Chiwawa road until Finner Creek Campground which is also the start of the Schaefer Lake trail. Hike this well maintained trail to the 5,100' level. Along the way notice the stream crossing the trail at 3,800'. That stream will be the route of descent from Crook Mt. Just before Schaefer Lake, at 5,100', angle SW to reach a ridge. Once on that ridge follow it west to reach the summit of Sylvester at 6,913 feet. To reach Crook one will need to backtrack east about 2,000' along the ridge and then descend to a lovely basin with boggy ground and rimmed with larch trees at 5,400'. This area is the start of the Raging Creek drainage. One avoids a cliff band by traversing south. Once above the cliff area we travelled SW to gain the ridge for Crook and then SE to reach the summit easily. The quickest return route avoids any further elevation gain by dropping to the outflow of the basin at 5,400'. Then travel along the north side of Raging Creek in an easterly direction until 5,000' Going crosscountry north and dropping gradually when possible will bring you to the Chiwawa drainage at about 4,800'. From there continue north along what is initially a gentle brook which eventually crosses the Schaefer trail at 3,800'. When it gets steep along the left side of the brook go farther to the left and avoid those areas.

We decided to avoid the guns and Anthrax of October by heading up Carbon River toward Mt. Rainier. Last year we went to Mystic Lake so this time Seattle Park seemed like a good idea. After a very filling breakfast at Lee’s Restaurant we headed over toward Wilkeston there was a major delay as Buckley fireean were soliciting funds and stopping traffic on 410. We stopped at the entrance station paid our fees and obtained a backcountry pass. The washout area was fine. Surprisingly, the parking lot was full. We made quick time up the trail to the turnoff near the suspension bridge getting there in about an hour. There were so many foreign students from 4 UW vans on the trail that it seemed like a UN meeting. Turning up toward Seattle Park we found solitude. This trail is in amazingly poor shape for the Wonderland Trail with mud holes broken water bars and missing bridges. The views to the side of technicolor huckleberry and waterfalls were like a Sierra Club calendar. As you neared the top there was a light snow cover on the trail. We turned up the side trail to Seattle Park and immediately saw a large pile left by a bear. The way was seldom traveled with only a sketchy path and no visible fire rings. Along the way we passed a memorial to Ray Thiel who must have died in 1991 at a age 20. By now the wind had started up and sprinkles began. After extensive scouting we found a small ridge with a flat spot dusted with two-day-old snow that was shielded by trees. This was well because the wind increased its velocity and the heavens opened up. We ended up cooking from the tent with the stove shielded by the vestibule. It rained hard all night but since we took a 4 season tent we stayed dry. In the morning the sky cleared and we explored the area. Unfortunately, fog hid views of the Carbon Glacier below. There were a few views of the summit area and we dried out our packs and parkas. The area shows little traces of campers and was exceedingly pleasant. There are many tarns and small lakes connected by stretches of now swampy ground. Unfortunately, we had to head home.

On the way down we met a group that had camped at Cataract Camp near 5000’ who had had a site fill up with water. They had tried to find Seattle Park but were unsuccessful. There were others heading up on Sunday and I assume they had a great time. The lower portion of the trail seemed to take forever but we arrived at the car for soft shoes. The rest was uneventful.

First time on this trail - will definately return to explore more.

After the glacial streams the trail starts heading up and in places was very muddy. Snow covered the trail in exposed areas. At the top of the climb in the upper meadow, the snow was continuous. We paused at the fork leading to Railroad grade. We thought we'd have a better chance or reaching Park Butte than high camp so we headed left. Saw only a couple of others on the trail.

The snow became deeper (estimate 18 inches) as we went on with lots of wet spots. It was mostly overcast but certainly the last mile to the lookout was gorgeous with the bowl covered in a fresh fall of snow and the tarns frozen over.

After lunch at the lookout by ourselves, we were fortunate to catch glimpses of Baker. On the way down the weather cleared out. Fantastic colors in the lower meadows and the blueberries are everywhere below the snow line.

The Pugh-Pyramid Loop begins at the end of the North Fork Entiat River Road, and heads up the North Fork Entiat River Trail to the junction with the Pugh Ridge trail. This latter trail climbs steeply to the 6600-foot saddle atop Pugh Ridge, traverses the crest until dropping to intersect the Pyramid Mountain trail, and then follows South Pyramid Creek back to the trailhead at the end of the N. Fork Entiat River Road. A side-trip up the Pyramid Viewpoint Trail adds a great view and some extra vertical and mileage.

Jim, Kevin and I left the cars shortly after 11:00 Saturday morning under nearly cloudless blue skies. We first encountered snow on the trail at approximately 4200 feet. The snow cover became more continuous the higher we went, completely covering the trail at about 5000 feet. We saw three people on the summit of Pyramid Mountain when we were on Pugh Ridge. High clouds began to accumulate, and the speed at which they streamed past the summit indicated high winds aloft. Something was moving in. Several hours later, we met up with the three summiteers as they descended the trail. They spoke of 60 mph winds on the summit.

Despite the snowcover, we were able to follow nearly all of the trails with no problem. Our only routefinding difficulties were on the Pugh Ridge crest, where the trail becomes lost in grassland; however, the light vegetation makes for easy travel, so we simply stayed on the crest and regained the trail in woodsy areas.

By 6:00pm, we were ready to make camp. We found a lovely larch-studded basin at about 6500 feet, beneath the summit. The basin had about 6 inches of new snow, and the effect of the new snow, the setting sun, blue sky, and the golden larches was breathtaking. Not long after we finished dinner and crawled into the tent, it began to snow lightly.

It snowed off and on during the night. We woke to a fresh inch or two, and after a hot breakfast, headed up the trail to summit Pyramid Mountain. The trail was snow covered, and was drifted in places to several feet deep, but it was passable in heavy trail boots. A wind crust was also developing on the more exposed slopes.

The wind was blowing only about 10 to 20 mph on the summit. We enjoyed great views, but there were clouds swirling about some of the higher summits. Someone had placed an ammo can on the summit, holding a notebook and a disposable camera. What an interesting project - the person placing the camera asked each group to take a picture, and write something in the notebook. The can even contained a postage-paid envelope in which to send the camera back when it is finished. Neat idea! There were three pictures remaining when we left the summit.

The weather steadily improved all day as we headed out. The South Pyramid Creek Trail was snow-covered with about four inches of snow to about 5000 feet. The sunnier exposed sections held less snow than the forested valleys. Below 5000 feet, the inch of snow on the trail was slushy, and became patchy as we descended to 4500 feet. Below about 4200 feet the trail was snow free.

Trip stats: 22.4 miles, 6000 vertical

6 inches of snow at the lookout. Berries in the meadows at around 4600 feet and above are very thick and delicious. Bring some ziplock bags and pick away.

Trail is in good condition still, and snow is not encountered until a few hundred feet below the summit. At the summit we met another WTA contributor (ToTheTop) and hiked with him and his friend the rest of the day. Visibility was nothing, and gray skies dominated the skies. We traversed just below the 4600' saddle by Frozen Lake on our way down, and then up across the granite slabs near the East ridge to once again try to reach the Bathtub Lakes region. After scrambling over snow covered granite boulders for awhile and reaching the higher point on the east summit ridge (5100 feet) we had lunch and called it the turn around spot, as it looked a little dicey to continue on with the conditions. This was an alternate route to descending Iodine Gulch (at the saddle just below the summit a few feet)as it was all snow on brush and heather which can make for a slippery descent, since it is quite steep) If anyone has ever gone to Bathtub Lakes before, can you send me some beta' I am just curious how close we have gotten to them. Thanks - scott@nwog.org

We're off to carve our monogram ... on the son of a gun who picks on Uncle Sam

There were many muddy spots because of the overnight rainfall. There were no logs across the trail and there were no brushy spots. No specific wildflowers were noted but ample fall colours are out. Skies were broken to scattered clouds with cool temperatures. There was fresh snow on the mountains above 5000 feet.

Texas Proud! Let's rodeo!

I tried for the third time to make it the quarter mile to the falls, and for the third time I failed. The bridge apparently washed out just today. The ranger didn't even know about it. I could find no way to cross the Carbon River without a bridge, so I headed back.

Imagine my surprise when I led 11 Mountianeers down the Cathedral Lake trail only to find that the bridge of the Cle Elum river, which I saw just two weeks ago, was gone.

Always ready with a back-up plan, we headed right over to the Paddy Go Easy Pass trail. According to Washington Place Names, the name was for a miner who had a burro named Paddy. At rough spots, the miner warned the animal to go easy.

Trail is in good condition, Paddy would have it easy today, as it steeply climbs up 2700' in 3 miles. Half-way up it spends a lot of time out in the open, with excellent views down the Cle Elum valley.

We encountered steady snow at about 5700', which became about a foot deep up at the 6100' pass. We scrambled up to a nice rock ledge that was south of the pass. From there, we could munch on our lunches and view the valleys and ridges both east and west of the pass. The meadows just below the pass on the east side were covered with snow, and a handful of larch trees stood out brightly with their golden appearance.

The weather turned out to be surprisingly good, and we had nice views of the surrounding peaks, all bright with fresh snow, as the clouds danced among the ridges.

The fall colors are peaking, and the blueberries are just past their prime but still great. Snow becomes continuous at about el. 5000', with depths reaching 9-12 inches in pockets around the summit. There are a few places in the meadow where water is flowing down the trail.

I'm in a funk. After today's hike to Talapus and Ollalie Lakes I realized that the ""normal"" hiking season is over. The high trails will be inaccessible to mere hikers like myself. I've hiked this trail before in the spring just as the snow was melting and it was just as cold and dreary as it was today without snow. It's an easy family hike, but nothing spectacular. So here I am in a funk.

The trail was very muddy as we got closer to the lakes. It was cold and we were all wet from the drizzle coming through the trees. By the time we made it to Olallie for a lunch break the wind kicked up. The rushing waters along the trail was a nice diversion. I'm sure that this is a lovely hike and I just didn't appreciate it. And to top it all off, it was sunny when we got back to our cars. I'll keep searching for a lovely fall/winter hike to spoil me again.

Short half mile loop through the impressive rain forest in the Carbon River area. First time I'd been here since March and it's even better than I remembered. Lots of green, lots of moss. A little mud from the rain. The bridges are slippery.

As of October 14th, the bridge over the Cle Elem River is completely gone. They are in the process of replacing it with a new, very sturdy-looking bridge made of iron. No information is posted on when it is expected to be finished.

Husband Don joined me last weekend for what was to be my completion hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon. The PCT Guide tells how you can drive Road 20 south of Mt Ashland and then turn onto Road 2025. Where the trail crosses the road 4.25 miles after the turnoff, there is a parking spot. You officially enter California just 200 yards south. We were disappointed there was no sign announcing the exciting news of the Oregon-California border.

The trail roughly parallels Road 20. We thought it best to drive to the border and then hike back toward Mt Ashland. If the road proved to be undriveable, then our rendeveau with the van would not be thwarted. We could also observe where the trail crosses the road (4 times).

This proved to be a good plan, as driving the road was more adventurous than the hike. The pavement ends at Mt Ashland. The gravel surface is fairly smooth except for several sections of ""washboard"" that jars your teeth. Problem is the road is very narrow, twisting, and often steep, both up and down. The pullouts are spaced rather far apart, and one hopes he will not need to backup going either uphill or down in the unfortunate approach of another vehicle. Don was not nearly as nervous about the road as I was. After he dropped me off, he did have to backup once on the way out when he met an oncoming car. But he said it was no big deal.

The trail is well marked and easy to follow. Heading north from the border it traverses a wooded hillside and climbs to the top of Observation Peak, where you can see all around. Views of Mt Shasta highlighted the day. One interesting section was a mile or two north of Wrangle Gap, where the trail skirts Red Mountain. I swear the rocks looked like they were painted orange! The whole day the trail traversed hillsides. That would make the section difficult in early season, as any snow would obliterate the trail ledge and make for slick falls. As the day progressed there were some nice ridge walks. I was able to make the 15 miles to Meridian Overlook by 6 PM. I was pleased, as I had not been able to start until 11:30 AM because of the slow road.

There were a number of hunters on the road, but I didn't hear any shots all day. I did see several deer on the trail.

This section was more interesting than I was expecting. I would recommend it as a diversion to those who may be visiting Ashland for a Shakespeare play.

The apex of the day was our stay at Mt Ashland Inn. It is a delightful mountain chalet located in mile 5 of the paved Road 20 going up to the ski area. The PCT goes right through its parking lot! (I did that section 2 weeks ago.) There is an outdoor hottub. We sat in it early Sunday morning and watched the sun come up. There were nice views out at Mt McLoughlin. It was fun to sit in the warm bubbles and watch the squirrels scamper around. There is a sauna too. Each of the 5 rooms are specially decorated. They serve a sumptous breakfast too. It's a little spendy, but worth it to celebrate the end of my PCT hike in Oregon. (See Oct 14).

Trail hidden under new 12-18"" snowpack above 5000'. Not yet deep enough to require skis or snowshoes, but off-trail navigation is required.

Decided to try one last Olympic peninsula hike before the weather gets bad. Wanted to do the upper trail (873.1) but the wildlife gate was closed which meant it would be a 4 mile hike just to get to the trailhead. We decided to go back to the lower trailhead. The beginning of the hike climbs a little and then decends steeply to the river. Actually the trail hardly goes by the river except in a few places. The highlights of this trail are some nice big old-growth trees and some nice side creeks with some small waterfalls. Went to the damaged bridge (about 3.5 miles in) and turned around. A nice side trip on the way there was the steel bridge over the Skokomish. This is a bridge originally built for a railroad in the 1920s. The deck is now a one lane car bridge. The bridge is over 400 feet above the river valley and its pretty spectacular. Check it out if you get the chance.

Absolutely beautiful day, got started from the parking lot at 540am and reached Colchuck Lake around 630am for a cool sunrise. After traversing around the lake counter clockwise we headed up Aasgard Pass, which is 2200 feet of elevation gain in a small amount of mileage. Luckily, the ground was still frozen, but that also meant there was some ice and snow on the route, but not enough to be concerned. Aasgard Pass is a very tough route, and with light packs it still took us almost 2 hours to get up. The wind was blowing at about 40mph gusts, and it was very cold. Once we reached the top of Aasgard Pass we were greeted with the ultimate in prizes, the upper Enchantment Lakes. It was the most incredible sight that I have ever seen. Dragontail Peak, Colchuck Peak, Little Annapurna, Prusik Peak, and so many others were gathered around us. There was large amounts of snow still, and the Snow Creek Glacier reflected the newly risen sunlight that reflected off the emerald blue lakes that were everywhere. Cairns mark the route quite well, so stay on the path when you can. Many of the granite slabs that cover the entire basin were frozen with black ice which made you walk much more carefully than usual. The larches were out with their yellow needles shining in the sunlight. This has to be one of the most amazing trips I have ever taken, and would do it again w/o even thinking. We parked a car at the Snow Creek trailhead and descended the 6300 feet back to the car, which was around 13-14 miles. NOTE: This is a 19 mile hike with 4500 feet elevation gain and 6300 feet out. It took us 11 hours to do the traverse and we kept a good pace, so be prepared to bivouac (if you have a permit, or no permits are required after October 15th) or camp. I would not recommend carryign a full pack up Aasgard Pass though. Maybe set a camp at Colchuck Lake' Have fun! scott@nwog.org

With the rain and post nasal drip west of the Cascades, the usual solution is to go as far east in the Teanaway region as possible. The wonderful yellow leaves west of Cle Elum are almost at their peak. As usual, the skies cleared at milepost 70 something. The colors along the Teanaway River road were great too. Even the spur road to Stafford Creek was less bumpy than usual. I followed the Stafford Creek trail for about 3 miles to the 4700 foot level or so. Just before the last creek (0.4 miles before the trail junction), I headed uphill in open forest - first NE and then mostly E bearing. By staying in the trees the slope was sometimes steep but the footing was good. I reached a saddle at the 6000 foot level (between the SE shoulder of Navaho and Point 6442). Then one must chose between a high loose NE traverse to get to the meadow below the saddle between Navaho and Three Brothers or drop down to the creek with the politically incorrect name and pick up the trail with the politically incorrect name. I tried something in between and it became a comedy of errors - crossing the creek I slipped at least twice with both feet and then fell over onto the bank. Thinking I could pick up the trail quickly was another tactical map reading error. I actually had to ascend a steep, loose, slippery hillside for a couple hundred vertical feet before reaching the meadow I was in search of. At the saddle there is a boot path going up the west ridge of Three Brothers. Patches of recent snow were easily avoided or used - some were slushy and some were crunchy for good steps. I periodically lost the boot path but always found it again by just going up. The brass summit register was empty but I quickly signed in on the silver painted register. The wind was beginning to howl so I headed down. The winds at the notches in the ridge were the strongest I have ever experienced almost knocking me down the hill at one point. From the Navaho/Three Brothers saddle, I followed the faint County Line trail back to the SE shoulder of Navaho. The cairns were helpful since the trail is quite faint in places. Traversing Navaho, there were huge elk footprints gouged into the trail. Approaching Navaho Pass, I saw another set of elk prints and finally saw the elk near the pass. This was one of those magical moments, an elk wandering across the trail, perfect golden larches in the foreground of the snow dusted Stuart range. I almost forgot about the cold, howling wind. Then came reality of the 5.5 mile slog back down the trail.

IF you can find the trailhead, this trail is brutally steep and in some places not much of a trail. This trail passes near several large cliffs and is entirely unsuitable for children. That said, if you can haul your way up to the ridge, the view is great, looking north across the Teanaway and Stuart ranges and beyond and south towards the Taneum creek area.

Up on the divide the winds were howling but the sun was out. Scattered patches of new snow are visible on some of the higher peaks.

This was the opening day of deer hunting season. I was fortunate and only saw one hunter, but the area around the lower part of the trail is popular with hunters, so be careful in the fall.

Interestingly, the unmarked trailhead starts right near a very old dam on silver creek. someone felled a tree across the creek and then put perpindicular boards into the creek to make a dam. the diversion pipe still sticks out of the bottom of the dam.

There are no signs at the trailhead, it simply starts from a narrow track at the end of an abandoned logging road. The Green Trails map is fairly accurate.

A nice 1 mile loop through old growth fir and a couple of nice creeks. The cloudy day really brought out the greens in the moss. There were more cars at the trailhead than I expected, but apparently they all went to Annette Lake. I saw only 3 people on the loop. There were a few minor blowdowns. The sound of I-90 traffic is omnipresent, unfortunately.

Just checking out the area on my way elsewhere. I didn't actually go all the way to falls. The trail was muddy and had quite a bit of standing water, but then it was raining while I was there. Surprising number of people considering the weather.

The Rainman and ECO Willy and I went looking for the hole in the clouds that would give us a sunny walk. We found it at Owyhigh Lakes. What we also found which I found amazing for a Saturday in Rainier Park was total solitude. We were the only people at the trailhead at 9:00am and we did not see another soul all day. The trail was in great shape, the wind had brought down one tree about 2 miles up the trail, it was easy to get around. We checked out the Tamanos camp, this would be a good place to camp when you want to scramble some of the peaks and mountains around Owyhigh Lakes. If the weather permitted we thought we would climb Tamanos Mtn after a visit to the lakes. The hole in the sky that let the sun in ended at the lakes. We hiked up to the pass above the lakes and the clouds were blowing in and the visibility was a couple hundred yards. There wasn’t a view of the Cowlitz Chimneys, as promised in the guidebook. We decided to pass on the hike up to Tamanos Mtn and turned around at the pass. We headed back down to the car arriving at about 2:30. There was our lone car. There was only one blow down and a light dusting of snow above 5000’on the trail. Wonderful day and company.

Having whimped out earlier in the year and not making Melakwa Pass, we decided to try again. The weather wasn't promising, but we bravely decided to park one car at Alpental (in hopes of coming out through Snow Lake), and start the hike from Denny Creek (Trail head located off I90, exit 47. Take first left after Campground and go to the end of the road).

The first part of this hike is on good trail and the mud/snow mixture didn't start until around Hemlock Pass. There was only a smattering of snow from the Pass to the lake, but enough to let Quincy make little doggie snow angels as he rolled about in it. The lake was pretty well fogged in when we reached it; you could just make out the further shore.

We continued around the lake to the left and crossed the outlet from Upper Melakwa on a convenient log (some of us splashed across). The trail is spotty around the right side of Upper Melakwa and the water level appears fairly high. We stayed with the trail as well as possible as it climbed besides what I guess is Melakwa Creek. After reaching a flat area and crossing the stream, there was enough snow about to make finding the trail difficult. We followed the footprints of someone we took to be wiser than us and began scrambling up the talus, bearing left (Kaleetan, Chair, and the pass itself were completely invisible in the fog). Apparently, the pathfinder was a climber who was making his way towards Kaleetan because we ended up in some boulders beneath that mountain's stoney face. We worked our way right, but still not seeing the Pass or anything resembling a trail (and with Quincy beginning to growl), we decided to head down. Naturally, when we hit the flat area below, the fog had lifted enough for us to see the Pass clearly to the right of where we went up.

We still need to get to Melakwa Pass. Thank goodness nobody's life depended on us. Maybe we'll try it from the other side (or possibly we'll remember the map next time).

You wont find this trail in any updated hiking book because it doesn't officially exist. The decision makers designated this area a wildlife migration zone (I hope they remembered to tell the animals). This easy 3-4 mile loop is one of the wildest and most lonesome hikes on Cougar mountain. The unmarked trailhead is on the west side of SR 900, 0.9 miles south of Newport Way just southwest of the city of Issaquah. The parking area only holds 2 cars but it's usually empty. The trail enters forest and encounters a split within 200 feet. The right fork heads up the West Tibbetts gorge. The left fork will be the return leg along the Bear Ridge trail. Heading up into the West Tibbetts gorge you find your self quickly emersed in a lovely riparian habitat. The stream is crossed on slippery rocks at about 1/3 mile. Shortly thereafter views of a massive housing development on the north rim of the canyon are encountered. This development called Talus will eventually have a whopping 1750 homes and condos when completed in 5-10 years. This monster development will eventually almost double the current population of central Issaquah. The good thing about this development is that it allowed for the preservation of almost 400 acres of wildland, part of which is traversed by this trail. As you leave the development views behind the trail once again becomes emersed in the wilds. Eventually West Tibbetts creek is again crossed and permanently protected lands make up the remainder of the trail terrain. About 1/4 mile from the stream crossing another intersection is reached. Going left would shorten the loop by intersecting the Bear Ridge trail. Instead head to the right on the continuation of the West Tibbetts trail. West Tibbetts creek is crossed for a third time in an area of interestingly eroded soft bedrock. The trail then switchbacks up to an intersection with the Bear Ridge trail. Turn left here and go a flat 1/4 mile before descending down to The Fantastic Erratic. This huge glacial erratic is a relic from the last ice age. It was carried to Cougar mountain from Canada by the Cordilleran ice sheet about 12,000 years ago. From the erratic it's about 1 mile downhill to the trailhead. The trail is in excellent condition except for a few blowdowns. I cleared out most of the smaller obstructions.

Our small party hiked up the Bullion Basin Trail to hook up with the PCT at Blue Bell Pass. The mid-October weather was a bit blustery, but we had blue skies once we climbed out of the valley fog. Up on the ridge, we could see into Eastern Washington, all the way to Mt. Stewart and the Wenatchee Mountains. We hiked north towards Scout Pass and then took the way trail up to the top of Norse Peak. It was REALLY blustery up there, the wind just howling across the ridge. After snapping a few photos, we dropped down below the ridgeline to have lunch.

In the distance, we could see the ridges towards the Umtanum, Manatash and Cleman Mountain, and north towards Mt. Daniel/Hinman. Closer by we could see Basin Lake and Crow Basin Lake. There were a lot of clouds over the Snoqualmie Pass area. Stewart had a nice coating of fresh snow; winter is on its way.

Going down, we opted for the short cut that drops down into Bullion Basin towards the old horse camp and retraced our route back to the cars at Crystal Mtn. Resort. It was a great trip, pretty good weather, although cold in the shade (the ground was frozen in spots and we crunched through some thin snow in places).

This route saves on some elevation gain, although it's a bit longer. Still the mile or so of PCT is easy hiking, through beautiful open parkland with views of Mt. Rainier. Another thing, folks, the general deer hunting season is now open. We saw several hunters, but heard only one shot all day.

Happy hiking! Think snow!

Went up to High Camp (Scottish Lakes) to do some fall hiking with its easy access to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Using their ski trails, you can connect up to the McCue Ridge Trail and drop down to Chiwaukum Lake and then up to Larch Lake, 6078 feet. It is 11 miles round-trip with glorious views and meadows much of the way. It is also accessible up the Chiwaukum Creek Trail, but is 20 miles round-trip with 4178 feet of elevation gain - definitely more challenging. This particular day was cold and windy, but mostly clear, with clouds obscuring some of the mountains. It was still spectacular. There is about 900 feet elevation gain up to McCue Ridge from High Camp at 5100 feet. Then an 800 foot drop to Chiwaukum Lake, and another 800 foot gain up to Larch Lake. Shortly after Chiwaukum Lake you enter Ewing Basin, an expansive area of meadows, rocks, streams and mountains. My geologist partner said the rocks looked really ""tortured"" with all the swirls, pressure lines, and inclusions. There was a mixture of granite, schist and gneiss. The trail follows a hogback ridge through forest and meadow, leveling out as you approach the lake. The larch were at their fall peak of golden color, which was set off by the snow (we encountered snow from Ewing Basin on) - a beautiful scene. The lake was lovely with some smaller ponds below the outlet. We ate lunch while the sun peaked in and out of the clouds until our core temperature started to drop from the wind chill. So we had to beat a hasty retreat down to Chiwaukum Lake for our brownie desert where we finally got warm again. We vowed to come back in the summer. The meadows must be fantastic with flowers, although the bugs might be a problem. There is also fun exploring to do beyond the lake up to Cup Lake. For those who aren't familiar with it, High Camp is a well run, rustic set of cabins with no electricity or running water, but with propane stoves and lanterns, wood stoves, and good spring water available. It is open in the fall for hiking and the winter for skiing and snow-shoeing.

Another cloudy day on the mountain loop highway. Started to snow and sleet on us at the halfway point at 4100 feet, that turned into snow. SNow is ont the trail at about 3500 feet, and covers the trail at about 4200 feet. Encountered a nice covering of about 3-4 inches above 4500 feet which made for a beautiful hike. Turning back into the winter wonderland that I love so much about Pilchuck. Cannot wait for the direct route to be available and to be abale to ski the old ski resort! scott@nwog.org

The trail began at 3700 feet and a lot of snow falling on Tues morning. We started upward and onward. Passing lots of blueberry bushes (Yum) we made it up the first set of switchbacks to the first level portion approximatly half way. The snow really started sticking at about 4300 feet, gaining elevation brought about 2 inches of snowpack on trail. This trail is beautiful the whole way up!! Little views due to lots of clouds but it was all worth the short trek to the top! Coming upon a small meadow the trail turns up a short steep ridge to find a cable to help you up to the snowy rocky top! Great views finally of Ollalie Meadows, Silver Peak and down to Snoqualmie Pass. Hurry and get this one in before the snow really starts to fall, its well worth it!

Sleeting going over Stevens Pass, snow on the ridges above 4500-5000', but off I was to dry land and adventure up the Chiwawa River Valley. The peaks west of the area (i.e. Mount David, etc...) all were white half way up. However the recent moisture never made it as far as the Entiat Mountains and I never hit snow as I declared today the day to explore around Basalt Ridge and other area trails.

I hiked up the Rock Creek trail from the main road #62 to start off the day in sunshine. Rock Creek was extremely photogenic and lined in areas with yellow douglas maples and quaking aspen trees. Much of the 2.5 miles up the trail are away from the creek, but still lovely. I then hit the trail junction and hiked up to Basalt Ridge where the trail hits the ridge just off the place where the Basalt Pass trail comes up to the pass from the other side. I had planned on hiking up to the summit of Basalt Peak, but no more than 10 minutes after starting on up that way on trail #1515 the western clouds suddenly blew across the valley and socked me in! I waited a bit, but didn't want to waste time waiting nor waste it stomping that way into a cloud, so turned the other way and hiked east on the Basalt Ridge trail. Sure enough, by the time I was at 5700' heading in the direction of what eventually goes to Garland Mountain I was high in the sun and views. Fall colors are everywhere now and there are even a few token stands of larch on the NE side of Basalt Peak. I ate some food, and while hiking back down to Basalt Pass saw Basalt Peak come back out to play again. Alas, I was out of time to hike way up that stretch by now, so I hiked on down the Basalt Pass trail #1530 down a VERY steep 1.5 miles to the trailhead on FS 6210. Huh' This isn't where I parked. Aha...little did the world know that I had stashed my mountain bike in the forest at this trailhead earlier in the day!

The 5.8 mile all downhill blast out on the bike on a very good dirt surface was one of the funniest times I've had all summer coming out from a hike!! I decided not to wonder what would happen should I wipe out going about 25-30 MPH on the bike with a full pack and tripod whizzing on down behind me on my back! Once to the main road (only 13 minutes to get there), it was an easy ride up the Chiwawa River Road about five miles back to my parked rig. Life was indeed grand today.

Well I made it to upper Park lake today. 10/09/01 Nobody there but me. I ate lunch at the lake in 8"" of snow and it was snowing on me. I had planned on connecting with the crest trail, heading north and climbing the ridge above Glacier. To dang much snow on every ridgeline around the lake. I guess that trip will be handed off to 2002! Nice BACK way into the Chikamin/Spectacle area.

Due to other obligations this was to be our last backpacking trip of the year and we wanted to make it count. Mother Nature however wasn’t going to make it easy for us and we had to travel all the way to the Northeast corner of Oregon to escape the rain. The Wallowa Mountains closely resemble the Sierras in California and even have a Half-Dome like monolith called Eagle Cap as a prominent feature. The Lakes Basin loop samples the best of the area and we hiked the shortest possible circuit, entering and exiting via the West Fork Wallowa River a round trip of nearly 30 miles.

The trail follows the river upstream for just over six miles to where the loop begins; we hiked it counter clockwise camping the first night at Horseshoe Lake. There were a multitude of great sites available with only one other party camped in the area. The wife after driving through the night and backpacking for ten miles prepared a great dinner that night of steak & potatoes (beef jerky & instant potatoes). She then proceeded to sleep for twelve strait hours – what a lazy bum!

The next day started out great with blue skies as we entered a familiar pattern of reaching a lovely alpine lake then switch backing up to another that was even more beautiful. There are a multitude of side trails leading to many more lakes but we kept to shortest possible circuit deviating only once in order to see marvelous Mirror Lake. The scenery culminates with the ascent of Glacier Pass where you spy spectacular Glacier Lake. The weather however had steadily grown worse and we were faced with blowing snow at this point. We camped that night at Frazier Lake and again saw only one other tent and for the second time never saw of heard the occupant. We had another fine meal this time with an appetizer of soup (it was our thanksgiving after all).

The next morning the skies had cleared somewhat and everything had a light frosting on it, which made for some good pictures. We crossed the Wallowa River, which at this time of the year was just a trickle and we didn’t even get our boots wet. The rest of the loop was mostly in forest, which was a treat as autumn colours were out in full force. The larches were still more lime than lemon but the aspens made up for it, as they were all a brilliant yellow. We didn’t see a single person past the first mile of the trail perhaps the forecast for temperatures in the mid twenties scared them off (that’s a warm summer day for most Canadians albeit when it’s in Celsius).

It was a great trip overall as our only complaint being the fickle weather and the abundance of horse poop on the trail. We spent more time looking at our feet than the incredible scenery so perhaps Eagle Crap Wilderness Area would be a more appropriate name. It was a great year for hiking and I can’t wait for another nine more months to pass by so we can hit the high country again.

Happy Hiking

Went up Granite mountian today on the hiking trail, and got rained on, snowed on and caught some sun. The snow started at 4500' and it was 3"" at the lookout. Think I was the only one up there today, as I saw no bootprints in the snow. The trail was a little washed out recently, and of course real eroded in many spots. There was sun at the top and wind. With the forcast there is more snow to be expected, and maybe the snow will stay at the top through it all.

Hibox caught my eye while reviewing maps for our trip up the Mineral Creek trail a few weeks back. It’s the lone lake on Box Ridge about mid way between Alta Mountain and Little Kachess Lake. On that same trip a few weeks ago, the area looked all the more inviting as we passed below Box Ridge and the tiny lake basin 1600’ above.

Another spectacular fall day greeted us as we arrived at the trailhead sometime during mid-morning. We threw our gear together and started out anxious to visit another out-of-the-way lake. We followed the trail away from the parking area then found Mineral Creek in about 100 yards. We crossed on two or three fallen trees, but, in late season, there are exposed rock tops that can be hopped to the other side. Once across, we gained 100’ and walked for about 10 minutes before we came to the junction with the old Kachess Lake trail, Lakeside Trail No. 1312. We went right (N) which lined us up nicely along Mineral Creek. The trail stays pretty flat, so we were able to make good time to the adits located at 1.4 miles from the trailhead. In another 1/4 mile or so we crossed Mineral again (by way of a tree span) then continued up the trail for about 15 minutes to where we had a perfect view of our route up Box Ridge. Our trail ended here (3175’) and we pushed our way SW through 75 yards of dense alder trees. Mineral Creek presented little difficulty, we crossed and then headed up, over, and around several auto sized talus blocks bringing us to the start of the steep talus climb up to the lake.

We ascended quickly trying to find a good line through the loose rocks. We trended away from the Hibox outlet the higher we went, on average we were about 500’ to the NW. It’s necessary to fade even further away from the creek at 4250’ to avoid sporadic cliffs and huge talus blocks. We aimed for the leaning spire directly north of the Hibox basin, which got us away from the cliffs and gave us a nice line for entering the lake basin. Just below the spire, we angled south through a couple of forested outlet gullies, up a couple steep brush patches, and finally met the lake roughly 2 hours after leaving the trailhead. Nice little lake. Ominous 800' cliffs loom to the west - a nice pocket of open forest makes up the eastern shore. The water has a stagnant, murky look often seen in lakes lacking significant inlets and outlets.

Upon leaving, we angled high on talus avoiding the troublesome gullies we had used on the way in. This worked great and we quickly found ourselves using the same line as we had used on the way in. At 4000’ we noticed a bear traversing the huge talus field 500’ below our position. We stopped and watched...then so did he/she. We stared...so did he/she. After several minutes the bear headed for the creek and then into the nasty alder thicket right where we had come through on the way in. How splendid. We slowly worked our way down to creek elevation allowing the bear ample time to clear out of our way. We entered the thicket thrashing and being as noisy as possible never seeing a sign of the bear. On the way out, we stopped and farted around the two adits for a few minutes before heading back to the truck. Yet another awesome trip!

Mount Stuart 9,415’ October 06/07 2001

The warm Indian Summer days and cool nights got us hatching a plan to climb Mount Stuart before the snows came. Doerte and I arrived at the Esmerelda Basin Trailhead, 4,243’,to find the lot full. Many dayhikers were out to see the fabulous larches turn brilliant yellow. Are they an evergreen or not'

We started up the trail to Longs Pass under cloud filled skies and cold winds. The trail gains 2,100’ in 2.5 miles. As we got to the Pass, 6,250’ the weather cleared and majestic Mount Stuart suddenly appeared. We had great views down to Ingalls Creek and back to Esmerelda Basin. The Esmerelda Peaks would make a fine destination for climbers. It is a small wonder that this is one of the most popular hikes in the area.

We descended down a steep rocky trail toward Ingalls Creek. There was a beautiful grove of Larches below the pass. The trail drops quickly to Ingalls Creek at 5,100’ and the Ingalls Creek Trail. The Ingalls Creek Trail goes 16 miles from near Highway 97 and Blewett Pass all the way to Stuart Pass at 6,400’! We were only on the Ingalls Creek Trail a few minutes until we came to the old camp at 4,800’.

From here our route would be the normal summit route, the Cascadian Couloir. Ulrich’s Couloir and the SE route from near Turnpike Creek are other possibilities. Our partner Dan Cervelli arrived with the lightest overnight, climbing pack I have ever seen, only 20 lbs! We had talked to a party of five, but they camped at the first camps below Longs Pass. Dan met a woman solo climber, but she was turned back at the false summit because of high wind and little visibility. From our camp I located the climbers path and followed it up 800’ to view what we would see Sunday morning with our headlamps.

We all felt cold Saturday night with the temperatures in the upper 30’s. Our solo neighbor, Jeff, from North Bend, was hiking the Longs Pass, Ingalls Pass loop. His parents had fallen on the ice near the false summit and both slid to the rocks below. Jeff said, “I’m here now, so they did survive.”

We started the climb at 7 am, ascending grassy slopes to the Cascadian Couloir, an impressive collection of scree and talus, but fairly stable. After two hours we climbed out of the Couloir to a boulderfield and views of the eastern false summit 1,000’ above. We saw where the early season route from Turnpike Creek joined this route, and wondered if it would be easier'

Becky said from here to the false summit is usually covered with snow. On this day, after the second driest water year in history, it was only talus and scree up high. For once we left our ice axes and crampons in the truck. This was an extremely difficult steep section. At the top below the false summit we were rewarded with an incredible amazing view of Sherpa Peak, 8,605’ and the Sherpa Rock, a balanced rock almost as high as the summit itself. Behind Sherpa we could see Argonaut, Colchuck, Dragontail, Little Annapurna, and even McClellan Peak. Wow, almost the entire Stuart Range! Suddenly we were in the clouds, and had no view in any direction. Snow flurries had us closing our zippers and stepping carefully. The wind was strong and icy.

From the false summit we had a majestic view of the true summit of Mount Stuart. It looked to be a long way away but wasn’t really. We climbed carefully through broken pieces of class 3 granite along the ridge to the summit, 9,415’.

There was no summit register, and no view, only high winds, and some snow, so we didn’t linger. It was time to descend. Dan is amazing. He can remember exactly the route back, even in almost zero visibility. We also saw a couple of mountain goats watching our descent.

Captain George B. McClellan named Mount Stuart on September 20, 1853 for his friend, Jimmie Stuart, killed in the Mexican War. Angus McPherson is credited with the first ascent in 1873. The first winter ascent was in 1955 by a group that included Dave Mahre.

There are many routes to the summit for expert climbers, including the Ice Cliff Glacier, the West Ridge, and the famous classic North Ridge Route. We saw only one other party on the Cascadian Couloir. Many parties, ascending other routes, will descend this one.

We were back at our camp at 3pm. 4.5 hours, and 4,600’, camp to summit and 3 hours down. Total elevation gain of 8,200’ over 13 miles. A tough steep climb through lots of scree and talus, with a rewarding ridge to the summit.

This was the first time hiking Mt. Si for my husband and I. My brother was our tour guide. My brother warned us saying, ""It's ass-kickin',"" and he was right. At first, we were laughing and joking around, greeting everyone with an enthusiastic ""Hello!"" However, by the time we were on our last 1/2 mile we could barely work up a smile. When we reached the top we rewarded ourselves with energy bars and plenty of H2O. We then quickly jumped to our feet, and ran part way down the mountain, twisting a few ankles here and there. When it was all said and done, we felt sore, but satisfied. Tough mountain/Fun hike

Our Pilchuck weekend was pretty nasty, and it was supposed to be an expedition to explore the many regions of the Pichuck region. Our original plan was to take the route from Pinnacle Lake to the Bathtub lakes, then up Iodine Gulch to the Lookout tower and spend the night there, then explore the Frozen Lake and Summit Lake area of Pilchuck. We went to Pilchuck Saturday morning and dropped off a truck at the pilchuck trailhead, then drove my car to the pinnacle lake trailhead so we could do a traverse. We got up to Pinnacle lake pretty quick (2 miles), but it was so rainy and yucky that we turned back since we had to navigate our way around the lake and up a path that we could not see. So we decided to try it again on Sunday. Except this time we headed up the Pilchuck trailhead which we know so well (been up 12 times this season). We got to the lookout on the summit and got our stuff ready for the night. It was nasty the whole day as well, but not too much rain. We got there at 11am and had no break in the weather until about 4pm when we headed out to see what our route woulds be for the next day to go to the bathtub lakes which are supposed to be so cool. We scoped the trail and scrambled for about half an hour and saw where we were going to have to go and then turned around since it was going to get dark. What was cool was that we were looking down on Heather Lake! So we got back and froze to death (until we got into our sleeping bags). Snow pelted sideways against the lookout tower that night and battered the building, with loud noises from the shutters keeping us up the whole night (almost). Sunday morning we thought it was going to be nice except there were clouds and drizzles with lots of ice and snow on the rocks which made for a less than appropriate descent with lots of weight. We tried to wait out the storm at the halfway point but all we did was get teased the whole time. We did find another scramble route that took you to Frozen Lake which is right below the lookout tower, but you cannot see it from up there as it is below a steep ledge. From there we scrambled and bush belayed up to Little Pichuck and then back down the trail to the cars. We never saw the Bathtub lakes, or anything else as visibility was so bad the whole weekend. Try it again real soon I guess. scott@nwog.org

Jim and I arrived at the Fryingpan Creek Trailhead of Mt. Rainier national Park at 8:30 Saturday morning. It was pleasantly cool, a good day for hiking. The trail (part of the Wonderland Trail) is immaculate - wide enough to drive a golf cart the first several miles. We met up with a large group on a day-hike to Summerland. When we arrived at Summerland, Mt. Rainier could be seen through the swirling clouds, basking in the sun above.

We continued on to Panhandle Gap, then traversed east and made camp at about 6500 feet on a nice, flat gravelly saddle between the gap and Banshee Peak. After we set up camp, Jim and I loaded up our summit packs for a reconnaissance trip to the Chimneys. I wasn't up for the more technical South Chimney as planned, but we figured we could at least look at the area. We hiked up to the top of Banshee Peak, a glamorous alpine stroll that took about 45 minutes from camp. The view from Banshee was fantastic - the clouds continued to billow and swirl around Mt. Rainier in the distance. Closer at hand, we could see that the route up the Central Chimney was probably not that technical. We decided to scramble up the Central Chimney and forego the intimidating South Chimney.

The traverse from Banshee Peak to the Central Chimney is simple and straightforward. A faint climber's path is visible across the scree and dirt slopes at about elevation 7000 feet. There are numerous possibilities to ascend the Central Chimney, all of them involving a reasonable traverse across loose scree slopes to the rock bands, and then Class 2/3 scrambling on generally sound rock with minor exposure to the summit. It is a delightful scramble, and the view of the South Chimney, Mount Rainier, and Little Tahoma was incredible. It took us 45 minutes to summit the Central Chimney from the time we left Banshee Peak's summit.

It was cold that night - at dusk there was a cold breeze, but by morning it became very still. Condensation froze to the inside of our tent. The billowy, low-altitude clouds of yesterday were replaced by high, heavy overcast that concealed the summit of Mt Adams to the south. Mt. Rainier had a lenticular cloud cap over the summit, and the rest of the mountain was shrouded in cloud. However, Little Tahoma stood out prominently. The sky reminded me of a winter sky - heavy with snow.

On our way out, we spotted four mountain goats: a mom and kid heading down for food and water just below our camp, and another pair heading up a small peak near Panhandle Gap. While we watched the goats, I noticed an occasional spit of frozen precipitation. Winter is coming.

Trip Stats: 16 miles round trip, 5,000 feet elevation gain

Went up the backdoor fisherman route to Rampart Lakes from Rocky Run. There are actually two tracks up to Lake Lillian one goes up the end of the valley to Lake Laura and the other heads up the side wall to intersect the Mt. Margaret Trail. The valley trail is better. There is a rock scramle accross a slab above Lake Lillian which may not be suitable for kids. On the traverse over to Rampart Lakes we had snow pellets which suggested this may not be a good route next weekend. Other than the slab the route is not difficult and quite easy to follow with lonesome excellent views.

DAR and I headed out - east, as the forecast bespoke rain on the west slopes. Besides, it's LARCH SEASON and time for the annual trip.

Saturday, well, there's no hike report to speak of. We hit sunshine in Mazama and headed up to Hart's Pass with a stop at Slate Peak. Of course, we were in a fog-out and the wind chill was, oh, -4, so needless to say we didn't linger. How cold was it' So cold I almost froze my face. Any longer, and I would not have been able to talk until I thawed out. We descended to warmer climes (Early Winters Campground) and checked out the Early Winters trail.

Sunday we decided to try our luck at Cutthroat Pass, starting at Rainy Pass. This trip may well go down into history as a larch trip, in larch season, with one, repeat, one, picture for posterity. No light, no sun, no backlighting. Just a nice long, easy grade hike through first evergreen forest, then through larch.

The larch looked a bit past prime, i.e. orangish, in the flat light, but in reality was still a bit green. A few more days and some backlighting will really make them shine. Anyone for calling in sick if the weather improves'

After a pleasant sunny and cool trip on Saturday to Gobbler's Knob (see Mr. Trailhead's report), I hoped that the weather would hold off on Sunday for a trip up Mount Pugh. Things looked OK as we traveled the Mountain Loop Highway past Barlow Pass and north to the marked trailhead turnoff. The side road was not gated so we saved several hundred vertical feet of gain of road walk to the actual trailhead. Per previous reports, the trail is nicely graded to Lake Metan and on up to the base of the meadow below Stujack Pass. Here the first snow pellets started to land. The trail steepens through the meadow and there are several step-overs, -arounds, and -acrosses but the trail is in pretty good shape to the pass. At the pass, the wind is blowing pretty hard and it is definitely snowing. I put on almost everything in my pack even though we are still going up. It had been several years since I had been to Mount Pugh. I did not remember such a well worn boot path above the pass but I did remember the knife edge features higher on the ridge. On that first trip our leader mentioned that we would be tempted to look around as we walked up the ridge with the request that we only do one at a time. By the time we reached the short saddle and the ""ramp"" up to the left at about the 6500 foot level, I was ready to cry uncle. Visibility was low, the wind was cold, and the rock was wet.

The threat of rain didn't deter fellow hiker ""Rubberlegs"" from meeting me at the Monroe smokestack in the early AM for a climb up Mt. Saul. He should change his moniker to ""Steelylegs"" though as he bounds up the mountain side with the strength of a goat. I sucked so much air I thought of changing my last name to ""Hoover"". Take US 2 about twenty miles past Steven's Pass turning left at the Lake Wenatchee turnoff. About 1 1/2 miles past the Ranger Station there will be a fork. Take the right fork which will be the White River Road. Stay on this for about ten miles until it ends at the trailhead, elevation 2,200'. Cross the brand new bridge and then go right on the White River trail. About two miles up you will need to take a left fork which will bring you onto the Indian Creek trail. At about 3.8 miles from your car you will be at elevation 3,100' and a large campsite, complete with log benches and firepit will be on the left. Immediately on the right will be a bootscarred path which is the start of the fisherman's trail to Airplane Lake. The trail is also a contender for the WTA Trail of Horrors Museum. Someone used an entire roll of red surveyor's tape to festoon branches every 35 feet. But the shocker is that they probably went through two cans of red spray paint to mark trees, logs, and rocks with pancake sized dots and arrows to mark the route. You would have to be drunk not to follow this route up to the lake. Maybe that was the point. The markings stop at the logjam for the lake. It is also your first view of Mt. Saul. You can take one of two routes to the summit from the logjam. If you go clockwise around the lake you can connect with a gully that goes west toward the summit. This gully is a watercourse and was fine for our October ascent but might be too wet for a summer hike. The counterclockwise route around the lake starts as a fisherman's path and then goes to a small meadow which has lovely campsites. From this meadow one can then go west to the summit. Either route will bring you to boulder fields of immense granite rocks. The corners are all quite sharp and a pair of gloves would be helpful in preventing cuts. The top of the mountain close to the summit is blanketed with pumice which is remarkably light. I brought a couple of pieces home to give to the elementary school science teacher as it floats in water. The actual summit is rather uncomfortable and one is sandwiched between two large rocks without a place to sit. It was snowing on us and we layered up before opening the register. The 31 degree air made our hands numb. The wind and clouds which enveloped us caused us to make short the visit to the top. The summit is 7,311 feet up making the gain for the day 5,111' in 4 hrs flat.

The trail was in excellent (read DRY) shape today. It was gray and spitting a bit as I emerged into the basin atop. Just turned around and headed back down. I thought to myself this may be one of the last ""good"" days before it starts turning itself into a vertical ice rink. (G) Well, it probably will be some time but the gray will be here soon enough for the long term.

I am a recent transplant from Spokane, WA to Hilo, HI. I guess I just got tired of the long winters in the Northwest. One can hike in Hawaii 12 months out of the year. I do need that occassional high alpine fix, however. So I recently decided to fly over to the mainland for a quick trip in the Olympics.

My flight was delayed (so what else is new) and by the time I made it out of SEA-TAC with my rental car it was 11:00 PM Friday night. Four long hours of driving later I arrived at the Hoh trailhead and grabbed a couple of uncomfortable hours sleep in the back seat.

After purchasing my backcountry permit I was finally on the trail. The first 13 miles is an essentially flat hike on well maintained trail with periodic glimpses of the Hoh river. After crossing the awesome gorge at mile 13 the trail starts a steady climb for 2 miles to Elk lake where I spent both nights. Elk lake is at 2600 ft.

The following morning I got an early start up to Glacier Meadows. The trail climbs steadily with increasing views of the mountains and glaciers. The meadows are at 4300 ft. From there one has two choices. A fairly steep and rocky trail up to a moraine over- looking the Blue Glacier and Mt. Olympus or a less steep and shorter trail to the terminus of the glacier. Both viewpoints are well worth the effort. I spent several hours at each spot enjoying the spectacular views and the unexpected solitude which probably resulted from doing this hike in October. Fortunately the weather remained mild and the snow level never caught up with me. Sunday night I believe it dropped down to 3500 ft.

Hiking out on Monday October 8th my batteries have been recharged. I am now ready to enjoy winter in Hawaii. But I am already planning my next hiking adventure in the beautiful woods of the Northwest when the snows become a distant memory.

Laura, Paul, and I thought we'd head up to Cutthroat Pass to do an easy overnight trip to see the larch trees. However, as we drove up Hwy 20 near the trailhead the rain wasn't letting up. Paul quickly searched through the 100 Hikes book and suggested an alternate trip to Grasshopper Pass. The description of open ridge walking and wonderful views combined with little elevation gain has all three of us intrigued. The problem was that it meant a longer drive east in the hopes of dryer weather.

We weren't disappointed. Take Hwy 20 and turn off at Mazama. Then drive up - up - up the road toward Hart's Pass. Just before the pass turn left toward the Meadows campground and park at the end of the road (elevation 6400').

If all you want to do is see larch trees you can turn around and go home now. There are larch trees everywhere, even at the trail head. From the TH is a short 1 minute hike to meet up with the PCT. From here head south toward Tatie Peak. the trail gains only about 1000' from the TH to the pass. It's all pretty gentle even with the few switchback on the trail. Most of the time the well groomed Cascade Crest Trail (PCT) traverses along the side of the ridge all the time offering wonderful views south toward Handcock Ridge and further along the trail more north down Ninetynine Basin.

We followed the PCT for several miles until we were about due east of Peak 7528. Just below the peak is a nice little basin area full of established campsites. If you look hard near the bottom of the basin there is ever a small stream of running water - really the only water we found from the TH to Grasshopper Pass. The trail was suprisingly not busy. The two days we were on the trail only had us meeting 7 other day hikers. We were the only ones to make the trip an overnighter. We made camp and then with lighter loads continued on toward Grasshopper Pass. From the pass we had wonderful views of Tatie, Mt Ballard, Azurite Pk, Glacier Pass, Goldenhorn, Holliway Mtn, the Needles, Robinson Mtn and of course so many golden larches.

The temps got down into the lower 20's at night and we were even treated to our first snow flurry of the season. Expecting snow that night we were suprised to find clear skies the next morning. That didn't last long though. About a 1/2 mile before the trailhead we saw another snow flurry.

A friend of mine has talked about doing the PCT from Harts pass to Rainy Pass all year. After seeing this short stretch of the PCT (about 5 miles) she's got me sold. It's now on my list of trips to do next year.

On Friday we hiked into Flapjack Lakes and set up camp with a great view of the east lake and Mt. Lincoln. The stars were out and we waited until almost 11 pm to see the moon rise over Sawtooth Ridge. A few clouds on Saturday morning didn't discourage me from hiking up to Galdys Divide and then up to Gladys Peak. The views were spectacular and the colors were incredible. The trail is steep in places but in excellent condition. I wasn't in any hurry so I took my time to look at everything I could. Once on top I spent several hours looking for Elk, Bear or Deer, but only saw Deer tracks. The berries have peaked, most have fallen to the ground. I don't believe there's been a frost yet, but that may change soon. The views from Glady's Peak are spectacular and include Mt. Anderson and Mt. Olympus and the Bailey's. I returned to the lake in mid afternoon and enjoyed a nap in the warm sunshine. The fishing was good too!

We left the main trailhead and headed to Camp Pleasant. The weather was cool and sunny and the trail was dry. Many Big Leaf Maple leaves were down and nice to kick through. At Hammer Creek we crossed the river to look for Chris Hammer's cabin, but after two hours could not find it. At first we searched the bench above the river and then looked in the big timber on both sides of Hammer Creek on the east side of the Skokomish. No luck. Hammer creek had massive amounts of logs and bedload at the mouth and we figured the cabin might have been under it. We hunted for two hours. Could anyone give better directions if they have been there' On the way out, we stopped at the Darky Mine. We admired the many different types of fungus along the trail, some edible. The forest was dry, and a nice treat in October. We were at the car by 7:00 pm.

The wonders of a grove of Larch in fall are something everyone should experience. The hike up the North Fork Entiat River for six miles to the Fern Lake Trail was easy going. The 1700’ elevation in 1-½ miles to the lake was a different story. At about 6000’ the groves of larch were in their bright orange foliage, amazing. The destination was a scramble up Choral Peak, but first a night at Fern Lake. Except for me and one other person, this group had a total of at least a zillion years of mountain experience. One couple were active in mountain rescue, most of the rest are long time scramble leaders and instructors. Besides a lot of good stories of climbs and scrambles it was a fun easy going group. Saturday night brought out a sky full of stars, clear enough to see the constellation Andromeda with the eye. The next morning dawned partially cloudy but the sun was able to peak out for just a bit to give us a show at breakfast. We got going for our scramble to Choral Peak at about 8:30. You can learn a lot from watching an experienced scrambler pick a path up 600’ of loose scree and make it look easy, I was taking notes. From the saddle above Fern Lake you can see Choral Peak. If you look to the right side of the peak you will see a backward “L” of lighter colored rock. That is the path that will take you to the summit. But first we traversed around a larch filled basin that is one of the prettiest places in the Cascades. The temperature was dropping quickly and the clouds looked like they were bringing snow not rain, so we hurried on to the summit. At the summit you have great views of Bonanza, Maude and Three Fingered Jack. Closer by are Gopher, Cardinal and Pyramid Peaks. But here comes the snow so we didn’t stay on the summit for very long and headed back to camp. After packing up we headed out of the lake basin, where the wind was blowing hard and cold, mixed with snowflakes, to a place down the trail out of the wind. We stopped for lunch and then down the to the cars. This was a good start to the fall camping season, I decided this was a good time to put up my 35-degree bag and take out the 20-degree bag. Excellent hike and company.

This is a really nice river hike. Take HWY 410 from Enumclaw to FS 70 just past the town of Greenwater. FS 70 is paved all the way to the trailhead which was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately there are some informal shooting ranges set up along this road. You can hear some of the louder blasts while hiking on the trail which is a bummer. The parking lot at the trailhead is paved and there is a decent outhouse there as well.

The trail itself is a forest trail along the Greenwater River. There are some nice trees, rock outcroppings and rapids. The trail crosses the river a number of times over some real nice log bridges. Eventually the trail comes to the Greenwater Lakes which are two small lakes that the river forms. Very nice. The trail then leads to Echo Lake or Lost Lake. Will do those another day. Highly recomended for those who like gentle river trails.

Leaving the trailhead for Stuart Lake at 0900 with strong winds aloft and black clouds spilling over from the west, even the fall colors seemed subdued. By 1030 at Stuart Lake the clouds were low, winds cool and gusting, with only views only of Stuart's glacier terminus. However, after a short break and the 1.6 mile walk back down-trail to the Colchuck Lk junction, the skys were showing blue - so headed up for Colchuck. Several parties were passed heading down, having been blown out of the Enchantments that morning. But just an hour and half later, at Colchuck Lk, the sky was clear, and was it beautiful! With the blue sky, turquoise waters, glowing yellow larches and brilliant orange and red shrubs richly contrasting the bold granite and remenant snows, it was a truly a visual feast. The walk back with waning sun now highlighting every turn made it indeed a special day...especially in light of the distinct change in seasons we're now experiencing. No flags, trail in fine shape, fall colors peaking.

Take I-90 East to exit 80 and go past Roslyn about 12 miles to French Cabin Creek road on the left. Follow the signs to Thorp Lake trailhead. We accidentally passed the trailhead (on the left about 6.3 miles up French Cabin Creek rd)and drove to the end of FR 4312(121). There is a trail that goes basically straight uphill to join the Thorp Lake trail at about 1 mile from the trailhead (okay, we cheated a bit). The trail is in good shape through wondrous fall colors. Bear right when you hit any cross trails until you come to the lake which is on the left at about 3 miles from the real trailhead (with our cheat it was more like 1 1/2 miles). The weather was a bit blustery Saturday morning, but we felt like we should do more, so we headed left at the big clearing by the lake and went up the Thorp Mountain trail (there are aging signs at strategic intersections. It's a trip of about 1 1/2 miles). The weather deteriorated as we ascended and Quincy TWD was looking as if he wanted to bite me as the wind lashed at us and an occasional bit of frozen rain knifed past. The way was clear and the trail good as we went up the last few switchbacks to find the lookout. We must have looked as miserable as we felt, because the friendly forester (I apologize for my inability to recall his name) asked us inside the lookout to warm up. He described the wonderful views available on clear days as we gazed out into the thick fog. A Forest Service team was on the way up to help him close the lookout for the winter and it seemed to be just in time. We thanked the forester for letting us warm up near his stove and headed back down in the howling wind and drizzle. As we came near to the junction with the Kachess Ridge trail, we stopped out of the wind for a bite. A small band of die hards came up the Ridge trail headed for the lookout, then the Forest Service crew passed. We mentioned the wind on the exposed flanks and pitied them their trip to the top. As we started down, a bit of blue sky appeared, just a tease, we were sure. At about 1 mile from the top, the bit of blue expanded and it became apparent that the day was clearing. How could this be' What mountain god had we offended to be treated so' After a short debate, we decided to save the return to the top for another day (Quincy was growling by this time).

I highly recommend this trip, in spite of being cheated of views at the top. There were plenty of fall colors to behold and it isn't too strenuous (especially if you cheat, as we did).

This is a short 3/4 mile trail around Lake Elizabeth near the end of the Money Creek Road. The lake is quite pretty, with clear water and green grass growing at the edges. There are some nice old growth cedars on the eastern half of the trail, and one very large cedar about half way around the trail. The mushrooms were out as well. The trail was a bit overgrown in spots, but the worst part was the mud. There were numerous areas of standing water and mudholes. In several instances, my shoes sank to the ankles. But it's still better than bugs!

We drove through mist on the way to the Nisqually entrance of RNP, but the day turned out to be glorious. You can drive up the West Side road for about three miles before you hit the gate and a parking lot. Eleven Mountaineers started the easy walking up the road from there. The major washouts have been repaired, at least enough for official Park vehicles and bicycles to get through. After about three or four miles, you attain Round Pass, which is where the real trailhead is found. There is a nice bike rack right there, to accommodate those who would like to ride-n-hike. We later found the rack to be an excellent place to place you trekking poles when you take a little break. Four pair of poles fit in the bike rack nicely.

The trail is in excellent condition and in a mile reaches Lake George. It is a very pretty, long lake. Passing the lake, another mile and a half of switchbacks takes you to a lookout atop Gobblers Nob. We arrived just as the clouds were beginning to disperse and were rewarded with terrific views of the western face of Rainier.

The walk out, though long, was accomplished quite quickly. Fall colors were brilliant in the afternoon sun. Total distance was about 12 miles round-trip. On this pleasant Saturday in October, we hardly saw a soul on the way in, and only a few bikers and strollers on the road on the way out.

West Cady Ridge Trail 5 miles up Fire Road 63. Starts out in the forest and climbs, and climbs and climbs up to Cady Ridge. After 4 miles there is a huge blueberry patch where I saw an older couple indulging themselves. Onward to Saddle Gap...hiked along West Cady Ridge, many ups and downs on that one and finally another large climb up to Saddle Gap. Good camping spots and not another soul to be seen. The problem is, after the first mile there is absolutely NO WATER, so if you're going for more than 1 night make sure to pack lots and lots of water. The ground was frozen this morning in some places, so pack for cold weather. Overall a great hike!!

travel time up:5 hours with pack travel time back: 3 hours with pack distance round trip: 17 miles

Follow the directions in 100 Hikes to the trailhead. Find a boot built trail that leads up a couple hundred feet to the old trail. Gain 2000 feet in 2 miles through old growth and meadows on narrow but good tread to one the best viewpoints in the Glacier Peak/North Cascades area. We have never been anywhere that had so many blueberries- plump, juicy, and just loading down the bushes. Even if it rains every day until April, we will have at least one sweet memory to carry us through the winter.