Trip Reports

Thousands of bright-faced hikers marched through the Boeing Gates at 9am. Wearing odd hiking attire of jeans, wingtip shoes, and various jackets, and using such odd gear as briefcases, pocket protectors, and with their trusty calculators affixed to their belts, they ascended en masse up the curb (el. gain 5""), across the sidewalk, and through the gates. Rangers in glass booths looked on with interested gazes to see if any hooliganism were to happen. However, all hikers stayed on the trails, cutting no switchbacks, and had no navigation problems getting to their destinations. Word has it that this route is heavily travelled on weekdays, so I suggest taking this route on weekends (unlike most hikes). Maintenance is excellent except for a few cracks in the concrete, and that pesky 5"" step (be careful not to trip there).

[Online Editor's note: And thanks to all the SPEEA members who took some time off from the picket line to do volunteer trail work. For a while there I was calling Thursday's our SPEEA special.]

We were hoping to snowshoe this trail but there isn't any snow on the trail until about the last 3/4 of a mile. There is lots of water falls along the way which is a plus and lake at the top is still frozen over and covered in so much snow that you can't even tell where the edge is. It's a short hike and well worth the short walk up.

“Hey Huff, I’ve got a trail for you.” “Well, Puff, tell me about it, but don’t put it on the WTA website or else there will be mass people on the trail.” “How does 4500 feet over 3.2 miles sound'” “Man, Ron Judd could put that one on the front page of the Times and there still wouldn’t be anyone there.” “Riiight!”

Turn west just north of the Dosewallips River in Brinnon and go 9 miles to a sign that says “Elkhorn Camp 2 Miles.” About 150 metres farther is a parking lot on the right. A hundred metres past that is the trailhead at 500 feet.

Supposedly it’s 1.1 miles and 2250 feet up to a creek crossing. It might be a little farther, but this is the steepest official trail I have ever been on, easy. I went another hour past the creek to about the 4000-foot level before I hit serious snow. With the aid of my trusty ice axe, I continued another half-hour before hitting some deep stuff and giving up. I think I was pretty close to the 5050-foot divide. From there the trail purportedly descends 4.4 miles to the 2600-foot trailhead in the Quilcene valley.

There are about 20 logs across the Coal Creek Trail. Only five of them probably need to be removed as the rest are easily stepped over. A new Quarry Trail has been built to bypass the older trail which followed a steep road grade.

We did a loop on Cougar Mt., starting at Redtown and following the Wildside, Marshall Hill, DeLeo, Far Country, Fred's RR, Quarry Road, Coal Creek Falls and then finally Cave Hole.

Spring has arrived at Cougar. There were violets, coltsfoot, Indian Plum, salmonberry, red current, bitter cherry and shunk cabbage beginning to bloom.

There were views out to Seattle and the Sound under lowering clouds. Light rain and winds alternated with cloudy skies. Bright greens of shunk cabbage and Indian plum were glowing in the soft light.

The route we took had quite a bit of up and down, but everyone was happy to miss the worse of the rain that had been forecast for the day. It was good to get out in the fresh, sweet air. The falls were very lively, a lovely sight. All in all, it was a good day of hiking.

We left pouring rain in Bellingham for the Excelsior Pass trailhead (it's on the Mt Baker Highway about 1/4 mile past the Nooksack Falls turnoff) where it was pouring even harder. Looks like a classic Baker-area day: heavy rain down low and heavy snow up high. We donned our Gore-tex, strapped snowshoes to our packs and started hiking. The trail begins at about 1800 feet so it was just wet dirt on the trail. The lower snowfree part of the trail is in great shape--a few small blowdowns were the only obstacles. There was a bit of melting snow at 1/2 mile but it wasn't deep enough to put on snowshoes until about 3500 feet elevation, which is probably 1.5 miles up the trail (and where rain changed to snow). We had an easy trip on 1-3 feet of snowcover until about 4000 feet where we completely lost the trail I figured there was over 6 feet of snow at this point. Above here the snow started blowing harder, the snow got very deep and heavy and the going got very slow. We headed up through what must be pretty subalpine meadows in the summer and through the forest just trying to make it toward the ridge in the distance and trying not to fall in any 10-foot deep tree wells. After an eternity of taking turns breaking trail we finally made it to the pass, which is at about 5400 feet and 4.2 miles from the start. It was really cold, blowing hard and snowing hard. Needless to say there were no views at all. I don't know how much snow was on the ground, but across the valley at the Mt Baker Ski Area there is 260 inches at an elevation 400 feet lower. After collapsing in a tree grove and eating a quick lunch, we headed back down, cutting our switchbacks through the muck. The trip back down was much easier. It was annoying to reach the snow line, though, where it was raining even harder than hours before. We descended in 1.5 hours what it took 4 hours to climb. I can't remember ever being wetter, but no regrets. It was a great trip and I would highly recommend it, especially on a sunny day.

We were fortunate to have good weather for this hike, which provides a stunning view of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan, along with a gorgeous forest and a beautifully maintained trail. We hiked as far as Maple Grove campground (about 3.5 miles from the trailhead). It felt great to sit on a log in the bright sunshine with the snow-covered peaks surrounding us! The hike begins at 1000 feet and drops about 400 feet to the lake at Maple Grove. No snow anywhere: a perfect hike for this season.

decided to give Mt. Si a rest and enjoy the views from rattle snake ledge. watching the snow level drop in the past couple of days, and knowing how slick the trail on upper Si has become, I opted for the lower elevation. A good decision overall. The trail was snow free, very muddy in some areas, but otherwise very nice. It wasn't difficult hiking through the mud, nothing my boots couldn't handle. Avoided the temptation to hike around the mud as I noticed many hikers before had done, beating out new paths and destroying ground cover. Typical weather today.. I had rain, what appeared to be hail, and the occasional burst of sunshine. Very cold up on top...had to eat lunch down in the sunshine. The views were beautiful. A great short hike at only 1.3 miles and 1100 ft. elevation gain. Shared the trail with only a few other hikers as well.

MARCH 13, 2000 – HEYBROOK LOOKOUT TRAIL #1070 Green Trails INDEX Not a ton of free time today, so I opted to hike short miles so I could take my time and do more photography along the way. Of many lookouts I have visited, the easy to bag Heybrook Lookout wasn’t among them, so today’s choice was a fun easy one. Ample parking 1.9 miles east of the Index junction as advertised…the only car to use it on this day. The 1.3 miles up the fairly steep in places trail was more beautiful than I was expecting. The forest is deep, lush, and so green with moss, and huge boulders one would think you were days away from the world rather than sandwiched between a state highway and a high-voltage transmission line! Indeed, it was a pleasure and very photogenic in places. The lookout is grand, with its new house on top which was done last year I believe. At 73’ tall, it is one of the highest lookouts I’ve been to. I then headed up the back road #6022 a bit and up another side road from that to the power line swath, and had fun enjoying the views of Baring Mountain, Gunn Peak, Merchant Peak, Mount Index, Mount Persis, and the entire Skykomish valley westward toward Gold Bar and beyond. The only snow I saw all day was in the dark shadows of the trees under the power transmission towers. So if no snow is what you want, this jaunt up to 1800’ is just the ticket for you now. A fast 30 minutes back to the rig, and an even faster 8 minutes to Zeke’s for another cardiac burger and fries….ahhh, now the day is complete! There were 2-3 blowdown on the trail, all easy to duck under or step over. A side note…after eating I did 45 minutes exploring along the Skykomish River two miles east of Zeke’s to finally photograph an incredible trestle bridge over the river on the BNSF line. It was awesome, with the sun on the structure, the green water in the river, the polished monster size boulders in the river. Found a few old power/communication poles down in the woods too with some partial old glass insulators on them still too, so I had my history snooping fix for the day as well! Alan L. Bauer 3/13/00

I posted a personal best time of 67 minutes from north Seattle to Darrington. A total of 90 miles in 90 minutes to the trailhead on the Suiattle River Road. This trail starts at the river, and navigates all the different forest zones. Up to about 2000' is ugly old clearcut. Then unmolested forest blankets the trail in needles so deep it's like walking across a lawn. The first (new) snow appeared at 3000', bccame solid at 3500', and forced the use of snowshoes at 4000'. I lost the trail, regained it, followed blazes on trees, and then lost it completely. The hill became to steep for snowshoes to work well, and without them it was waist deep floundering. The clouds descended, showering me with light snow. I had lunch in a semi-clearing with views of a fog filled valley. I turned back, 1000' and at least a mile from the offical trail end. The steep soft snow slowed me down to about 500' of elevation gain per hour. The peak snowfall depth in the Cascade mountain passes is traditonally on April first. Two or three additional weeks will be needed for consolidation.

Despite dire predictions of record snow packs this year, conditions on this trip are near-normal for this time of year and equal to conditions on May 10 of last year.

The 9030 road is passable to MP2.2. From that point, up to a foot of compact snow covers the road. The trail is mostly snow covered and is completely snow covered above 3050 feet. There is a trace of new snow above 3100 feet. Talapus Lake is completely snow covered and snow pack is about four feet.

When the snow melts, there will probably be two to six windfalls across the trail.

Elevation Gain: 2,800 ft, Round Trip Distance: 7 mi, High Point: 4,400 ft (false summit)

Route taken can be seen at: http://www.geocities.com/philspory/hikes.html

Originally we thought we might start hiking from the McClellan Butte trailhead at I-90 Exit 42. This would have made for a 16-mile hike. Fortunately, we decided to bushwhack it from near the Tinkham Campground. This saved a lot of mileage. Tinkham Road is snow free and is having some work being done on it. We parked on an access road that goes to the power lines near Harris Creek. The off-trail segment up to the Iron Horse railroad grade was easy going. There were some trees and branches to climb over and around, but it was no big deal. We arrived at the railroad grade near a small waterfall. We didn’t choose the next section up to the logging road carefully enough. We ended up in a bushwhack that only a true brush connoisseur could enjoy. On our descent, we found a better route through the forest that was much less brushy. If the ground is dry, you might want to head up using a big talus field to the east. The rocks were too slippery for us to climb the talus today.

The Iron Horse trail had only a few inches of snow on it at 2,300 ft. We put on snowshoes when we got to the logging road. There could be some major avalanche danger here, but the slope above was mostly melted today. This part of the trip was safe. There were still at least a couple of other dicey sections on this trip. Overall, this is not a mountain to climb in unsafe avalanche conditions. The mountain has been clear-cut a few decades ago (my guess). The trees were small, sparse and absent in many locations. This provided great views, especially over to Mt Defiance, and Bandera Mt.

It snowed on and off above the 2,000-ft level. I wouldn’t have wanted to try to do this trip without snowshoes. We were sinking a few inches even wearing snowshoes. There was a foot of new powder above 3,800 ft. Once you get up on the ridge, the going is easy, and safe. Up near the false summit the ridge had large trees that had escaped the clear cutters. There was a wide path between the tall trees that may have been a logging road at some point. There were some nice views to the south and west from the false summit. To continue on to the true summit (4,453 ft.) would have meant walking a thin ridge top for a half-mile. This ridge didn’t look difficult, but there was a monster cornice falling over to the west from the ridge top. I had enough of cornices from my last trip, so we decided the false summit was good enough for us today.

The trail was snow free until the last 3/4 mile from the lake. The snow was compact without any problems other than some blow-down. The lake was very beautiful and quiet -- except for a rock and snow slide off the North Peak of Index.

MARCH 10, 2000 – BARCLAY LAKE TRAIL #1055 GreenTrails MONTE CRISTO My oh my, how lucky can I be. I planned for Friday to be my day out over a week ago, and it turned out that my five hours out fell in the 12-hour window of very nice weather for the end of the week! I headed up to the Index area after deciding Barclay Lake would be an excellent winter hike. It is 4.3 miles up the FS road to the trailhead…at exactly 3.0 miles the road is suddenly closed down solid under snow as you turn around to the NW side of the ridge. I parked here and began on up the road. I figured the road hike wouldn’t require snowshoes, but not knowing the trail and lake region snow conditions, I packed the ‘shoes on the back of my backpack. Snowshoes on the back, Gitzo tripod on the top, camera cases strapped to my front-side…what a sight I would have been to any cougar or other animal spying on me! The views of Baring Mountain begin after 15 minutes up the road, and just keep getting better. The view across the Barclay Creek valley was equally as nice. After 40 minutes or so I reached the trailhead, and continued on up the valley in the spectacular forest. I never ended up using the snowshoes on this day, as the path was very packed down from melting/freezing snow of the past week on the previous traveler’s markings in the snow. I did manage a good posthole up to the crotch a couple times, but that’s part of the fun. Passing through the forest after the first 1/3-mile through 3rd growth forest makes it hard to imaging this isn’t wilderness – it sure looks and feels like it is. But alas, landlocked by the North Fork Skykomish Road and Becker River Road, the area is a small island of beauty. As previously reported, the log bridge crossing of Barclay Creek is bombed out by a Western Hemlock tree that came down mid-span. Heading up I kicked-step down a steep bank to cross in a shallow area, then very difficult kick-steps up the 60-degree slope on the other side to make it back up to the trail. Too much work…coming back I just stomped across the creek, and with my gaiters on was able to go through 16-18” of water and kept my feet dry. Fun! The lake was beautiful, frozen except for the outlet to the creek, and the mass of Baring Mountain was almost too much to behold – the scenes I was recording on film challenged even a 20mm lens! But with now overcast sky, the scene was beautiful to capture on film. No bright contrast and the north side of Baring Mountain was almost glowing a weird green-gray color in the light. Stomped back to the road and rig by 3:30pm and had a tiring drive home. The joints and muscles aren’t used to getting stuck up to the butt in snow with one leg out sideways while the other is down 4’ deep! The road should easily melt out by April if snowlevels keep hanging up there above 3000’, and with only 3-4’ of snow at the lake, it’ll be melted out two months sooner than last spring, I bet! A wonderful hike. Alan L. Bauer 3/10/00

THIS WAS A NICE LITTLE MID-WEEK BREAK FOR US. THE 1/4 MILE NATURE TRAIL HAD A LG. BLOW-DOWN AND SOME ICY SPOTS, BUT THE TRAIL UP TO THE FALLS WAS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. THERE WAS ONLY 1 BLOW-DOWN THAT WAS EASY TO STEP AROUND AND A FEW LITTLE PATCHES OF SNOW OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE TRAIL. RIGHT AT THE BASE OF THE FALLS THERE IS A LITTLE HARD-PACKED SNOW. NOT MUCH SHOW TO THE WATERFALL, MORE LIKE A TRICKLE. THE TRAIL WAS DRY AND MADE FOR A NICE AFTERNOON. NOBODY ELSE ON THE TRAIL. SAW SOME ELK SCAT BUT NO ANIMALS OTHER THAN A CHIPMUNK AND SOME BIRDS.

We got to the lodge about 10:30, partly sunny and about 35 degrees. The snow at Hurricane ridge was hard enough to hike on without snowshoes, we never did break them out. We made it all the way to the top of Hurricane Hill, and the view was ( as usual ) just the best. At the top, it was cold enough to freeze my beard, with a 15 - 20 Mph wind, but not enough to ruin the trip. The crowds tend to stay near the lodge,even on the weekends, so with very little work, you can be at the ""top of the world"" by yourself.

The trail to Lower Lena Lake was free of snow, with snow at the lake and continuous snow above. There was a well defined path in the snow up the east fork of Lena creek (Valley of the Silent Men) until the forks at elevation 3,100. There was no need to put on snowshoes until that point.

The trail register indicates that the summit has been reached within the last month by a solo cimber.

Nanu nanu.

Wanted to cheque out the Marten Creek bridge. The trail is mostly snow covered from the one mile point at 1500 feet elevation. The bridge at Marten Creek is still intact, although there are many new holes in the platform. I cut out a few small windfalls, and thanks to a few blokes who had a chainsaw (for ice-fishing), we cut out a few more. There are two windfalls exceeding eight inches in diameter through the first three miles of the trail.

A group of us journeyed to the I-90 exit 42 for an assault on the mighty and feared Bandera Mountain. We hopped out of our various vehicles and over the gate just N of the exit, and followed the old logging road (taking the first left) across an old steel bridge. Soon after, the road starts downhill. Since our goal was to increase potential energy, we elected to head off the roadway up towards the Mason Lake trailhead. This route, carefully followed, is not too brushy and you'll end up very close to the trailhead if you are skilled in the art of navigation.

So far we hadn't been on snow, but the road had a foot or so on it. In fact, most of the rest of the way was snow covered. We went up the Mason Lake trail to near the boulder field, then headed E towards the summit ridge. THis route is very nice! Careful of slidey areas but most of the way you can find good protection in trees. We reached the false summit. It's true! maybe... the ridge towards the true summit looked a tad exposed and the cornices intimidating. But only for a very short distance. Enough to keep us satisfied with our potential energy gain, which we enjoyed converting to kinetic on the descent.

Incredible hike! Be prepared for a steep incline- 3000 ft in 3.2 miles. The trail is initially very rocky but after about .7 miles becomes safer. The first part of the hike reveals breathtaking views of Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge. Once farther inland, you hike very steep grade in thick forest (trail is clear though). 2 miles gets you near the timberline. This is where I began to encounter alot of snow on the trail. I should've brought snow shoes and/or trekking poles. At about 2500 ft the view up there was absolutely incredible though, despite the treacherous snow and steep incline. If hiking this trail in the spring I would not worry about the snow (mostly melted) but instead consider poison ivy, which nature has strewn along the trail at various points. Also in the spring and summer expect to see vividly beautiful and bright flowers above the treeline as you make your way towards the summit.

Our party of 4 left Narada Falls around 10:45 a.m.for a snowshoe ascent/ski descent of the Castle ridge, just east of Pinnacle Peak. a foot of new and very wet snow had fallen the night before, and the temperature was forcasted to rise with more snow later in the day.This made for fairly high avalance danger on our route, so we ascended the initial steep slope to Paradise valley road in the trees. Our new smaller snowshoes were more effectve at kicking steps on the steep parts than the larger ones. Much of the slope at Inspiration Point had already avalanched, so we proceeded very carefully. After a nice ski into Reflection Lakes, we switched back to snowshoes at ascended to the Castle summit ridge.The trail is unmarked, but usually you can follow a snowshoe track as this is a popular destination on weekends. Within 5 minutes we lost the sun and it began to snow and blow. Skiing down the upper bowl was difficult, as the snow was Cascade Concrete. If you fell, it was almost impossible to extricate yourself without help. Our party decided to snowshoe the rest of the route below the upper bowl down to Reflection Lakes, as none in our party felt gonzo enough to ski the trees in these snow conditions. Returning past Inspiration Piont, We were gratified to see that most of last nights snow had already slid, and things were becoming colder and more stable. Half the party skiied out to Canyon Wye on the Paradise Road to be picked up while those still willing and able skiied the trees down the headwall to Narada Falls arriving late, 7:00pm. The total distance RT is about 7 miles. The skiing and views in good conditions are superb, and the avalanche hazard at Inspiration Point can be avoided by detouring over Mazama Pass to Reflection Lakes.Don't count on Mount Rainier National Parks to provide accurate or timely weather/avalanche hazard info. Their information is at least 24 hrs behind.

Round trip from ""road triangle"": 8.4 mi., Elevation Gain: 3,380 ft., High point: 5,174 ft.

The route we took can be seen on: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/4424/hikes.html

Directions: exit 47 off of I-90. Turn south at the end of the exit ramp. Then turn right on Tinkham road. The road had snow on it, but there were tire tracks usually deep enough to expose the roadbed, so travel wasn’t difficult. Drive until you come to a fork. Take the left fork. The snow started getting deeper after the road-triangle so we parked there. Later in the season, you can drive up to and under the railroad trestle if you want.

We started hiking about 8:15AM. You can hike the logging road alongside Hansen Creek. A little after the first bend in the road, there is a fork. On the way up, we took the left fork. At the corner of the mountain you get some nice views of the entire I-90 valley. Here we started hiking up the northwest corner ridge of Humpback Mt. It was brushy and I don’t recommend it. You can avoid the brush by taking the longer right fork earlier on, and that gets you 600 vertical feet higher. We chose the longer logging road for the descent. We didn’t need snow shoes on the logging roads. The corner bend of the higher logging road is the starting place for the ""pink route"". You may have a tough time finding it at the start, since it is very brushy there. It is almost a maintained trail with pink plastic ribbon markings every 50-100 ft. If you get off trail in the very brushy section, you’ll know it right away, as it will be hard to keep going. If you don’t see any pink markers, look for trees that have had their lower branches pruned to the trunk. Almost all the trees along the pink route in the very brushy section had been pruned. The real brushy part is only about 500 vertical feet along the corner-ridge pink route.

Possibly a better route is to keep going on the higher logging road, past the corner ridge, until you see a stand of tall trees. If you head up through these tall trees, it’s steeper, but much easier to travel through since there is much less brush. Just head up and soon you’ll be on a wonderful corner ridge heading directly for the summit. There is no avalanche danger, the trees are far apart, and the ascent is not steep. It was an excellent winter route. If they hadn’t ""slash-burned"" the trees down below in 1952, the whole side of the mountain would have probably been like this.

The only difficult part of this climb was the 50 feet just below the summit. The snow was deep, wet and heavy and the slope was pretty steep. There are a few trees to grab onto. There was a tiny amount of avalanche danger here. I struggled for 15 minutes in my big snowshoes trying to get up. It probably would have been much easier had I taken my snowshoes off. The summit is wide open and there should be great views on a clear day. We only had a couple small clearings in the fog today.

I thought I’d walk the ridge to the south a little bit for fun. Matt stayed behind eating some lunch. I could tell there was a little bit of a cornice on the steeper west face, but I thought I had kept enough distance. Apparently I had gotten a little too close. Yikes! Suddenly, and with no warning, a huge chunk of the ridge broke off inches away from me and slid down the mountain. Avalanche! The 3-foot thick cornice and 2-foot thick slab that broke off was about 100-ft wide and 40 foot long. A crack in the snow shot out along the ridge and stopped just a few feet from where Mat was standing. Our packs were about a couple feet from the end of this crack. It all happened so fast and was so startling that I can’t exactly remember how I reacted. I forget if I fell back, or jumped back, or just stood there stunned for a while.

The exposure on the west face was small, and if I had gone over the edge, at least I probably would have been on top of the avalanche. I would have fallen/slid for about 50 ft before hitting some trees. There’s a chance I would have gotten hurt. In any case, it wouldn’t have been fun trying to get back up, especially knowing that there was a small section of the ridge top, where the crack was, that was still waiting to come down. We only spent another 20 minutes or so up on the ridge eating and drinking before we carefully descended. It rained lightly most of the way on the descent and we got back to the car pretty soaked at 5:15PM. Overall, this is a very safe trip with minimal avalanche danger. Just don’t get too close to any cornices. ;)

Oregon - Columbia Gorge Vicinity Eagle Creek (USGS Bonneville Dam, Tanner Butte, Whatum Lake)

We were staying in Troutdale, Oregon on a short winter break. Saturday was a nasty, wet day, but Sunday looked like there would be a short break between storms. We decided to go for a day hike. My friend, Bruce, had long wanted to show me the Eagle Creek Trail, located just off the famous Columbia Gorge, about a 45-minute drive from Portland. Eagle Creek, according to write-ups, is second only to Multnomah Falls in popularity, but it was hard to tell that when we arrived at the parking lot. There were only three cars. Going on a cool winter day or midweek during the summer seemed to be the best way to beat the reputed crowds.

This hike is renowed for its waterfalls and it proved to be quite an experience. There were at least five major (two similar to height and power as Comet Falls, Mt. Rainier Park) waterfalls and numerous smaller ones, as well as beautiful cascades, deep colorful pools and lively rapids. The first falls, Metalko, is only a 1.5 mile hike, but one that involves some exposure and a narrow trail blasted out of a volcanic rock cliff. The construction work on the trail was extraordinary; the maintenance, great. At 2.1 miles, there was Punch Bowl Falls, a short falls that plunges into a deep blue pool.

At 3.3 miles, we reached High Bridge, well-named as it soars above a very deep slot canyon, through which the ""creek"" plunges. Eagle Creek has similar size and volume to Ingalls or Index creeks.

At about 4.5 miles, there is another bridge, much lower above the river. We couldn't help wondering as we gazed upon some sizable log jams nearby why the bridge had escaped destruction.

The next big falls was Tunnel Falls. The trail curves around the headwall of a side canyon and goes behind the falls through a tunnel. The ground was trembling and spray covering everything with a fine, cool mist as we ducked through the tunnel and clung to the protective cabling lining the damp, rocky path.

Then, about a quarter mile further, we reached Criss-Cross Falls and another unnamed falls above it, to find a lunch spot at a vacant campsite. There were numerous good camps along the way, especially above High Bridge.

Besides the large spectacular falls, there were numerous falls plunging over the basalt walls on both sides of the canyon. In some areas, the falls consisted of dripping water gardens with ferns, moss and other plants clinging to the wet rock. It's a good idea to carry raingear if going in cool weather, because we got ""rained"" on by the dripping water.

Note: This is not a hike for children or those with a hardy fear of heights. I'm an experienced hiker and was suitably intimidated by a few of the rocky stretches. The path, while high above the creek in some areas, is safe and well-maintained and fairly level. It climbs gradually over its full length. We probably gained about 1,500 to 1,800 feet over 6.5 miles.

The trail passes through a wonderful forest of mixed dedicious and conifer. I noticed some Pacific Rhododendrons, as well as azaleas. There were numerous ferns, mosses, club moss, lichens and evergreen shrubs (mostly Oregon Grape and salal). I think I saw some oak trees, as well as cottonwood, maples, alder and wild cherry. My friend told me that the canyon is full of flowers in the spring. I want to go back. The cliffs are colorful and impressive, pillow lava and basaltic columns. If you do have children, there is a salmon hatchery and picnic area located near the trail head. The trailhead can be accessed from I-84, eastbound, just past the turn-off to Bonneville Dam. To return to Portland, you must drive east to Cascade Locks where there is a turn-around available.

About 2-3 feet of snow on trail. Easy to follow with all the snow due to large width of trail. Only went up about 3 miles past the Eagle Creek junction. Very few blowdowns. I see there is an option for a Duffy Lake trail #410.3 when you submit a report. We went cross country to Duffy Lake and there is no trail in existence to Duffy Lake.

I parked 45 minutes from the trailhead due to snow on road. The trail was compact snow and ice for the most part, without any routefinding difficulties. The bridge (footlog & railing) crossing Barclay Creek has been knocked out due to a direct hit by blow-down. Although parts of the beach were exposed and dry, there was 1-3 feet of snow at the lake.

Nice sunny morning before it started to cloud over around noon. I saw no one until after I returned to the trailhead and was walking down the road -- a couple on snowshoes headed for the lake. A very enjoyable hike.

We Started the Trail at 7:00 Am, a beautiful day dawning, the trail was wet and chilly but our exsertion kept us warm, just before the 1 mile marker lies a foot bridge with a stand of old growth trees, spectacular in girth and height the feeling of being in the presents of a living knowing entities fills you and the surrounding Green moss and hanging Moss and a beautiful water fall all contribute to a feeling of peace and serenity. The trail is full of knarly old trees one in paticular located at the current snow line about 2 miles or so stands one tree we called mushroom palace because of the pertrudeing woody knots shaped much like DAH mushrooms!The last 3/4 of a mile was snow covered and throughly soaked our feet, foot bridges of snow covered the switch backs accross the streams from the lake and I continually thought I'd fall threw, but the snow pack is 8-10 feet and I was far from to heavy for it, we reached the mouth of the lake at 10:00 AM ( We Took our time)The stream widens at this point into pools of log jamed water slowly seeping water down the mountain with a few hugh bolders packed high with winters snow, a few hundred feet from there lies the lake and surrounding mountains, words do little to describe the beauty of this scene,Awe inspireing! with the towering peaks 1500 feet above you 3/4 of the way around you and a frozen lake at your feet we witnessed a avalanche in the peaks that roared down the hills side with tremendous power and trembling giving us the natures complete experience. This was a well maintained trail with great views and a mellow atmosphere we loved it and plan to explore more of the mountain loop scenery. .

Another glorious winter morning in the Park! Had an early stroll down Shady Lane from the Staircase campground. Warned by Ranger John that there were some fresh pawprints (cougar) out toward Shady Lane, and to keep an eye out as I was the first one on the trail. Got around (easily) the washed out bridge at the TH, and off I went. Lots of drips from the hanging gardens across river from the campground, and two sets of pawprints heading back toward the TH. Just enough snow to make it pretty but not enough to need snowshoes, just gaiters.

Near the NP boundary I found a another set of pawprints, quite large and fresh. Not having brought any catnip or string with me, I thought better of following the pawprints any further and beat a retreat. I didn't see any of the 'cats, but I'll bet a nickel at least the big one saw me.:)

There was new snow, varying from a trace at the trailhead to ten inches at Olallie Lake. The trail is partly snow-covered for the entire route and completely covered above 2600 feet. There is five to six feet of snow at the lake. Needless to say, the lake is still completely frozen over.

The first 2 miles of this trail are in decent shape with one area that is going to have to re-routed this summer due to washout. At the 2-mile point we hit 12-15 inch’s of snow with multiple blow downs, it was very rough going and the snow had a very hard ice crust. The roads into this trail are in good shape; most passenger cars would not have any difficulty. Avoid Green Trails maps for this trail, they did not provide the detail that I like to see.

We stopped by the Rangers station Presidents day morning and checked to see if the road would be open. But the station was closed and the sheets outside didn't say anything about the Squire Creek Road. About 2 miles down the road we began to encounter spots of snow, nothing difficult, it was all on level spots. But after about 4 miles, it became dangerous for my car, even though we saw tracks from a truck continue on. So we decided to hike the road and see how far we could get. The road parallels Squire Creek and the Mountains on either side made it a beautiful walk. After a mile of walking the tracks for the truck stopped and tracks from a four wheeler started. By now the rain was beginning to sink in, and we saw no signs of the trailhead even appearing soon, so we turned around after about 3 miles of hiking on the road. Overall, it would make a good X-country ski road, or maybe even snowshoe, but I like trails more than roads for hiking. Also on the way down the snow took my muffler off. Ahh, but we were able to fix it.

If you plan on getting to the trailhead, bring a 4-wheel drive vehicle, with a high clearance.

Happy Hiking!

Though a long drive from Seattle, the rewards are great here. We snowshoed along Highway 20 out of Mazama with the intent to camp at the Washington Pass Overlook. Highway 20 is blocked a few miles west of Mazama, and one must travel approximately 8 miles over snow to the overlook. The only negative part is dealing with all the snowmobilers who seem to enjoy buzzing the hikers and skiers. However, if you're able to look beyond that, the hiking is mellow and the views of Silver Star, the Wine Spires, South and North Early Winters Spires, Liberty Bell, etc. are awesome. One could easily spend a week back in here exploring side drainages, skiing couloirs, or making rare winter ascents on some of the surrounding peaks. A barred owl kept us company at night, and the morning brought 4 inches of fresh snow. A ""thru-hike"" to Newhalem is definitely in order. I can't wait to return.

A word of caution: this route crosses several avalanche chutes.

Happily, there is no sno-park permit required to park at the road end.

Check out the brewery in Twisp for some absolutely amazing food and friendly service. Ditto for breakfast at the ""hip"" shop in Mazama.

For a nice moderate snowshoe hike, Lanham lake is a good choice. You can park at the Stevens Pass Nordic Center parking lot for free, and the trail starts just across the parking lot from the Center's building. The trail was well compressed and, for the most part, easy to follow, staying to the west of the outlet creek. It is a long mile and a half to the lake, with pretty good elevation gain. The nice thing about the trail is that it is in trees, but not thick trees, so it is relatively open. There are exploring opportunities around the lake. We walked across it, and it easily supported my 250 lbs. The return trip was quite quick. This hike in the snow feels like 3 miles in and 1 mile out.

We came around the long ways after an aborted attempt at some hiking on Mt. Washington (#800) and we got to within 1/2 mile of the trailhead before we were stopped by snow.

In an attempt to avoid a total shutout we dressed up and hiked that half mile to the trail head and then took the left fork for a very short hike down to, and partially around the lake. The trail was mostly snow covered and slightly obscured.

To be quite honest, this was an easy reward. Except for the litle creeks and the diving of the mergansers, it was completely silent on the lake. The fog and clouds only added to the feel of solitude.

No views, just the lake, fog, snow, and the base of a mountain that seemed to be just over there.

This is a trail for the sure-of-foot. Trail starts as switchbacks going down hill. Once on the flats, a Y is encountered (picnic table off to the left), stay left. Right path meets main trail, but is very wet. Bring a flashlight for the first tunnel. It curves around, and you can see light at the end, but the walking surface in the tunnel is uneven, and without a light you can't see what you're walking on.

At the end of the second tunnel (short, no light needed) the trail officialy ends. We continued over the slide and in a little ways came to a very old slide combined with a newer slide. We stopped there, didn't seem safe past that point.

There is a lot of uneven surface to walk on the further in you go, and it's a long way to the river below. Caution.

Jake, Peter and I were able to drive to the trailhead at 800 ft. elevation, and didn't encounter snow until about 2000 feet. At this point, we followed tracks in the snow, losing them at an avalanche gully, and kicking steps straight up to about 3000 feet and a hummocky ridgetop. Regaining the tracks, we continued to a sloping basin at 4000 feet with awesome views of Darrington and mountains to the north. This would be a great turn-around spot, since we had to cross an avalanche gully, and start the exhausting climb to Lone Tree Pass (deep, powdery snow in this north-facing basin). At the pass, we traversed the ridgetop for an excellent view of the glacier, then dropped 500 feet on the south side to contour over to High Pass. But by 1:30, the clouds were rolling over Three Fingers to the south, and we saw we'd have a long ways to go, so we turned around. As it lightly snowed, we retraced our steps, enjoying glissades down from the pass, and even in the forest. We reached the car at 5:30, 12 hours after we started.

Only a few cars in the parking lot when I arrived at 0900. Weather was cold and clear and made for a nice hike. Trail is in good shape, only one small bridge over a side channel collapsed at about the 2.5 mile mark. Lots of elk sign but no elk spotted. Turned around at Tom Creek Meadows at the 3 mile mark. An eagle flying upriver capped off an enjoyable day.

Road 6220 is closed due to logging. However, on a weekend day it isn't a problem to walk up. This adds a couple miles to the journey, but snow would stop many vehicles anyway. The route is in good condition for a winter climb. Stunning views of Adams, Rainier, Seattle, Olympics, Baker and several points in between! Index looks fantastic from the summit also. There are a couple blowdowns on the ""trail"" but nothing too bad.

I heard someone say, ""I hate people who pass me on the right on the freeway."" OK, how do you stop people from doing that' (Answer below)

The access to the Iron Horse Trail at Rattlesnake Lake still isn't completed (it will be Summer 2000, we promise!). So, let's do the old standby. The Rattlesnake Ledge Trail is in pretty good shape. There was one four-inch nasty partially blocking the trail. My trusty Sven-Saw made short work of this impediment. The trail is in very good condition; no mud pots and only a trace of snow and ice at the top. The weather was clear and very windy at the summit. I was shocked to see that all doglets were leashed. Even a very small Shih-Tzu puplet with quite low ground clearance.

Answer: Drive in the RIGHT HAND lane. You Western Washingtonians who don't understand the answer -- find a Californian to explain it to you!!!

Getting to FR68 was a bit of a hassle (when are they going to make highway 2 a *real* highway'), but once there I had a blast. The road is only plowed for about a mile after the river crossing, so I walked about a mile and a half on very hard packed snow (no snowshoes required). I outpaced several groups of cross country skiers, but the snowmobiles were no match. The snow remained very hard packed until about 2 miles from the lookout at the end of 68. Higher up on the road the views were AWESOME. Glacier peak, mt. index, and mt. daniels looked much more impressive in their winter coats than the last time I visited. The view from the lookout site was as always very impressive, especially with weather blowing in from stevens pass.

Once leaving the main road, there were only a few snow shoer tracks and no snowmobile tracks, and about 2 miles after 68 splits off the main road, there were no people tracks whatsoever. There were PLENTY of bear/fox/' tracks though. At one point I heard an unidentified mooing close by and decided not the investigate.

All in all a great trip, very strenuous but worth it, probably about 12-13 miles total. Only about 4-5 required snow shoes though.

Great weather brought my girlfriend and I out of hibernation. We drove up to the Mt.Baker Ski Area and then hiked through packed snow up to Artist Point area.

The drive up to the ski area was fine - only a few spots of snow on the road near the ski area.

The hike was relatively easy. Near the ski area the snow was packed down to the point that snowshoes were completely unecessary. Farther up towards Artist Point, however, the snow was less packed despite most people's attempts to follow each other's tracks. Still, it wasn't too tough for a short day hike.

We made it all the way up to Kulshan Ridge were there's a great view of both Shuksan and Baker. The weather was perfect - warm, sunny and only a light wind, if any. After a very enjoyable picnic we headed back to the parking lot.

It was 2 hours up from the lot and 1 hour back down, including a 20-30 minute break. Overall an excellent outing.

On a beautiful Saturday morning, two companions and I set out to make the summit of Mt. Rose for an early season conditioner. The trail is in excellent shape with only two small trees blown down. Snow started on this day at about 2500 feet, with snow at the trail junction (3050 feet) several feet deep.

We took off on the summit trail, which was soon lost among many footprints heading in various directions. By staying on a general compass bearing for the summit, we made it to the top with no problem. The summit rock was exposed on the south side, making a great spot for lunch.

On the way down, we followed the ridge trail, which was well beaten in and easy to follow. There's much less snow than last year at this time, so this should continue to be a great conditioning hike for the remainder of the Spring.

It was a bright sunny and very chilly day when our Mountaineer party took off on the Mine Trail. We started at the Roslyn Trailhead and skied to the little town of Ronald and then back. This is a good practice trail for beginner cross-country skiers and even for skate skis. The trail is groomed by snowmobiles and no track is set. It was a little icy when we set out but okay. There are the occasional small hills to practice on, also, especially near Ronald.

After taking in the historic sites and sights at Roslyn and Ronald, we skied the remainder of the trail to Cle Elum, down a nice gradual grade. The trail is a former railroad grade and lies along various sites of former mines and buildings. The sites are signed and there is an occasional bench to sit upon. The trailhead in Cle Elum starts just off of Second Street before the hill going west to Roslyn.

Sometimes there isn't enough snow at the Cle Elum end, but there was plenty for our tour and nice sun, too. We were accompanied on our tour by a playful local dog, Zoie.

Note: No motorized vehicles are allowed on this trail. In the summertime, it probably would be a good mountain bike ride for the family.

Did this snowshoe trip from Dan Nelson's guidebook. Clear, sunny weather. Got a late start (1pm) from the Narada Falls parking area, and having never done this trip before, made big mistake by not asking folks where the blazed regular trail begins. Should have taken that route! Instead, thought I could follow a ski track, in trees, to the left of a posted avalanche-prone very steep hill above the maintenance shed. Things were ok until about 2/3rds way up, when the snow became terrible, having no consistantcy, the top foot or so just sloughing off, sliding away in small slabs-yikes!Thought I had made a decent decision by sticking to the trees,away from the steep,open slope but instead was in quite a predicament, struggling to keep from sliding down a very steep slope studded with trees to slam into. Managed to keep my wits & slowly dug out a wider platform along the ski tracks to inch up this switchbacking path. Must have taken an hour to reach the Paradise-Stevens Canyon road that was my intended trail. Would have been well on my way to the Lakes if I had taken the normal route! Once I got atop the hill, it's a fairly flat, routine hike, and much scenery to enjoy! Of course, I broke out the guidebook after that and was reminded that my route wasn't recommended unless the snow was stable & not deep-- it pays to listen to these folks! I could have very easily slid down among those trees and really hurt myself bad-- so I'm fortunate to hopefully learn from this! Even a fairly easy outing can be trouble if you aren't careful.

With all the glorious winter sunshine, I keep expecting more trip reports. The morning clouds and fog did not deter us from making the drive. Snow rated tires are advised, but it was smooth driving all the way to Paradise. The snow looks about as deep as it did when I was here last June. The best thing about coming during the week is that most people are at work. Only about 60 cars in the lot, and most of those people were on the sled hills. We followed the well beaten path towards Camp Muir. If we had wanted to go very far off this trail, we really would have needed snowshoes. We climbed about 1000' to Panorama Point and called it lunch. Despite the beautiful weather and some of the fluffiest powder I've ever seen in Washington, there were only a couple dozen skier and boarder tracks coming down from McClure Rock.

Round trip distance to summit: 8 mi, High Point: 3,500 ft

We started this hike at 5:30PM and watched the last red-orange rays of sunlight fall on Mt Washington, Mailbox Peak and some unnamed 4000 ft peak to the south. A quick pace got us up to the Ledge, without headlamps, in the twilight. We saw some headlamps coming down from the mountain as we turned toward the Ledge, but we never met that party. Otherwise, it seemed like we had the entire mountain to ourselves. There was only a tiny bit of snow in the shadows on the Ledge. We brought snowshoes, but they were not useful. The snow was never more than about 1 ft deep on the entire route to the summit. There was very little wind, and the few clouds disappeared, as the night became cold.

We only needed headlamps to get through the forest along the ridge until we emerged onto the snowy logging road. From there, the bright full moon provided plenty of illumination. We got nice views of Rainier, which was clearly visible in the moonlight. In some ways, it was easier to see detail in the north face or Rainier than during the daylight because of the height of the moon in the sky. We spent quite a bit of time up on the summit taking in the views. The summit antenna did not have a flashing light on it, but we could see other flashing antennae farther and lower to the west.

My headlamp burned out on the descent through the forest. I brought 2 extra batteries, but forgot my headlamp took 4 of them. So, I had to depend on some stray light from the guys ahead and behind me. I did make it down without tripping, even though the route from the Ledge is steep and rooty. Got back to the car at 11PM.

I gathered up a few friends (getting someone else to drive). We took state route 530 north of Darrington to FS road 26, the Suiattle River road, and folowed that about 14 miles to the Huckleberry Trail head. There was no snow on the road and it is in reasonable condition to drive with any vehicle. The trail is on a south facing slope and offers fine hiking this time of year. From the start of the trail there is continuous evidence of the fine trail work that was done by WTA trail workers last season. I hiked this trail last year at a similar time, and this year the trail dranage and tread area is vastly improved. Thanks to you hard working volunteers. The views from the trail are very good this time of year due to the lack of summer leaves. We saw Dakobad, Whitechuck, Circle, Prariee, Lime, and Box mountains. My friends noticed a few small trees along the way that are recently down, but they were no problem for a traveler as short as I am. We traveled about 2.5 miles and there was no significant snow.

The last time I came to Paradise for an overnight, I stopped at Longmire for a permit, but was told to get one at the Paradise ranger station. This time, I drove right up to Paradise and found that the old R.S. and the visitor center were closed, and an off-duty ranger told me I should drive back down to Longmire for a permit! So call first or stop at Longmire if you're going on a midweek winter day. So I finagled (sp') a permit, and had a little fun boarding down from Glacier Vista before hitting the inflatable hay. Up at dawn, and packed the 'board on up to Muir. Glorious weather, and fairly co-operative snow. I kept my MSR snowshoes on all the way up 'though it would have been about as easy/hard without them. The upper Muir snowfield was the usual mix of crusty patches and soft spots. But a nice ride for myself and the six or so other 'recreationalists' up for the day. The snowpack isn't anything like last year, lots of exposed rock between Panorama point and McClure rock (This section made me glad I bought a cheap used snowboard). Afternoon fog along here made me wonder briefly if I was to be the next guy to disappear without a trace on the way down from Muir, so I made sure to stay close to the beaten track and in sight of the wands. I also thought about how important having good map and compass skills can be, even on a clear sunny day like this. And yes, I did have a compass and the right map!

We we able to drive to about the 1800 foot level. Snow from there. We never really did find the trail. Walked on snow covered road from where we parked (about a mile), threaded our way through a thicket of small alders on the roadway (the site of an old washout, I think) and that was it. If the trail exists after that point, we couldn't find it, and the snow probably would have been too deep to continue anyway. So we headed down to Paulsbo for a nice deep fried lunch.

Location: east of Mt Si and Mt Teneriffe and north of the Snoqualmie River Middle Fork, High Point: 4824 ft

The route we took can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/4424/hikes.html

Directions: Take I-90 exit 34' (The exit east of the North Bend one) and head north. A little past a truck stop, turn right on the Middle Fork Road. Drive 7.4 mi from the start of the Middle Fork road and turn left on the logging road with the gate. The logging road is also 2 miles from where the Middle Fork road crosses the Snoqualme River.

The gate was open when we got there. I had expected to start the hike at the gate, which would have made a pretty big hike (17 miles round trip and 4000 ft of elevation gain). Instead, we drove up the logging road, and turned right where there was a big cairn in middle of the road and continued on. We kept switchbacking up the road, and before long I started complaining to the driver that we weren’t going to have much of a hike left! He had a 4-wheel drive, so we finally parked 2.4 mi up the road from the gate. We started hiking at 8:20 AM. Not very far into the hike, we came to a creek crossing with a nice waterfall at elevation 2030 ft. A little while later we took the left fork and continued on a nice gradually ascending road. The snow level was about 2200 ft and there was some fresh snow covering the trees. The perfect weather we had this Sunday certainly helped in making this one of my best hikes in a quite a while. There were three more easy creek crossings. The road had some small trees growing out of it in places, but they were not a big hindrance. There was a small amount of avalanche danger a couple places on the winter route I chose, but overall this route does not seem very dangerous.

As you start to climb higher, the views get better and better. There were great views across to MailBox Pk, and Russian Butte. We didn’t bring snowshoes and the snow was pretty solid on the way up. I (at 175 lbs.) did fine, but my significantly heavier friend kept punching through the snow. We both regretted not having snowshoes on the descent. The snow late in the day had softened and we both were post-holeing a lot. High up on the mountain, there was several inch layer of fresh powder covering a deep solid layer. This provided nice traction without slowing us down a lot.

There was not a lot of bonding of this powder layer to the lower layer, so avalanche conditions were significant high at the higher elevations. I chose to be safe by staying right on top of the ridge. We saw evidence of a couple recent small avalanches on the north side of the ridge. I purposely set off a few tiny slab avalanches for fun while walking the ridge top. These tiny ones posed no danger to us and just helped in gauging the avalanche risks. Staying on top of the ridge meant summiting a large triangle peak before getting to Green Mt. The views at the top of this unnamed peak were as good as those from the summit of Green Mt. Both summits had trees, but the one to the east of Green was a little flat-topped and had more open space and some snags on top. The views were just great: Baker, the Olympics, Glacier, and Rainier. One could look far up the Middle Fork valley and see Rampart Ridge. To the east were views of Teneriffe, Si, and Seattle. Also really enjoyable was to look out over the large lowland plains to the northwest 4000 ft below.

No people were seen or heard on this entire trip until we almost got back to the car. There we found a guy that had got his truck stuck in a gully. He had radioed his friend for help. I was told they might have been ""Coon hunters"". What a wonderful way to have fun: drive around in big trucks and kill small, cute furry creatures. We returned to the car at 6PM. When we got back to the gate, it was closed! Oh no! What a long night is going to be, I thought! We don’t know who shut it or why, but we lucked out. The trick was to pull the right lever and we could push the heavy metal gate open. It would have been easy for an evil prankster to put a couple locks on the gate. I guess you just take your chances anytime you go past an open gate.

The trail is packed down so snowshoes are not needed until leaving the road. Both the Lower and Middle Kendall Peak Lakes are frozen over so it's a good guess that Upper is too. There is eight feet of snow at the lower lake and ten feet at the upper. Lots of people and doglets on this fine sunny day. Watch for poo (didn't see Mr. Hankey though).

Catherine Creek, at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, is my favorite early season hike. The broad, south-facing mountainside, sloping down to the Columbia River shoreline, warms early in the late-winter sun. Reknowned for its wildflowers, it is just far enough east (opposite the town of Mosier, Oregon on the other side of the river) to often escape the west side rain. The park-like landscape of Ponderosa pines and Oregon white oaks leaves the hiker free to wander at will rather than being confined to a designated path.

On this trip, Catherine Creek lived up to expectations. Rain all the way from Portland to Hood River on I-84 gave way to light showers as we crossed to Bingen, Washington and drove east on SR 14 to County Road 128. For years, people have been finding Catherine Creek by word-of-mouth or by going on organized group outings. Two years ago, the Forest Service finally put up a sign on the Columbia River side of the road and built an accessible black-topped loop trail. But the major portion of the Catherine Creek area, uphill of the road, remains unsigned.

We walked through the gate in the fence and headed upslope. At first, it seemed that we were too early for even the earliest of wildflowers, the grass widow. The leaves of grass widows poked out of the ground all around but not a bud to be seen. As we climbed up through the park land, a small bit of purple caught my eye. We began to look more closely and soon began to find the flowers of the first grass widows in sheltered areas. Spring had started!

We climbed high on the ridge to about 1,200 ft. elev., where we reached the freezing line and a skiff of snow on the meadows. We were inside the clouds, but brief windows gave us views of the river, Catherine Creek's canyon, and snow-covered The Dalles Mountain. We looped down through the forest on an old farm road, left from the days when Catherine Creek was a private ranch, to a great view of the rock arch -- actually a splinter of rimrock on the canyon wall.

We completed the loop back to the county road, crossed over and walked down the black-topped trail to a view of Catherine Creek Falls for lunch. We finished the loop after lunch and found the first desert parsleys beginning to bloom as well as many grass widows in flower.

All the windfalls have been logged out, even through the ""log maze."" There are some muddy spots. Most of the North Bend valley (like fer sure totally) was fogged in.

Headed back up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rd to take advantage of the recent road grading and discovered that the grading ended about a mile past our starting point last week (Bessemer Rd). There are plenty of potholes left the last few miles to the lower Mid Fork TH, but you just need to take it easy. We hiked from the Taylor River up to the Dingford Ck TH and back for a nice winter hike of about 11 miles and 1000' of gain. Nice rain forest feel with a variety of terrain as the trail alternates between along the river and up above in the forest. One tricky spot where the trail enters a dry creek bed and seems to disappear; a large tree has come down and it's branches are hiding the trail out the other side. It's about 10 yards to your left/downstream; walk down the creekbed and under the large tree and then take a sharp left up the bank and you'll find the trail. Lots of flags indicating future trail work and there are plenty of mudholes and large trees down that need work. Hopefully that work will include making the Dingford Ck Bridge less slippery by adding chicken wire or cross slats. The boards are laid lengthwise and once wet, they are just like ice, as I found out the hard way.

Headed over the pass to fill a not-full-day timeslot of free time in the snow. Gary and I ended up at the Cabin Creek Sno-Park to head on up Amabilis Mountain. Snow conditions due to the rainfall of the week were, in truth, bullet-proof. My God, how hard can the snow get' Made fast time up FS 4822 the first mile since the snowshoes were resting on our backs as we simply stomped on up. The views were very pretty as the snowfall stopped and blue sky and sun kept us company the rest of our trip. A combination of gaining 1000' and the warming sun got us into softer, less dense snow, and the snowshoes were a treat as we headed on up until we had a late lunch about 2/3 the way up. Glorious photography ops were hiding all over for the keen of eye, as many of my isolation of snow forms, etc.. images show me now. Also had a wonderful series to shoot as Gary got himself tangled up with one snowshoe over the other, and TIMBER over backwards into the snow he went. He was so cozy there with his 'shoes pointing straight up, he simply grabbed his camera to take some images from his new perspective as well! Got back down and made a quick 35 minutes to Scott's Dairy Freeze for a double bacon cardiac burger before heading home. Sure am glad we didn't let the rain at the pass and the bullet-proof initial snow conditions get us bummed to stop...it turned out to be a grand snowshoe stroll after all!

We dropped 2 cars at the Mt. Tenneriffe TH at the school bus turnaround on the Mt. Si Road and then headed over to the Mid Fk Snoq Rd. Five miles past Valley Camp is the Bessemer Rd (gated this time, but not 2 weeks ago) and our starting point. At 1.1 miles up this road is a cairn in the middle at a sharp right hand turn. If you want to do the section that goes upvalley, follow the road to the right a short distance and find the CCC Truck Rd Trail heading off straight at a left turn about a half a mile up. This section is more trail-like with a very rainforest feel to the woods. Our journey, however was to the left and across Blowout Ck which was running high enough for some of us to wade while others more nimble of foot and balance managed to hop over on rocks. The route continues for about 3 miles along the old road with many open spots for views across and up the valley. We even got to sit in the sunshine in Feb! The trail/road merges onto an old logging road ontop of the moraine that blocks the Middle Fork Valley. Another 3 miles along that road through an old clearcut with trees growing up and down off the moraine brought us to another gate and a paved road down to our cars. This is a very nice winter hike, especially the section farthest up the valley. I recommend starting at the east end and hiking west as far as the spirit moves you. The first 3 miles or so has plenty of tree cover for a rain break and the next few miles have lots of open spots for views.

This was my second attempt at finding a route from Preston to East Tiger. I had a couple of maps that showed a logging road that started near the Preston I-90 exit and wound around the east side of East Tiger up to its summit. I don't think we set a very good example for other hikers on this trip, but maybe this report will at least inform others what not to do. First, we trespassed on private property, then we trespassed on public property. I even cut a couple switchbacks on a trail, and to top it off, we stole a dog!

We parked off the road near a mobile home park. Failing to find any public access to a logging road that I knew had to be there, we trespassed beyond a big gate that said ""No Trespassing"". It was not like there was anything behind it to protect, so we weren't too worried. We soon found a rough trail through lush forest. After a while, it just sort of disappeared. So we started bushwhacking up a hill until we came to a road. I knew it had to be the road.

We followed the road to the right to see where it started and we soon found ourselves on private property. As we retreated, a big dog came out barking at us. We headed back up the logging road, each wielding a ski pole in case the dog attacked. The dog followed us. We kept on walking and turning around to see where the dog was. When we turned around, the dog would get scared back a bit, but as soon as we faced away, he would sneak back behind us again. He followed us like this for over a mile. Eventually, he was right at our heels. He seemed friendly, and we became less afraid of each other. The dog kept following us and then finally went ahead, or along side us. By about the third mile, we realized we had found a new hiking buddy! This dog was a great companion during the trip and a real sport. He followed us through thick bushwhacking, over logs and creeks, and along the entire 11-mile trip.

The road we took made a nice hiking route, so it's too bad there is no public access to it from I-90. (You can still get to it from highway 18.) A mile or two before the East Tiger summit, there was a trail heading off to the left (south). This branches out and one of the branches is supposed to go to a pond in an area called ""Beaver Valley"". This trail needs a lot of work. There were quite a few blow-downs and ingrown areas. Before long, the trail mostly disappeared and seemed to be taking us too far away from our goal. So, we headed off-trail uphill. It turned into a major bushwhack and we turned back without making it to the pond.

Once back on the logging road, we crossed the pass and took the road in front of the south face of East Tiger till we came to the Preston Railroad Grade. It was off limits until April 15 and was for ""seasonal use"". At first I thought just mountain bikers were prohibited from using it, but after I read the sign more closely when we exited the trail, I realized even hikers weren't supposed to be on it. Oh well… We did a little trail maintenance on it any way. There are very gradual switchbacks on this trail that are suitable for ascending mountain bikers.

We brought our canine buddy back to his home 5-½ hours later, and it seemed like half the neighborhood was out looking for him. The neighbors were friendly about it and even the owner who caught us in his driveway didn't seem upset. Maybe he was just glad to get his dog back.

Hard-packed snow on the *very* wide trail from Paradise to Reflection Lake.

Very little elevation change along this trail; good for XC if you don't want to sweat.

Another cool cloudy day in a mild winter season, another hike to Tiger Mt.

Our group started out at the Issaquah HS Trailhead off 2nd Street. We walked up the HS Trail to the intersection at the Gas Line with the Poo Poo Pt. Trail. This trail is an old truck road which climbs steadily up towards the West Tiger RR Grade. It crosses some attractive creeks through the Many Creek Valley and continues up more steeply until intersecting the RR Grade and the beginning of the One View Trail. We took the Poo Poo Point Trail, continuing along the remainder of the RR Grade until it drops down sharply through thick forest to intersect another old road. Then we walked up to the Point to admire views of Lake Sam, Lake Washington, nearby Squauk and Cougar, I-90, the Lake Sammamish Plateau and off towards distant Mt. Pilchuck, half buried in cloud cover.

We had lunch perched on the take-off point for hang-gliders and paragliders. There were none there at the time. And we admired someone's handiwork, a carved flying tiger resting under the trees. Does any other reporters know this story'

After a break, we were getting cold and headed off back up to the RR Grade, running it until coming to the intersection with the Section Line Trail. The RR Grade is not maintained as well as some trails on Tiger, but was passable. There were a few blow-downs and mud-holes to dodge and I was slapped by more than one springy salmonberry cane.

The trail is not completely level, but goes up and down through several tiny creek gullies, the precusors of the larger creeks crossed by the Poo Poo Point Trail below. Keep a sharp lookout for intersections, especially the Seattle View Trail, which is unmarked. Connections and other loops are possible.

Didn't I just climb up the Section Line a week ago' Well, it was down it this time. Approach with caution, especially when damp as the roots on this trail are greasy underfoot and treacherous. There were no mishaps and we enjoyed walking the lower portion of the Section Line which brought us back to the intersection with the Poo Poo Point and High School Trails at the Gas Line.

We had warmish weather (for February) and no rain. The buds are swelling on the branches and I kept looking for early flowers. Birds were singing in their multitudes and we heard the distinctive croak of two ravens through the woods. A great day in the suburbs.

The highway to the trailhead at Colonial Creek Campground was clear until about a half mile before the trail and then there was some frozen slush but the going was easy. I followed the trail for about a half a mile and although it was covered with about a foot or more of snow it had been packed down in the center making in easy without snowshoes. On the drive up we made several stops to get pictures of eagles across the Skagit.

I had to share this climb with a friend, so I came back with Peter C. less than a week later. Amazingly, huge amounts of snow on the road had melted, and we were able to drive an extra half-mile. We met up with a pair of Mountaineers, one of them had hiked it last Saturday, and was introducing the climb to his friend, just like me! High, gray clouds eventually dispersed to give us warm sun on the way down. Almost no wind the whole way. The lower 600 feet of the climb up from the road was pretty tough going up and worse going down because so much snow had melted in the clearcut that every few steps we would collapse into a self-made cave amoung tree stumps and mushy snow. The snow became so watery, and the sun so hot, that we concluded this was a great late-March climb (somehow we had been teleported forward).

The snow was hard packed all the way up. I forgot my gaitors and didn't have any problems. What a nice day. We saw about 8 others near the top. The shack is not to far from where the trail enters the woods to follow the ridge to the top.

Did the snowshoe hike up to Amabilis Mountain (#52 in Dan Nelson's book ""Snowshoe Routes Washington""). First, if you are using this book be aware that the North arrow on the map sketch is in the wrong direction (North in the book really is pretty much due East). The drawing of the trail in the map is pretty much correct however. Start off North on the crosscountry ski trail just past the sign ""Kachess Campground 5"" to the signed road 4822 on the right. Lots of cross-country skiers and a few snowshoers. Gentle ascent up to the fork in the road. This part pretty uninteresting hiking in the open, but with nice views. Above this it's safe to go off trail and head straight up. This made the hiking much more interesting. Today the snow was very firm, but there was evidence of several avalanches earlier in the year. Make sure to look over the Northeast side of the summit plateau to a nice view down onto only partially frozen Lake Kachess. Also, nice views to Lake Keechelus and other peaks. Coming down I left the road completely heading straight down until I reached the road near the fork. A little beyond this I made the big mistake of leaving the trail again and heading down into the forest. It was very steep and treacherous as I got into a chute with a stream coming down. I ended up having to leap over a little waterfall, a move that I'd rather not repeat, although it did get me to a very beautiful area. Finally I hit another road, that had signs of snowshoe activity but no skiing. By going right I figured I might hit the trail again. The snowshoe tracks ended, but by plodding on for another ten minutes I finally did intercept the trail. Big relief since it was starting to get dark. Didn't make the mistake of leaving the trail again. Got back with the last few strands of daylight, a roundtrip of 4 hours that probably would've been about 30 minutes faster if I hadn't left the trail on the lower slopes. Of course, leaving the trail at the top was a good move so perhaps they averaged out.

Returned to Blanchard Mountain (Hill) to explore more trails in the network of trails maintained by DNR and PNT (Pacific Northwest Trail Assoc.) Drove north on I-5, took Alger exit 140, went left over the overpass and turned left on Barrel Springs Road, followed the signs to Blanchard Hill (gravel road on the right, also signed B1000. We drove up the road, passing both the upper and lower trailheads for Lily and Lizard Lakes (Blanchard Hill). The upper trailhead goes to Samish Overlook. We found the Incline Trail about a mile beyond the second parking area for Lily & Lizard but there is no trail sign. Parking is on the right. The trail is on the left and pretty easy to spot. A few steps off the trail you are given the option of hiking up the Alternate Incline trail (a little shorter, rougher and steeper) than the Incline Trail. We took the alternate trail to an old road, a short steep climb. Turned left at the old road and in a short distance came to the sign for Lizard Lake. We saved that for later and continued on to Lily Lake (3.2 miles from the trailhead). Lily Lake is a small lake, frozen over, surrounded by trees. We explored a very rough trail that goes around the lake. We had lunch on a sunny boardwalk before returning to the old road and back to the Lizard Lake junction. Lizard Lake is 1/4 of a mile off the road and is similar in design to Lily. Small, iced over, dotted with stumps and snags. A large tombstone shaped rock rears above the lake and we found a trail continuing on past the rock which lead to a trail (not in the guidebooks or shown on any maps that we have) called the British Army trail. This trail is part of the PNT trail system though Lily and Lizard Lakes are on DNR land. A return trip is in order. We took the regular Incline Trail back to the car, longer but more interesting with old artifacts from logging or railroad days. Rusting bits of machinery. Old buckets. Trails are muddy in spots and some sections are icy. The trails are mostly in second-growth forest and pass a couple of bogs. A very pleasant winter walk. It turned out to be about 6.5 miles round trip with an approximate elevation gain of 1,000 feet. We think this is Bellingham's equivalent of Tiger Mountain -- there are so many trails on Blanchard Mountain.

Susie and I got up to Mannings Provincial Park for an easy ski....we haven't done much this year and wanted a mellow fairly flat trail....this is it!!! It's a 2.5 or 5 kilometer loop. We did the 2.5 loop as we didn't need all the climbing. Also,we're still rookies at this x-country ski gig and are chicken of major downhills. To get to this lovely easy loop, drive east on Canada 3 from Hope B.C for 25 kilometers until you enter the park. The Camby loop is the first marked area you'll encounter on your way east. Lots of parking(hey it's free!!! unlike our snowparks....) there's camping allowed too! Nice and convenient to the car(150 feet away...) Great place for a quickie ski. We stayed at Harrison Hot Spring which is about 1 1/2 hours drive away. Great soaks afterwards....try it...(either the ski or the soak....)

Marginal quality, hard-packed snow on the trail & lots of snowmobilers.

Crusty snow with loose powder underneath off the trail.

Spectacular views on a sunny day (like Friday). Except for the vistas, this is not a great snowshoe route because of the snowmobilers.

Wooooie! After a ""dry"" January, February got off to a great start precip-wise! So, I decided to go hiking. Only had a few hours free, so jaunted out from Fall City to excersise on up to Rattlesnake Ledge. Rained pigs-n-chickens all the day, but imagine this - no people, that's for certain. No birds, no nothing, but it was so peaceful hearing the roaring rainfall. About 15 minutes on the ledge, and back down in 20 minutes. If you go, continue up East Rattlesnake Mountain trail - the hiking gets real nice up there. Rainfall totals: 3.11"" at my Fall City weather station 1 mile SW of Fall City, and 4.02"" at an official weather recording just east of North Bend for the day!

A fabulously sunny day and temperatures approaching 25-30 degrees seemed like the best excuse to get out of the house and up to the mountain. We left the Mt. Baker parking lot about 10:00am for a jaunt up to Artist's Point and it turned out to be a wonderfully long backcountry visit that lasted all day, well past sunset.

We made our way up towards the Heather chair out the southeast end of the upper parking lot and then headed farther south to the ""Warning: Backcountry"" signs. We felt pretty comfortable heading into the backcountry because we had good knowledge of the conditions, transcievers, shovels, extra food, bivies, bags, radios, cell phones and common sense (sorta) but were still readily aware of the dangers associated with backcountry travel.

We headed up towards Artist's Point with absolutely stunning views of Shukshan and Shukshan Arm, as well as the other multitude of peaks surrounding the area. The sky was sunny and our souls were definitely uplifted. We gained Artist's point then decided to head up the large knob in front of us which snowboarders were racing down. It crests out at 5,553 feet and we had to take our snowshoes off in order to step ourway up.

At the top we had half our lunch and soaked in the views of Mt. Baker to the south, Mt. Herman to the west, the Pickets well off to the east, Pilchuck, Glacier Peak, Whitehorse and just the top of Rainier poking above the horizon. So many vistas that we couldn't keep track of them all.

We eyes Table Mt. to the south and it looked untracked so we headed out and crossed the twenty foot wide snow ridge that separated the knob from the mountain. We traversed all around Table Mt. looking for a way down the backside to get down into the southwest valley but couldn't find any. We maxed out at 5,742 feet. Upon returning to the knob we noticed a gap in the cornices where we were able to kick some steps down and fling our packs off to get off the mountain and down onto the lower section of the table. From here we weren't exactly sure how we were gonna get down to the valley floor and weren't exactly sure we could make our way back up to the mountain.

We traversed this section of the mountain for a good half hour only finding imposing drop offs and cliffs. Finally, on the south end of this section we found a chute that gently led us down to the valley floor. Three quarters of the way down we headed west and up and over a saddle that took us onto a snow field directly above Iceberg Lake, with views of Herman's Saddle to the North. We trounced down through the snow to the lake then made our way up the south face of the saddle to the top.

Here the sun was just setting and there was nobody to be found. We had stunning views of both Baker, Shukshan, Table, Herman and various mountains. Phenomenal! From here it was and easy downhill back to the parking lot, mile and a half. We hit the car at 5:0pm and most of the skier traffic was long gone. What a day!

I recommend this route for people who are experienced in the backcountry, are properly equipped and have strong, willing legs.

January 30, Boulder River

We arrived at the trail head at 10am, the second car there. It was sunny and about 32 degrees F at the trail head. The sights were beautiful, and the first 30 minutes in there was a bit of a breeze, but it didn't affect us. The trail was very icy, in spots it was literally glare ice where snow had been packed and melted and frozen and remelted. We each landed on our backsides more than once. We met a couple who turned back early because the footing was more than they had bargained for. I guess glare ice on a bridge and glare ice on the edge of a cliff made them nervous. It seemed to us that this would have been a good walk for people who had a pair of ski poles and maybe even crampons. We did notice that as it warmed up, (all the way to 36 degrees F by the time we were back to our vehicle) that the slippery conditions abated a bit, so if we had started at noon, we might not have taken so many falls. The scenery was really lovely, as different trees had varying amounts of frost, and waterfalls had frost and icicles and were very pretty and interesting.

The three (me, Laura, and Paul) decided to head up to Surprise Lake for a nice snowshoe trip since the weather was so nice on Sunday. Our plan was to hit the trailhead at 9am so we would have plenty of time to make it up to Suprise Lake and maybe even on to Glacier Lake. We got started a little late but the good news is that the weather couldn't have been better. It was a little windy but the sky was all sunny and blue. I was suprised (pardon the pun) that the trail appeared to get so much traffic. The trail was clearly visible and well trampled all the way to the lake. We had our snowshoes on but we might have been able to make it to the lake without them. We took our time getting up to the lake (we wanted to practice our map and compass skills) but finally got to the lake about 1pm. We sat down for lunch in the middle of the blazing sun but as we we getting ready to leavy a front had moved in. We never did make it to Glacier Lake. I'll save it for next time.

It was time to test out new snowshoes from Santa. Bob Kuntz and his friend Matt Joined me in a hike at Snoqualmie Pass. Reportedly, the wind was gusting to 60 mph in North Bend, but fortunately it was calm at the pass. We took Exit #53 from Interstate 90, turned north and followed the road about .5 miles. Cars lined the north side of the road, but there was space for us. The hike started at 1,950 feet elevation in a forest of fir and hemlock. Soon it broke out into bright sunlight along Coal Creek, a half mile east of the Pacific Crest Trail. We hiked north following the west side of Coal Creek, which drains from the lower of the twin Kendall Peak Lakes into Lake Keechelus. Before reaching the lakes, we turned west, and not following any trail, ascended to about 4,265 feet. To the south we looked down the length of Lake Keechelus. We talked about the early years of the pass when cars were ferried down the lake before the road was completed. In the opposite direction majestic Guye Peak was on display. And of course, the busy ski resorts were visible on the other side of I-90. We continued to circle left, looping back to the car. We saw no other people except at great distances from us. Surprising, for such a beautiful Sunday, and in light of the numerous parked cars in the area. Snow conditions varied from crunchy to soft powder. The terrain also varied enough to give the 'shoes a successful test. A sense of peace, beauty and exhilaration surged through me during the hike. I have become hooked on winter hiking!

I started walking up the snow-covered road at 6:30 (the snow added a mile to the journey), and finished with the roads an hour later, working up a steep clearcut. Crampons sped me up a lot on the frozen snow. The route followed a long ridge and as the views got better, the wind began to howl! Pretty soon, it was blowing me over, and I had to crouch and brace against it. I was still 2000 feet below the summit and worried about what this kind of wind might mean up there. But I developed a strategy (head down, body crabbing sideways) to make it bearable. The snow deepened and I changed back to snowshoes, and soon came to the false summit at 5200 feet. Looking at the true summit so far away was disheartening, but the promised views of Index Peak pulled me on. Huge plumes of spindrift were spinning off the summit.

Down to a saddle and slowly up again, I encountered the coolest thing. The blowing wind and snow had scrubbed the slope, leaving elevated mounds in the shape of a snowshoe. Indeed, the compacted snow under the weight of a previous snowshoer had remained, while approx. one foot of snow all around had been removed from the slope. By walking on these elevated tracks, I didn't sink at all! Awesome, menacing patterns of spindrift swirled in the corner of a basin I crossed. I wended my happy way through widely spaced snow-covered trees up to the summit. YES! The cliffs of Index Peak were frightening, and the town of Index and it's walls were far below. Gunn Peak beckoned, and I could see Glacier, Three Fingers, Columbia, Baring, Garfield, Rainier (being engulfed by clouds), even Stuart. The wind died down, and I could hear a police siren down in Gold Bar! These were the final hours of a beautiful weather spell: already the Olympics were vanishing and high clouds were speeding up from the south.

The descent was quick, but I did take one wrong turn. The blowing snow had completely covered my tracks in a few places, and once I started down a ridge to the northwest, rather than west. Easily fixed though. Back on the road, the wind had died, but the blue sky had been replaced by gray. As I drove towards Gold Bar, the first patterns of rain fell on my windshield...

This is a great advanced snowshoe trek. The steep stuff is entirely in forest so there is no av danger. It's a long climb though (4000+) so save it for good weather.

Took the traditional Super Bowl ski trip. The route was well packed out and fewer people were seen than usual. Beautiful conditions until about 1:30 when high clouds moved in. Made it up to second lake and telemarked down to road. There was about 50% skiers 50% snowshoes a couple of whom had boards for the ride down.This could be a good short overnight also. The slope to third lake looked kinda dicy.

There was a strong wind blowing when we arrived at the High Point parking lot, but not enough to intimidate our hearty group.

We headed towards the Bus Trail and then starting the steady climb up the Nook Trail, taking a break at the Talus Caves. Then we hoofed it up the Section Line Trail to the West Tiger RR Grade. The trail is STEEP going up or down. Made it to the RR Grade for a breather and then followed it south to the Seattle View Trail junction (not signed). Up again, this time to the intersection with the TMT. We were getting into old crunchy snow at this level. Icy and slippery underfoot where it had been compacted, melted and refrozen. From here, we climbed the last bit to the W. Tiger 2 summit for more wind and great views of Mt. Rainier, Seattle and Puget Sound region.

We ducked down the Cable Line Trail towards W. Tiger 3 to find some protection for a lunch stop. The weather was in sharp contrast to the previous glorious day, but no rain.

We dropped down to the saddle between W. Tiger 2 and 3 and then started on the TMT down the backside of W. Tiger. There was a lot of icy snow in the shady basin below W. Tiger 1. The bridges are in great condition. There were a few fresh blow-downs on trail, especially between High Point Creeks. Some mud-holes going down TMT pass last creek crossing.

Started raining lightly when we finally reached the cars. Great hiking weather, except for really strong winds at the top. This is a good conditioning hike and good survey for those new to Tiger.

Samish Overlook via Blanchard Hill (PNT) Pacific Northwest Trails have done a lot of work on trails around Chuckanut Drive and Blanchard Hill. Everytime I've hiked in the area I've found more evidence of their efforts and it is now possible to string together a bunch of ""little"" hikes to create longer hikes.

I chose Samish Overlook because it was a nice day and I wanted a view without having to deal with snowshoes. Drive I-5 north and exit at Alger (exit 240). Go left over overpass and a short distance to Barrel Springs Road, turn left and take a right (west) onto a dirt road (1.5 miles from the freeway). It is signed Blanchard Hill. Drive to the lower trailhead (marked Lily & Lizard Lakes) at 1.6 miles or to the upper trailhead at another 1.6 miles. The trailhead is down the road a bit from the parking area. The trailhead at the upper end of the parking lot descends to the trailhead at the lower parking lot. The trail is mostly in forest and parallels Road B-2000 for about a half mile. There are few views out toward the water. At 1.5 miles reach a junction for the Samish Overlook trail and turn left and at 2.3 miles reach another junction (stay straight). Follow the trail through a rather muddy section and cross Road B-2000. Pick up the tread again as it heads toward the overlook. When conditions are right this a favorite spot for the hang-gliders but today they were sitting in the sun waiting for a breeze that never came. (You can also drive Road B-2000 to the overlook, but it's more fun to hike). There are views to the San Juans and several islands, Samish Island, Mount Constitution and if you walk a little further up the road you can get a look at Oyster Dome, another excellent winter hike. Some sections of the trail are signed PNT (Pacific North Trail) and from Samish Overlook there is a PNT trail that connects to Oyster Dome for those wishing a longer hike. Its about 5.5 miles round trip with less than 700 feet elevation gain, a hike just about anyone can do. For a shorter hike walk Road B-2000 back (turn left when you reach the access road) and walk a short distance back to the parking lot.

Trail generally is in good condition. Wet on the the approach. Lots of snow on top. Crampons not needed, but ice axe recommended. As always, brutal, but worth the workout. The toothbrush was not seen. I'll plant a new one next time I'm out there.

Sorry for the late report, this was from Saturday the 29th or possibly the week before...can't remember at the moment. In any case, it was a clear and sunny Saturday at the end of January. The road has all the potholes you normally expect, plus the added excitement of snow on the road and a mudslide that hits the usual area above the bend in the road not far past the Heather Lake trailhead. Four wheel drive types were apparenly the only ones making it all the way to the parking area. There were quite a few vehicles and people there, many of them snowboarders (not that I have a problem with that). We made it up to the top and were able to enjoy a beautiful day after clearing the snow away from the lookout shutter to let the cold folks among us indoors. We started a good butt trail for the slide down so let's see some people improve upon it so when we go back again in another week or so, we can slide further without walking breaks. Thanks in advance.

Very little snow in this area. There was a nice deep packed down snowshoe track for much of the way. Probably about 3 feet of snow in the valley, but only about 2 feet up near Colchuck Lake. Rocks, boulders, logs exposed everywhere. In several spots skis needed to be removed due to uncovered logs, rocks. The clouds never cleared, so we didn't get a view above the lake, but I suspect there isn't enough snow yet for any good skiing. The snow was dry and powdery.

I had big hiking ambitions for this sunny Saturday, but my knee was hurting, so I decided to be a little easy on it. We parked at the east High Point trailhead and took the Lingering Loop and TMT up, and turned right at ""Fred's corner"". Then we took ""Tom's Crossing"" to the Tiger 2 summit. There were great views to the south and west at the summit. It was very therapeutic to sit in the bright sun and stare into the distance on this warm January day. Took the road down to the Tiger 1 & 2 saddle, and then followed the road down instead of going up to Tiger 1.

We saw a real interesting sight on this road. In warm muddy puddles in the road, there were millions of tiny, tiny bugs swarming together on the surface of the water. Many puddles had these bug gatherings, but some did not. What kind of bugs were they' What were they doing'

We followed the icy road down and passed the new road that heads up to the new tall antennae east of Tiger 1. Crossed over Fifteenmile Creek and then arrived at the Paw Print Rest Stop. There were a couple of nice picnic tables and one of the nicest trail bathrooms I have ever seen. It was a ""high-tech composting toilet"", was very spacious, had a skylight, and actually smelled nice inside. In the woods nearby there are a couple of ponds. We took the Paw Print Trail from the rest stop. There were lots of markers showing the way. In about 1/2 mile we passed a signed trail to East Tiger that heads off to the right. Then we came across a live evergreen tree that some weirdo had decorated with Christmas ornaments. The Paw Print Trail may also be known as the Bootleg Trail and it takes you back to right below the tallest antennae. Here we took the Preston Trail back down to Fred’s corner to complete the loop and then back down the same way we came up.

We tried this one again with friends this week, and this time we went only to the first switchback on Forest Service Road 6830 (about 2 and 1/4 miles).

The road to parking (just past the railroad trestle) was bare and dry. On the way back the wind had knocked down a large tree, blocking the road and knocking out power. The power company removed the tree from the road.

From the parking, the trail was very hard packed and the snow was melting and subliming (since it's been so nice around here lately!) and snowshoes were pretty much useless until the junction with Road 6830. About the place where we turned around (at the first switchback on 6830), the snow was deep and soft enough to make snowshoes practical.

This one was pretty crowded today, with several hikers, cross-country skiers (who seemed to be having a tough time with the old hard-packed snow/ice, too), and several snowmobilers.

We got a few views out across the Foss river valley, but didn't hike very high, so did not have great expectations for views. The nice, sunny weather really made up for any views we missed.

I'd recommend this one for snowshoers and cross-country skiers for next weekend (or later), after the upcoming storm drops some more snow on the ground.

Hope everyone is having a fine Australia Day weegend. This is my first visit to one of my favourite lakes since the anticlimax we called the turn of the millenium. Snow covers the entire route beginning at the Pratt Lake Trailhead. There is part of a 32 cm log partially blocking the trail at 1.3 km. The trail is very icy through 800 metres, above which the snow is less subject to the freeze-thaw cycle. The trail has been packed down and resembles a toboggan run more than a snow route at least as far as the Talapus-Pratt Lake trail junction. From there, the fastest way to the lake is to follow the 1175-metre contour. There is about a metre and a half of snow at the lake. (Using metric makes you seppos spit the dummie, right')

PARIDISE! What a beautiful place to go on a clear sunny winter day. I had planned to just go for a drive and take some pictures of The Mountain today. I am an old wimppy girl who usually only hikes in the summer. But I couldn't resist hiking up a bit. Sinking into the snow was frustrating so I drove down to Longmire and rented some snowshoes. I hiked up about a mile from Paridise. It was incredibly beautiful up there. I can't think of any better way to have spent this awesome day. I hope to go back soon.

The gang and me planned a snowshoe outing to Lanham Lake out of the Mill Creek Nordic Center. For some, it was their first snowshoe trip and a good choice, it turned out. The way was clearly blazed by the number of day and over-night hikers ahead of us. Regardless, all the new snow covering the trees was beautiful. Once at the lake, we enjoyed lunch, and then walked around it, spying a snow cave someone had built. On the way down, we blazed new trails, finding as many steep pitches as possible to glissade down. Not sure how this hike is in summer, but in winter, it is a quick gem.

My wife and I decided to snowshoe to Olallie Lake via Granite Mountain Trailhead off exit 47. The hard part was driving over Tiger Mountain on Highway 18. There was a lot of black ice on the road early Sunday morning, and in the span of 1/4 mile near the summit, one Toyota 4X4 was upside down and two cars further up were in the ditch. A Mountain Rescue truck was at the scene and we saw the State Patrol and Medic One ariving. We left the trailhead and starting hiking trail #1007 at 9:30 AM. My wife started hiking in her boots and it didn't take long to figure out my snowshoes were slowing me down. The trail is well packed, about 2 feet wide, and easy to hike. We encountered several parties of skiers on their way to Granite Mountain, but once past the turn off to Granite Mountain, we encountered only one other party on our way to the lake. We didn't use our snowshoes until we turned off the Pratt Lake trail for Olallie. Traveling West Northwest to the outlet stream, we turned right, and in a quarter mile were rewarded with a beautiful frozen lake in bright sunshine. Snow depth at the basin appeared to be up to seven feet deep. The tops of the smaller trees near the lake were encrusted with snow. It was great fun determining what animals they looked like. Many loooked liked whales or dolphins jumping from a frozed sea. The trip back was quick and we started seeing people again when we passed the turn off for Granite Mountain. The last 1/2 mile of the trail was very icy and several people fell. A great hike/snowshoe and a beautiful day!

Started at the Twin Falls trailhead. There is snow and ice on the trail beyond the viewpoint at 1 km. One 35cm windfall crosses the Twin Falls trail 250 meters west of the junction with the Iron Horse Trail. About eight to twelve centimetres of snow covers the Iron Horse. It was clear, cool and windy - just a tad below zero in the morno and a few degrees above in the arvo.

Road 68 (Foss River Road) was excellant to parking just past the railroad trestle.

Road 68 from the parking to the Road 6830 (Tonga Ridge Road) was hard packed (and much was melting) and the snowshoes were probably overkill.

We arrived very late in the day so turned around several hundred meters up Road 6830.

We encountered several hikers and skiers. Snowmobile tracks were clear but we saw no machines on the trail. We did not notice any wildlife or wildlife tracks in the snow.

Weather is always a factor in winter hiking, but we were lucky this day, hitting a break between storms. We started out from the tiny parking lot for Wilderness Creek, from Highway 900. The trail gains elevation quickly, passing through primarily alder forest, with patches of hemlock, cedar and fir. There is an intersection with Wilderness Cliffs trail after about 1/2 mile, then the trail climbs up to Shy Bear Pass and another major trail junction.

We headed to Longview Peak and were rewarded to a view over towards Sea-Tac and Puget Sound. We could hear an owl sounding off nearby. Next, we hiked along Deceiver Ridge to Doughty Falls. We had to pick up bits and pieces of windfall. The previous Sunday, there had been a strong windstorm. Several small trees and lots of branches covered parts of the trails. We looped around back to Fred's Railroad and then towards the Claypit. Fred's RR crosses the headwaters of Coal Creek. The area is a bit swampy in places and thick with salmonberry, cottonwood and alder.

Claypit Road was a heavy use truck road and is open to foot and horse travel. I don't recommend climbing around in the Claypit because it just that... your boots sink into a gooey mess inches deep.

Next we headed to the Mine Shaft, which a barricaded hole, very dark and deep, dripping with water, where we had lunch. A light fog had settled in and it was a little chilly. After lunch, we cruised pass the Duck pond on East Fork trail returning back to Fred's and Shy Bear Pass. Then we completed our loop by visiting Wilderness Peak (the highest point on Cougar, 1595 feet) and dropping down the Wilderness Cliffs trail.

For such a close-in area, there is really quite a feel of ""wilderness"" even though most of the trip is done in formerly logged over areas. Still, we did not meet too many people except during the return to the cars. Little rain. Not bad for a winter hike.

By the way, there was a lot of mud in places, so wear good boots in this area. I had on gaiters, some of the other people had mud up to their knees. There was a little crunchy old snow on Wilderness Peak.

On Saturday I skied to Kendall Nob, Kendall lake and ""second nob"" on a 4 hour ramble. The snow was excellent, but the crowds were out in a big way. Snowshoes outnumbered skis 3:1. Enjoyed lunch with a broken fog view with 20 other people from Kendall Nob. The ski over to the Lake was uneventful. The lake was quiet with some new snow coming down. I attempted to telemark down the glade below the lake, but the new snow held my speed down significantly. I decided to go for it on the ""second nob"". Put the skins on and motored to the top. It was quite a rush up there, no one was there, the fog and wind were swirling around, it was my first time there so the only way down I knew was the way I went up on steep slopes in heavy timber, and it was 2:30 so I knew time with light was limited. Left the skins on to control speed on the steep timbered slope but still made it to the car in an hour.

This is a great winter hike. The combination of rain forest/moss-draped old trees and the more open spots with views out to snow-draped mountains is great. We started out on the east end (2.3 miles past the Bessemer Road off the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road) and headed west intending to do a one-way hike of about 9-10 miles to the other end and our cars parked at the Tenneriffe trailhead. However, the Middle Fork Road's potholes slowed us down enough that we didn't have enough daylight, so we shortened this to a loop: west along the old road, now a nice trail to the Bessemer Road and then down to the Middle Fork Road and back along the road to our cars; probably a little under 6 miles. The trail is in pretty good shape with some small trees/logs across that are easily climbed over or under. There is snow along most of it, but never more than a few inches deep. We'll be back to do the other section. We'll also be back to explore more of the valley and especially for any trail workparties that might be planned to brush out the lower portion of the Middle Fork Trail down to the Pratt River Trail.

Round Trip Distance: 8 mi., Elevation Gain: 1650 ft., High Point: 3000 ft.

We almost didn't go on this trip because of the forecast of rain and clouds. The trailhead is off of Highway 18 at the summit of the highway. Take the logging road behind the gate that's on the east side of the parking lot. We started at 7PM. There were patches of snow from the start and the snow soon became continuous. This road is a good one to take on a night hike since it's wide and ascends gradually. There are only two places where you have to make a decision on where to go. Near the summit, you reach a T where you turn right. A little ways past that, you reach another T and take a left. A little past that last T - intersection there's a gate that you pass. The snow was about 18 inches deep on the summit.

During the hike, we had some views of the eclipsing moon from time to time during breaks in the clouds. When we got to the summit, there was a big parting of clouds that lasted quite a long time. We watched the orange moon slowly move out of totality and back into the penumbra. There were also some nice views of the lights of nearby cities and towns to the south and west. My most memorable part of this hike was coming back down off the summit with the slowly un-eclipsing moon brightly lighting up the snowy road. Just a glance upward from time to time in the direction we were hiking, and we could see the moon gradually move from behind the earth's shadow. This was a great hike with almost no rain, and very little wind. We got back to the car at 11PM.

We didn't leave the upper parking lot at Alpental until 1045 PM on Thursday. We had originally planned to tool around the lakes near Kendall Peak, but Jon decided it would be fun to try and drive up the snowmobile track that leaves the Gold Creek snow-park :) The inevitable occurred and we ended up getting stuck about 70 yards up the track. We were totally cemented in, so even the come-along was of no use. We got the assistance of a near-by resident but he ended up getting stuck trying to get us unstuck. We finally managed to free his rig and sent him on his way. The next 3.5 hours consisted of telling people, ""No, you can't see the eclipse from here"", and trying to flag down the huge sanding trucks in hopes one of them would assist us, no luck. At about 10 PM we hitched a ride up to Ski Acres to see if there was someone up there that could help us. Finally, some fella with a 50,000 lb sanding machine thought it would be cool to give it a shot, and proceeded to pull Jon and his Toyota from the snow while I photographed the entire event (can't wait to get those pics back!!)

Still feeling up for a trek, Source Lake seemed like the best bet given the time. From the upper lot, the first 3/4 of a mile has been plowed over with a snow cat or similar vehicle, so the going is quick and easy. After the groomed run ends, follow the main snowshoe trail NW towards the lake. About a 1/4 mile from where the snow cat stopped is a ridge, go straight up or wander off to the right and find an easier grade up. Once at the top, there are numerous snowshoe trails that will take you to the general vicinity of the lake.

We made it to the lake about 1145 PM, and stayed a good 20-30 minutes enjoying the quiet and great view across the lake basin. We missed the eclipse 3.5 hours earlier messing around with Jon's car, but were treated to a valley filled with an abundance of moonlight and shadows. We used them on occasion, but the Petzl's (headlamps) were really not needed for much of the way down, pretty cool!

We made it back to the car at 1 AM, and made our usuall Denny's stop in Issaquah. All in all, a pretty fun adventure, although I believe Jon and his truck may have a different opinion.

I promised myself I'd never go on this trail. It was the closest thing I could think of at 10 am on a sunny wednesday morning. I met two gals working for the WCC with the DNR maintaining the trail. I became suspicious of a trail so civilized that I was passed by mature women with muffs and leopard print hats. The forest is nondescript, with snow starting just above Snag Flats. At the 2 1/2 mile marker, the well packed trail gets very icy. The snow on top is wind scoured and firm. Unbelievable views of areas that used to have trees spread out before me. Climbing the backside of the haystack up steep snow was scary, and not really worth it. I am renaming this Mt. Sigh. The icy sections on the way down were brutal, with several slips, twists, and one full out sprawl. Sore calves the next day reminded me it's the off-season. Eight miles R/T, 3500' gain, and five hours away from the car.

The short trail to Heybrook look out from Highway #2 is in good condition. About 2 feet of snow at the look out. The look out has been rebuilt. A couple years a go I was at Heybrook and it was unsafe and rotting. I mentioned it in my report back then that it's too bad that some group can't take it on as a project. I don't know who is funding and rebuilding it but thanks. ""It's a good thing."" You cant't get acess to top now because the first flight of stairs are not built yet. I am looking forward to the great views of Index from the top when it is open. A good x-crountry ski trip would be to pack your skis in the short way and ski out the long way to Baring.

R Brown

Owl Hike Spot. See Greenway page 196. Parking lot clear of snow. Good tracks in the snow all the way to Owl Hike Spot. A paper sign in a plactic cover says ""Owl Pearch"". Snow at Owl Pearch is 2 feet deep. Snow shoes required from this point on. We tried it without snow shoes from Owl Perch but had to turn back.

RBrown surveyor

A day off from work and not a lot of free time so I decided to do something short and close in so a trip to Tiger was in order. The trail is muddy from the trailhead to 1/3 of the way up, then I hit the ice and snow. Mainly ice for the rest of the way up. I didn't have my ice axe with me so it was dig and kick where I could. The last part has enough snow on it that the traction was a lot better. Great views in all directions from the summit. Saw a ton of people on the way down.

This is a nice easy loop hike close to Seattle. You start out at the High Point trailhead. Then, instead of taking the crowded West Tiger Mt trail, you walk the flat ""Bus Trail"" a little bit. If you continued on the Bus Trail, it would take you by the rusted shell of an old bus and eventually to the power lines near Round Lake. Instead, take a left turn on the Nook Trail. This will gradually gain some elevation on a nice trail. Eventually, you come to a signed intersection where you can make a left to go to Talus Cave. This is the ""Connector Trail"" that connects back to the West Tiger Mt trail. You don't have to go far before you come to some huge boulders with sturdy round-posted wooden fencing around a gap between the rocks. The cave is behind the fencing. It's a walk in cave and is fairly spacious inside with plenty of headroom. It goes back about 60 feet or so where it dead-ends for those not wanting to get dirty. At the end was a little gap at the bottom where you could possibly slither on further if you wanted to.

If you continue on the Connector Trail a little past the cave, you come to this water fall/water slide that's maybe 100-ft long. It's real nice. Backtracking a little bit to the Nook Trail, you can continue on the Nook Trail and take a right at the Section Line Trail. We saw four deer just off the Section Line Trail. Two stuck around and let us watch them from across a gully. Eventually, the Section Line takes you to some power lines. You go under them and can pick up the Poo Poo Pt trail to the left, or turn right to go to Round Lake. Once at Round Lake, you can take the Wet Lands Trail around the west side of the lake to a road. Turn right at the road and follow it under the power lines till you get to Tradition Lake. Once at the lake, you can backtrack a little on the road and follow the sign to the Swamp Trail. The Swamp Trail will take you back to the trailhead.

Very windy today. From the Tiger Summit (elev 1370), took the West Side Road to the Tiger Mountain Trail to Middle Tiger Trail. Thence down the Middle Tiger Trail to the intersection with Road 4700 thence to the intersection with Tiger Mountain road thence return to trailhead. There are a few windfalls across the road sections of the route and an incredible abundance of windfalls on the trail sections. There is snow on 99.44% of the route. The deepest snow was on Road 4700 which was eight to ten inches deep. The snow on top of Middle Tiger was four to six inches.

The footy starts next month. Fair dinkum, the Roos will take the cup again. My Aussie Roos membership is in the post now. I think Bellevue is more than 120km from the Melbourne GPO.

Decided to check on progress on new trail on Saturday while kids were at friends. Started from new trail being built by Issaquah Alps near Foothills development. It has been improved to unamed creek crossing above edge of clearcut. You nust descend about 100' to cross creek then follow blazes across and up to junction with East Ridge trail. At this time better access is from Sycamore development up dirt road to water tank. The trail has been improved greatly to Crystal Creek, thanks WTA. Route is blazes up to junction with improved trail. There are a few blowdowns and muddy spots. I continued on wide new tread to junction. The right fork leads to the lower north side road after crossing a new bridgeover Crystal Creek. There was up to 8"" of snow from here on. Continued on to old roadbed then backtracked to junction. The left fork continues up east Peak of Squak before descending to gap then up to intersection with Phils Creek trail (upper road). I went right on Phils creek past intersection with summit trail. Continued traverse to junction with trail descending by Tie Mill to lower road. Met one person who asked if trail went to Hwy. 900, told him it did. Followed road to Issaquah Junction and descended to Mountainside Blvd. trailhead. This made an excllent loop and the views were nice as trees have lost leaves. Most of the way trail was through mature second growth forest and you see practially nobody, much less crowed than Tiger

Took our 7th(') annual winter beach hike this weekend. Saturday was pleasant and mostly sunny. We hiked the trail down to 3rd beach and on to Scott Creek where we camped in the woods just south of the shelter. The trail over Cape Johnson is muddy with a few blow downs (nothing one wouldn't expect this time of year) but not bad going. The water fall over the cliff onto the beach at the south end of Third beach was spectacular due to recent rains. The lower part of the wire ladder up the cliff just north of Scott Creek has washed away which makes for some interesting traversing over deep mud to get on it. On Sunday we hiked ahout 4 miles south over the beach and then the overland trail to Falls Creek. Because of recent rain and snow the creek was impassable. On the way back to our Scott Creek camp, the wind really began to pick up - fortunately it was behind us. At times all we saw was white - waves, windblown water and foam blowing around on the beach - and rain that hit so hard it stung. Despite the rain soaked state of the sand, small sand storms developed as well. Sometimes we had to lean backwards into wind in order to avoid being blown over. When we got back to our camp at 3 PM most of the tents had been blown flat and our rain tarp shredded. We move camp farther back into the woods where it was relatively quiet at ground level although there was an awesome howling in the tree tops. The local weather reports say the gusts were 70 mph that evening - which seems believable. In the early morning, the rain stopped and the wind ceased. When we got up, it was sunny and the only evidence of the night before's storm were some trees blown down. After a good breakfast, we hike back out. The wilderness coast is always interesting in the winter.