My plan today was to hike Baby Blue Mountain off the Sultan Basin Road. But when I got there at 10am and threw on my pack I suddenly noticed signs saying that it was temporarily closed for an active logging operation. Being a Sunday the loggers probably weren't there, but I noticed a DNR vehicle further up the street so I didn't want to chance being somewhere I shouldn't. Therefore I had to brainstorm and think of another place to go today. I decided to just do a couple of the mini-hikes in the area instead so I could at least get some vitamin D.
All three of these hikes have been described in previous trip reports so I won't go into details on how to get there aside from saying they're all along the Sultan Basin Road. I backtracked to the pulloff to Haywire Ridge, which is just a short (2.4 mile RT, 300ft gain) hike up to a small clearcut ridge with views south and west. While the weather was clear it was below freezing and frost covered everything not touched by sunlight. The trail/road was clear of obstacles for the most part and once at the ridge I could see all the way out to the Olympics despite some slight haze in the air.
I then headed back down to my vehicle, and then I backtracked some more to the gated road where the Startup Mountain trail began. This is slightly longer at 3.4 miles RT, 310ft gain. But again it's mostly just a forested road walk through an old clearcut that's finally starting to grow back. However I was only a few hundred yards in when I spooked an owl on the ground, who retreated to a high tree branch. I only managed to get one grainy picture of him before he flew off. The rest of the hike was uneventful, leading to another clearcut ridge looking east across the town of Goldbar and the Highway 2 corridor to Stevens Pass.
At no time did I ever encounter another human, giving me complete solitude at least. Not the most exciting hiking excursion but I'm not one to complain about a day out in the sun, especially during January.
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