Bare Mountain — Saturday, Jul. 20, 2002

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Another perfect hiking day!! We left our toddler at home and so chose Bare Mountain for our hiking date! Arrived at the trailhead around 9:45am. We donned our eucalyptus/lemon bug concotion I bought from the local hiking store just in case the bugs were out! Started off in forest up an old abandoned mining road. At about one and a quarter mile we came to Bear Creek. There were several logs on which to cross. We had no problems. Continued for another quarter of a mile crossing a foot bridge into the Alpine Lakes wilderness. The forest was very beautiful and a shady respite before our ascent into the upper meadows. In another 1/4 mile we came the first open meadow with waist to shoulder deep bracken. Luckily, trail maintenance had just been done! We took a short break around 11am looking at the surrounding peaks! What a lovely day! At 3650ft we took our first left and started now into thicker bracken. We stepped carefully to avoid falling into holes or falling over rocks. 46 or so switchbacks and 1700ft later we climbed onto the 5353ft summit. The heat had geared us down but, the upper meadows were painted a rainbow of colors by a variety of flowers! The views were spectacular...Rainier, Glacier, Snoqualmie Peaks, Olympics, Index area....There is a definite sense of isolation! The Paradise lakes were still frozen. We started down about 1:20pm and ran into a party of 3 woman and then shortly after them a lone guy. The temperature had warmed considerably! We stepped gingerly through the bracken and splashed our faces at each stream crossing. At Bear Creek we dunked our heads. We arrived back at the car around 3:30pm. No problems with bugs. They were there but, no bites! 8miles and 3250 ft. gain! Perfect hike, could have done without the 19mile drive on the gravel FS road though! Oh well, isolation comes with a price! Halley and Joey