Mount Walker — Friday, Nov. 17, 2006

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

After reading Tom Trimbath's report on Mount Townsend, I'm glad that we decided against driving up there yesterday and settled on Mount Walker instead. The Mount Walker trail is completely snow free and in perfect condition: not even one downed tree the whole way. This is an excellent conditioning trail as it climbs 2000 feet in two miles. I was delighted to find that for the first time in several trips to the summit over the past year, we finally had a clear view. (From our vantage point at the north summit, Mt. Townsend looked like it had only a thin dusting of snow.) Mount Baker was brilliant in the sun on the east. We then walked to the South Summit and ate our lunch in the sunshine on the bench directly facing Mount Rainier. It was clear enough to see faintly Mount Saint Helens and Mt. Adams as well. On our descent, it became a bit breezy and we recognized that our day in the sun was only a brief respite from the storms.