What a treat. Three straight days of hiking. Cousin Clover joined this morning's hike. Sadie is staying in Sequim this week, so the driver decided there must be a hike in the National Forest where Sadie and Clover could go. Sure enough. Five miles south of Quilcene, Mt. Walker awaits - accessible right on Highway 101. Since it was a little brisk this morning (nothing like at Stevens Pass yesterday - it was 20 degrees warmer this morning at the trailhead - a toasty 29 degrees). Since we were in no particular hurry, because the hike is only about 4 miles roundtrip from the trailhead, we got to the gate about 10:00 a.m. Two cars pulled in right behind us!!! The road is gated, but there's enough room for about 8 cars to park off of Hwy. 101. A couple with a dog started out ahead of us - it's about a 1/2 mile from the gate to the trail head. The other couple were still getting ready when we headed out. There will need to be some clean-up needed before cars will get back up this road. The road to the top of Mt. Walker is 4 miles long. From the trailhead, it's 2 miles - but however you do it, it's still a 2000' gain! Almost a Mailbox or Tenerife trip! Sadie, Clover and the driver left Kate and her owners at the trail register and we were off and heading up, up, up. It wasn't long, maybe a little more than a 1/2 mile, before the driver had to stop and take of the vest, the coat AND the hat! The layers that worked yesterday up to Lichtenwasser, were way too much for today! Plus, this would be a no nonsense hike today. The nice thing is - I didn't have to schlep snowshoes, because today was a total brown hike! The trail winds through a lovely wooded area with lots of wild rhododendrons along the way - bet it's pretty in the Spring. The trail switchbacks up the south side of Mt. Walker and ends up two miles later at the top of Mt. Walker at the northern viewpoint - somewhere you can drive when the gate is open - but this was so much more enjoyable. Views of the Olympics (Mts. Jupiter and Constance along with Baker) were stunning. You can walk from the northern viewpoint to the southern viewpoint - it's only a 1/2 mile and gives you a different perspective. There was a light dusting of snow on the top, but nothing significant. We took in the views from this exposure - lovely. As we made our way back to the north viewpoint again, we ran into trail pup Kate and her humans; and then the other couple was enjoying their lunch at the northern viewpoint. I quickly warned them that the thief (aka Sadie) was making a surveillance run, so they'd better be careful! She is known to grab a pb&j sandwich before you can say STOP! Anyway, they were kind enough to take our picture (Clover was being shy). Off we headed back down the trail. Ran into a solo hiker on his way up about 2/3's of the way down; and then on the closed road we saw another couple coming up. Stats: 3 hours car to car; 2000' gain in 2 miles (whew!) total distance: 6 miles. A great little hike. Sadie is resting comfortably in Sequim.
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