2021 Trips To Date
1
Olympics-Mt. Ellinor
6 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain •
My brother had never climbed Mt. Ellinor before so with a fair weather picture predicted we headed out to the Lake Cushman area. One can now easily drive to the lower TH and that's where we started. Only way up still is via the winter route and the avalanche chute was in good shape. The climb from the bottom of the avalanche chute to the summit is around 1500' in .07 of a mile so its a steep one. With slushy snow its quite the work out. Sun came and went, as did the fog, so mostly limited views, still a great day in the mountains!
May 2, 2021
2
ONP--Hoh River
13.3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Hiked up the Hoh and spent a couple of nights at the Five Mile Island backcountry camp. Perfect weather with it being cold enough at night to keep the bugs at bay.
April 16 – April 18, 2021
2
Olympics--Mt. Rose
5.75 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •
Well consolidated snow began a short bit after the horse camp. Used microspikes and going down would have been difficult w/o them. Had the summit to myself and had a nice leisurely lunch with my grey jay buddies. Timed is perfectly as met quite a few people heading up on my descent.
April 11, 2021
1
Tiger Mountain
8.18 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
3 out of 4 of the Exploration NW team, along with intrepid hiking dog Ruby, were able to arrange their schedules to get in a conditioning hike on Tiger Mtn. None of had ever started a hike from the Preston TH and found it to be a nice uncrowded area in which to hike. We did a loop hike which took us up to summit 1 and the over to the Hikers Hut for lunch, which had nice views on this day.
April 3, 2021
1
Tiger Mountain
6.43 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Started hike at the Highpoint TH and from there navigated various trails up to the Hikers Hut which was fogged in, so no views. Then hiked to summits 2 and 3 before descending via the Cable Line trail.
March 27, 2021
2
Olympics--Big Creek
7.9 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Trail was covered mostly in slushy snow so I was glad I wore my gtx footwear. Hiked as far as where the trail intersects with the Mt Ellinor lower TH.
March 20, 2021
1
Tiger Mtn w/ Ruby the Golden Doodle
6 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
My brother got a Golden Doodle puppy a while ago and she is now at the age in which she can do some hiking. The hike up Section Line was a bit of starts and stops, and some off trail, but overall she did pretty good. She liked going down much better and basically ran with us all the way. This was her first summit but we could not get her to sit still long enough to do a paws summit shot, aka a shoe shot for us humans, but were able to get an owner/dog summit photo documenting her first summit.
March 7, 2021
3
Mt. Si--Old Trail
7.62 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •
I usually avoid hiking along the I-90 corroder during the weekend due to the crowds and the increasing difficult parking situation at most of the trailheads....so I was not to surprised to find that both of the TH parking lots were full which made it necessary to park an additional 1/2 mile from the TH. The old trail up Si is shorter, steeper and far less crowded then the new trail and it is still a bit of a secret from the masses.
February 27, 2021
1
Olympics--Notch Pass to the Lower Big Quilcene
8.09 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Began hike at the 1st TH in which first few miles are quite steep gaining a bit more then 1600'. At that point you are at the hikes high point which is at an elevation of 2500', There was a bit of snow present but nothing requiring traction devices. From there its a bit up and down, mostly down, until you reach the Lower Big Quilcene River.
February 7, 2021
1
January 31, 2021
1
Tiger Mountain
7.5 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Up Section Line Trail to Summit 3, then took the TMT to the 15 Mile Gap. Back to the car via the Poo Poo Point and HS Trail.
January 29, 2021
2
Mt. Rainier Snowshoe
7.2 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Began hike at the Narada Falls TH. Hiked to Reflection Lake. From the lake we hiked up the closed, snow covered road to Paradise.... which was packed. From there we headed cross country for a bit and connected with a trail which took us back to the TH.
January 23, 2021
1
January 17, 2021
1
January 9, 2021
1
Olympics--Copper Creek
5.42 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Roaring creek and big timber... what's not to like? The trail crests the ridge at 3300'. Recent snow made the final 1000' of accent a bit of a post holing, trail breaking saga, but all in all a nice hike to start 2021.
January 1, 2021
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