August 29 to August 30, 2021 Jen 17.5 miles 4,750 feet gained 1 night
I started at the south Tatoosh trailhead. Long slog upwards, but once you pass the turnoff for Butter Peak, you get a lovely rolling trip through subalpine meadows and ripe huckleberries as you travel north below the ridge approaching Tatoosh Peak. The eastern flanks of the ridge are just mesmerizing, reminds me of the Wallowas. Acres of steep hanging meadow...
August 29, 2021 Sarah Johnson 7 miles 2,000 feet gained
Decided to check out the new trail system at Meadows. Took a mixture of service roads and trail, ending up high on the mountain taking Lower and Middle Wizard. (I'm guessing they will be adding an Upper Wizard?) Ran into one of the trail makers on the way down - he asked us a few questions about whether we made it all the way up, etc... He asked how we liked...
August 27 to August 29, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 26 miles 5,500 feet gained 2 nights
Entered via the Dungeness River TH. Made base camp around 3.5 miles in at Camp Handy. Did a bit of exploring after dinner down the Heather Creek trail. Next day got up bright and early and hiked up to Boulder Shelter, and then continued on the trail to Home Lake which is within the ONP. Home lake appeared pretty full up with people camping in areas where imo...
August 27, 2021 Woodswalker 13.2 miles 1,500 feet gained
I wanted an easy hike today with some mileage so I went out to the gorge. Amazing trail work has been done, but lots of spots that look like they will continue to be washouts. People are making there way down to Punchbowl even though there isn't a beach anymore. Not too crowded.
August 22, 2021 Sarah Johnson 7.5 miles 1,500 feet gained
Plan A for today was canceled (a Mazama "climb" of Eliot Glacier) so we made a plan B (Paradise Park from Paradise trailhead). Met at Zigzag ranger station and the mountain was in a cloud... so plan C. Crossed off an easy hike I'd always skipped. Slowly crossing off more Hood hikes till we get all the way around the mountain.
August 21 to August 22, 2021 runandsew 6 miles 2,000 feet gained 1 night
Started hiking in the dark under a full moon then headed to the west side in the morning to search for a flashlight left last weekend. Found it.
August 19, 2021 Woodswalker 12 miles 2,500 feet gained
Beautiful smoke free day on the mountain so I went for it. The flowers are still blooming but faded a bit. The gentians are at peak if you love those.
August 16, 2021 Sarah Johnson 10.8 miles 2,250 feet gained
Up down up down... trail and falls were pretty dry, but it was nice to take a dip in the cool water.
August 15, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 6.76 miles 4,000 feet gained
First time hiking Vesper peak and all I can say is that this was one tough hike with the eg, hot weather and extremely rocky trail tread. Felt way longer then 7 miles. The final 1/2 mile push to the summit is a 1000' eg scramble which really takes it out of your. But once at Vesper's 6138' summit you momentarily forget the pain and soak in the spectacular vi...
August 14 to August 18, 2021 Jen 45 miles 11,000 feet gained 4 nights
Day 1: Staircase -> N Fork Skokomish to 2 Bear Camp. Day 2: 2 Bear Camp to N side of Hopper Mtn (headwaters of Home Sweet Home Creek), fun scramble up to Mt Hopper! Day 3 down to the Duckabush via HSH trail and up to LaCrosse Basin. Day 4 back to First Divide-camped along Mt Steel climbers trail. Day 5: Long slog out. Pics to follow
August 14 to August 15, 2021 runandsew 5 miles 750 feet gained 1 night
Another quick trip because of work schedules. Could barely make out stars and the Milky Way because of the smoke.
August 11, 2021 Woodswalker 5 miles 500 feet gained
August 8, 2021 Sarah Johnson 14 miles 1,750 feet gained
Originally intended to go for McNeil from Top Spur, but the trailhead was overflowing. Decided to head to the next closest trailhead and winged our day exploring the PCT, and then took a jaunt down to Lost Lake. Mostly solitude until Lost Lake. All blowdown on the trail looked to have been recently cleared by trail crews.
August 8 to August 10, 2021 Jen 10.5 miles 3,750 feet gained 2 nights
My first multipitch climb! Camped in Headlight Basin
August 7, 2021 Jen 4.5 miles 2,500 feet gained
The road up was gnarly, but there were only a few hikers on the trail on a Saturday. Wedge mountain is the eastern ridge overlooking the lower part of the Enchantments. I enjoyed the overcast day, but the views were not far ranging. Still magical! Trail leads up to a point on the ridge at 6200. True summit is an easy trip south for half a mile and 700 ft mor...
August 6, 2021 Jen 5 miles 3,500 feet gained
Got this from the 75 scrambles book. Was going to do Guye, then Snoqualmie, but I got distracted by Cave Ridge and a geocache. Started out the hike in a light overcast drizzle that eventually diminished to just moody clouds. Very refreshing. Really liked that area. Caves, marmots, huckleberrries. Decided to head straight up to Snoqualmie from the Cave Ridge ...
August 4, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 2.06 miles 500 feet gained
The wife and I were on a leisurely car camping trip at Silver Lake by Maple Falls and decided after much napping, sunning and swimming to drive up to Artist Point as my wife had never been up there. I forgot that the road was closed for repairs approx. 2 miles from Artist Point so we hiked the Upper Wild Goose Trail up to AP which was pretty much empty due t...
July 31 to August 1, 2021 runandsew 4.5 miles 1,000 feet gained 1 night
Got a zillion bug bites on my head, but went down to check out the White River. Boy has it changed.
July 29 to July 31, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 22 miles 5,500 feet gained 2 nights
Started trip at the Staircase entrance to ONP and spent a couple nights at the lakes. On day 2 hiked up to Gladys Divide and then up to the summit of Mt. Gladys which had nice views of Mt. Olympus. We attempted to find our way to Black & White Lakes to attempt a loop hike but due to the heat and very annoying bugs headed back to FlapJack for a nice refreshin...
July 27 to July 28, 2021 Jen 15 miles 4,250 feet gained 1 night
Started at Red Rock Pass and found a great campsite on E side of Butte Camp Dome- unfortunately no water, the whole side of the mountain on the Loowit trail is dry until the Toutle. Next day went on a scramble up the slopes chasing goats admiring the unsanctioned routes. Found ripe huckleberries at 3000-3500 ft elevation too!
July 25, 2021 Sarah Johnson 5 miles 1,500 feet gained
Didn't get an early start, and the day ended up too hot for us to continue with the dog safely. Also, biting flies were vicious and we decided we had had enough of being on the menu. Will try again another (cooler) day.
July 24 to July 26, 2021 runandsew 22 miles 5,500 feet gained 2 nights
Practice hike for upcoming Wonderland Backpack.
July 21, 2021 Woodswalker 3.2 miles 500 feet gained
Had a great social hike looking at tons of wildflowers. Lupine, beargrass and valerian is all looking nice in the meadows above MT Meadows along the TT.
July 21, 2021 Woodswalker 3.2 miles 500 feet gained
Had a great social hike looking at tons of wildflowers. Lupine, beargrass and valerian is all looking nice in the meadows above MT Meadows along the TT.
July 20 to July 21, 2021 Jen 17 miles 4,750 feet gained 1 night
Hiked up Cooper Spur, then dropped down and traversed below the Newton-Clark Glacier. Visited the Bandit Boulder! Fun scrambles all around, then dropped down to the Timberline to loop back to Cloud Cap. Stayed at the Tilly Jane Campground for the night, where I was the only tenant and it was free. The next day, I drove over to Elk Meadows trailhead and met u...
July 18, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 9 miles 2,000 feet gained
Began hike at the Deer Park TH. I have attempted this hike before in the spring while camping at Deer Park before the car campground opens but there always was to much snow. No snow this time and we hiked up to Maiden Peak and then a bit further but not quite up to the summit of Elk Mountain.
July 17 to July 18, 2021 runandsew 5 miles 1,500 feet gained 1 night
Bummed a loop around the slopes after a night under the stars.
July 14, 2021 Woodswalker 8.3 miles 1,750 feet gained
The beargrass is great about 2 miles in and the other flowers are starting. We took Vista Ridge Trail up to the TT and had lunch a bit above Dollar Lake. There are the remains of a pretty big avalanche down in Elk Cove. Minimal bugs. The trail is mostly clear except for big snow drifts near the junction with the TT. Lots of down logs.
July 11 to July 12, 2021 Jen 9.5 miles 2,250 feet gained 1 night
My niece is visiting from NYC. I wanted to bring her up to the alpine for a quick overnighter. The weather, wildflowers and scenery were gorgeous but the mosquitoes were awful, from TH to 7200 ft just below the Adams Glacier, they relentlessly tried to penetrate our bug bafflers. A comic sufferfest. Could not relax in camp unless inside tent. Packed up and r...
July 11, 2021 Sarah Johnson 4.5 miles 1,000 feet gained
Just a short hike to the top of a pile of rocks.
July 10 to July 11, 2021 runandsew 5.5 miles 1,250 feet gained 1 night
Attended an online bridal shower while hiking which is why we didn't make it to Palmer. Participating in the games delayed us so we turned around.
July 9, 2021 Sarah Johnson 12 miles 1,500 feet gained
Eagle Creek quietly opened up at the beginning of the month. Team comfort optional decided to spend my last Friday of freedom exploring before I go back to a M-F grind. We left Portland at 7:30, and ended up with the last parking spot close to the trailhead. The morning crisp air was nice, but it quickly warmed up in the canyon. Since there is way less canop...
July 6 to July 7, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 16 miles 4,500 feet gained 1 night
Entered via Upper Dungeness TH and made camp on the saddle above Charlia Lakes. Spent the next day exploring the ridges, above the lakes.
July 4, 2021 Sarah Johnson 4 miles 250 feet gained
A short easy stroll on the 4th to get the dog away from neighborhood booms.
July 4 to July 5, 2021 runandsew 10 miles 2,250 feet gained 1 night
Backpack with our daughter and her boyfriend. No wind at all and a beautiful time in the mountains.
July 1 to July 4, 2021 Jen 25 miles 8,000 feet gained 3 nights
Finally got up here! For the past several years, I've signed up for climbs on various mountains in these parts( Ragged Ridge x2) that were always cancelled. For rain-in August! This year I got onto a Baker climb during my vacation week, and scheduled several days of explore time afterwards. We did not complete the climb. Went up Heliotrope Ridge and camped o...
July 1, 2021 Sarah Johnson 10.1 miles 2,500 feet gained
Was initially going to go early in the day, but I had a friend who offered to come with who couldn't leave Portland until 2:00 pm. We knew we weren't going to be able to drive the road, as it is rumored to be one of the worst forest roads in existence. At a friends suggestion of where the road gets bad, we opted to just park at the junction in a turnout. We ...
June 30 to July 4, 2021 Woodswalker 30 miles 5,750 feet gained 4 nights
Fantastic trip out to the Strawberries. We did Strawberry Mountain, Strawberry and Little Strawberry Lakes, Slide Lake and an off trail to Slide Falls. Very buggy right now except for Strawberry Lake. The exposed meadows along the trails are full of wildflowers, but the wildflowers in the lake basins have a few blooms but aren't going strong yet. The section...
June 29, 2021 runandsew 5 miles 2,500 feet gained
Hiked with my partner for the Wonderland Trail for the first time and it went really well. We'll be having a great trek.
June 26 to June 27, 2021 runandsew 4 miles 1,250 feet gained 1 night
June 25, 2021 Woodswalker 4 miles 750 feet gained
Went up with some friends who work at Meadows to explore the new short connector trails up there. We eventually made it up to Timberline and tried to make it to Heather Canyon but without spikes it was to slow and slippery to make our way across the snow fields on steep terrain. Took the ski lift back down. Great day!
June 25 to June 26, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 20.3 miles 5,000 feet gained 1 night
Trying to beat the heat left late Friday morning and reached the The Tubal Cain TH early afternoon. Made camp at my top secret location up by the pass at around 6500'. Very mild temps for this time of year and at this elevation with overnight temps in the low 60's. Rose early the next day and and could tell it was going to be a scorcher and we wanted to get ...
June 24, 2021 Jen 8 miles 2,750 feet gained
Went up via the south ridge and Indian Pits. Was here exactly one year ago, where there was some beargrass here and there. Today, every single beargrass plant was blooming from 3500 ft on up. I'm covered with pollen! GLORIOUS
June 20, 2021 Sarah Johnson 4.5 miles 1,250 feet gained
It was too hot to do much of anything but go play in water on Sunday. This week's heatwave is going to be brutal.
June 19 to June 20, 2021 runandsew 1.5 miles 500 feet gained 1 night
Just wanted to get out and catch the Milky Way in the half hour between when the moon went down and daylight began ~~ 2:30am to 3am.
June 18 to June 19, 2021 Father Guido Sarducci 13 miles 4,250 feet gained 1 night
The Upper Big Quilcene TH was packed when we arrived Friday at 11AM. Appeared there were a lot of first timers on the trail with all the questions we got. All the campsites at Camp Mystery we’re taken which caused us no bother as I like to camp high up on Boulder Ridge. We were going to hike to the summit of Buckhorn but the peak itself was fogged in so we t...
June 16, 2021 Woodswalker 20.5 miles 15,250 feet gained
Had a fantastic trip in Lassen National Park after it was clear that Yosemite would be too hot. Hiked up high early in the day and sat in lakes all afternoon. We explored King Creek Falls area. Stunning alpine meadows feet from the trail head. Summited Brokeoff Mountain. Of course the view is great, but the approach through the meadows and tarns was amazing....
June 11 to June 13, 2021 Sarah Johnson 15 miles 3,750 feet gained 2 nights
Due to a dropout, I was invited by my friend Anibal to join on a two day trip in the Enchantments. 5 Venezuelans, 1 Persian, and 2 Americans made for an interesting group. The forecast wasn't great, so I made sure to pack extra clothing in case of steady showers. We all weighed our packs at the trailhead, and I won the prize of heaviest pack, at almost 40 l...
