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December 31, 2018 3 miles 500 feet gained
With the Wife having to work on New Years & the alma mater playing in Rose Bowl Football game ( go Dawgs!) the annual New Years Day Family Hike became the New Years Eve Family Hike. Nice short hike with nice views of the Olympics at the Cove.
December 30, 2018 8.24 miles 3,250 feet gained
December 27, 2018 8 miles 750 feet gained
December 23, 2018 8.5 miles 3,500 feet gained
Hit all 3 summits plus the Hiking Hut. No snow anywhere.
December 8, 2018 10.76 miles 3,500 feet gained
There are 4 trails to the summit of Townsend. I have never hiked it from the lower TH off of forest road 27 before & it adds approx. 1.2 miles & 600’ to the assent compared to starting @ the upper TH. Trail was in nice condition with a bit of snow on & off the final 1000’ from the summit.
November 25, 2018 8 miles 1,250 feet gained
November 18, 2018 9.65 miles 3,000 feet gained
Pretty cold and frosty at the TH.....around 35 degrees but once you got above the saddle to Valhalla Peak it got downright balmy. On this day it was perfect at the summit, warm with no breeze, and one could clearly see 4 volcanoes along with Mt. Constance looming in your face to the NW.
November 11, 2018 9.04 miles 4,000 feet gained
Winter has arrived in the N. Cascades. Great views from the top with clear views of Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, etc... Could even see the Eastern Olympic range to the S/W & the top of Rainier to the South. Snow began in earnest approx. 1 1/2 miles and 1200' from the summit but there is a very pronounced boot path so no route finding was involved. Microspikes we...
November 3, 2018 7.6 miles 750 feet gained
October 28, 2018 6 miles 500 feet gained
October 21, 2018 6.03 miles 2,000 feet gained
Hike originates from the Summit Lake TH but very few hike to Bearhead’s summit. Only ran into 3 people once I got onto the Bearhead Mtn. trail. BH Summit used to have a fire Lookout so views are quite nice. Was the perfect hike to get above the fog & stagnant air present in the lowlands. Because of the inversion layer it was pretty much t-shirt and shorts we...
October 12, 2018 11.13 miles 4,000 feet gained
This is one of the few hikes off of I-90 east of North Bend that I have never done. Very few people venture further than Mason Lake but those who put in the effort will will be rewarded with 360 degree views from the summit.
September 27 to September 29, 2018 17.3 miles 3,750 feet gained 2 nights
Entered via the Snowgrass Flats TH & found a nice campsite within the basin right next to the Cispus River. Set up camp & climbed to the pass. Great views! Slept in the next morning, packed up & took the PCT to Snowgrass Flats which was completely empty of campers. Grabbed a nice campsite up on the ridge overlooking the Flats with an awesome view of Mt. Adam...
September 23, 2018 8.66 miles 3,500 feet gained
An oldie, but a goodie. Up Section Line to summit 3, than over to summit 2, than hit the Hikers Hut. Next up to summit 1 and than down & out via the Hig School Trail.
September 7, 2018 10.67 miles 4,250 feet gained
Peak is the site of a former fire lookout so the views are expansive. The majority of the elevation gain is at the beginning of the hike and than it is a moderate up & down ridge hike until you hit the way trail to Tatoosh Peak.... where it gets a bit steap once again as you make the final accent to the peak. Only saw 3 people the entire day.
September 2, 2018 6.93 miles 3,000 feet gained
Apparently this is a secret squirrel location my friend knew about but if you search the internet it’s not to difficult to locate. 6 tiny lakes in a granite setting kinda a miniaturized Enchantments. Nice views of Glacier Peak from the top of the gulch.
August 27 to August 29, 2018 38.18 miles 8,000 feet gained 2 nights
In the not to distant past the Boulder Creek Campgound & hot springs would be overflowing this time of year but ever since the Elwha took out the road approx 2 miles from hwy101, necessating a now 8 mile road walk to the Appleton Pass TH, one basically has solitude on this hike all the way to Appleton Pass. In fact I had the campground & hot springs entirely...
August 24, 2018 8.09 miles 2,500 feet gained
While I like to call this the “Lotalakes hike”.... as in 4 miles you can view 9 lakes, if you include within your itinerary a short scramble up Browns Peak, the actual TH is Palisades Lakes up by Sunrise. Felt a bit like fall as it was 39 degrees up at Sunrise when I arrived at around 10AM.
August 12 to August 15, 2018 12 miles 6,750 feet gained 3 nights
I have not climbed Adams since sometime in the 1990's so when a friend from Gresham invited me to climb with him and his 2 college age kids I could not pass it up. One thing I forgot though was how bloody far away it is from my house ..... almost 6 hours, and as we were meeting at the TH Monday morning @ 10:30 I decided to head down Sunday afternoon and camp...
August 8 to August 10, 2018 9.75 miles 2,000 feet gained 2 nights
Camped @ White River & spent a day up at Sunrise hiking to the Fremont Lookout & up to Dege Peak. Hot & hazy conditions.
July 28 to July 29, 2018 10 miles 7,250 feet gained 1 night
This was a tough climb. We climbed via the East Ridge. The approach is brutal, you climb 4000' in the first 2 miles with 1000' being a boulder scramble..... and with a 30lb+ pack and the hot weather we were pretty gassed when we made it to camp at the Roush Creek Basin just below the Eldorado Glacier. Day 2.... climbing to the top of Eldorado's 8868' peak, w...
July 21 to July 22, 2018 20.81 miles 5,000 feet gained 1 night
When hiking up Buckhorn Pass/Peak I have been intrigued by a rock formation to the N/E of Buckhorn located on a high ridge. Doing a little research I was able to determine that while the formation has no official name it was called by area miners as " The Castle". We entered at the Tubal Cain Mine TH and made camp just below Buckhorn Pass. Picture perfect ev...
July 15, 2018 4.2 miles 2,000 feet gained
Took the trail to the saddle of Pinnacle and then climbed to the 6374’ summit of Plummer Peak. It is an easy climb to the summit w/ no exposure. All class 2 stuff. Views from the peak were 360 & very nice. Then returned to the saddle and followed the climbers trail to the saddle of The Castle. Summiting the Castle is a much more difficult climb which is beyo...
July 4 to July 6, 2018 39.64 miles 7,500 feet gained 2 nights
Started trip from the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center TH. Hiked in about 15 miles on day one and set up camp at Martins Creek. Very nice campsites there. Day 2 day hiked up to Elk Lake, Glacier Meadows and up to the Blue Glacier via the Lateral Moraine Trail. From the Lateral Moraine Mt. Olympus is right in your face...just awesome views. Spent a couple of ho...
June 23, 2018 13.75 miles 4,250 feet gained
This is not a hike if one is looking for solitude. The majority of hikers though appeared to be backpackers heading to "the meadow" to set up camp. There were surprisingly few people at the pass and even fewer who ventured the steep climb to the peak. The views of the Stuart Range & The Enchantments were nice from the pass but from the peak they were outstan...
June 16, 2018 16.89 miles 4,250 feet gained
Took the long approach to Buckhorn via the Tubal Cain Trail. A few patches of snow near the top of Buckhorn Pass but nothing which require traction devices & once the pass is reached it is snow free to Buckhorn’s almost 7000’ Peak.
June 10, 2018 6.66 miles 4,000 feet gained
Typical Junuary day in the PNW. One minute raining, the next sunny, then hail and even snowing around 4000'. While I have hiked up to Wagon Wheel Lake before, a fairly unimpressive lake IMO, I have never taken the climbers trail which climbs around 800" feet above the lake to the Silver Snag plateau and also to Cub Peak. The views up on Silver Snag were fair...
May 26 to May 28, 2018 20 miles 6,250 feet gained 2 nights
Hiked from the Slab Camp TH and made base camp at the Deer Park Campground. Deer Ridge and the campground are completely snow free. Day hiked from there up Blue & Green Mountains. Attempted an assent of Maiden Peak but still a bit to much snow and turned around about 500' from the summit.
May 14 to May 15, 2018 11 miles 5,750 feet gained 1 night
Started the climb around 5 AM & Worm Flow route taken. Was told Monitor Ridge route will open June 1st. Snow is melting out quickly & the first half mile or so was snow free. Put on crampons after crossing the rocky section. Took us about 5 hours to reach the top. Glissade a fair amount on the way down which cut about a mile on the decent.
May 5, 2018 10.33 miles 3,250 feet gained
Accessed Buck Mtn. via the Elbo Creek TH. Trail to the summit entirely snow free. Lots of eagle activity in the area must of seen around a dozen of them flying around while on the summit....both bald & golden.
April 28, 2018 8.67 miles 3,250 feet gained
Snow present for the last 1 1/2 miles of the assent. I used crampons for that section but one could make it to the summit w/o traction devices. Light snow showers at the 4200’ summit. No views due to the weather.
April 21, 2018 5.56 miles 2,500 feet gained
April 15, 2018 4.7 miles 1,500 feet gained
I have not done this hike for several years and decided to give it a go again as the Grandson had a football game the Puyallup area. Quite a bit of trail work has been done since I last hiked here with some elevated wooded pathways now over the really wet and muddy sections and in a couple places the trail has been re-routed due to what appears to be excessi...
March 31, 2018 8.52 miles 4,250 feet gained
The new Teneriffe TH parking lot is nice but it does add a lot of foot traffic to Teneriffe Falls. From the Falls we took the Kamikaze trail to the summit of Teneriffe. According to my GPS from the Falls the elevation gain is 2000’ in just over a mile so it is a steep climb. The last 1000’ is snow covered and microspikes were helpful in getting to the summit...
March 25, 2018 4.18 miles 2,000 feet gained
This is a nice short steep conditioning hike but you really need to go up one side to the summit, down the other side, and than repeat.... for it to be worthwhile.
March 17, 2018 6.5 miles 2,750 feet gained
Started from the Highpoint TH & took various trails up to summit 2. From their hike over to summit 3 & then descended via the Cable Line Trail.
March 10, 2018 9 miles 3,500 feet gained
Was shooting for the summit of Blue Mtn. but got a late start & settled on getting up to the top of Deer Ridge which was at approx 5700’. Microspikes used for the first 3 miles or so & than we swtched to snowshoes for the final bit.
March 3, 2018 5.98 miles 2,750 feet gained
Took Section Line Trail up to the summit of Tiger 3. Top 3rd of the trail was extremely icy & microspikes were used.
February 24, 2018 8.6 miles 2,500 feet gained
Hiked as far up as where the trail intersects with the lower Mt. Ellinor Trail. On this day the entire route was snow covered but no traction devices were used.
February 18, 2018 5.28 miles 2,000 feet gained
Took the Chirico Trail up to Poo Poo Point. They have really gentrified this trail with lots of new switchbacks & stone steps. For a short training hike the old trail was much better.
February 10, 2018 5.73 miles 2,750 feet gained
Section Line Trail to the summit of Tiger 3
February 3, 2018 6 miles 3,500 feet gained
Snow began a bit before the summit loop junction & while I used micro spikes I wish I had brought the snowshoes as the postholing became a pain the higher one climbed due to the warm temps.Trail to the top is relatively easy to follow after the junction. Just keep your eyes open for the orange ribbons.
January 27, 2018 4.5 miles 750 feet gained
January 21, 2018 4.75 miles 1,250 feet gained
Windy, rainy, muddy.....just a typical winter hike @ Pt. Defiance Park.
January 13, 2018 5.31 miles 1,250 feet gained
Began the hike at the Narada Falls TH. Snowshoe trails were clearly marked & easy to follow to the lake. The trail up to Pinnacle Saddle required some route finding & we quit when the post holing got hip deep.
January 6, 2018 4.72 miles 1,250 feet gained
Typical seasonal sloppy muddy trails. The dog is always up for a good sloppy hike with a quick clean up swim in the sound. Woof!
January 3, 2018 5.5 miles 2,250 feet gained
Nice views. One could clearly see 3 volcanoes along with downtown Seattle.
January 1, 2018 3.17 miles 1,000 feet gained
Annual New Years day hike with the family. Place was a zoo but once you hiked about a mile up from the visitor center the crowds thinned out.
