Nature's Playgrounds

Mt. Baker - June 26-28

2014-06-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

The final climb of the Bushwackers Glacier Course is always an attempt of Mt. Baker with a day of crevasse rescue on the Squak Glacier. Team One had a successful summit and great stories to share, but as Team Two prepared to set out, the forecast was looking a little grim. Despite 50% chance of showers, we were in good spirits as we met up bright and early at the Seddro-Wooley ranger station. We picked up our permits and headed to the Schrieber Meadows trailhead. We started on the trail for a brief section, but soon cut up the Metcalf Moraine navigating a few tricky stream crossings.

Lana picking her way across the creek

Said taking a turn

We made our way, slow but steady, onto the snow. We had brief views of the summit, but ominous clouds were rolling in. In route we saw a strange mammal on the snow--definitely not a marmot. Our best guess: Wolverine. We took a brief break at some flowing water to refill our water bottles, then slogged on the final push to Cragview Rock to set up camp.

One of our fleeting summit views

Heading up the snowfield

Nearly to camp

Goodbye views

At camp, we watched a WAC group practice their crevasse rescue skills on the same crack where we were planning to use the next day. It had started to mist and we were thankful to be down at camp and not up on the glacier. Little did we know what the next day had in store for us. Knowing the weather wasn't looking great, we decided to play it by ear in the morning. We had the entire next day reserved for crevasse rescue practice.

It rain most of the night and we woke to thick clouds and more rain. We waited around a bit, but when it showed no sign of clearing we geared up, roped up and headed to the crevasse. It was eerie knowing we were right next to a big crack but not being able to see it until we were near the edge. We wanded out the area, set up extra protection and took turns lowering each other into the crevasse. For those who don't know, crevasse rescue isn't a super speedy process, especially when you're first learning. Cycling through eight people took quite some time. It also involves a lot of standing around and lying in the snow. After several hours of being rained on, we were all pretty dang cold. In fact, the warmest spot on the glacier was inside the crevasse. I was the last one to finally get lowered down. It was a little unnerving taking the first step into the abyss, but it was pretty amazing to hang out down there.

I'm in a crevasse!

Wall of ice

Such a cool place

It was a wide crack

Just hanging out

The only thing connecting me to my team

Towards the end of the our practice the rain briefly stopped and the wind began howling. It was still super cold, but thanks to the wind we were almost dry. But that only lasted a minute. We thought we were going to make it back to camp dry, but with about 10 minutes left on our hike, it began to pour. Thank goodness we brought a kitchen tent to hang out in that afternoon/evening. Otherwise, I think we may have all gone a little stir crazy in our tents.

Making dinner

Soaked but in good spirits

By this time, we had all pretty much given up on a summit bid the next morning. Although, there was about 15 minutes where the clouds parted at 1:00 am, but it was short lived. We spent the next morning eating as much of our extra days worth of food as possible and waiting for a brief break in the rain. Luckily, we got our moment. For almost an hour, it didn't rain and we were able to pack up our camp in peace. The sun even shown ever so slightly. The mood at camp skyrocketed and we were loving being able to be out of our tents and not get wet. On the way back down our rain came back. We were all pretty ready to be warm and dry and drinking a beer and hustled to the cars as best we could. The trip definitely had its rough moments, but it was a great group of folks that knew how to make the best out of a difficult situation and I'm really thankful for that.

Our glorious break in the rain

Our kitchen

Glacier above camp near where we practiced

We almost had a view

Looking down from camp

Headed down the mountain

One final obstacle

Jake squeezing through

Camp Muir - June 8, 2014

2014-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I were looking to do a conditioner to prep for our upcoming trips to Mt. Baker. Camp Muir with almost 5,000 ft of elevation, mostly on snow, definitely fit the bill. This was my first time up to Muir and there were a few things that surprised me. First, you can see your destination for a good majority of the climb and although it looks pretty close, it still took quite a while to get to. Second, my body does not like transitioning to altitudes above 9,500 ft. I was feeling great then all of a sudden it started to hit me and it was like I was hiking in jello--everything just felt sluggish. Lastly, people do some terrifying things with their ice axes. I saw every crazy thing you could imagine including people holding their pick facing toward their stomachs, people glissading with their ice axes about to stab their thigh the moment they hit a bump and small children running and flailing with axes. I was certain I was going to have to use my WFA skills at any moment. Luckily we and everyone else on the mountain made it home in one piece.

Big R

Snowy Marmot

A rope team heading up

we had lots of company

Long line of folks climbing

Clouds rolling in

A little busty uppy

High above the clouds

Just a few people camped out

Gibraltar Rock

Cathedral Gap on the DC route

More tents

Scenic outhouses at 10,000 ft

Looking towards Mt Adams

Muir snowfield

Me and the Tatoosh range

Sarah

Snow over ice

Clouds taking over the summit

Silver Peak - May 31-June 1, 2014

2014-05-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

This overnight outing was part of the Bushwhackers Glacier Course. But before I go into the details of our trip a little back story. I was all set and ready to leave super early Saturday morning. Friday night Derrick and I went out with some friends to celebrate a birthday. Everything seemed normal and we headed to bed at a decent hour. Some where around 4 am Derrick wakes me up and says his stomach hurts. I go through the usual; did you take some medicine, what are your symptoms, why don't you just rest and try to sleep, etc. I fall back asleep and think nothing of it. About an hour later, Derrick wakes me up again and says it really hurts. He decides to call a 24 hr nurse line. The woman on the phone told him it could possibly be his gal bladder or something else major and he should go to the ER immediately. Although, I didn't know that's what she said at the time. We have a conversation about options and Derrick insists that its probably nothing and I shouldn't miss my trip. He decides to call his sister who arrives soon after I leave and takes him to the ER.

Well, long story short, my hike was in cell range almost the entire time so I start receiving text messages informing me about everything happening at the ER. They rushed him in for a bunch of test, decided it was an appendicitis and prepped him for immediate surgery. Sure enough the surgery was over before we even reached our camp site. It was a crazy turn of events that escalated way quicker than anyone expected. Needless to say, had I known he was going to have surgery, I would have definitely bailed on the trip. I love the mountains, but I love Derrick more.

With that said, it was a pretty awesome trip. Obviously the first part was a little weird, but once I knew all was well and our friends were looking after him at home post surgery, I was able to relax a little and enjoy a pretty sweet area.

We set up camp just below the large bowl below Silvers summit. We were in camp pretty early and spent time practicing our rope skills. It was a huge confidence booster to do team self arrests over and over and over and to be able to stop real falls. That evening, myself and some of team one headed up for a fun little scramble along the ridge to the summit for a lovely sunset and views over the cascades. The next day we walked through initial response and practiced setting anchors and belaying. All while enjoying a beautiful day of full sun above the clouds.

Looking down at Team One's campsite

Nice bowl below the summit

Team One getting ready to go

Team self arrest

More practice

Snoqualmie Peak

Silver Peak

Some folks hanging out on the ridge above the bowl

The bowl and our camps

Mt. Rainier

Annette Lake down below

Summit sunset

More sunset

Sunset over our camp

Sunset glow on the peaks north of I90

Sunny camp Sunday morning

Our camp above the clouds

Peaks of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Wrong Turn, Three Brother Teanaway Loop - May 24-26, 2014

2014-05-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Sam, Sarah, Derrick and I decided to kick off the backpacking season with a weekend in the Teanaways. After Sarah and my last great adventure in the Teanaway, we were pretty excited for some peak bagging and ridge camping. This time we set our site on the Stafford Creek basin. We drove up Friday night to car camp and get an early start on the trip.

Lower Stafford Creek Basin

After several miles on the trail we eventually began to reach the upper basin and break through the tress and on to the snow. At Navaho Pass, Sarah and I ditched the guys and head up to Wrong Turn peak, a quick climb ridge climb up the saddle to the left. The views were splendid although not quite as stunning as some of the neighboring peaks.

Snow covered Earl

Stuart

Panorama from Wrong Turn

Navaho from Wrong Turn

Back at the saddle we regrouped and set our sites on Navaho's south eastern ridge. We originally thought we could take the trail to the saddle, but struggled to find the trail even with relatively low snow. So instead we began a long, steep, scree-filled traverse. After getting completely sick of traversing, we found a less steep slope and headed up the scree to gain the ridge. It was a rather unpleasant climb that put us at our destination a bit later than we had intended. We quickly made a pizza dinner and set up camp. Unfortunately, Sam was suffering from some stomach issues and Derrick was at his limit of off trail route finding adventures. But Sarah and I were in high spirits and enjoyed a lovely sunset over a special landscape.

Sun setting on Earl

Rainier

The next morning Sarah and I set out for Three Brothers. The weather was starting to take a turn but we decided to go for it anyways. We found a section of the ridge without cornices and dropped down into the bowl on Navaho's southeast face. From there we fairly easily connected with the Three Brother's saddle and proceeded up the ridge. By time we made it to the top the wind, rain and snow had picked up and the views were lacking. We made quick time back to the bowl and then up the snowy slope back to camp.

Busted up cornices east of Navaho

Snowy side of Navaho's ridge

Miller

Three Brothers

At camp, we met up with the guys and began descending the ridge towards the saddle between Navaho and Freedom. Once in the saddle we debated whether or not we were going to go for Freedom. The guys were not motivated to climb anything in the deteriorating weather and Sarah and I decided we were content with our two summits. We then began to descend from the saddle back down to the Stafford Creek trail. The descent was fairly straight forward. We stayed on a slight ridge to the left of a gully. Once on the trail we made good time back to the car.

Clouds over Earl

Clouds blasting Freedom

Three Brothers

Navaho and Three Brothers

Derrick at our ridge campsite

One more look at Earl

Stats:

2 days

5,984 ft of elevation

14.2 miles

Teneriffe Falls - 4/5/14

2014-04-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

For my birthday weekend, I wanted to get out and do a little hike. Unfortunately the weather wasn't looking too great so Derrick and I decided to head to Teneriffe Falls. The trail stays mostly in the trees so the rain wasn't too bad. The falls were nice, but nothing too impressive.

Stats:

1,420 ft elevation

6 miles

Stegasaurus Butte - 2/8/14

2014-02-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I were feeling the need for a winter leg stretcher and decided to check out Stegosaurus Butte near the Pratt River trailhead. This was a pretty straight forward ridge climb up to a high point. There was some snow, but we didn't need our axes. Tucker came along for one of his first off trail adventures.

Garfield

Stats:

1,100 feet of elevation

1.4 miles round trip

The Enchantments - Round 2

2013-09-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

Derrick and I managed to scored Enchantments core zone permits for six, but unfortunately none of our friends could make it, so we set off just the two of us. Having done this route before, we had a better idea of what to expect and made it up Asgard Pass without much issue.

Ready to go

Blue water of Colchuck

Culchuck Peak

Dragon's tail and the lake

Taking a breather on Asgard

This sign may bit a tad bit misleading

Once in the basin we wandered for quite a while trying to find the ideal campsite. Eventually we headed down the trail towards Perfection Lake. We thought we could take a short cut to Crystal Lake by skirting around the west side of Perfection Lake. It was going well until we were just about 20 feet above the lake when we started to get cliffed out. Maybe with fresh legs and no packs we could have made the final descent. But the steep drop down was a little too much after a long day. We headed back up to the ridge above Perfection, found a pretty sweet site and watched a lovely sunset.

We got cliffed out just near the center of the photo

The next day we headed back up the trail a bit to climb Little Annapurna. It was a fun straight forward scramble up big solid rock. Once on top we were treated to stunning views and lounged for a while taking it all in. Afterwards we headed back down, grabbed our packs and went to check out Crystal Lake.

Inspiration Lake

Looking towards Little Annapurna

The "stone henge" of Little Annapurna

Needle-like spires down below

The Teanaways

Derrick on top of the world

A beautiful basin

Good times

Looking back at witches tower

Dropping back down to Inspiration

Crystal Lake

Sprite Lake

Leprechaun Lake

After relaxing there for a while, we headed to one of our favorite campsites near Lake Vivian. We enjoyed the site, went for a brief swim and then watched some ominous clouds begin to roll in. As it begin to get dark the thunder and lightening began. It was near enough to be impressive, but not so close that we were worried.

Lake Vivian

Derrick's tent trench

Waterfall campsite

The next morning we had planned to climb McClellan, but lowering clouds started to deter us. We decided to have a relaxed morning, explore Temple Lake and then go spend a night in Leavenworth.

Morning mist over the lake

Sun and clouds

Clouds hanging out in the basin

Looking down at Lake Vivian

The after shot

Stats for the trip:

Day 1: 6,611 ft in 10.3 miles

Day 2: 2,173 ft in 5.1 miles

Day 3: 1,394 ft in 9.5 miles (6,857 ft descent)

Grand Total: 8,859 ft in 22 miles

Laboring at 9,000ft - Leory Creek Basin, Seven Finger Jack, Ice Lakes, & Carne Mtn High Route

2013-09-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend, Sarah and I headed out for an epic few days in the Entiat Mountains of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Our journey was momentarily halted by a down tree blocking the road. Luckily we're two pretty strong chicks and after a lot of grunting and lifting we were able move the massive piece of wood and continue on our way. In not time we were at the incredibly popular and scenic Phelps Creek trailhead (gateway to Spider Meadow).

A little road maintenance in route (the tree was much bigger than it looks!)

The view of Seven Fingered Jack and Maude from the trailhead

The trail starts pretty wide and flat as we passed dozens of families and big groups who were luckily not going our way. We had been told, that after about 4 miles you cross a creek and there's a small boot path that heads up to the right going to Leroy Creek Basin. Not wanting to miss our turn we were on the look out for any thing that might be the path. Unfortunately, there is also a nicely traveled animal track that is also just around 3.5 miles after crossing a creek. Whoops, slight detour as we headed into the bushes up the wrong trail which started to feel wrong pretty quickly and was confirmed by our gps as being about half a mile too soon. Upon seeing the real "boot trail" we felt pretty silly. There is no way you can miss this trail, there's nothing small or faint about it and Leroy Creek was a much bigger creek than the others we'd previously crossed.

Now on the right trail we began our climb strait up. Almost 3,000 feet later we were enjoying the beauty of the basin and in search of a place to set up camp. There are several large campsites on the lower basin and even a toilet, but we decided to head into the upper basin to be closer to our next destination. We passed one group at the lower campsite and could see another setting up down below. We were quite happy with our campsite and its view of Glacier Peak and the Phelps ridge.

Leroy Creek Basin

Seven Fingered Jack

Our campsite in the upper basin

Sunset and larch

Sunset over Buck (left) and Glacier (right)

Sunrise from the tent

Beautiful Glacier

Sunrise Panorama

The next morning we were up early and off to tackle our next challenge Seven Fingered Jack. 7FJ is a jagged ridge consisting of seven finger peaks, the tallest being the one furthest north. AT 9,242 it's the 4th highest non-volcanic peak in Washington. It's a fairly straight forward scramble, no more than class III. The route is pretty straight forward. You head up to the bench at about 7,800, then cut left staying well below the cliffs. We made the mistake of heading up to steeply and close to the cliffs. Stuff starts to get a little interesting in this area. If you feel like you're doing some class IV moves, it's best to drop down a bit and gain your elevation further north. Eventually you will hit a deep narrow ravine, cross the ravine at its top and follow the climbers trail from that point to the near by summit. We made it to the summit by about 9:00 am. The views were phenomenal and we had the summit all to ourselves.

Heading to the bench to start the ascent

We went the red route, the green route is much more mellow

Looking down at our campsite (direct middle of shot)

I made it!

So did Sarah!

Looking down at the last section of the scramble

Glacier Peak

Daniel, Hinnman, and Rainier

Bonanza, such a beast of a mountain

Fernow, this one is on the list to do soon

Looking down the Entiat River Basin

Huge mounds of glacial sediment

The downclimb was much faster, now knowing the best route. We returned to our campsite, had a little rest, packed up and began our climb to Ice Lakes. From the basin you head to the obvious saddle to the south. There's a well travelled path from this saddle to the saddle above Ice Lakes. We had originally planned to bag Maude as well, but realizing that 7FJ is slightly higher and has pretty much the same views we decided to save ourselves the additional 2,000ft of scree and just enjoy our time at Ice Lakes.

There were several big trenches that we had to cross

Looking back at 7FJ

Maude from the Ice Lakes saddle

Upper Ice Lake

Once at the lakes we found a nice spot and begin to explore around. The terrain makes you feel a little like you've landed on the moon. Not much vegetation. In many places the group is made up of these golf ball sized pumice pieces that kind of feel like walking on a cloud. It was pretty awesome. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and watching the occasional climber. We even saw one person ski down the basin below Maude! I can't imagine how it was worth dragging up skis for a run that lasted about 15 seconds, but then again, I'm not a skier.

Flowers at the edge of the lake

Spectacled Buttes

The back of the Carne Mtn High Route

The next morning we got up and went for a walk around the lakes to further explore the area. Then it was time to check out the Carne Mtn High Route. This is a boot path that leads you just below the summits of the ridge and ends at Carne Mtn, where you reconnect with an established trail leading back to the Phelps Creek Trailhead. We'd heard mix reviews about the route finding so wanted to leave ourselves plenty of time. Our plan was to camp either at the saddle before Carne or at the summit.

Below Ice Lakes

A little pool along the creek

pumice rocks

Lower Ice Lake

Ice box and Freezer Mountains

Sarah by the lake

Lunar landscapes

stripes

Maude and Upper Ice Lake

Climbing a chimney to get between the lakes

Heading onto the Carne Mtn High Route

The route turned out to be pretty straight forward, but involves a lot of scree. It's basically a series of bowls between saddles that you traverse, making sure to never loose too much elevation until you pass the saddle with the big knob and drop into Box Creek Basin. There was one area that got kind of cliffy and briefly perplexed us, but we were able to find an area to safely downclimb and continue. Before too long we were at the saddle before Carne and kicking ourselves for not refilling our water at Box Creek. We were pretty low and the area around Carne is dry. Camping here was not going to be an option.

Looking back at Maude

First saddle

Cliffy section

That saddle is our destination

Sarah climbing down a steep section

The knob by Box Creek Basin

Box Creek Basin

Flowers and Knob

Looking back at the route from Carne

Carne Panorama

We met a couple near the summit who confirmed that there was a creek along the trail below Carne, but that would mean dropping down and 1,000 ft. We decided to abandon watching the sunset from our tent on top of Carne and head down to camp near the creek. We were less impressed with the creek basin and there was already anther tent set up in the best camping spot. So after some deliberation, we decided to just refill our water and make for the switch backs back to the car. We had really wanted to spend another night in this beautiful area, but we were already so close to the trailhead and our options for campsites were pretty slim. The switchbacks felt long and grueling on our tired bodies, but were done with pretty quick. We were at the trailhead around 5pm and had plenty of time for a stop at 59er diner for celebratory burgers and shakes before making the drive back to Seattle.

Elevation Profile

Stats for the trip:

Day 1: 6 miles, 4115ft

Day 2: 4 miles, 3,650ft

Day 3: 7.7 miles 2018ft (5733ft descent! No wonder we hurt)

Grand Total: 9,786ft in 17.7 miles

Mirror Lake and Tinkham Peak - August 25, 2013

2013-08-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Looking for a more low key day, Derrick and I met up with Greta and Matt and headed to Mirror Lake near Lost Lake on I90. At Lost Lake, we were met with the after math of what looked like a giant party at the lake the night before with bottles everywhere and people passed out in cars. From there we hit the trail and made the easy hike into Mirror Lake with a quick stop at the less-interesting Cottonwood Lake.

From the lake, it was a pretty straight forward class 2 scramble up the ridge and to the summit. We followed a noticeable boot path for much of the route. Once on top we were treated to lovely view made extra dramatic by the smoke out on the eastside of the mountains. It was a great quick outing that allowed us to be back in the city by mid-afternoon.

Heading up the ridge

Derrick lounging on the summit

Haze to the east

Lost Lake and part of Keechelus

I90 summits

Silver Peak

Tinkham Potholes

Looking southeast

Stuart stands alone

Mt Rainier

Heading back down

Greta on the descent

Matt and the boulder field

Derrick and Mirror Lake

Alpine Lakes Wilderness Lake Bagging - August 16-19

2013-08-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's been two years since I was last at Derrick Lake and at the end of that trip I was swearing off ever returning at least via the fisherman's trail. It's hard for me to place what it is about that trail, but it always seems to do me in more than most hikes. It's definitely not the hardest or the steepest or even the scariest, instead it's just relentless and wears you down. And for some reason I always rip my pants on this trail. But alas, I once again found myself packing for a trip to this lake and more.

Day 1
This time, I decided I wanted to try coming in via Snow Lake and make a loop. I knew it would be more miles, but I was hoping it might be a bit more enjoyable of a trek. We started off at the Dingford Creek trailhead on a Friday morning with plans to take the back way up to Snow Lake. The first few miles are quick and mostly flat along the Middle Fork. Then you start the climb. At first, the trail was really enjoyable. Nice climb through mossy forests with lots of ripe red huckleberries. Then, we started encountering blow downs, not bad at first, but soon progressed to an annoying level. The trail then starts to open up and you are on rocky switchbacks looking at the outflow from Snow Lake. This would be great except the plants were in a battle against the trail and they were winning. It was a lot of pushing your way through head high vegetation and hoping that your foot was still on solid ground. This took us quite a bit longer than we were planning.

The climbing begins

Views start to open up

Rocky trail (this was the more maintained section)

Chair peak making an appearance above the Snow Lake outlet

Eventually we made it to Snow Lake really envious of all the folks that had come in from I90 and had a highway of a trail and about 1,000 ft less elevation. I should also mention that we were hauling up our new raft for this trip, which is not one of those fancy lightweight backpacking rafts, in fact it's heavier than our previous one. I'm pretty sure the beast weighed in at around 12lbs(!) and is really just a glorified pool toy. So there was that and some celebratory beverages that were making our packs stupidly heavy.

Snow Lake

Snow Lake Panorama

A moment to relax

Blue and green water

After a little rest, it was back to the trail. We were up at Gem Lake pretty quickly then began our descent down to the Wildcats. At Upper Wildcat Lake we bid the trail fair well and began the real adventure. I had been here before and had my sites set on the little island. We blew up our raft (we saved weight by leaving behind the pump) and hoped our vessel was seaworthy enough to handle the paddle. The island was nice. It gave us a view of the other end of the lake that you can't normally see. There was one small tent site and a couple old fire rings (which we didn't use).

Gem Lake

One of the small lakes before Lower Wildcat

Lower Wildcat through the trees

Upper Wildcat

I really hope this raft holds us both and all our stuff!

still floating

Our little island campsite

What separated us from the mainland

Cool bark

Pine needles

Day 2
The next morning, we packed up, floated our raft, and headed up the ridge towards Caroline. The going was pretty straight forward, up the boulder field on the north east end of the lake then proceeded along the ridge. We found flagging tape and a bit of a boot path, but basically just followed the ridge. We considered going up Carolyn peak, but the clouds kept rolling in and out and we figured the views would be pretty minimal. Before too long we found ourselves looking down at Caroline Lake. We dropped down near the outlet (you get cliffed out if you drop too early). The lake was nice, but really windy. We had lunch, and then decided to move on.

Looking down on our island

Roosevelt

Wright and Mt Roosevelt

One last look at Upper Wildcat

Mt Caroline

Preacher Mtn

Our first glimpse at Derrick Lake

Lake Caroline Panorama

Mt Caroline from a different perspective

The view to the north

All the information we read described our next section down to Hatchet Lake as "straightforward," "easy," and "no problem." We beg to differ. Although it does look straightforward on the map, this was the most challenging section of our trip. There was nothing even close to a boot path or marker in this area. We contoured around the little high point north of the lake dropping just slightly. It was steep, slick, and slow but pretty open. We then reached the ridge, which on the map looks like it should be a nice walk on down. It's not. It's a mess of huge huckleberries and slide alders and other green things you have to battle through. Things with strong branches that some how always ended up popping back and smacking you right in the shins no matter what you try. It also had quite a few small hidden cliffs that kept re-routing our progress. It was do-able, but it wasn't pretty.

We ended up just below Hatchet at it's outflow. Derrick (the human not the lake) was so over it that he didn't even want to walk the extra 100ft to actually see the lake, but I convinced him to give it a look. We then debated a little about how best to drop to Derrick Lake, our destination for the evening. We decided to go down between the outflow of Hatchet and Caroline. Once safely on the shores of Derrick Lake we inflated the raft and begun our voyage across the lake. We were greeted by a group fishing who headed out early the next morning. Luckily our favorite campsite was open and we set up for the night.

Hatchet Lake

Foam flower reophyte

Finally on the shores of Derrick Lake

Derrick Lake

Moon

Happy camper

Moon reflection

Cloudy moon

Day 3
After battling lots of rocks and vegetation, this was our day to relax. We lingered around camp for a while then decided to do a little side trip up to Horseshoe Lake. Luckily this was an easy trip. Headed north a little then climbed the boulder field to the ridge, then an easy ridge walk to the lake. Horseshoe is a great little lake and we started to wish we had hauled our stuff up here to camp. It's more open than some of the other bigger lakes and it was surprisingly warm. We decided to take a little swim out to the island about 3/4 of the way down the lake. It was really nice. We thought about visiting Shamrock and Elbow, but decided we needed to leave something for the next trip. We spent several hours in this area just lounging around before heading back down for some rafting and huckleberry picking around Derrick. It was definitely our favorite day.

Looking down on our camp site

Derrick and his lake

Horseshoe Lake

The little rock island

Soaking up some sun

Taking a load off

Mmmm...Huckleberries

Day 4
The next morning we were up early knowing we had a slow descent down the fisherman's trail. I really have a love hate relationship with this trail. It has moments where it seems great, a good adventure, but then there are moments where you want nothing more than to be done with it. The water level at Little Derrick was much lower than our past trip making the walk around the lake a breeze. Then began the creek boulder descent. This section is fine until the giant rock that forces you out of the creek and down one of the steep sides. In the past we had come up the west side and I hated the climb up steep slick dirt. This time I decided I would try the east side. Not any better. I traded dry slick dirt for wet slick rock, but I made it. Next time I'm bringing a hand line.

Sunrise at Derrick Lake

Sunrise reflection

Little Derrick Lake

Sliding down the creek

This lovely area blocks your progress

so you take wet slick rock

or dry slick dirt

There was one other tricky spot in the creek. I opted to lower down my pack so I could shimmy down a steep section without it. Unfortunately my pack landed with more force than I thought and rolled about 5 feet landing in the creek soaking my lunch. Eventually we were out of the creek and up the steep rocks to the trail through the huckleberries and the towards Tin Cup Joe Falls. This went relatively fast. There are a few steep section, but they all had good roots to use for hand and foot holds. This is probably my favorite part of the trail.

Thankful for those roots

Down we go

This part is actually fun

A little hard to see the trail though

loosing elevation quickly

After the crossing below the falls, it feels like you should be home free, but the two massive piles of blow downs (each about 50 trees) bring you to a screeching halt. By time we made it over those we were really ready to be at the car. Just a little bit longer through the second growth forest and then we were back on real trail! A mile more of that and we were back where we started.

Looking back this trip definitely had some moments where Derrick and I would turn to each other and wonder why we were doing this, but overall it's a grand adventure and you do feel really accomplished with each lake reached.

Mt Washington - August 11, 2103

2013-08-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

A group of seven of us from the Bushwhackers head up to Mt Washington in the Eastern Olympics as part of Patrick and Celese's annual climb and BBQ. Mt Washington at 5944ft, is the second large peak on the left that you see when you look out at the Olympics from Seattle. It sees significantly less people than its neighbor to the south, Eleanor. This is a pretty short but steep scramble that starts from an unmarked pull off along the road and heads up a climbers trail. There are numerous routes to the summit, but we opted for the easiest and probably most common, nothing more than a few brief class 3 sections. Patrick had done this hike about 8 times and had the route down.

The hike up was a lot more interesting than some scrambles, with a lot of variation in the terrain. There were several distinct sections (all of which Patrick had named) that felt almost like you were progressing through levels on a video game.

We met up early in Hoodsport and were in good spirits despite some ominous and foggy weather. Luckily, by time we were at the trail head, things were looking up a bit. At least we could actually see the mountain! The first section of the hike is probably the steepest. It follows a boot path through huckleberry bushes (which were ripe!) and ends at the "Meandering Meadow."

Mt Washington from the trailhead

After the meadows comes another section of boot path under forest cover (mostly cedar) with a few blow downs obstructing the way. This ends in at the "Primal Scree" which is a little bit of a two steps forward one step back kind of place. Soon after this you reach a pivotal moment, either enter the "Holy Gully" or take the "Round About Ridge." In the words of Doug, "gullies are for the gullible." You definitely want the ridge. Cross the little creek before it heads into the gully and climb up about 20 ft to the ridge. The ridge leads up towards a big knob and then begins the "Upper Meadows."

The knob at the start of the upper meadows

Marine layer over the Puget Sound

The Upper Meadow, (the Secret Ramp is just left of the snow field)

After a nice walk through the meadow, things get a bit more scrambley. There's a section of walking next to a cliff wall and then a second scree field and the oh so important "Secret Ramp" that leads up to the saddle. From the saddle you follow the boot path up and climbers right. There's one short section that is a little exposed, but really it looks worse than it is. Then its a little scramble up and around to the summit. Unfortunately, most of our summit view were obstructed by clouds, but we still had a great time. It was a little over three hours to the top and less time back down.

Our view from the pass

Fortified tent site on the saddle

Final summit block

One exposed section, not as bad as it looks

Group summit shot

Climbers in route

Brief summit view

More clouds rolling in

Looking down towards where we started

These kinds of moves not necessary

Heading down towards the Upper Meadow

It's a little bit slippery here

Patrick heading down

Our track

Thanks to all for a great trip!

Tuck & Robin Lakes with a side of Trico & Granite - August 3-4, 2013

2013-08-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've had my sights on these lakes for quite a while now. I considered doing this as a day hike, but luckily Sarah pointed out that if you make it up to these lakes you really should also hit Granite and Trico mountain. She was definitely right! So our hiking foursome decided to make a weekend out of it.

We headed out on the fairly long drive to the trailhead on Friday after work. We got there right around dark and set up our tents in a spot just outside the parking lot. I think this was an area commonly used for horses because we woke up the next morning realizing we had set up our tents in a field of dried horse crap. Oops.

We were on the trail nice and early Saturday morning. The first few miles is mostly flat along Tucquala Meadows and Hyak Lake. We were treated to a few views of Cathedral Rock and surrounding peaks. We then began to climb up the switch backs towards deception pass and then turned off onto the Tuck and Robin Lakes trail. Several trip reports I read made this trail sound pretty hairy, but we found it pretty easy going up to Tuck Lake. It's steep mind you, but has switchbacks and is pretty descent terrain.

First views of the mountains

Daniels makes an appearance

We made it to Tuck Lake for lunch. There were several groups camped along the shores. Tuck is a nice lake and does have some good views of Daniels away from the shore, but really it's nothing special compared to what lied ahead. We traversed around the right side of the lake navigating lots of different social trails until we were at a little gully heading up. The gully ended in a flat area that eventually opened up into a rocky landscape with views down to Hyas Lake. From here we continued up through a mix of scree, boulders, and trail., ending with a walk up a big granite slab. I thought this section of the trail was actually a lot of fun (although steep) because the terrain varied a lot and there were great views.

Island on Tuck Lake

Tuck Lake

Stormy Daniels

Baby Marmot

Views along the way to Robin Lakes

The final section of the climb

We then entered the Robin Lakes basin. It was beautiful. There was some weather developing to the west so we decided to set up camp quickly in case of a storm. We found a great spot on the ridge between the two lakes that had phenomenal views of Daniels and Cathedral over Lower Robin. We had the basin mostly to ourselves with the exception of one couple camped in a group of trees. The dark clouds produced no rain, but did put on quite a show of shadows over the peaks. After some relaxation we decided to head over to Trico.

Daniels and Lower Robin from our campsite

Can't get enough of this mountain

Cathedral Rock & Bear's Breast

Derrick gives it the thumbs up

Upper Robin Lake

Upper Robin Panorama

Trico is an easy walk along the ridge to the northwest. We were treated to great views of the Granite Mountain Potholes (mostly below us). Each lake was stunning and offered a slightly different perspective on the rocky landscape. Not really much climbing involved to get to this peak despite its dramatic cliffs on the east side. We were a little unsure which of the high points was the actual summit so we visited them all. The clouds were rolling in but never completely obscured the views.

Trico

Subalpine Fir

Cliffs on Trico

Bering in the clouds

Clouds over Daniels

Derrick and Sam on Trico

Looking down at Phoebe Lake

Trico summit looking towards Granite

Cloud vs Mountain

One of the Potholes

Trico and Pothole

Marmot overlooks his kingdom

Closer view of marmot

More potholes

Back at camp we were surprised to see that a small army of tents had moved into the flat area between the two lakes not too far from our tucked away campsite. It looked like a large father daughter group of some sorts. I think a lot of people settle on this spot because it is the most obvious campsite. However, there are a lot of more private campsites all over the area if you look for them. Even with our new neighbors there were still more goats in the area than humans. We counted around 20 or more. They weren't exactly shy, but were far from being aggressive.

Goat over Robin

We decided to hold off on Granite until the morning since we had already put in quite a lot of elevation for one day. Plus it was time for dinner. As the evening set in, the sky cleared a bit and we enjoyed watching the sunset cast a glow on the alpine area around us. It is a truly beautiful place.

The sunset begins

Cloud reflection

Great clouds

Alpine glow

This is the life!

Watching the show

Granite (not actual summit)

Pretty perfect

Tent army (I think there were a few more out of view)

Evening settles in

The next morning we were up early and went for a quick climb up Granite. You basically follow the ridge from between the lakes up, head east to cross a snowfield in the saddle and then it's a straight shot to Granite. We realized what you see from down at the lakes is not the actual summit, real one is a bit behind. It was a clear day and we had outstanding views in all directions. So many peaks and lakes. I would have loved to piece together a traverse on some of the ridges, but alas we had to return to the city. The trip down was uneventful, again we saw lots of people at Tuck Lake. Once at the car it was time for an early dinner at the Roslyn Brewery and quick stop for jerky for next weekends adventure. Another great trip!

Baby Goat

Rainier makes an appearance

More goats

On the saddle above Robin

Crossing the snowfield

Granite summit view

Small tarns below

looking north

So many great areas to explore

Toward Klonaqua Lakes

Stewart

Sarah on summit

Glacier

Granite (real summit on right)

Pinnacle & Bathtub Lakes - July 28, 2013

2013-07-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

After celebrating Derrick's B-day on Friday and having a lazy Saturday it was time to head back to the mountains. Today's destination; bathtub lakes.

This basin of lakes has been on my radar for a while and fit the bill for a nice day hike. We headed up fairly early to the Mountain Loop Highway and set out on the trailhead for Pinnacle Lake. About six years ago their had been a tragic double homicide on this trail, which weighed heavy on my mind and gave this area a slightly melancholy feeling. It was a nice little trail however.

We made it to Pinnacle relatively quickly and enjoyed the views at this pretty little lake. We didn't linger too long. Instead we headed up Iodine Gulch for our destination. The climb up the gulch was pretty straight forward, first along the creek, then up a steep meadow section. There was a little snow lingering in the top of the gulch and some more at the pass, but didn't require an ax. We met a group of three on our way up but the basin was mostly empty.

Pinnacle Lake

Heading up the gulch

As soon as we crested the saddle our slightly cloudy day turned into a weird world of fog. We decided it reminded us a little of the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings (although less creepy). The area was quite nice although it really felt like we had been transported to a totally different landscape from the lake we were just at. We explored the 16 or so little lakes making a little loop out of it. We originally were planning to summit Pilchuck but decided to pass based on the fog. Views did role in and out through out the afternoon, but I'd love to visit again on a nice warm sunny day. We were surprised by the amount of snow that still lingered this late into July. The hike down was uneventful and the sun returned as soon as we left the basin.

Marmot Pass - Charlia - Buckhorn July 13-15, 2013

2013-07-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had a work event on Saturday morning in Grayland and again on Monday night in Port Angeles, and guess what lies between these two towns...the Olympic Mountains! Not wanting to lose an entire beautiful July weekend to work, I dragged along Derrick to my work events and we managed to squeeze in two nights of backpacking. Destination-- Marmot Pass and beyond.

Marmot Pass is on the eastside of the Olympics in the Buckhorn Wilderness about 5 miles up the Big Quilicene River Valley and receives lots of praise in guide books and trip reports and for us, this trip did not disappoint. Because I had to work for the first half of the day and because Grayland isn't exactly close to this hike, we didn't make it to the trail head until almost 7:00pm. We decided to just hike in as far as we could and set up camp for the night. We were hoping to at least get to Shelter Rock campground or beyond, but after about an hour of hiking we were informed that a large group of kids had taken over that spot so we decided to just call it an early night at a little spot near the creek just before Shelter Rock.

Camp the first night

At some time in the wee hours of the night I woke up to Derrick informing me that there was an animal outside our tent and it was digging. I thought he was crazy and should go back to sleep, but sure enough there was a pretty good size pile of dirt on the rain fly. He thought it was a badger, but I had a hard time believing it. After a few minutes the culprit revealed himself—a tiny little mouse. Again, I tried to go back to sleep, but Derrick was not happy with the little rodent. His solution; turning his headlamp on and shining it where the mouse had been digging, all night long! Well, it did work.

The next morning, we were up and on the trail by about 8:00 and up at the pass around 10:00am. Since it was a Sunday, we saw lots of folks coming down from the pass and went in search of a place to set up for the night. From the pass we continued up the south ridge over to the second high point where we found a nice spot to camp. The views were great and there was a patch of melting snow that had enough of a trickle to pump water from. After a little lounging we decided to head down the southern ridge towards Charlia Lake and explore.

The view looking south from our campsite

Looking down the Big Quilicene

One of the high points along the ridge

Looking to the west

Looking down at Boulder Shelter

If you look real closely you'll see our tent (and Grey Wolf Mtn)

The summits of Buckhorn

Derrick going up

A scenic little tarn along the way

There's a bit of a goat trail/boot path along the ridge. It took us on a bit of a scramble up to a high point at about 6520, then flattened out a little and headed down and around to the south side of Lower Charlia Lake's north ridge. Here we took in some nice views of the lake and enjoyed a little lunch. We debated about dropping down to Charlia, but decided against it. The route to our right cliffed out pretty quickly and to our left was lots of steep scree. It would have been doable, but not much fun. Instead we headed back and dropped down to a tarn on the north side of this little ridge.

Lower Charlia Lake

The ridge south of Charlia

The ridge to the north of Charlia

Rainier and the Puget Sound

Charlia Pass

Dropping down towards the tarn

We had lugged our ice axes along on this trip, which led to lots of questions from day hikers lowers down in the valley. We did briefly use them on a snow field heading down to the tarn, but 98% of what we did was snow free. The tarn was actually quite nice and offered us a chance to refill on water. We watched two goats high up on the ridge slowly make their way down. They had no fear of us and walked right up, a little too close for comfort. It was almost like they had been fed in the past. We thought they were interested in our salt, but they could care less about the spots were we "left our salt." Eventually they move onto a snow patch and just reclined.

Derrick on a big rock

The tarn turned out to actually be pretty large

Reflections

Ahh, the joy of the mountains

One of our goat friends

We picked our way back up to our campsite and began to make our dinner. Soon after, our two goat friends came to join us. It started to get a little creepy as we felt like we were being stalked. We'd looked at them and they'd wander a bit behind the trees. We'd go back to what we were doing and then about five minutes later look behind us and they'd be sneaking up again. This continued for a lot of the evening. By sunset, they had moved on.

Mount Mystery panorama

Sunset panorama

Sunset over Seattle and the Cascades

The next morning we were up early to tag Buckhorn before we headed back to the car. Buckhorn was a quick climb up the ridge to a beautiful view. This peak has a high pay off for relatively little work. Gorgeous views of some of the big Olympic peaks; Constance, Deception, Warrior, Mystery etc, as well as views out over the Puget Sound and into the Cascades. Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Rainier, Glacier, and Baker were all visible. We had the summit to ourselves, well us and a very gutsy chipmunk that stole one of our almonds. After about an hour we pulled ourselves away and headed back down. Two hours later we were at our car. Great weekend in the mountains.

Fog over the Puget Sound

Rainier and Adams in the fog

St Helens

Derrick on the summit

Constance and Warrior

Buckhorn summit panorama

I could stay here all day

Buckhorn Lake

The other summit of Buckhorn and Iron Mtn

Looking north from Buckhorn

Summit chipmunk!

Our approximate route

Snowking June 22-24, 2013

2013-06-28T22:34:00.003-07:00

Myself plus eight others set out on an ambitious adventure to tag Snowking mountain as the final outing of the Bushwacker's scrambling course. We found it to be quite an adventure. Snowking is a peak on the edge of the Glacier Peak Wilderness not too far from Marblemount. It is accessed from the Cascade River Road (starting at 1,200 ft) via a long steep bushwack up Kindy Ridge. The original plan was to head to a small lake near Cyclone Lake to set up camp for two nights.

After a few exciting creek crossings in our fleat of Subarus, we hit the trail head around 11:00. The hike starts up old road which is now quite overgrown. It gains elevation steadily, but not very steeply. After about three miles the trail opens up and a boot path leads steeply up the hillside. We named this area crescent wrench meadows thanks to two wrenches we found sitting on a rock in almost pristine condition. After a quick lunch we headed up the path.

Crescent Wrench Meadow

This next section is quite steep. The trail is fairly visible, although large blow downs obscure it in some sections. It is very direct, but slow going. After a few hours, we reached a section of trail that comes very near a creek to the west around 4,200ft. There is a small waterfall here. At this point the trail was pretty flooded by snow melt and began to partially covered in snow. By 4,400ft the trail was pretty much all covered, but we continued to climb. We briefly encountered the trail again and used it to traverse the side of the 5116 high point. This turned out to be the only high point of the trip we didn't have to cross.

Diane forges up the climbers trail

Soon after we reached a small saddle and took a brief break. From here it was more up as we continued to follow the ridge. Originally we thought we could skirt around the next high point (5791) but we were blocked by sections of unstable snow and large rock boulders. At this point it was also getting late and we began to realize setting up camp near Cyclone was not realistic. Instead we decided to check out the top of 5791 and see if there was a good spot to set up camp. This turned out to be a great decision. This little summit offered a nice protected area for our tents and panoramic views of the surrounding areas. We arrived at about 7:30 that evening and tiredly dug out tent sites, melted, snow, and cooked dinner. The sunset was quite nice and the super moon was out in full glory. After about 6 miles and 4500ft we had no trouble falling fast asleep.

Our first view of Snowking

The summit near our camp

Heading up to our camp

Digging out the vestibule after a long day

Panorama from Camp

El Dorado

Hidden Lake Peak and Lookout

Sun beginning to set on Snowking

A Beautiful place

Our camp site with a view

Mt. Formidable

Johannesburg

Watching the sunset

Moon rising

Hidden Lake Peak and El Dorado at Sunset

Snowking sunset

Super moon

The next morning it was time for the real adventure--the summit. We had spent the previous evening staring down Snowking which still seemed pretty far away and rather intimidating. Regardless we headed out ready to conquer. Our team for day two was down to six. Several folks had decided to stay back due to injury and illness, but we were still in good spirits.

From camp we had to drop down about 550ft to a saddle, then climb back up an additional 500ft. This proved to be the theme of the day as three additional high point stood between our camp and the summit. The first two weren't bad. They were snowy and involved kicking steps, but weren't too steep. The next one we decided to attempt to contour around. This was not such a great idea. Things started out fine, but we soon found ourselves on a steep slope with icy snow that did not take steps very well. It involved a lot of concentration and caution to make our way across this slope. The snow field ended when we reached a clump of trees that felt kind of like a dead end. Continuing on was too treacherous because of moats from melting snow. Dropping down, was also pretty rough. It left us with one option--clawing our way through a clump of steep vegetation. This wasn't pretty, but it was the safest option and eventually got us back on the ridge a bit below the high point.

Taking a break along the way

Doing a bit of map and compass work

Looking toward Snowking Lake

Snack break

From here, everything was pretty straight forward. Summit one more high spot on the ridge and then kick step our way up to Snowking. Straigh forward, however, does not equal easy. It was slow going and it felt like we were in a race against the clock, trying to beat our 2:30 turn around time. Eventually, after many snowy steps we made it to the rocky summit block.

Lots of snowy climbing

So close, yet so far away

Almost there

It was another 150ft or so to the summit. Unfortunately it was across a rocky mess that was obscured by weak snow patches. The weather had also been taking a turn this day and rain was quickly approaching. After a few minutes of discussion we decided that it would take us way too long to pick our way up this last section and the best approach was blocked by thin unstable snow. It was bitter sweet to be so close, but not on the actual summit. We stayed positive and declared our rock pile its own little summit. We hunkered down out of the wind, enjoyed a few snacks and the fading view and decided it was time to head down.

Looking west at the storm approaching

Frozen lakes down below

The valley to the southwest

The summit block

Panorama from the "summit"

Mutchler

Out to the north

Doug on our "summit"

It's windy up here

Our camp on the high point on the right and the three additional high points we crossed

Going down was a breeze. It took us about 45 minutes to come down what had taken almost 2.5 hrs to come up. We still had the annoying three additional humps to climb. This time we voted against traversing and just hike up and over all of them. The one we originally contoured proved to be equally tricky to climb over. The snow was steep and there was no direct route.

Little dots moving down the mountain

We eventually made it back to camp about 8 hrs after we started. By this time, it was raining pretty steadily. We were grateful to see that our team mates who had stayed behind had set up a tarp and melted a new batch of snow. It was an early night for everyone.

We were greeted with smiles and a tarp!

Tired but happy campers

Snowking fades into the mist

Clouds lowering

The next morning, we awoke to rain. We packed up our tents in the rain and hiked down the final 6 miles all in the rain. It was steep and slick and we were pretty happy to see the cars and put on dry clothes. We did run into two mamma blue grouse and their babies on the final stretch of trail which was a fun surprise. Despite the rainy last day it was a great trip in an amazing corner of the world. I think if I were to do this again, I'd go a bit later in the year in hope of less snow to provide some faster travel, but really this is a beautiful area regardless.

Patrick earning style points on day three

Our route (gps stopped tracking on our return from the summit)

Stats:

Total mileage about 18

Elevation gain about 8,000ft

Our team: Doug, Patrick, Celese, Piyush, Martin, Robert, Diane, Winlyn, and me

Lichtenberg and Union June 15-16, 2013

2013-06-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

This was the first real backpacking trip of the summer. Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I decided to embrace the snow and go in search of some peaks. We set our sights on Lichtenberg, Union, and Jove off of the Smith Brook Road on the east side of Stevens Pass. We headed out Saturday morning and began our hike a little after 10:00 am. The road still had some snow patches so we had to park the car just before the first set of switch backs. We walked the road to just a little bit before the big hairpin turn to the point where the creek was very near the road and we were in line with the ridge up to Lichtenwasser Lake. From here we took a barring and headed up the ridge line almost due south. On our way up we crossed a fishermans trail and followed that up towards the lake. There was even a handline set out along one steep section. Overall the going to the lake was pretty easy and we were there in a little over an hour. Snow did not become consistent until around 4,600 ft.

This is where we crossed the creek

Taking a break from 'shwhakin up the mountain

Lichtenwasser Lake

The lake was mostly frozen with some melting around the edge. There were still several feet of snow pack, but the tree wells were starting to melt. We set up camp and dug out a table for lunch. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. After lunch and a little relaxing we began our walk up the northeastern ridge of Lichtenberg. The snow was nicely compacted and the walk was really nice. It was very strait forward, not too steep and had increasingly nice views. We pulled out our ice axes but there were really only a few short section where we needed them.

Our campsite table

Glacier and Union Peak as seen from the ridge

Making our way up the northeastern ridge

Before too long (under and hour) we reached the base of the summit block. Directly in line with the ridge, the peak juts up as a cliff so continuing on our current trajectory was not an option. We were worried about skirting to our left because of the large cornices we had seen along the bowl. Instead we decided to poke around to the right and see how that looked. It started as a nice climb up the snowfield, however, we started to become unsure how and where we would be able to transition from the snow to the rocky summit. Sam continued up ahead and found a spot where we could safely step off the snow although it was slightly precarious. There were about 20 feet really steep snow that started to push my comfort zone and make me really thankful for my ax.

This is where we came up

Once we were all on a little bit of solid ground it was time for the final push to the summit. This last section was about 20 feet of rock climbing/scrambling. There were good holds the entire way, but falling here would not have been pretty. Once on top we all let out a little sigh of relief and took in the amazing view.

Up on solid ground

The panoramic view from Jove to Hinman

From our new vantage point we could see that there was one break in the cornices on the southeastern saddle that would have been possible to climb through. In hind sight, I would have preferred to traverse the bowl and then come up the southeastern ridge (which is an easy walk to the summit), but our route got us where we wanted to go.

Large cornices above the bowl

Steward poking out

Glacier Peak

McClausland in the front the Monte Cristos and Sloan in the back

We made it!

So did Sam...

...and Sarah!

Steep slopes on the northern side

A nice hangout spot a bit north along the ridge

Looking toward Lake Valhalla

After about an hour on the summit we headed back down to the lake. We were able to glissade two short runs in the bowl, but there were enough trees that we had to plunge step a lot of the way. We hit one pretty slick spot that gave Derrick, Sam, and I some practice with our self arrest skills, but overall the descent wasn't too bad.

We glissaded near the bottom of this photo

The next morning we headed back down towards the road. We walked about 1/4 of a mile past the hair pin turn and headed up the much overgrown trail that leads towards Union Gap. We later learned that there is a newer trail that goes directly from the turn in the road, but our USGS map didn't show this.We took the trail until it flattened out and headed up the ridge line toward Union. The going was slow. We stayed right along the spine of the ridge which is rocky in places. We didn't hit snow until over 5,000 ft and even then it was patchy and not very ideal. I think this walk up would have been more pleasant a few weeks ago with a little more snow coverage. We found this bushwhack much slower than the one up to the lake.

Lichtenberg from the road

We made our way up to the unexciting peak of Union and decided that we would call it a day. We were pretty tired after our previous day and were worried the extra ridge walk to Jove was going to put us home pretty late that night. Going back down was much easier than we were expecting which was a pleasant surprise. We felt pretty good about our decision to turn around because it began to rain pretty hard once we hit the road. Coming down Union would have been much harder in the rain. We made it back to the car at around 3:30 and were feeling pretty accomplished from our weekend of scrambling.

Our approximate route

Denny Mountain (no summit) - June 9, 2013

2013-06-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

As part of the Bushwhacker's scrambling class, we headed up to Snoqualmie Pass to practice our snow and ice ax skills. It was a fun day with surprisingly nice weather. We started at the Alpental parking lot and began heading up beneath the lifts. We practiced walking with our ax, moving in balance, and turning. Near the junction of Lower International and Cascade Traverse, we set up a bench and began practicing self arrests. Basically you get to lower yourself down a slope in a bunch of different positions and practice stopping with your ax. It was a little unnerving practicing going down head first on your back as you must trust someone to hold your feet while you dangle upside down into that position. We learned a lot of important skills and played in the snow like a bunch of kids.

Doug one of our instructors

Getting ready to launch myself (and hopefully stop)

Once we had mastered our self arrest, it was time to put it all together and do some climbing. We headed up the International ski run taking turns leading and kicking steps. It's tiring work, but also surprisingly meditative. You can really get in a rhythm and all your mind is really thinking about is taking the next step. Eventually we made it to the top where the last ski lift ends. At this point you're almost to the top of Denny Mountain, but not quite. We took in the view and hung out on the stationary lift chairs.

Up we go!

Our last skill of the day was glissading which basically means sliding on your butt down the mountain using your ax to control your speed and direction. This was by far the best part! We descended via the Edelweiss Bowl, which was my first ever descent down a black diamond ski run (although it was entirely on my rear!). From there we picked our way back down to the cars, plenty tired and ready for dinner and beer in North Bend.

White River Camping and Mt Sauer - May 11-12, 2013

2013-05-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

Derrick and I ended up with an unplanned 3-day weekend and decided to head out for some car camping. Although things are starting to melt out it was a little challenging to find too many longer hikes that were snow free. The weather was also a little bit rainy so we decided to head east of the mountains.

Our original thought was to camp at Fish Lake right near Lake Wenatchee. However, we were unable to find any camp sites near the water that weren't already taken. Our next thought was along Lake Wenatchee, but a big storm in December has left many roads closed due to blow downs. We perused a few other forest service roads that pushed the off-road limits of the civic. Then we checked out our map and decided to head up the road along the White River.

I'd never been back in this area before and it was much more scenic than I had imagined. We drove for a ways and decided to see how far back we could get on some of the forest service roads. We almost made it to the very end of the road before hitting a patch of snow that blocked access. We then headed back to the turn out for Auto Tour Stop #4 and found a nice campsite along the roaring river. We thought we were going to have it all to ourselves until a family with a camper pulled in. Luckily they were pretty far away and the river drowned out any noise. It looked like we might have been the first people to camp there for the season as the site was littered with fire wood.

Our campsite by the river

We had a relaxing evening, grilled some burgers, and sat by the fire til turning in for the night. The next morning we debated for a while on our plan of action. We decided to check out the other three auto tour stops along the drive. One led us up a long winding road to what we assumed would have been a look out, but we were stopped after several miles by a large blow down. Then we considered the grooling hike up to dirty face lookout, but weren't sure about the snow. We settled on Sauer Mountain in Peshastin, not too far from Leavenworth.

Flowers along Sauer trail

Sauer was a nice hike and actually a bit steeper than I imagined. It was a nice climb through lots of meadows of flowers. Arrow leaf balsam root, indian paint brush, and lupine were all putting on a nice show. At the top we had good view of the Enchantments and the south end of the Glacier Peak wilderness. After the hike we made a quick stop in Leavenworth then headed back to Seattle.

Lupine

Arrow Leaf Balsam Root and Lupine

Our lunch break a little bit below the summit

Panorama from the top

Clouds moving in over the Enchantments

More flowers

Penstemon

Derrick at the top

Me and Leavenworth down below

Heading back down

Goldmyer Hotpsrings May 4-5, 2013

2013-05-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

We finally got a sunny weekend, unfortunately the mountains had super high avalanche danger leaving us with few options. Luckily we were able to score a reservation at Goldmyer hotspring for a weekend of relaxation. Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I headed out of Seattle after a lazy morning and out to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

Goldmyer is a privately run hotspring on the edge of the national forest. It's not very far from Seattle, but involves a fair amount of dirt road driving to really get there. We parked at the Dingford creek trailhead (same place we departed for Derrick Lake) and headed along the road.

Things are starting to melt fast in this area as you can tell from all the roaring creeks. It was so nice to be out in the sun and looking up at the beautiful mountains of the Cascades. The hike in is about 4 miles and relatively flat. We decided to do some luxury backpacking which meant we had some pretty loaded down packs. Sam even hauled in a giant frying pan.

We arrived at Goldmyer around 3:00 and were greeted by the grounds keeper who lives on site. He check our permits and gave us the low down and we headed to pick out a campsite along the river. We set up our tents, suited up and headed to the hot springs.

The springs are about a quarter of a mile from the camp and well worth the extra walk. There are four pools. The hottest one is in cave that has been blasted out of the rocks and goes back for about 20 feet. Below that is a second small pool that is the perfect temperature. Below that is a larger slightly cooler pool. Lastly there is a small cold pool. I will note in case anyone is interested in going that the hot springs are clothing optional so you might want to reconsider if your shy about nudity.

Enjoying the pools

It was great to soak and relax and enjoy a sunny day. It was cool enough in the trees that the springs were very pleasant. Sam and Derrick spent most of their time jumping back and forth from the cold pool to the hot pool. There were a few other folks enjoying the water, but the limit the visitors to 20 per day so it never felt crowded.

Sarah in the second pool

After some soaking it was back to camp for a stir fry dinner. Then back to the pools for a night time soak. In the morning we had pancakes and egg scrambles. We packed up our gear, got in one more soak and then hit the trail. It was hard going back to work the next day after such a beautiful relaxing weekend. Derrick and I agreed this is our favorite hot spring in Washington.

The river which runs right by the hot springs

Under the big log is the cold pool

High Hut and the MTTA trails - April 5-6, 2013

2013-04-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Months ago Sarah and I decided to make reservations to some of the huts of the Mt Tahoma Trails Association out near Ashford, WA. You have reserve these huts pretty far in advance so it's a bit of a gamble when it comes to the weather. Unfortunately, our forecast was looking a little bleak--rain, cold, cloudy, but we headed out with high hopes.

We arrived at the trail head not sure what to expect. We brought skis and snowshoes. The road to the trail head was snow free, and the snow began about a quarter of a mile up the road. We were really hoping to cross country ski and had heard rumor of recent grooming so we left our snowshoes at the car and headed up in our ski boots. This we later learned was the wrong choice.

We soon hit snow and strapped on our skis. The weather was above freezing and the snow was kind of a slushy ice mix. There might have been grooming a few days ago, but with the recent rain all we had was a mildly compacted mess. We quickly discovered that even with waxless skis traction was going to be a bit of an issue. After a few hours of skiing and slipping our way up we finally made it onto the ridge. Here the snow was a bit colder, but slipping was still a problem. The wind was also quite strong making us really glad to see high hut in the distance.

We made our way into the hut and found it empty. We quickly started a fire and shed all our wet clothes. It was very homey inside and a nice reprieve from the slog up. On a clear day high hut is staring down Mt. Rainier with panoramic views. Unfortunately, with the weather all we saw were clouds. We made dinner and were getting ready to play a game of boggle when we saw a light outside. A couple from Seattle had just arrived.

Drying our clothes inside the hut

One of the sleeping areas

The kitchen

Looking towards Rainier

They came up on backcountry skis with skins and informed us that another couple was on their way, but probably wouldn't be in until quite late. We chatted for a while as they made their dinner. Eventually it got late and Sarah and I head to bed, unsure if the other couple was going to continue in the dark or turn around. Sure enough at about 10:00 they rolled in, exhausted but in good spirits. The girl had also brought up cross country skis and had an equally challenging day.

Warm potato stew...delicious!

The next morning we awoke to more clouds and took our time making breakfast and coffee. It took a little motivation to leave the warm cabin and head out into the weather, but we did eventually. It had snowed a bit overnight creating a layer of powder on top of ice--not ideal conditions to say the least. Our original plan was to head over to the yurt for a second night, but after about an hour of falling and sliding our way down the mountain we had second thoughts. We were struggling a lot with the conditions and just couldn't get much control coming down. At the junction, we decided heading back to the car was sounding a bit more appealing than trudging on for another few miles.

A brief break in the clouds allowed for a few views

The view in front of the hut

The valley down below

All in all, it was nice to check out a new area and the huts are great. Next time though, I would choose snow shoes over skis. It doesn't seem like the grooming is frequent enough to make it doable for most cross country skis. Another hour or so and we were at the car. Made a stop in Elbe at the train diner for some lunch and then headed back to Seattle.

Skyline Lake February 9, 2013

2013-02-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

Snow shoeing is not Derrick's favorite outdoor activity. However, in the winter there aren't many other options. After a bit of negotiating, I convinced him another snow shoe trip was in order and sure enough he had a great time!

The destination this time was Skyline Lake, again very near Stevens Pass. We parked in the north lot and hit the trail. You follow a groomed road up so snow shoes weren't even really necessary for a lot of the hike. It was a fairly gradual climb with increasingly nice views. We reached the end of the road at a tower (cell phone maybe?). At this point you have a nice view in several directions.

Here we mistakenly followed a smaller trail that we thought was leading to the lake. We soon realized it didn't quite seam right, but were almost at a high point so decided to keep going. We got up to a nice little summit where we met a few snowboarders and back country skiers. It was their tracks we followed. They were getting ready to hit some backcountry slopes so we took over their spot and had a nice lunch.

The views were great and the weather was quite cooperative. We decided our high point was more exciting than the lake so didn't bother to make a stop there on the way down. We realized later that the turn off to the lake is actually before you get to the tower. On the way down we attempted a mini glisade without much success. However, we did manage to amuse many other groups who were on their way up.

We found a snow hut along the trail. Derrick decided to climb on in and take a picture.

Derrick actually enjoying snow shoeing

Panorama from our view point

Snowy trees and ski runs

King of the mountain!

Lunch time

Derrick being a poser

Lanham Lake February 3, 2013

2013-02-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

We were starting to feel a bit too stationary this winter and decided it was time to head to the mountains. Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I agreed a snow shoe trip was in order. We set our sites on Lanham Lake a relatively short hike near the Stevens Pass Nordic Center. This is a nice hike for two reasons; low avalanche danger and free parking!

It felt great to get out and stretch our legs. The hike in was pretty easy, gradual climbs through the snow covered forest. The lake was frozen with deep snow all around. We saw a few other groups, but were able to pick a nice area by the shore to have lunch. We all decided this would be a good place to come for winter snow camping.

On the way down Derrick and Sam were having way too much fun with impromptu glisade shoots. I don't think they could go more than 50 feet at a time, but it was pretty amusing. All in all a great day out in the mountains!

The four of us on the lake shore

Skyline Divide - November 10, 2012

2012-11-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

Our hiking foursome spent a weekend in Glacier, WA hanging out at a cabin and making the most of the slightly gloomy fall weather. We decided a bit of a leg stretcher was in order and headed up to Skyline Divide. We headed up the ridge and just kind of meandered through the compact snow. There was light snow falling, the clouds were rolling in, and we weren't really geared up for a full day adventure. After a couple of miles we decided to call it a day and head back. This is definitely an area I'd love to return to.

Skyline Divide Panorama

Someone missed the memo that we were hiking. Tennis shoes, jeans, & messenger bag isn't Derrick's normal hiking attire.

Sam and Derrick taking in the view

Sarah and I happy to be in the mountains

Tonga Ridge, Mt. Sawyer, Ptarmigan Lake - September 1-3, 2012

2012-09-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

This labor day weekend we decided to head in search of a new experience...camping on an island. I'm not sure how we got the idea in our heads, but we decided we really wanted to find a lake with an island that we could set up camp on and Ptarmigan Lake fit the bill.

With a slightly late start, we headed up to the Tonga Ridge trail head. The ridge walk was really nice with lots of great views. We followed it until taking a small slightly hard to find path down to Fisher Lake. Fisher Lake was nice, but we forded on to our destination. From Fisher it is a bit of a bushwhack over to Lower Ptarmagin. We managed to make it down to a pretty tree lined shore where we blew up the raft, loaded up our pack and floated over to the island.

Fisher Lake

Our campsite on the island

Lower Ptarmigan Lake

The island was nice and had a large campsite where we set up for the night. The next morning we spent a relaxing day on the lake. We took our raft around an explored a bit. We considered hiking up to the upper lake, but decided to just relax instead. We met one other person their camping near the shore, but it was pretty quiet.

Terrace Mountain

Sun beginning to set on Ptarmigan Lake

Reflection

Evening tent glow

Stars above Terrace Mountain

More stars

Rafting back to the mainland

The next day we headed out and made a side trip to Mt. Sawyer for some lovely views of the Alpine Lakes wilderness.

Daniels (left) and Hinman (right) from Mt Sawyer

Rainier peaking over with Chimney and Overcoat on the left

Looking towards Ptarmigan Lake with Terrace Mountain and Daniels

Summit Marker

Glacier Peak

Fernow Peak with Columbia, Foggy, and Sloan in the background

Daniels through Silver

Tonga Ridge Trail

Our approximate route

Lake Sylvester - August 4-5, 2012

2012-08-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

After an epic trip to Derrick Lake last summer, we decided to go in search of other off trail lakes. This time we set our sites on Sylvester Lake off of Icicle Creek Road.

I had done my research and heard about an old fishermans trail that climbed steeply up to the lake. With some trial and error and a good map, we were able to locate it. Make no mistake I use the word "trail" very loosely here. It was tricky to follow in places and we hit a lot of very rocky steep areas in the process.

Daniels and Hinman in the distance

Harding and Bootjack Mountains

Ingalls, Hawkins, Harding, and Bootjack

Almost at the lake

Eventually we made it to the lake, both feeling a bit tired and ready to unload our packs. Camping sites at the lake were a little minimal, but we found a spot pretty close to the shore. The unfortunate thing about this trip was the mosquitoes. They descended upon us pretty quickly making it hard to enjoy our private lake. Luckily we brought our raft and were able to find some solace out on the lake where the mosquitoes apparently don't travel.

Sylvester Panoramic

Grindstone Mountain

We spent most of our evening on the lake until we were ready to turn in. The next morning we went for a paddle to check out the other shores. This lake a has a dramatic setting with grindstone peak looming above, but it lacks the open shoreline that many of the areas alpine lakes have. Reluctantly, we packed up camp and headed back down the long steep slog to the car. We ran into another man heading up as we were coming down. It never fails to surprise me that even in some of the more remote areas we run into other folks.

Overall it was a nice trip, but I wont put it on the same level as Derrick Lake.

Approximately where we went