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20171118 ~ Stevens Canyon, Tatoosh Wilderness, GPNF
Perhaps you’ve been to Mount Rainier National Park, and visited the Box Canyon, along the Stevens Canyon highway. It’s an amazing formation – a very narrow slot canyon gouged into the bedrock beneath the unimaginable weight and pressure of a massive glacier. At certain points, one might imagine leaping across the narrowest points of the gorge, where the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz River has carved…
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20170816-18 ~ Baron Lakes, Sawtooth Wilderness, SNF
20170816-18 ~ Baron Lakes, Sawtooth Wilderness, SNF
I took a vacation this year, all by myself, to Idaho, with two objectives in mind – hike the Sawtooths, and visit my friend Hailey for the eclipse. Resounding success, on my part. 🙂 I left the house at 4:30 AM on Tuesday, the 15th, arriving after 12 hours at Grandjean campground, where I spent the night in the cab of my pickup, not wanting to unpack stuff. I had a nice evening, exploring the…
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20170811 ~ Midnight Hike to 3Burroughs, MRNP
20170811 ~ Midnight Hike to 3Burroughs, MRNP
I wanted to see shooting stars. It didn’t work out that way, but I had an amazing time hiking through the night, across the ‘tundra’, taking some pictures in the late evening light on a side-trip to Fremont Lookout for the sunset. Much of my trip from Fremont to 3B was without lights, as there was enough ambient light to see the trail by. I had a great time settled down in a cozy spot in the…
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20170724 ~ Windy Ridge Road, MSHNVM
20170724 ~ Windy Ridge Road, MSHNVM
It was time to return to Loowit. With summer getting into full swing, I was anxious to explore Windy Ridge Rd, which I had worked my way up to the end of on my last hike, where I explored the Pumice Plain and Sasquatch Steps, having ascended the toe of Windy Ridge along the access road/trail to a height where I thought the winds might very well blow me off the mountain. The weather was as…
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20170518 - Eruption Day with Loowit, MSHNVM
20170518 – Eruption Day with Loowit, MSHNVM
8:32 AM. I take a moment. The silence washes over me. It is but a mere ghost of the 300-mph stone wind that scoured this cliff exactly 37 years ago. It is a strong silence, not at all diminished by the call of birds among the slide alder precariously clinging to cracks in the 1000′ foot tall cliffs stretching above and below me. Nevertheless, it is an insignificant silence. I think about the…
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20170507 - JRO Bike-n-Hike, MSHNVM
20170507 – JRO Bike-n-Hike, MSHNVM
The weather was promising, my bike was crying out for some attention, and I needed a day of solitude. And a great long bomb down a mountain road! I spent the day very slowly riding up the Spirit Lake Highway (SR504). It is not well named, as it does not go to Spirit Lake – no road does. It is a lovely road, however. Well placed within it’s amazing landscape, it could have been designed by…
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20170416 ~ South Coldwater Ridge Trail & Sediment Retention Dam
20170416 ~ South Coldwater Ridge Trail & Sediment Retention Dam
This day was cold and windy, snow still capping the ridges, the sky dim, even though the clouds were not thick. I hiked up the South Coldwater Ridge trail, parking at The Hummocks and walking to the trail head. The trail climbs up the ridgeline, with a few switchbacks to gain elevation. Mostly, though, it runs along and near the ridgeline, offering awesome views to Coldwater Lake in one…
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20170409 ~ Ohanapecosh Canyon & Big Bottom, GPNF
20170409 ~ Ohanapecosh Canyon & Big Bottom, GPNF
It’s been a few weeks now, but I spent a day exploring the lower reaches of Ohanapecosh Canyon at Lawiswis, then drove across the river for a very short ramble about the mouth of Stevens Canyon. Twice I was left yearning to follow the trail further. Biking down the road to the campground at Lawiswis was fun. Up again, not so much. Rambling about the dry forest above the canyon – more, please! I…
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20170319 ~ Lakes Trail #211, MSHNVM
20170319 ~ Lakes Trail #211, MSHNVM
The last day of winter found me hiking the Lakes Trail #211 alongside Coldwater Lake and Coldwater Creek, encountering a trail increasingly full of sloppy, soft cascadian concrete by the end. It was almost tough enough to hold me up, but then, not quite. Similarly, my shins were almost tough enough to withstand the ice crystals, but then, not quite. I began my hike at the Coldwater Lake parking…
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20170316 ~ Hummocks Trail to Johnston Ridge, MSHNVM
20170316 ~ Hummocks Trail to Johnston Ridge, MSHNVM
What an unexpectedly awesome birthday! I had a little party – just me, a shy coyote, a not so shy raven, and Loowit, in all of her steaming, snow-mantled, sun-dappled glory. Clouds larger than even mountains drifted across a sunny sky, warming the cliff-side meadows of Johnston Ridge, overlooking the lunar-fractal landscape of the Pumice Plain. Attention, though, was stolen by Loowit, with her…
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20161120 ~ Willapa Hills Trail, Lewis County
20161120 ~ Willapa Hills Trail, Lewis County
The Willapa Hills trail is a great trail, albeit not quite finished. There are a few exciting trestles to cross, and lots of deep gravel. One sure does get to see a great slice of countryside, tho. My favorite area was the Rock Creek area between McCormick and Walville Creeks. Something about that tight little gap in the hills, the sheets of water rushing over the bedrock, the old rail bed’s…
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20161010 ~ Glacier View Wilderness, GPNF
20161010 ~ Glacier View Wilderness, GPNF
The views from Glacier View Wilderness are, understandably, amazing. It was a bit chilly this day, but that only added to the beauty. October is a fantastic time to be in the mountains – the air is clearer, the bugs are gone, the people are gone, and the drama is out in full force. Click here to zoom in and explore this GPX file in a new tab Images taken on a day hike in the Glacier View…
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20161219 ~ Upper Foothills (Fairfax) Trail, Pierce County
20161219 ~ Upper Foothills (Fairfax) Trail, Pierce County
Click here to zoom in and explore this GPX file in a new tab Images taken on a day hike up the Fairfax, or Upper Foothills Trail in Pierce County, on December 19, 2016. [FAG id=6332]
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20161231 ~ Black Hills NYE Wander
20161231 ~ Black Hills NYE Wander
I braved the wintry weather yesterday for a ramble about the Black Hills – a multi-peaked rise of basalt looming roughly 600′ feet above Mud Bay, sandwiched between Hwy 101, Delphi Rd, and Kaiser Rd. Second-growth forest covers the moderate slopes, occasional small streams converge on the south side to form the headwaters of the Black River, finding their way to the Pacific via the Chehalis…
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Obligatory NYE post 2016
Obligatory NYE post 2016
Some great things happened for me, personally, in 2016. While I don’t necessarily feel great about 2016, for various reasons, at least it’s over, for good or bad. I do have regrets – I wish I’d done more hiking and spent more nights outdoors, but I think I’ll leave that discussion for another post. It feels helpful to reflect on some good things that happened for me in 2016. How about a list? I…
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Being Autumnal equinox, I couldn’t possibly go to work, not with a weather forecast of sun and warm temps. I told my boss as much, took a day of annual leave, and drove up to the White River CG for a hike along the Burroughs Loop, including 3B, to which I’d never been. I know, right?
It was a lovely, early fall day – the kind of day where summer is definitely on the wane, but winter is still a long, long way off. A touch of crimson to the meadows, a mild intermittent breeze, a fat Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel sunning on rocks, belly full and worries empty, and still a measure of warmth to the now much-lower angled sun. A perfect day to be in the alpine.
I started as I often start, at the climbers parking lot, and followed the Wonderland up toward Sunrise, stopping regularly to say hello to my favorite creeks and waterfalls. The large waterfall just below the top is much drier this time of year, and only a small trickle threads its way down the rocks. It is still deliciously refreshing, and while its song may be a little quieter, it is also just a little sweeter.
The meadows surrounding Shadow Lake were beginning to color up, and brighter displays could be seen on the higher slopes. As I worked my way up the SW flank of Burroughs Mtn, I encountered a fat little golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Spermophilum saturatus) who just couldn’t be bothered to move away from her trail-side sunning rock. I walked past her, and when she didn’t flee, I stopped, turned about and began taking pics. She let me get within inches of her and sat there, still as a stone, the whole time. The reason why was obvious with one glance in any direction – stalks of all sorts of meadow plants lay scattered all about. She’d been gorging herself for hours, and now that the sun was out, she needed to digest.
As I continued further up Burroughs Mtn., the fog began to gather, and before I made it to the top, I found it best to layer all the way up. It was getting cold! Large patches of fog would sweep by, punctuated by stray shafts of sun making its way through occasional stray gaps. By the time I had summited 2B, however, there were no more gaps, and the entire area was quite banked in. I did not linger at the top of 2B, as some were, but decided to head right down to the way trail up to 3B.
Down on the saddle where the Burroughs loop heads down into the Interfork drainage and the 3B trail heads up, there was sun, and oh, it felt so good! With the trail bounding up the mountain ahead of me, I felt confident taking off a layer or two. Only the climbing kept me warm, however, as the fog immediately socked back in. I could occasionally make out small moving figures along the ridge ahead of me, but couldn’t see more than silhouettes, and only through the rare drifting gaps in the fog.
The view remained hidden as I reached the summit. The two ladies already seated finished up their snack, bemoaned the fog, and started down. I had really hoped to take some magnificent shots, as I’m told the vista is magnificent. Instead, I got one smeared shot of a Townsend chipmunk racing across my boot. He was a cheeky fellow, and knew exactly where my pocket was, and had a pretty good idea of what I might be keeping in it. Once he saw my baggie of trail mix in hand, however, he had nothing more to do with getting into my pocket, and focused instead on antics to get me to feed him. I was thoroughly entertained, but I proved to be a stingy customer, as he only got one raisin that leaped away from me into the gravel.
I only stayed up top for about 15 minutes, what with the wind and blowing fog and lack of view. What a fun walk down, tho! While the boot track is narrow, and there is yet a small snowfield to cross, it’s a quick and scenic trot down. I love how the landscape is so softly shaped, with gentle curves to the summits and easy saddles in between. When you look closer, tho, everything is shattered, the landscape dominated by gravel and sharp-edged boulders. Unlike the forest floor below, or even the lower alpine, bare spaces dominate, and plants seem to thrive only in the more protected area. The NPS is not kidding when they compare this area to the tundra. It’s rather alien.
The trip down from the saddle to the campground was uneventful, punctuated, at the end, only by a group of worried hikers, Europeans of some sort. Apparently, a group of five had been expected down quite some time before me, and I had made it out about an hour prior to sunset. I hope they made it. I enjoy walking that trail in the dark, with lights, but if they weren’t prepared, they’d be in for a bad time.
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2160922 – Third Burroughs (3B) Loop for Equinox, MRNP Being Autumnal equinox, I couldn't possibly go to work, not with a weather forecast of sun and warm temps.
Haiku for a Rainy Day #1
Haiku for a Rainy Day #1
Mist falling at slant Laughing crows dance in the street Breath fogging window
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