« Archives in 2009

Mt Townsend

December 27, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

After a call from my friend Robbin, we decided to head up to see if we could access the Mount Townsend trailhead which is usually buried in deep snow this time of year. Our luck was with us and we drove right to the trailhead. The road was snowy but not so bad that I couldn’t drive it in my front wheel drive sedan. The trail itself was very icy and if not for our micro-spikes, I’m sure we would have had a less pleasant day. About half way up we ran out of trail but luckily someone had kicked us some steps in the snow a day or two before we arrived making the ascent rather easy. It was a mostly clear day and we could see for miles. We could see Rainier and even Adams in the distance. There was a good size lenticular cloud hanging above Rainier. This turned out to be a great hike in a time of year that this trail is usually not accessible.
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Silver Star Mountain

December 5, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking, Video / No Comments

On visiting some friends in Portland OR, I took the opportunity to get a local hike in. I chose Silver Star Mountain just outside of Vancouver WA. Hike was about 8 miles with about 2000′ of elevation Gain. Silver Star Mountain was consumed by fire in the Yacolt Burn in 1902 and the trees on top of the ridge never recovered resulting in a fantastic 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. The Yacolt Burn was the worst wildfire in Washington State history. Silver Star Mountain is 4390 feet tall.
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Gold Mountain

November 29, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

I joined Barney from the PWC on a hike that was supposed to go up Green Mountain but we ended up going up Gold Mountain instead. I failed to take a lot of pictures on this trip but I did get some of us near the waterfall. Top of Gold Mountain is hard to locate as there are multiple little false summits and lots of television station antennas on the top. We went up a long way utilizing the gm 6 road then a spur that turns into a creek which goes by an old mine shaft. this is mostly a dirt road walk.
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Tunnel Falls at Eagle Creek with the PWC

November 15, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

On Sunday the 15th of November 2009, seven PWCers headed up the Eagle Creek Trail at the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon side. Hike was around 13 miles and about 1200′ elevation gain. It rained lightly off and on throughout the day but was otherwise pleasant. In addition to the main hike on the 15th, four of us hiked on the 14th as well, hiking at Latourell Falls, Multnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls. Below are some of the pictures from this Wonderful Waterfall Weekend.
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Latourell Falls and Multnomah – Wahkeena Falls Loops with the PWC

November 14, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

This was my first time sponsoring a trip for the Peninsula Wilderness Club. The trip consisted of driving to the Gorge, hiking the Latourell Falls loop and the Multnomah – Wahkeena Loop, and driving back to Woodland where another member kindly made hotel reservations so we could stay somewhat local for the Eagle Creek hike the next day. This was a successful and fun trip for November. We dubbed this the Wonderful Waterfall Weekend.
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Upper Royal Basin

October 12, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

Hike was cold and felt longer than the 15 or 16 RT miles that it was. Probably because it was too cold to stop for much of a break. Got snowed on about halfway in and people on the trail were heading out as the snow started. I won’t embarrass myself by naming which peaks are which. I think Fricaba, Deception, Mystery and Clark are pictured. Blue tarn is located in the upper basin. 
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Flapjack Lakes and Gladys Divide

October 4, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

Another long day hike. My friend Cheryl from the Kitsap Climbers Group joined me on this hike to Flapjack Lakes and Gladys Divide. The trail starts from the Staircase Ranger Station and follows the North Fork Skokomish river trail for 3.7 miles to the junction with the Flapjack Lakes Trail. The Flapjack Lakes Trail climbs about 2500′ to Flapjack Lakes at 4 miles. We enjoyed lunch at the lake and then continued on the trail for another 1.5 miles and thousand feet or so to Gladys Divide where we took a few pictures and turned around and headed back. Stats for the day 18.6 miles and 4000 feet or so of elevation gain. My GPS lost its signal a few times in the deep woods so mileage is based off of Robert Woods Olympic Mountains Trail Guide.
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High Divide – Seven Lakes Basin Loop Dayhike

September 26, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / 1 Comment

The Back-Story
I had tried unsuccessfully 3 times to hike the High Divide loop this year. The first time I just got lazy and decided that a weekend at home sounded nice. The second time, my job at the last minute required me to be at home for some on-line training over the weekend. The third time I was due for an overnight hike and thought I would drive out to the campground at Sol Duc on a Saturday, camp and get a really early start the next morning and do the whole loop in a day. As I was packing to leave on Saturday the 19th, I got a phone call and learned that my brother had passed away. Needless to say my plans for the weekend had changed. I won’t get into all the details but I will say that his passing was unexpected and the cause at this point is unknown. Needing time to reflect on his life, needing some time to myself to reflect on the things that are important to me and my family and really needing to finally get this trail on my ‘been there done that’ list, I decided to head out on Saturday the 26th of Sept 2009 to hike it.
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Burroughs Mountain at Mount Rainier

September 13, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

Took a hike up to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Burroughs on the Burroughs Mountain Trail at Sunrise (the place not the time) on Mount Rainier with the Peninsula Wilderness Club. Beautiful day!
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Cispus Pass in the Goat Rocks Wilderness

August 23, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking, Video / No Comments

I loved the thru-hike that my friends and I had done the week before but I felt like I missed out on a big part of the scenery because of the cloudy conditions on the first day. I got off of the ferry from my daily commute to Seattle on Friday and ran into Mike at the ferry dock as he and his family were returning from a trip to Seattle. We got to talking and I said I was probably cancelling my High Divide trip for this weekend because the weather report showed mostly cloudy for that area but that the Goat Rocks looked like they may be sunny. Before long, we started talk of returning to the Goat Rocks to re-do the section that we did on the first day, at least partially so we could see what we missed. Well, we went and we were not disappointed in the long drive down there. 6 hours of driving for about 6 hours of hiking. Totally worth it!

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Thru-Hiking the Goat Rocks Wilderness

August 14, 2009 / posted in Overnight Backpacking, Video / No Comments

Thru-Hiking the Goat Rocks Wilderness
with Mike and Robbin
August 14th  – 16th

The Dream:
I have wanted to thru-hike the Goat Rocks for a long time now and I finally got a chance to this year. Accompanying me on this trip were my friends Mike and Robbin from the Kitsap Climbers Group. We drove 2 cars so we could leave one at either end of the trail so we would not have to back track. The route we took is about 30 miles long, 25 of which are on the Pacific Crest Trail or PCT. The Pacific Crest Trail is roughly 2600 miles long, goes through 3 states and stretches between Mexico and Canada. The Goat Rocks Wilderness section of the PCT attains the highest elevation in Washington State and is also considered to be among the most beautiful sections in any of the 3 states. Only the Sierras in California rival its beauty. (in my opinion)

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Mount Angeles and Hurricane Ridge

August 9, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

Heading out with the Peninsula Wilderness Club to hike the Heather Meadows – Lake Angeles Loop, another member and myself decided to break off from the group and start at Hurricane Ridge parking lot and hike down to Heart of the Hills ranger station meeting the group on the way down near the halfway point. The other member, Paul had never been to Mount Angeles before and since it was kind of cloudy down below, we were hoping that we would be above the clouds as we hiked along the ridge towards Mount Angeles. We got to the top of the mountain but we never got above the clouds. We attempted to route find a little so we could do a traverse over to the Klahane Ridge trail to meet our companions but it was too cloudy to find the way and we lost a lot of time. We decided it best to get off the mountain the way we came, and by the time we made it back to the main trail, the other folks doing the loop were way ahead of the rendezvous point. We decided to just go back to the car and drive down to the Heart of the Hills and meet up with everyone down there. On our walk back to the car, the sun finally made an appearance. When we talked to the guys that did the loop later they told us they got rained on and were mostly socked in with the clouds and had no views. I guess Paul and I made the right choice in going up to Mt Angeles.

Animals seen.
Grouse: around 5 and about 15 chicks.
Marmots: 7 or 8
Deer: 2 bucks and a doe
Chipmunks: 3 or 4
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Pinecrest Peak and Catfish Lake

July 30, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

During my family’s Pinecrest California vacation this year, not wanting to hang out at the lake again I decided to hike to the top of Pinecrest Peak. The trail to the top is actually a continuance of the Catfish Lake Trail that starts on the shore of Pinecrest Lake. This trail has for some reason been removed from many maps of the area. I’m not sure why because the trail is in great shape. During our stay at Pinecrest this year, a fire, the Knight Fire was burning about 20 miles away from the lake. At some points in the day the smoke would come rolling in as it did on this hike. I was slightly bummed when the smoke rolled in right before I reached the top of the peak, obscuring the view. I had seen the top of the peak several times from the lake and this time I wanted to see the lake from the top of the peak. As a friend of mine always says “the mountain will still be there next time”. At least I have a hike to look forward to next time I visit the area.
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HIGH ADVENTURE! Kennedy Lake and Meadows via Leavitt Lake

July 28, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

High Adventure!
Kennedy Lake and Meadows via Leavitt Lake
July 28th 2009

What is it that gives us the sense of High Adventure? For me I think it is the thrill of the unknown. What’s around the next corner? How am I going to get home? How far is it? Where will I sleep tonight? Maybe that’s why I enjoy hiking so much. This hike was one of the best I’ve been on in a long time and it was almost completely unplanned. That being said, I do have enough sense to have a map along with the other ten essentials as well as a little knowledge of the area I’m going into. I don’t care to turn into another Chris McCandless, AKA Alexander Supertramp.
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Cleo’s Bath and Pincrest Lake

July 27, 2009 / posted in Day Hiking / No Comments

A short but rewarding hike from Pinecrest Lake in the Stanislaus National Forest. If you notice the haze in some of the pictures, it was from a forest fire in the area. The smoke from this fire plagued our whole trip.
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