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NEW!!!
Photo Gallery
added on PBase Click on the likenhiken Link to take you there!
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New for 2010
Be sure to check out our recipes section, on the links and files page. There are downloadable links for the recipes.
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YouTube Videos!!!
Just added on 2011
be sure to check out
the video links section on the home page
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On the trail to Camp Muir, March 4, 2006
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We left early from work, tired, but unable to resist the lure of The mountain, as the day proved to be a beautiful day to snap pictures with a bright, blue sky as a backdrop, a fairly uncommon event in March. The Mountain was out!!!
We wouldn’t get far, maybe only half way to Camp Muir today, but we were able to get several good pictures...
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View from the Parking lot, looking towards the mountain.
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The Ranger Station, and bathroom entrance, under a blanket of snow. An approximate 184” depth.
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Greg and Dave in the presence of The Mountain.
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Yep! Goin’ up there! We would eventually climb this hill, on the way to Camp Muir. If you look close, you can see the trail zig-zag to the top, the small dots that look like ants, are people on their way.
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The view back towards Paradise.
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Again, pictures of the long trail, strung out back towards Paradise. You can see people on the trail, all along it’s length.
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Snow covered Paradise Lodge, looking like a Christmas Postcard. You can see where people have tramped up and over the lodge, their footprints evident.
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A close up of the lodge, buried under snow.
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Mt. St. Helens,
The Border Trail, July 7-9, 2006
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- Trail Ranking: 3/5 A good trail for wide open views into the crater of Mt. St. Helens, and the surrounding volcanoes in the Cascades. On a clear day you can pick out at least 5! Trail is relatively easy to follow, and you can make a through hike out if it, if you park a car at either end.
- Difficulty: 4/10 The greatest challenge, for me, was the oppressive heat, as there were few places along the way to escape into shade. Was not that steep, nor did the terrain really offer that many obstacles. No worries about downed trees here...They’re already downed!
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Getting there: From Olympia, head south on I-5 to exit 63, the WA-505 towards Winlock/Toledo off ramp, and turn left after exiting, crossing over I-5. Follow WA-505 for 16.4 miles.
Turn left at WA-504, towards Mount St. Helens, and follow the WA-504 for another 28 miles. This is also called the Spirit Lake highway.
Take the ramp onto WA-504, and follow this for 8.8 miles to the Johnston Ridge Observatory parking lot. The trailhead is in the far east end of the lot.
Follow the Boundary Trail, (or Trail 1) all the way to Norway Pass.
Maps: We used the Green Trails Map #332, Spirit Lake, and we found it more than sufficient for this area.
Permits: This trail is part of the Mt. Margaret Backcountry, and it will require a Northwest Forest Pass, and a Backcountry camping permit. Backcountry permits are free, but you must apply for one by mail or fax up to 3 weeks in advance, or, in person at the Johnston Ridge Observatory. Check the Backcountry-Mt. Margaret link for more info, and permit application.
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Our route for this trip would have us starting at Johnstone Ridge Observatory, and stay on the Boundary Trail, as it winds around St. Helens Lake, Past Coldwater Peak, to our Base Camp at The Dome. On day two, we would keep our campsite at The Dome, and venture further out on The Boundary Trail.
Day 1. We started out early from home, hoping to get a good jump on the day, but, due to a slight navigation error, we ended up driving to Windy Ridge on the East Side of Spirit Lake...Unfortunately, we needed to be on the West Side, as the start of our trip was to be from Johnstone Ridge Observatory! Needless to say, we had to backtrack, which put us behind our planned schedule by 3 hours. We all know the best laid plans sometimes go awry, and the start of this day was to be no exception. We finally arrived at Johnstone Ridge around 6:00pm, not the best way to start an 8 mile hike!
We didn’t reach camp until around 10:00pm, just as the last vestiges of the daylight crept away, so there wasn’t much time for taking pictures or video, as we were on a frantic scramble to reach camp before dark. We hoped that we would have more time to snap pictures and video on the second day.
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Mt. St. Helens, as seen from the start of the Boundary Trail, Starting at the Johnstone Ridge Side. You can see her smoldering.
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View across the blowdown. Also from the Johnstone Ridge side.
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Day 2. After getting up, we get a chance to see our surroundings in the light of day, and are amazed at how far we can see. We picked a great spot for the night, and decide that we will make this our base camp, and venture out from here, further East along the Boundary Trail. We have the whole place to ourselves, and our source of drinking water is the runoff from the nearby snowfield. After leaving camp, we travel through close by Mt. Margaret camp, then over Bear Pass, and turn around close to Norway Pass, our halfway point for the day. Along the way, we are greeted by huge views, and many snowfields that require traveling on. At one point, as we stop for a lunch break ,we are able to see most of the major mountains in the Cascades. Mt. Rainier, Goat Rocks, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and even Mt. Jefferson...All under the unrelenting sun. As most of the trees are blown down on this part of the Boundary Trail, I felt as if I was cooking, and kept thinking about how good the snow melt was going to taste, nice and ice cold...
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Campsite at The Dome.
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Snag’s with snow fields, close to camp.
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Mt. St. Helens, with steam cloud.
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Mt. St. Helens, with Spirit Lake in the Fore.
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Mt. Rainier.
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Prominent Rock along the trail.
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One of the many large snow fields that we had to cross...If you look close, you can see a trail in the snow cutting diagonally across. Mt. St. Helens in the background.
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Looking NNE, across Boot Lake, towards Mt. Rainier, from the Boundary Trail. Somewhere close to Mt. Margaret.
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Yep, another view of Mt. St. Helens.
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Day 3. Up and out! As we had to go to work this day, we decided to get back to the car as soon as possible, so that we could have a few hours to sleep before work. after packing up, we head for home under the unrelenting sun. After several hours on the trail, I would stop, and scoop up a hat full of snow, and plop it on my head that was getting fried under the noon day sun. It would bring temporary relief, but, after passing through the hole in the rock by St. Helen’s lake, there was no more snow, and no more water either, for the 5 mile trudge back to Johnstone Ridge Observatory. The temps for the day were in the 80’s, and I was sure that I was walking across the surface of the sun, or had been stranded out in the middle of the desert! There are no trees for shade, and you are completely exposed to the sun’s constant glare. By the time we got back to the trailhead, I had finished off all of my water, and was near the point where I was going to tackle the next day hiker I saw carrying water! We could tell that we were getting close to the end, when we started seeing more and more people just out for the day, and I was amazed at the amount of casual day trippers we saw NOT carrying any water, at least 2 miles from the parking lot. At the time, as I was about to fry under the sun, I thought them legally insane...
There was a lot to see on this trail, especially because the entire terrain had been scoured of trees, so the sightlines where like those above treeline. Having said that, I can honestly say, that the best time to take this hike is right after most of the snow melts out in late spring, or fall. During the hottest days of the summer, there really is no way to get out of the suns full on blasting...I’m sure that you can probably surmise by now, that I am a hot weather weenie, when it comes to hiking in it. I’m a true P.N.W.er, more comfortable in the cooler climes...
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St. Helens lake.
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Hole in the Rock, the trail passes right through it. The last welcome shade from the unrelenting sun, before getting back to Johnstone Ridge.
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The trail home. Even though it is wide open, under scorching heat, the flowers were out in full bloom. Several large fields could be seen close to Johnstone Ridge. Notice that Greg no longer resembles the pasty white version that started the trail on day 1...
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The Northern Loop Trail,
Mt. Rainier National Park,
July 28-31, 2006
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- Trail Ranking: 3/5 A very scenic hike through the back country in Mount Rainier National Park, with part of the journey on the storied Wonderland Trail. Some of the highlights being the Natural Bridge, Grand Park, Berkeley Park, and Skyscraper Pass, to name a few. Also, lots of up close views of the Mountain.
- Difficulty: 5/10 Some steep parts, like hiking up Ipsut Pass,or hiking out of the White River Basin. Other than that, it’s a pretty typical hike for the region, and there are nice backcountry campsites available, as well. Trail mileage is well broken up between the sites, and the trail is so easy to follow, you almost don’t need a map..
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Getting there: Take I-5N from Olympia to Tacoma, and merge onto WA-512E, and continue on for 11.3 miles.
Merge right onto WA-167N towards WA-410E, Yakima/Seattle, go 1.1 miles. Get ready to leave freeway to the right.
Take the WA-410E exit towards Sumner/Yakima, then merge left into WA-410. The merge lane becomes an exit lane, so get over quickly. Follow WA-410E 11.7 miles, through the town of Bonney Lake.
At Buckley, make a slight right onto WA-165. It will now be about 25.5 miles to the Mowich Lake Campground. During the summer months, plan on being there early, as the parking lot fills up quickly. Shortly after crossing the single lane bridge over the Carbon River, the road “Y’s”. At the “Y”, stay right, which takes you uphill. To the left, takes you to the Carbon River entrance to the park. Once at Mowich Lake, you have several choices. You can head clockwise on the loop, (the direction that we took), and hike down Ipsut Pass, (the steepest section of the trail) to the Carbon River. Or, take off CCW, down to the Mowich River crossing first. OR, you can go up and over through Spray Park, another great trail for mountain views above treeline.
Maps: We used the National Geographic “Trails Illustrated” map, a water proof and tear resistant map that encompasses all of the park. We found this sufficient for this hike, as I’ve noted before, the trails are relatively easy to follow, and the map shows the locations of backcountry camps.
Permits: You will have to get a permit to camp overnight anywhere in the Mount Rainier National Park, Especially those camps that are located on the Wonderland Trail. March 15th is the date that they start accepting reservations. Please check the website for Wilderness camping and Hiking. It should have all the information that you need to plan your hike. Of special Note: The floods of 2006 did heavy damage to the Carbon River Entrance, and as the ranger station at Wilkerson has been closed, your permit will have to be picked up at the Carbon River Entrance. At least, that’s the closest ranger station to Mowich Lake, so on the website, be sure to pay particular attention to this detail.
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The following pictures are just a quick sampling of what we saw on our 4 day sojourn around the Northern Loop, in Mount Rainier National Park. The trail is approximately 35 miles long, and part of it is on the Wonderland Trail.
Even though we traveled the Loop trail at the end of July, they consistently tell you to prepare for all kinds of weather, and from this trip, I can tell you that this is information that should be well heeded…As, one of our three found out the hard way. Who would have thought that it would snow at the end of July??? Proof again, that the Mountain makes it’s own weather…
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Crossing the Carbon River.
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Day 1. The first day took us from Ipsut Creek campground, up along the Carbon River, to our cut-off point towards the Yellowstone Cliffs. Very scenic here, and so far, the weather was perfect, low 70’s, just right for picture taking, and hiking uphill!!! Just past the cliffs, we reached the high point for the day, at Windy Gap, appropriately named, as you can hear the wind in all the video that I took from this spot. From here, there was a side trail, about a mile long, to get to the Natural Bridge. On the downslope side, it’s an appx. 100 ft drop. The arch is so large, that it can be seen from the lakes below with ease.
From Windy Gap, it was all downhill to Lake James Camp. The biting black flies and mosquitoes made it a rather unpleasant place. In fact, to pay homage to the little bloodsuckers, they named a flat after them, called, “Mosquito Flat”…Couldn’t begin to imagine why…
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Windy Gap ahead.
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The Natural Bridge.
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Lake James.
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View of the Natural Bridge, from Lake James.
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Day 2. We leave from Lake James, and head to Grand Park, and grand it was, indeed!!! I’ve never seen such a flat, wide open meadow, so high in the mountains! It was incredible, we stopped here to relax, and refuel for awhile, taking in the sights. One could easily imagine herds of elk and deer roaming about. From Grand Park, we dropped down some to Berkeley Park, a very pretty valley, filled with wildflower meadows, and a very scenic mountain stream running through the middle of it. As we made camp along the stream, we noticed that with grey skies, the evening was getting colder. In fact, it was so cold, that I had put on practically everything that I had brought to fight it off, and one of our group, all he had was short sleeve shirts, and a vest! So, he had nothing to cover his arms! We sat around shivering for awhile, watching the thermometer drop to below 40, and once it reached 38, he gave up, and crawled into his sleeping bag, where he remained huddled the rest of the night. He was so cold, that I heated up his dinner and served it to him in his tent! Try and get that on any other hiking trip!!!
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Day 3. We awoke the next morning to bitter cold again, and as we were drinking our coffee, we were hit with a rain/snow mix shower. Those little white flakes were all Russ needed to see to decide that as soon as we reached the cut-off for Sunrise, he was jumping out. It was cold, and I don’t blame him. The last thing we need to worry about in the wilderness, is having someone suffer hypothermia. We reached the cut-off, and bid Russ farewell. Ed and I continued up to Skyscraper Pass, amidst the now mainly snow showers, and cutting wind. Brrr…From there, we dropped down to the Winthrop Glacier, across Winthrop Creek and the White River, to Mystic Lake. Again, amidst rain showers, and gusty winds. We took some pictures of the lake that day, with the wind churning the surface of the lake. One of the pictures that I have included here, was from that day, a very cold Dave standing on the porch of the Mystic Lake Ranger Station, you can see the rain coming down. It was amazing to see the difference the following morning with the surface as smooth as glass.
That night, we spent another night huddled around our stove, not for heat, as it wouldn’t put enough out for that, but because we were busy boiling water for our dinner. Once the hot water was safely poured into the freeze dried pouches that contained our dinners, I played with my food…It made a great hot water bottle, and I put it under my windbreaker to keep warm, rubbed it on the back of my neck, etc, in an attempt to get some heat.
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Day 4. After breaking camp, we headed out early, and dropped down into Moraine Park, Where we watched a couple of bucks foraging. They let ups get fairly close, but still kept a wary eye on us. Marmot where in full song, their whistling a constant refrain on the wind. From there, we continued down past Dick Creek camp, under the watchful eyes of the Northern Crags, along the snout of the Carbon Glacier, to our final destination at Ipsut creek. Another great hike, filled with sights that can only be seen by venturing out into the backcountry.
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Hike in the Olympics,
August 18-20, 2006
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- Trail Ranking: 3/5 The trail for the most part is good, except for the part that goes up and over Grand Pass...Not much more than a goat trail. Still, easy to follow. The views are mostly unremarkable until you get up and over Grand Pass. From there, the views are great, with the Olympics being prominent. Also, once on the Ridge line between Obstruction Peak, and Deer Park, you can see the ocean, and the Olympics, as well as the valley you just traveled through.
- Difficulty: 6/10 Some pretty steep parts, especially out of the Cameron Creek valley, to Grand Pass! It’s over 2100ft of elevation gain in less than a mile, and for the most part, straight up! In direct sun, and with over 50lb packs, it was a real chore...
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Getting there: From Olympia, WA, follow I-5N to Tacoma, then take exit 132 towards Gig Harbor/Bremerton.
Continue towards WA-16W, and as you cross under I-5, lane merges into one lane, which then fairly quickly merges onto WA-16W, to your left! Follow WA-16W for about 27.3 miles.
At the town of Gorst, continue on WA-3 towards Bremerton for another 25 miles.
Turn left at WA-104, cross the bridge, and continue on WA-104 for 15 miles.
Take the ramp to US-101, keeping right at the fork and continue to follow US-101 for another 31.9 miles
Turn left at Deer Park Road, (after traveling into Port Angeles to stop at the Ranger Station!), follow this for 15.8 miles, the last 7.6 miles are gravel, and the road is pretty narrow in places.
Take the slight left at Olympic Natl. Forest road, go almost a 1/4 mile into the Deer Park parking area, and trailhead.
Once parked, and geared up, follow the trail to 3 Forks camp, appx. 4.3 miles down hill to the junction. Take the right spur over the creek up Cameron Creek valley, another 7 miles to the cut off that leads up and over Grand Pass. from here, its about 4.4 miles up and over Grand Pass, through Grand valley, past Moose Lake, to the junction at Grand Lake. From here, we chose the trail to the right, leading up through Badger Valley, another 4.6 miles to Obstruction Peak. From here, followed the trail along ridgeline past Elk Mt., Maiden Peak, and Green Mt., back to Deer Park, at about 7.4 miles.
Maps: We used the National Geographic “Trails Illustrated” map of Olympic National Park, readily available at most outdoors stores. Also highly recommend getting a Green Trails map of the area, as the detail will be greater, than this map. Another good resource is the Olympic National Park Backcountry map, showing wilderness campsites and trail locations, a great resource for planning your stay.
Permits: Reservations are required for Moose Lake, and Grand Lake camps, and they are limited, so be sure to plan in advance of your stay! Call the Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center for info at 360-565-3100. Permits will be required to be picked up in person, so be sure to stop first at the W.I.C. in Port Angeles first. (Click on the W.I.C. link for directions). I’m providing another link here for the backcountry permit, that will have to be filled out. The link for the permit is near the bottom of the page.
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What I did for my summer vacation…Ok, at least a part of it!!! Greg and I took off on a 3 day hike in the Olympic Mountains this weekend, starting at Deer Park, and making a loop, appx. 27 to 30 miles in length. The Deer Park Trail Head is Just East of Hurricane Ridge, in the Olympic National Park boundary, and can be reached by driving the length of the Deer Park Road. We started clockwise, and hiked down to the Three Forks camp, then headed up the Cameron Creek basin, up and over Grand Pass, through Grand Valley, Badger Valley, then along the ridgeline from Obstruction Peak back to Deer Park. These are just a sampling of some of the pictures that we took. The first day took us through old growth forest for the most part, and the trail for a long section, meandered next to this pretty mountain stream, called Cameron Creek. This was taken right next to our campsite, a real backcountry wilderness site, just a wide spot on flat ground next to the creek. We stored our food in bear bags hung from a high tree. The following morning, we continue along Cameron Creek, and, after climbing over 4,000ft out of Cameron Creek Valley, we crest out over Grand Pass. Thought I was gonna die, it wasn’t so much a trail, as a mountain goat scramble right up the side!!! Steepest “trail” I’ve been on to date…I vaguely remember muttering something to Greg about finding the guy whose bright idea it was to go straight up and over, and calmly easing my hands around his throat…Yeah, just vaguely remember something like that…Looking at the picture, you will see a pyramid shaped rock to far right, poking up into the sky…Where the ridgeline dips down, and touches the left shoulder of the aforementioned rock, is appx. where the pass is. Once we finally made the top, we had commanding views in all directions, and we made the top our lunch break, enjoying the long ranging vistas spread out before us. After filling our water bottles from the snow fed tarn at the bottom of the pass, we made our way down through Grand Valley, towards Moose Lake, a very pretty alpine lake, nestled in the Valley. There were campsites here, but, we couldn’t get one, had to go to the next lake further on, Grand Lake. Both of these lakes had lots of trout in them, and we saw several anglers giving it their best shot at Grand Lake. As we were hot, tired, sweaty, and dusty, we took a plunge in the very cool waters before the sun went down, surely impressing the people trying to pull dinner from the lake. It was at our site here, that a young buck strolled right through our camp. as if he had known us for years! If we had the desire, we could have reached out and petted him as he nonchalantly walked by. It was good to get clean, and rest our tired feet here. The following morning, we head up through Badger valley, the meadows filled with wildflowers. Then, at the end of the valley, we make the steep, switched back grade up to Obstruction Peak. I’ve included a picture here, just so you can appreciate the trail making its way up loose shale. After reaching the top, though, the views did not disappoint. From here, you could see Mt. Olympus covered in Glaciers, with the rest of the Olympic Mountain Range, as well as Grand valley, and the lakes that we had just camped by. Travelling further down the ridgeline, if you looked West, you could see the Pacific, and a few of the towns on the shoreline. Either way you looked, you could see for miles and miles.
All in all, it was a good trip, got to see a lot of neat backcountry. We gained over 7,000ft in elevation on the last two days, so it was pretty steep in a lot of places, and the horse flies were merciless!!! Some of them were bigger than bumblebees, and it was not uncommon for 6 or 8 of the horrible buggers to be buzzing about your head as you struggled down the trail, sometimes following you for what seemed like an hour, the same ones!!! There were times that I felt I was going to snap, start screaming incoherently, and run thrashing through the woods, flailing my arms wildly about my head, screaming, “No mas!!! No mas!!!” The only thing that kept me from doing this, was the simple fact that I was just too tired…If you’ve ever been bitten by a large horse fly, you’ll know what I mean…The deer flies and mosquitoes weren’t much better, at times it seemed that I had so many of them on my legs at once, that my skin felt it was crawling…Other than that, the weather was just about perfect, not too hot, I don’t think it ever got above 80 the whole time…Still, even today, if a house fly, or other insignificant insect decides to buzz me, I react rather violently, swatting at it with a little too much vigor…Kind of a “Post Traumatic Stress” from Horseflies!!!
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Obstruction Peak, obstructing the complete view of the Olympic Mountain Range.
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