Tag Archives: fall hiking

Fall From Different Heights

October is always a month of transition, especially in the PNW. I love the shoulder season, with the crisp Fall air which eventually brings snow and the anticipation of winter. It’s still surprising what a difference one week can make, and a few thousand feet of elevation.

Two weeks ago Catherine and I did the enjoyable Iron Goat loop hike, a 6 mile jaunt. The trail follows the old railroad bed used by early steam engines to climb over Steven’s Pass until the tunnel construction finished. It also officially terminates at Wellington, the site of the largest avalanche disaster in the US, in terms of fatalities. We caught great fall scenery on a relatively clear day! Of course in true PNW fashion, it rain the week before and the week after.

The caboose marks the turn around point, after which Catherine and I hiked the upper railroad grade and detoured to Windy Point. There we enjoyed some great views and met a trail crew volunteer. He told us a bit of history of the iron Goat trail restoration, and helped remind me that next summer I want to be more involved in hiking trail crews to give back and help others enjoy the great hikes out here.

Windy Point used to be a precipitous turn for the railroad, until a tunnel was excavated into the hill the make the turn less sharp and protect trains from winds and weather.

Iron Goat trail was full of remnants of structures, tunnels and history, which you’ll have to go investigate for yourself! I don’t want to give it all away but there was a lot of signage and great stories from the past.

Kendall Katwalk

Last weekend I convinced Tim and Dylan to do a more typical PNW hike-in the rain. We headed to Snoqualmie Pass to investigate the Kendall Katwalk near where Sweeney and I skied last April. The hike was serene, if lacking in views, and we had an awesome time! We also got soaked. We encounter rain, sleet, and heavy snow, with below-freezing temps and lots of snow at the Katwalk.

We knew there was a possibility of laying some tracks in the North Cascades, but I’m glad we did this hike and content to wait a few more weeks until there’s more snow to go crazy over. We’ve got a whole winter ahead of us!

The Katwalk proper looked a bit less striking in the low-visibility conditions. “I think…this is the catwalk?”, I exclaimed as we passed across it. We decided to go a bit further and hang out in a grove of trees to have a snack before descending.

Turning around we encountered a few other groups, and we were glad to have made the first tracks up for the day and have the trail to ourselves for the most part. On the descent the snow, and then rain, really turned up a notch.

With the high country getting hit by snow, this probably marks the last high elevation hike, and the start of touring season on the horizon! Bring on the snow! Here’s praying we don’t fall prey to El Niño.

Rain and Cascades

…are two things that I’m hoping don’t always go together, This past weekend Catherine and I went for a jaunt on the edge of the Northern Cascades, in search of “Lake 22”. Similar to several previous fall hikes, we knew we were in for a bit of wet weather, and this time we made the day more about exploring old growth than bee-lining for a high alpine ridge.

Before embarking we discovered a swollen Creek 22, right next to the road.

As we ascended through fantastical, and dripping, forests, I contemplated bringing mylar umbrellas on the next rainy hike, something that Ray Jardine considers essential.

The moderate ascent was enjoyable, although the trail was quickly becoming it’s own cascade in sections, but before too long, we had reached the lake.

Imagine a glassy surface with the towering shoulder of Mt. Pilchuck on the right, and bald steep faces all around. Still, even on a rainy day, it was a hidden gem, and we hung around long enough to snack before turning around.

The photos were limited to quick shots from my phone, as we deemed it too risky to soak anything else. We’ll see what next weekend brings!

Snowliage

There, I’ve said it: snowliage. That’s precisely what it was, and why we were there. We saw some pretty ripe leaves, some frosted peaks, and some blue skies and generally spent some quality time in the mountains getting stoked for the snow season! Eye candy was produced in abundance.

Tucks and Lion’s Head Trails

The objectives were two fold: peep some leaves and get in another more pre-season conditioning climb up a big mountain. The weather was essentially horrendous, with visibility approaching nil at the summit and winds gusting in the 60s, to say nothing of the driving rain. Despite the inclement weather I was rewarded with a few glimpses out of the Ravine and across the Notch. These are the ones that made the cut: