Tag Archives: hiking

Leavenworth Weekend

After our weekend in Vantage Catherine and I had a weekend of R&R planned, courtesy of her Mom’s Christmas gift. With brand new all season, all weather tires on the Subaru, we followed a storm over Steven’s pass to once again enjoy the beauty of Leavenworth.

We arrived just in time for the afternoon Ice Festival events, including live ice carving and smooshing. The snow falling in town was picturesque and after grabbing some tea we hung out downtown for awhile.

That night we sampled some delicious Bavarian style meals, and then warmed up in our room with a fireplace. By the next morning there was over a foot of fresh snow downtown! Time for some adventures.

We drove up to Lake Wenatchee to hike around and soak up the views. Upon arriving we realized we haven’t yet mastered the Washington parks pass system. The snow truck driver turned out to be a park ranger who kindly explained that we needed both a Discover pass AND a sno-park day pass (a $20 value) just to park in the campground lot. Oh, and stay off all the cross-country trails. Luckily he was nice enough to explain to us, and we were under-geared for the unexpectedly deep snow anyway, so we went down the street, grabbed the required passes, since our Discover pass expired, and then were able to explore.

We stayed the night again in Leavenworth, where it was much quieter after the firework conclusion of the Ice Festival. Catherine and I enjoyed the local brews, and really had a chance to relax. On Monday morning, we headed home, and caught up with an incoming storm hitting the pass again, so we really got to put the Subaru through it’s paces, and it did great. It was nice to see fresh snow in Leavenworth, but we really need a lot more of it this winter!

From The Vault: More Winter Stoke

I was digging through the ol’ hard drive just the other day, when I came across a small collection from a winter hike in ’09 up the Flume Slide Trail. Lo and behold, a few of those shots were pretty cool. So why not have a look?

Back Two Backpacking

After a recent series of hikes, it feels about time for another post. We’ve been doing some “fun” backpacking trips lately, also known as hiking in, camping, and hanging out, rather than pushing all day until night falls and unpacking in the dark. There’s a time and a place for long grueling backpacking trips, and the past few weeks were not the time. We also did a great hike with some friends last weekend, which I’ve combined into this one big post covering the end of August and early September!

Summit Lake

Our first trip, a few weeks back now, was to head south towards the border of MRNP, and camp at Summit Lake. The trailhead lies more than six miles up and into the mountains at the end of a somewhat rough forest service road, though the rangers assured us it was ‘far from the worst’. Since dogs seem to be banned from campgrounds in the NP Summit Lake drew a lot of dog owners hiking in for the night. We made a relatively quick ascent, heard there was a sweet overlook campsite, and bee-lined for that.

The rest of the day was spent taking in the views of Mt Rainier, and hanging out at Summit Lake proper, lounging until a dinner of re-hydrated food. Mmmm. The evening and morning lighting made for even better photos.

In the morning we packed up, headed out and got a great breakfast nearby in an old Saloon.

Olallie and Talupus Lakes

The following weekend was labor day weekend, and after plans for a larger three day surfing trip fell through, we opted for another fun, easy backpacking trip, this time near Snoqualmie Pass. The forest road up was much smoother and the lake views were great, especially with some weather patterns moving through creating interesting clouds. Dylan joined us as well for the relaxing afternoon in the lake basins.

The morning fog rising off the lake was a nice treat. On our way back, we stopped at the Falls, since Dylan hadn’t been.

Heliotrope Ridge

Our friend Ian suggested we do a hike together, and because of his love for glaciers, opted for Heliotrope Ridge. After staring at topos all last winter, reading TRs and debating when the best time to ski it was, it was awesome to finally make a trip up from the valley that’s one of Mt. Baker’s main melt outflows. Ian, Tanya, their daughter Lily, Catherine and I all met at the trailhead and started up. It was a gorgeous day for hiking and sightseeing.

All in all an awesome day! Ian was a champ carried a sleeping Lily both up and down the trail. The trail itself was more taxing than one would’ve expected, moderately gaining elevation throughout, and included several fun creek crossings. I can’t wait to head back this winter. The trailhead is also the starting point for one of the main climbing routes, so we encountered more than a few mountaineers making for the summit.

Wild Eastern Oregon

For the 4th, Catherine and I were kindly invited down to central-eastern Oregon for some off the beaten path relaxation. Catherine’s Aunt Nancy and her fiance Dwayne took us in and showed us what Eastern Oregon is all about: trap shooting, off-roading, hikes, and planned siestas.

We split our time touring and sightseeing places like Dixie mountain, Strawberry Lake, and being introduced to shooting Trap, as well as getting shown around a ranch riding ATVs. It was a blast, and we took it easy, which was great. There’s nothing like hanging out on the 4th, and a watching light-your-own fireworks show.

Nancy and Dwayne were great hosts, who played card games with us like Crap on your neighbor and Sequence. Here’s some photos of the trip.

Sadly, Catherine and I had to leave all too soon, especially with the long drive home. We made the most of it, and took a recommendation from Nancy and Dwayne to stop at the John Day Fossil Beds on the scenic route back. The Fossil Beds had an amazing visitor center, and the landscapes is home to fossils dating back to 65 million years ago, with species that cannot be found anywhere else. The fauna was preserved by 60 successive lava flows spaced out approximately 8,000 years apart. As the canyons have eroded, it’s revealed the history.