Alpine Washington

The kids are back in school since our last hike on Labor Day, though they're learning remotely from home. With the excellent September weather, I'd like to continue checking off a few alpine lakes, and Jeannie agrees to join me on a hike near Mount Margaret. We haven't been up this trail since late August 1997, on our way to Lake Lillian, before we were married! That hike was also before digital cameras and smart phones, as I have the prints and negatives in my photo album to prove it. The targeted lakes for today are Yvonne, Margaret, and Stonesthrow, with the latter requiring a bit of off-trail work. Let the adventure begin! We drive it up the short but rocky logging road to the Lake Lillian trail head just past Snoqualmie Pass and Gold Creek Pond. Somehow, I seem to recall the parking being in a different spot back in '97, but it's hard to say for sure. I definitely remember the trail being in a clear cut for the first mile or two, but the area we're headi...

Our family tries to do one backpacking trip every summer, and it's usually quite difficult to fit in among busy schedules for gymnastics, work, triathlons, and all the other events that seem to fill up summer calendars. This year, we didn't start hiking until late July due to COVID concerns, but I'd still love to get in our overnight before the kids go back to remote school in September. As it turns out, the Labor Day weekend is free, so I make a plan to do a PCT hike near Stevens Pass, in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It's unclear how many people we'll see, but we should be able to check off five lakes on my ALW list in a relatively easy 11 mile through hike from Stevens Pass to Tunnel Creek. Since this is a through hike, two cars are needed. We drop off Lucas' car at the Tunnel Creek trailhead, a few miles west of Stevens Pass. After a short drive, we reach the pass and have a quick bite to eat at the PCT trailhead on the south side of Highway 2. The forecas...

The hiking bug has bitten after our first two outings, and I resolve to find something nearby and uncrowded to entertain us on a sunny Saturday on August. I elect to try out the short trail to Stegosaurus Butte , which branches off the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail just south of the trailhead. We're getting used to hiking in the time of COVID, but on weekends it's certainly more enjoyable to hike on lesser-used trails to avoid hassle with masking on and off. This hike is rated as steep but short. Kyra and Jeannie join me for the adventure today. We cross over the iconic  Gateway Bridge and turn right on the Middle Fork Trail. Families are playing in the river below - this time of year it's quite gentle and has lots of nice spots to enjoy.  The Middle Fork Trail is lovely year-round, and is always a study in mosses, ferns, and other rainforest scenery. This section of the trail south of the bridge has been extended 2.5 miles to the Pratt River, providing easy acces...

For the inaugural hike of my Alpine Lakes Wilderness mission, we chose to check out a trail I'd been eyeing for a while. This "backdoor" route to Rampart Ridge is much shorter than the route normally taken via the Lake Lillian trail. However, it comes with an unmaintained trail and a road with brush growing in from both sides. I white-knuckle our almost-new Subaru Forester to the trailhead, and fortunately there seem to be only minor scratches when we get there. This trail provides very fast access to a number of Alpine Lakes, but on this sunny July day there are only about 6 cars attempting it. On this hike, Jeannie, Lucas, and Kyra are along for the adventure. The trail starts out on a bit of abandoned road, but then quickly gets down to business scrambling up steep woods alongside Rocky Run Creek. As far as unmaintained trails go, it's not too bad, but it certainly gets the blood pumping. After less ...

It's already the middle of July, and due to COVID and the general chaos of 2020, we haven't done any hiking yet. I ask Jeannie if she wants to do a hike for our twenty-second anniversary and she agrees! We set out on a very warm Sunday afternoon for the Granite Creek Trail. This is actually a rather new trailhead that we haven't been to before, and should be a bit off the beaten path compared to the more popular I-90 corridor hikes. There is an old trail that starts right next to the Mailbox Peak trailhead, but the new trail is over a mile shorter. Note: this trailhead is managed by the state and NOT the US Forest Service, so you need a Discover Pass to park here. The trailhead is at a very low 900' of elevation. The first mile or so of the trail is brand new, built in 2012 . It has some decent elevation gain, but is wide and easy to walk on - ferns and other woodland plants line the way through the forest. We reach the junction with the old trail to the M...