Twin Lakes, Nov 14th

Without postponing anymore the fact that the snow is back, it was time to get out on the first snowshoe of the season. I didn’t have plenty of time to organize anything with the group and originally I was going to hike with Scott. After several text messages we changed the hike for a snowshoe and invited Chris. In the end, it was only Chris and I. Without much planning, we went to Frog Lake to do the Twin Lakes loop. The forecast was predicting some clouds and a small chance of showers. We were surprised when we got to the trailhead as we had a cloud covered sky but some sun peeking under the clouds illuminating the trees. That gave the whole area a sort of a bluish glow that lasted for most of the day. After getting ready to leave, we headed out towards Lower Twin Lake. This first portion of the trip was great as we were breaking new snow. It was a workout though. The snow was very soft and powdery so we were sinking about a foot with our snowshoes. Once we got to Lower Twin Lake, we hiked back to the main trail and continued our route towards Upper Twin Lake. We stopped for lunch at Upper Twin Lake while enjoying the scenery and silence before continuing out trip around the lake. From that point, instead of cutting back, we continued until we met with the PCT where we found some fresh x-country ski tracks that made the hike a bit easier. We were thankful of those tracks as we were pretty tired by then of braking new snow. From the PCT we hiked down back to the main trail and to the car completing about 8 miles. Not bad for our first snowshoe.

Umbrella falls – Elk Meadows Loop, Nov 1st

Finally I moved to my new home and the basics are in place. With that, it was time to go hiking again although I know I won’t be able to do it as regularly as I was before, at least for some time. Since I had a lot of ‘Hiking Energy” in me that needed release, I decided to take a group to this well mixed loop. I had read before about the Umbrella falls but the hike was not long enough. Doing a bit of research, I found that it was possible to do a big loop by combining part of the Elk Meadows trail and Timberline trail. Furthermore, this loop would offer very interesting perspectives of Mt Hood. The hike started from the Mt Hood Meadows Nordic Ski area ascending gradually toward Newton Creek. Shortly after passing Clark Creek we got there and made our first turn to follow the ridge up towards the Timberline Trail. This portion of the hike gave us some very interesting views and scenery. On one side we had the huge Newton Creek that clearly shows what water can do when it’s rushing down the mountain. Looking up, we had a great view of the Gnarl Ridge with its line of dried trees on the top, and on the other side, a big grassy meadow.
Once we got to the Timberline Trail, we took a left turn and followed it over a ridge and down to Clark Creek. This side was completely different from the previous one, all dry, sandy and with little or no vegetation. It was like descending into a crater on the moon. Once down, we had to explore around a bit to find the best spot to cross as this creek does not have a bridge. Being nearly noon and having a good, sunny day, we decided to make a stop for lunch. After resting for a bit and taking some pictures of some little waterfalls, we continued our hike up a second ridge from where we crossed almost the entire Mt Hood Meadows Sky resort. You might remember or have seen pictures of me skiing there. It was interesting to recognize some of the slopes I have skied on in the winter. After walking for a couple of hours, we got to the Umbrella fall turn out. From this point on it was all a slow descent following the meadow until we got to the water fall. From that point, we continued down and took a detour to see Sahalie Falls which can also be seen from the old Mt Hood highway. Once there, instead of hiking back up to the trail, and considering it was getting late, we just continued on the road back to the cars not without enjoying our last view of Mt Hood illuminated with late afternoon sun. I guess we can’t get tired of this mountain.

Ape Cave and the Trail of Two Forests, Oct 4th

Located in Washington, Ape Cave is a lava tube that was formed when Mt Saint Helens erupted about 2000 years ago. As the lava was flowing downhill, the upper layer started to cool down and solidify while molten rock continued to flow underneath. Once the lava drained away, the only thing left was the cave with all the flow marks. This cave is the longest in the continental U.S measuring about 2.5 miles. It was discovered in 1947 but explored for the first time in the 1950’s by an outdoor group named the Mt St Helens Apes hence the name of the cave. Today this cave is a very common stop as you can descend on a staircase and explore the easier lower portion of the cave with nothing more than a good light source. The cave also offers the opportunity to explore the upper section by doing a much longer hike that requires passing thru numerous big rock piles and climbing an 8ft lava fall on the way to the upper entrance of the cave. For this adventure, I took a group to the cave to explore both the lower and upper section. We started from the lower entrance and hiked all the way to the lower end of the cave. This section has numerous turns where you can see how the lava flowed like a river leaving marks on both walls. Compared to the upper section, this one is relatively flat with ample room until you reach the end where the cave disappears into the floor. One of the highlights in this section is a huge rock that was probably floating in the lava and got stuck between the walls. As the lava continued to flow the rock fused with the walls and stayed there.

A rock stuck in the lava flow


From the lower end we hiked back to the lower entrance and got out to grab a bite to eat before heading back down to do the upper section of the cave. Soon after we started, we found the first pile of rocks. This portion is probably a section of the cave that at some point collapsed. Reading the description, it would seem that these are small rocks and a short distance. The reality is a bit different as this is a big pile of very big rocks. Right after that, Nancy and I were surprised to see some very little mushrooms growing in total darkness in the cave.

Mushrooms growing in total darkness


From there we continued thru several rock piles, tunnels and turns. Although everything seems to be similar, ever turn looked different from the previous one. The colors on the walls and ceiling constantly changed as did the shapes and surface of the walls. In several places the cave had a protrusion creating something like a mezzanine. In one particular section, these protrusions merged into one forming a curved ceiling that looked like a temple.

The temple


Further up in the cave, we got a bit of light from the outside as the cave has a vent that goes to the surface. Not long after that, we got to the staircase climbs out the upper entrance of the cave. At that point we decided to rest for a while before hiking down, on the surface, back to the parking lot. On that hike, it was interesting to see what the outside of the cave would look like. We found numerous holes and rocks with clear marks of lava flow.

Since this trip was not very long, I decided to complement it with a short walk around the Trail of Two Forests. This is a small section close to the cave that formed in the same eruption as the Ape Cave. As Lava was flowing on the surface and cooling down, it went around trees that burned with the extreme heat. Since the lava was already cooling down, it took longer for the trees to burn than for the lava to solidify. Once the trees burned, the lava didn’t continue to move leaving a cast of the tree that was there. Around this trail you can see numerous holes where there were trees. What’s even more interesting is that there where a couple of down trees that formed a couple of crossing tubes that you can crawl thru. Just imagine being inside a tube where the walls are a clear impression of a tree that was in its place. It was truly fantastic.

Wapiki Lake backpacking trip, Sep 26th

This is the third time I do this trip and I still love it. Last year we went roughly on the same date and got a very foggy/rainy weekend. This time we had incredible weather with warm sunny days and a pretty cool night. On Saturday we started from the Cultus Creek trailhead climbing rather steeply to the first view point that opened the valley for us with a beautiful view of Mt Adams. It was a great thing for me to see the summit I climbed about a month ago.

Mt Adams.


From there we crossed a couple of beautiful, fall colored meadows before getting to Cultus Lake. We took a short detour to hike down to Deep Lake to take some pictures before heading back up to Cultus. Normally this is a great stop for lunch but since we started our hike a bit earlier in the morning, we decided to continue and stop at the base of Lemei Rock for lunch. The hike to Lemei was very pretty as well as we passed numerous berry fields all turning to red. The colors were just fantastic and the berries very sweet and plentiful. Once we got to Lemei Rock, we decided to climb to the top for the great views. The climb is mostly a scramble over loose rocks and quite steep terrain but easily doable. Once we got to the top though, we were almost blown away by the strong, cold winds up there. Still it was very well worth it as we got clear views of Mt St Helens, Mt Adams and several lakes in the basin below us. After a short while and once we got cold enough, we climbed down back to our packs for a nice lunch under the sun. Shortly after that, we continued our hike doing a bit of bushwhacking thru a meadow until we got to the crater rim that overlooks Wapiki Lake. The lake looked as pretty as always although I noticed that the water level was a lot lower than what I’ve seen in the past.

Wapiki Lake from the crater rim


The hike down to the lake was as grueling as always and we were a bit disappointed when we found almost all campsites already taken. The only place big enough for all of us was a central, kind of in the middle campsite which ended up not being as bad as we thought. We spent the rest of the day collecting wood, setting up camp, starting a fire quite early as wind was making it rather cold and just enjoying our time. The wind kept up until about 11PM when it died out so the night was pretty quiet. On Sunday, we woke up to a magnificent yellow sun illuminating the west side of the crater. I got up early and went for a short walk to take some pictures before getting back to camp form breakfast. Since the morning was bit cold, we decided to stay at camp a little longer while the day warmed up.

Nancy taking a nap in the hammock


We then started our hike back up to the rim. As it was early and I was full of energy, I decided to do a “power pace” which took me to the top of the rim quite fast so I got the hard part of the day out quickly. From there we hiked down on the same trail back towards Cultus Lake making several stops for Huckleberries and treats. Once back at Cultus Lake, I offered my fellow hikers two possibilities to continue. One was the hike to the PCT heading South and going around Bird Mountain, over a saddle and back to the trailhead which includes a very steep downhill that can be very heavy on the knees or a much easier hike to the PCT heading North and passing by Clear, Dear, Bear Lakes before ending at Elk Lake. The decision was unanimous, the lakes. So we did that hike thru a heavy forested area with beautiful glimpses of the four major lakes in Indian Heaven and finally we got to Elk Lake where we stopped for lunch.

View from our lunch spot at Elk Lake


After lunch, we started our hike which pretty much followed the same path we had taken, so we went by all the four lakes to Cultus Lake and then down from there back to the car. I think we were truly lucky with the great weather we had considering we’re already in the fall and it should be rainy and cold.

Silver Star via Ed’s Trail, Sep 20th

The hike to Silver Star from Ed’s trail is one of those you have to do at some point. Not only it will give a good taste of what climbing to a summit feels like but it will also give you some amazing panoramic views of the volcanoes around you. The hike starts pretty high up after a long drive on “Pothole” road. That makes the elevation gain not so difficult for the rewards you get. The hike starts in a semi forested area with low underbrush until it reaches an old forest road. From that point, there are a couple of options to continue up. One is following the ridge which is very nice but usually windy and the other, following Ed’s trail which stays on the north side right bellow the ridge and overlooking the Star Creek. After some huffing and puffing, we got to the ridge that offers the first views to the north and also great opportunities for group photos

The hiking party


From the ridge, we descended a bit a followed our path right under the ridge rock formations all the way to the Arch and the cave on the other side. We did a second stop there just to try to get everybody in the cave which we did. From there, we continued to what probably is the hardest part of this hike. The trail makes a couple of switchbacks on loose rocks and wet terrain that forces you to grab on to branches and roots to pass it, just to find yourself in front of a short wall that you have to scramble up. This comes with a nice reward as you get to a flat rock with incredible views to the valley of the Star Creek and beyond.

Star Creek with Adams in the background


Shortly after passing the scramble section, we passed a forested section of the mountain before getting back to the old forest road. From there, we followed the road all the way to the summit where we found a group of bird watchers and other hikers enjoying the beautiful views. As we did a long time ago when I did this exact same hike, we went to the false summit which is a bit lower that the real summit but offers equally inspiring views to have lunch. Being a nice, warm weather day, instead of heading back down to the trailhead, we decided to extend the hike by going to the Indian pits. The first portion was a very steep downhill that took us thru some heavy underbrush before getting to an open meadow. From there it’s just an easy walk to the pits where we explored a bit, sat in the pits and fooled around before heading back

Erin on her vision quest inside a pit


For the return we did the exact same trail with the exception of the ridge. Instead of taking the lower trail, we followed the ridge back to the trail head. That gave us some really nice afternoon views with lots of falls colors.