Multnomah – Franklin Ridge Loop, Nov 8th

Trying to catch falls colors in Oregon can be a bit of a challenge for many reasons. For starters, we don’t have a lot of trees that go brown and drop all their leaves in the winter. Most of our forests are covered in different pine species that stay green throughout the winter. The other reason is that it can be a very delicate balance. AS leaves start to turn yellow, the rain also start. If it doesn’t rain too much, then you get a chance but, this is Oregon. Nothing like not too much rain. This year in particular with the visit from el Niño, weather started turning grey and rainy pretty fast so we had kind of a boom, everything is yellow now kind of deal. Still, with lousy weather, we wanted to get a hike in an area with good fall colors. After looking for a while we ended up re-visiting an old loop that usually has a lot of potential. We usually stay away from Multnomah as it’s a tourist attraction and you get a lot of people. This day though, for some strange reason (or just because we got there early) the parking lot was almost empty. That gave me a chance to take a picture of Multnomah Falls and the bridge without any people, a very rare sight. After admiring the fall we marched our way up via the 11 (yes, they are numbered) switchbacks to the top of the fall before entering he Multnomah basin. That’s when people start to thin out and you finally are in the forest. We were welcomed with a very lush forest covered in moss. Even though the sky was covered in dark grey, we had some really nice colors ranging from the still yellow leaves on some limbs to the brown covering the ground. It was a quiet hike as some parts where almost deep in fog. Creeks were also noticeable higher with the rain so that was a relief. IN all, nothing to complain about. It was a fantastic fall hike



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BPA Road – Newton Road loop, Oct 18th

With cooling temperatures and overcast predicted pretty much in the entire state we didn’t have a good choice for a hike. Still, Val and I needed a descent loop for a workout. Something in the 10+ mile range with descent elevation gain just to keep our hiking legs in motion. I generally overlook trail in Forest Park because most of them have very easy access so you get to share the trail with runners and city walkers. Also, you rarely get far enough not to hear he city so the sense of being out there is just not there. But I was proven wrong. Val found this loop on the Northern end of Forest Park that combines two service roads with some trail to form a pretty descent loop. It’s not visited as much because the trailhead is right on the Northwest Saint Helens Road which is like a secondary highway. When we read the description, it did say to park in the shoulder, but that meant leaving the car right there, sitting b itself in the middle of a busy road. It didn’t look like we would find it on our way back. So we made a turn on Marina Bay Road and park there which worked pretty well. The hike starts from the closed service road that quickly climbs up towards the power lines. As it winds up, you get far from the road, and the noise pretty quickly. Being an overcast and almost rainy day didn’t give us a lot of views so not much to comment on that front. WE did take a detour for and out and back, down the hill to a view point where you can see the river and the Sauvie Island Bridge in the distance. Once back on the primary loop, we continued up to a couple more viewpoints that didn’t offer anything due to cloud cover. From there the return actually felt a bit more familiar. Part of it was following the Wildwood trail that traverses the entire park until we got to Newton Road which we followed all the way down. The cool thing about this hike is that you get the distance and elevation and then you can get home quickly for well-deserved hot shower and a meal



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Silver Star, Oct 4th

Without super busy summer looking for houses, we decided to take the day off and go hiking. Without a lot of planning, Val and I browsed our go-to list of hikes we like to do in a short notice when the weather is cooperating so we picked Silver Star. The day was clear but not crisp and we were looking for some fall colors that had eluded us. The hike was nice with the splendid views you get from the top. We visited both view points and were planning on spending some time under the sun while we ate some lunch but found that to be a bit tricky. The wind was blowing pretty hard which made it a bit cold up there so we waited a bit until we were protected by the ridge but then we never stopped. We continued down via the Sturgeon Rock trail. We thought about taking the detour but another group was scrambling up there and we had done it before, besides, without lunch we were getting hungry very quickly. We got back down in very good time to make a stop on the way to eat. We got our sanity back



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Four Lakes Loop from Granite Lake – Trinity Alps, Sep 5th to Sep 9h

Being very busy has prevented me from posting this incredible 5 day backpacking loop in the Trinity Alps. But here it is, at last. This trip was a bit questionable from the planning stage. If you live in the Northwest, you know our summer was plagued by wildfires pretty much everywhere. It was hard to look at a map and find a spot that was not too close and/or affected by this over active fire season. The Trinity Alps was on our radar even though there was a fire in the southwest corner so we penciled the idea and started looking at the fire status websites daily for a good two weeks. Fortunately the fire was not moving towards the area we were looking for and wind was blowing south – southwest most of the time keeping smoke away. With all that in hand, and the required permits, we made a final call, packed our gear and took our chances.



Day 1: Swift Creek Trailhead to Granite Lake

We woke up to a cold morning at the trailhead and Val and I met Duncan and Kathryn who were joining us for this trip. We had a short day ahead of us but still we had our normal breakfast, grabbed our gear and were on the trail early in the morning. And right from there you start getting outstanding images and views. Just as you walk in to the forest, you find yourself surrounded by huge pines towering to the blue sky. On the side the swift creek grows deep as you go in and close to the trailhead there’s a turn where you can spot a spectacular waterfall in the canyon. It’s not spectacular for being tall though, it’s the color of the water and the surrounding canyon that make it pretty scenic. About a mile in, we got to the start of the bigger loop (this trip was a figure 8 loop plus an exploratory loop). At that point, we turned southwest towards Granite Lake, our first stop. The trail followed Granite Creek but not as close as the swift Creek. Overall the trail had minimal elevation gain as it traveled thru open meadows. As we continued, granite peaks started showing up on the left side while red rock mountains showed on the right. It was an interesting combination we would see a lot more of in the following days. Just when we started thinking about lunch, we reached Granite Lake. We had planned for this to be our first stop but we never thought it would go that quick so we dropped our packs on the first spot we found to set up camp. Later, after having lunch, we did some exploring around the lake were we discovered more secluded campsites around the shore. There’s no clear indication where or how to get to those but several user paths will eventually lead to them. The rest of the day was very relaxing as we saw the sun go down behind the ridge and the light dissipate into night.

Day 2: Granite Lake to Diamond Lake

Day two proved what Trinity Alps is all about, a lot of ups and downs. Even though the distance we traveled was a bit over 5 miles, it took us thru a couple of mountain passes and a very deep valley. We started hiking away from Granite Lake following still the Granite Creek for a little while. AS we gained elevation, we left the forest behind and the sun started beating on us. It got hot pretty quickly. As we hiked, we saw how the granite peaks on the left joined the red rock peaks on the right at a slot ahead of us. It was our first pass to it was pretty easy to see our route. Colors changed constantly as the sky also turned to a deeper blue with the elevation. We reached the pass in time for lunch so we made a short stop to eat and enjoy the views.

From this point there are several options to continue. On one side, you can connect with the Bear Basin trail which we used as our return option, or you can go down into the valley below. There’s the option for a side trip up to Seven Up Peak that we didn’t try. One very cool thing we saw from the pass was the trail we would be doing for the majority of the rest of the day plus some others we would do later. It’s pretty incredible when you get a view and can see the route you will travel or the route you came from. After soaking in the views, we continued down over multiple switchbacks towards Deer Creek. As we descended to the valley, the mountains around us got taller and taller. Seven Up Peak was on our backs, Siligo Peak ahead of us and Deer Creek Pass to the south. We were on the upper section of the Deer Creek Valley. We took the opportunity there to fill up water and freshen up before the second climb of the day. This point marked the start of what is known as the Four Lakes loop. So after getting water, we picked up our trail going west and up towards the first of the four lakes, Luella Lake. This lake came as a surprise. AS you hike up, you don’t see any of it until you are pretty much right in front. The lake itself sits in a shallow bench on the northern flank of Siligo Peak. We didn’t see campsites there but multiple flat spots looked promising. There’s not a lot of shade though. As we continued up, we could see the granite peaks behind us and it almost looked like a gigantic tooth coming out of the ground. You can almost imagine cataclysmic events leading to these peak rising from the ground to be where they stand today.

The day got long and heavy and hot when we got to a meadow that seemed to guide us to another pass or peak. Only ridge lines were visible ahead but looking at the map, we knew our destination for the day was close ahead. Not too long after that, we reached the tree and Diamond Lake. I think this lake, along with Lake Ana, are the two most scenic lakes in the area. IT’s set on shelf that drops off to the very deep Salt Creek valley. Towering peaks line up the horizon on the other side making this lake look like the end of the world. The tree I mentioned is a lone gigantic pine with two campsites right below it. There are other flat spots where a tent can be set. We were lucky to find a small group that were leaving so we got both of the sites for the night. After setting up camp, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing ion the water, walking around the lake, climbing a small mound and enjoying the views. That evening we got a very faint smoke smell and we could see a bit of haze in the distance, but that gave us also a pretty amazing sunset. The sun went down over the ridge on the other side of the canyon so I walked to the opposite side of the lake to get the entire scenery. It was one of the most peaceful scenes I’ve seen in a long time. The calm lake was reflecting the deep blue sky while oranges and red painted the sky in the horizon. There was no wind or even mosquitoes to alter the tranquility of the sunset.

Later that night, at around 2 in the morning, I got out to take some night shots of the incredible starry night above us.

Day 3: Granite Lake to Deer Lake plus exploratory loop

At this point, we had a couple of options to consider. The original plan was to either stay for a second night at Diamond Lake or move to Summit Lake before doing an exploratory loop. In the end, we opted for moving even further, to Deer Lake and then do the exploratory loop. I was a bit hesitant about this option as I didn’t know how the campsite situation at Deer Lake was. Besides that, almost everyone we saw on the trail the day before had said they were staying or coming from Der Lake which led us to believe is was the most used stop in the loop. Having taken the choice, we packed and head up the hill towards our first shallow pass. At the turn of it, the scenery changed as we were now facing the other side of the ridge. The trail itself navigated thru red rocks and in the distance we could see Summit Lake. We passed the spur trail to Summit Lake as we had a long day ahead of us so the trail went up again to get out of that basin again to the other side of another small pass with more amazing views. We had reached Deer Pass. From here we could see not only the trail towards Deer Lake but also the trail we came down from Seven Up Pass. We were on the other side of Siligo Peak. The trail continued bordering the ridge and descending gradually around the Deer Lake basin below us. A short couple of switchbacks took us down to Deer Lake were we found some open spaces on the southern end of the lake where we set up our tents. We left most of our gear there and grabbed only what we needed for the day and head out for an exploratory loop going first up again towards Deer Pass. From the pass we took a trail descending down to Siligo Meadows at the base of some impressive granite peaks to the east. We did notice this are to be more arid and desolated than the other side. I fact, over the entire exploratory loop, we didn’t see a soul. The meadow was expansive with dry grasses all over, a small creek running and hiding and almost no shade. We passes a small creek where we got water and took a short break before gaining some more elevation. Eventually we got to a small dry pond. I though originally that it was Billy Be-Damn Lake but I’m not sure if it is. The interesting, and sad thing, was to see the pond completely dry.

The bottom was a grey, cracked surface like you see in western movies. The only thing missing was a skeleton. That was the point that signaled us we were going off trail. We crossed the small pond and traversed a small hump on the southern side. On the other side we got to one of the lakes we would see in this adventure. Echo Lake doesn’t seem to have a good access trail but there’s no doubt people camp there. It was so inviting that both Kathryn and Duncan took a break to dive in the lake. While they dried up, I explored around trying to find the way out to continue our route to the next lake and noticed that going around on the west side would lead us to the drain creek which didn’t look easy to cross. We hiked in the other direction to small meadow on the southwest side and big peaks surrounding it. I compared the scenery with my map and finally made up the pass we needed to go thru to get to the other side. From our point of view, it was a straight up line to a narrow pass between rocks. We didn’t know how it was going to go so after talking about for a bit, we took the chance and went up. It was not easy by any means. Some loose rocks, step steps and some challenging cracks finally led us to the top.

The pass was right next to a spire rock that, from the bottom looked smaller. Up there, close and personal it was a towering peak. All the views around us were magnificent, except straight down. On the other side of the pass, the climb down was as steep as the way we came in. Down below we could see a rocky valley and the next lake, probably Billy Be-Danm Lake. Slowly and carefully we climbed down a chute that finally took us down to safety. Being on the other side of the ridge meant also we had less light, in fact, the sun was on the other side of the ridge so we were already in the shadows. We followed a direct path to the lake and noticed that his lake was also very low in water. The California drought was clearly noticeable here. The lake itself was beautiful. We didn’t see potential campsites but we didn’t look hard enough. The lake does have kind of an arm on the southern end that we didn’t explore. It certainly looked like a very inviting lake for a swim even though the water was freezing cold. From there ewe saw what looked like an animal path going over a small ridge. We followed that path and found ourselves looking into the Lake Anna basin. Our path took us around but we didn’t climb down to the lake. As the hours were passing by, we didn’t think we would have enough light so we stayed on our paths around the lake to the next ridge. At some point, looking down on the lake, I saw the rocks forming the end wall before the mountain just drops out of sight down to Bowerman Meadows. It’s a steep drop gauging from the view we got. With the sun low on our backs illuminating the rocks yellow and the lake reflecting the deep blue sky, it was an image difficult to forget. Definitely a lake I would like to visit and explore again sometime.

From there, getting back on a trail proved to be a bit of a challenge. Out of Lake Anna we saw a small saddle and what looked like a potential route down. Following that would have taken us to the trail but way far down. The problem was that, on paper it looked more doable than in person. We bushwhacked our way around some fallen trees and limbs trying to skirt around the canyon. It was slow going until we the forested area opened up and we saw a potential path without the need to climb down. We took that path around a small peak navigating thru rocks and grasses. At some point I lost my footing and landed on my knee which wasn’t a lot of fun. One the throbbing stopped, we continued and later, finally we reached the Long Canyon trail. From there it was a climb up to Bee tree Gap that again gave us a new perspective of Siligo Meadows below us. It was hard at this point to identify the trail moving forward but as we hiked along it, we saw it was skirting the granite peaks we had seen earlier in the day. After a long huffing a puffing we finally got back to Deer pass and couldn’t wait to get to camp that we almost ran down. That night I took some time to soak my knees in cold water before having dinner and going to bed for a well-deserved rest.

Day 4: Deer Lake to Sandy Gulch

The long day. This was actually planned that way because, even though there was a lot of distance to cover, the elevation change was not as big as the previous couple of days. The interesting thing was today we were going to cross a trail we had done on the second day and close the Lakes loop. Leaving Deer Lake was somewhat of a relief as we were not going up. Deer Lake is where Deer Creek starts from so we followed a trail down that path. The first section goes over a handful of switchbacks where you can spot the creek and small waterfalls. Then the trail flattens out and you enter a meadow that again is surrounded by towering peaks. We knew this view from Day 2. IN the distance we saw a small round lake that happened to be Round Lake. It’s in the loop but not part of the four lakes. Passing it let us to the junction where two days before we had stopped to get water. From that point on we navigate across meadows and open fields as far as the eye can see. WE crossed the creek and then some more climbing. Since we were heading back towards the trailhead, we needed to go over the pass where Seven Up Peak is. There are multiple spur trails in the area and a longs Cabin site that we’re not sure we saw. At a point it got confusing and we did a couple of weird turns but finally we were able to figure our route out and found the trail again. The switchbacks didn’t offer views, only forested areas and big boulders here and there. At some point we got to or near the pass, we were not sure, but we needed to stop and eat so as soon as we found shade we did. After passing the Bear Pass, we took the trail down to Bear Basin. It was a sallow and steady climb down over meadows and forests. All the towering peaks were now behind us. The hike got long and heavy. The sun was beating on us which didn’t make it any easier. Towards the end of the trail we finally saw Bear Creek appear on our right. We knew it wasn’t long before a bridge and finding the Swift Creek trail that would take us the next day back to our cars. At that point we knew we had to start looking for a campsite, being tired from the day, we actually started looking sooner rather than later. One landmark we were looking for was the bridge over swift creek. After that it was a hunt to a spot to drop the packs. Just after getting back on the Swift Creek we passed a bend where the Sandy Gulch dumps its waters along with Bear Creek into Swift Creek. There were some concrete pylons for a bridge, but no bridge. A side path guided us across and right after a notice a flat area below the trail almost hidden from it. I found a small trail going over a big tree that lead to our final campsite on a shelf with easy access to water and plenty of space for several tents. We still have time to kill in the afternoon so Kathryn and Val went to the creek to take a bath while I prepared the hang for food and took some pictures.

Later that evening, while were sitting around the fire ring for dinner, we noticed a couple of large ears pop over the bushes. It was a dear checking us out. It seems it was not very afraid as it continued eating leaves and walking around our campsite and even waling up to Kathryn’s tent to smell it before taking off and disappearing. Later that night I went out again to take some pictures of the stars

Day 5: Sandy Gulch to Swift Creek trailhead

Last day was a short day by design. The idea of the long day and then the short one was to get back to the trailhead in good time for the long drive home. We didn’t want to get back home in the dark. With that in mind, we packed early and left camp for a short hike out. The forest was fresh and the hike meandered thru forested areas which was a nice change. At some point we stopped to shift layers and I noticed we had a couple of followers. Not too far behind us a deer with her two fawns were staring at us. I took my camera and took a couple of pictures as they walked around us and got on the trail ahead of us. We grabbed our gear and continued which didn’t scare or made the deer go away. Instead, the lead the way for quite a while turning eventually to check us out. There was a moment when the other actually turned around and came towards us. Don’t know if she was being protective or just checking us out as the fawns where just doing their thing around the mother.

Eventually she got tired of us and veered right and disappeared into the forest. After that we came back the view point with the incredible waterfall in the canyon which also signaled us we were almost out. WE made the trailhead early enough that it left us time to stop on the way home for lunch and relax before going back to work. In a word epic.


You can check the pictures here

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Zigzag Canyon overlook, Aug 15th

I guess I took the name of this hike literally and overlooked it since I’ve been here. Perhaps it was because, if you search for it, you’ll find only the most common approach that starts from Timberline Lodge and gently descends to the overlook. From there it’s a short hike. But then I saw some pictures and realized I needed to check this place out as the views are just breathtaking. So I looked at a map and found an alternate route combining a couple of trails and two nearby trailheads to create a good, long 16 mile loop. Weather forecast was looking promising when I planned it but as things go, everything change and we got to the trailhead with a foggy and misty day. That didn’t stop us so we parked at the exit point to get the road walk out of the way first. We then took the Paradise Park trail that switched back and forth several times in the forest before it reaches a ridge. At that point there’s a nice view point that must offer some pretty good views of the canyon, yet we didn’t see anything as the fog was covering everything. Not dissuaded by this, we continued marching on and found another viewpoint closer to the timberline trail. The clouds had lifted just a bit to give us a glimpse of a huge sandy canyon. Once on the Timberline trail we traveled south around a couple of bends before the trail made us descend abruptly towards Zigzag canyon to cross the snow melt creek. We found a nice spot for lunch at the crossing with a nice waterfall further up. From our position, Mt Hood is probably towering over you but we still couldn’t see it. The hike up the canyon on the other side went fast and soon we reached the ridge on the other side and things got much better. Even though the clouds were still pretty low, the canyon looked amazing below us. As we continued on the ridge, we could see the magnitude of this crack going up to the mountain were it disappeared in the clouds. Finally we go to the view point, something we easily identified by people that hadn’t sweat enough to get there. Even with the limited vertical views it was an incredible sight and one of those views that you have to be there to not only see it, but also to believe it’s there. After a couple of pictures, we continued on until we reached the Hidden Lake trail which we took to get back. As we were hiking down, after one turn I did notice something blue over my shoulder. Between the trees I was able to make the top of Mt Hood. So eventually the clouds lifted but it happened when we were on our way out and going back was not an option. It was just a taste of the treat…



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Upper Salmonberry River, Aug 9th

Another hike from the to-do list marked as done. On my quest to find new trails I started looking for old books that might have now deconditioned trails. A couple of years ago I stumble across a book from the late 70’s published by the Sierra Club with over 40 trails in the Tillamook Forest. Among those, I found three trails I’d heard about but didn’t have much information. These trails or routes actually are three different portions along the Port of Tillamook Railroad tracks. Back then, when the book was published, these tracks were actually in use so you had to take care when walking on trestles or in tunnels that there was no train coming. I imagine back then how exciting – and dangerous – of a hike that would be. But then, in 2007 a winter storm cause severe damage to the tracks to the point that they were decommissioned. Today, part of those tracks are disappearing under layers of dirt and plants. Some sections, where you can still see the tracks, the might be hanging in the air. This particular section seems to be the most interesting as it has the most trestles and tunnels in a relatively short distance. It starts from a road near the Cochran Pond and travels west towards Belding. Overall the trail is pretty flat although you have to walk, for the most part, on the track itself which in certain conditions can be tricky and slippery. For us, it was a sunny and warm day so that was not a problem. We did notice a pungent smell of oil as the tie started sweating under the sun. The hike is interesting nonetheless. As you walk thru the vegetation and observe the storm destruction, you can imagine the old days with trains traveling along this route carrying timber. As we did, you may also hear gunshots in the distance which makes it even more earie. There are multiple relics to explore and tunnels to pass along the way. Best of all, you can make this hike as long or as short as you like. I still have to do the second section to Belding as I’ve heard there’s a ghost town there. Spooky.



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Herman Creek, Jul 25th

A.K.A the overnight that was not. For several weeks, Val and I were itching to go out and spend a night in the forest. Since our schedules this summer has been pretty tight, we were having a hard arranging some free time so in an almost desperate moment, we picked up a weekend and place to go spend one night. We needed the exercise and the relaxing outdoor activity. With that, we fixed our aim in Herman Creek. It’s close to town, you can go as far as you want as there’s multiple campsites everywhere and there’s plenty of water sources. It was a no brainer for us. They only thing we were not counting on was rain. Since the summer had been pretty dry and warm we almost didn’t look at the weather forecast up to the very last minute, and even then, the chance of rain didn’t dissuade us. So we got up, drove to the trailhead, got our packs on and started hiking up aiming to get to Cedar Swamp and spend the night there to then come back the same way or do a slightly larger and harder loop by coming down via Nick Eaton Ridge. We noticed that, on our drive there, we passed a rain front that was quite short so we thought we would get that for a bit and it would clear after that (which btw was the same thing noted on the forecast). As we were marching up, the rain started. It wasn’t hard but a constant drizzle. Enough to get you wet but not enough to make you turn around and change your plans. With that, I covered my camera (hence no pictures) and pushed towards our destination. Given we had our packs on our backs and hadn’t done any training hikes, we did pretty well as we got to Cedar swamp early in the afternoon. We saw a good campsite that was already taken by a big group with a tarp so it wasn’t very inviting for us at that point. Just for kicks, we decided to continue going up and check if there was other campsites further up. As we did, we noticed the rain coming and going but not stopping. It was not looking very promising. We started to doubt whether we would find a good campsite and neither wanted to deal with setting up and cooking in the rain. Furthermore, the forecast for Sunday did look less promising. Then we walked out of the forest into a meadow that is right north of Mud Lake and leads to it. At that same time, the rain started much harder and went from a drizzle to actual rain. We stopped, looked at each other, tuned around and started hiking back. Since we were already wet and didn’t want to deal with setting up in the cold, we just marched our way down, non-stop all the way back to the car, went home, took a hot shower and had a nice dinner… So the backpack ended up being a 17 mile hike with 3900’ elevation gain with fully loaded packs. Not bad for the lack of training.

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Horseshoe Ridge, Jul 18th

If my memory serves me well, the first time I did the Horseshoe ridge was on the way back from Cast Lake. I remember that back then, this trail impressed me with the views of the mountain and the open scenery to the different valleys around. In past hikes, I’ve combined this trail with the Cast Creek and the Lost Creek trails to create a semi-loop with a car shuttle. Since I didn’t want to deal with that and also wanted a somewhat shorter hike, we decided to just do the Horseshoe Ridge as an out and back. To that end, I planned on starting from the actual trailhead that is located on the road to Riley Camp, not the older access that you could reach on FR832. That actually was a good choice as the road, past the Cast Creek Trailhead, has been decommissioned and destroyed. Trying to hike that road would be an exercise in bushwhacking for no real reason. The day was already warm when we started. With the little rain we’ve had this season, we found the trail incredibly dry. Being a very sandy trail it made the first part very dusty as we stumped or way in. Then the trail makes a quick turn entering the forest as it approaches the bridge over Lost Creek. From that point on, you start slowly gaining elevation until you reach the actual ridge line where the trail turns left and starts going up. As you gain elevation, the sky above starts opening up showing some rock formations at first. Then you come out of the forest and you’re welcomed with expansive views towards north-west. This changes continue for a while until one particular turn where the trees are left behind and bear grass grows everywhere. In the distance Mt Hood starts showing and then just appears in front of you. In the spring this area is just magical with all the wildflowers with the mountain as a background. By then, you’re mostly traversing the ridge line which is covered in parts and opens up in others. The views to the valleys below are obscured do it’s difficult to impossible to spot Dumbbell Lake or Cast Lake from the ridge. Near the end of the trail, where it joins the Zigzag mountain trail though, the trail passes on the right side of a knob. You can’t see the top from the trail but there are several foot paths the lead to it. Taking any of those paths, takes you to the rocky viewpoint that marks the end of this route. This is an excellent spot for lunch and views after which, we returned to the cars the same way we came.



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Bonanza trail, Jul 12th

The Bonanza trail is a hike I did by myself a long time ago and remembered liking the route very much for several reasons. One of them is the combination of scenery and the reward at the end. The other because it provides great solitude. This trial is one of those that it’s usually ignored for the not so obvious reasons though. In contrast to most of other trails, this trail starts at the end of a residential area so it’s not very clear where it is or even more, where to park. Being something I did a long time ago, I had it in my mind to revisit at some point and this particular weekend, Val and I didn’t have plans so I proposed this as an option and we decided to go. Weather was kind of iffy with some chances of rain so we were not very hopeful to get the good views at the top. We got to the trailhead and luckily we found one of the two parking spots open so we didn’t have to park farther away. From the beginning we started on the lush green route that follows the creek as it starts slowly gaining elevation. I did notice the creek running much lower than what I remembered. In a particular section, where a rock has been carved by the water forming a channel that resembles a slide, there was almost no water coming down. Just for comparison sake here’s a picture I took in that area back in 2011 and how it looks now

It’s scary. As we continued up, I kept telling Val that she knew and had been where we were going. And as soon as we hit the viewpoint with the iconic view of Mt Hood, she remembered being there. In fact, she remember we sat roughly in the same place to have lunch and enjoy the views. That time under the sun on a warm day. After a short rest and just before we started to get cold, we retraced our steps all the way back to the car. Bonanza is still a great “secret” hike out here.



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Robin Lakes and Peggy’s Pond Loop – Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Jul 3rd to 5th

Val and I heard from a friend long time ago about a couple of lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness named Tuck and Robin. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is known for the, permit required Enchantments which I’ve done a couple of times. Back then we looked it up and decided to put it in the list to someday do it. And the time came when we needed to pick a destination for the three day weekend. With hotter than usual weather we had a couple of options that were quickly scratched out because they would’ve been too hot. Then we looked at our to-do list and there it was again, Tuck and Robin. We did the research and quickly found that it was an out and back. Wanting to explore a bit more, we found a route that went across the canyon and around Cathedral Rock giving us access to other lakes so we had the possibility of going to Peggy’s Pond or Deep Lake. We were set and with a small group we headed out to the Alpine Wilderness.


Day 1: Tucquala Meadows to Robin Lakes

With Val we did our usual travel by night, sleep in the car and wake up at the trailhead. It works great as we get on the trail early in the morning after a quick breakfast in the back of the car. From the trailhead there’s not much to see other than Cathedral Rock to the side. As you start, that view goes with you as the trail travels thru the forest towards Hyas Lake. The lakes comes at you pretty quickly and is not very impressive although quite big. Towards the north you start getting glimpses of a high, snow covered ridge but not enough to even get an idea on how good the views will get. Hyas Lake is kind of two lakes in one and are part of the Cle Elum River. Pretty much these lakes are the river when it gets big. And then the almost flat trail following the river makes a turn and the uphill begins as the trail continues to Deception Pass. The forest is very dense in this area but several turns give you views back towards the lakes and also towards the ridge on the other side of the river canyon. Several hundred feet up later the trail get to a junction that marks the start of even steeper terrain towards Tuck Lake. As you climb the only views you get are behind you and get more spectacular as you go.

You start to see the shape of the valley below and the ridges that surround it. Suddenly he trail goes over a small hump and lands on an almost flat area that really comes as a relief. At that point though, a big rock and some trees hide the surprise behind. Once you reach that point a very small angle gives the very first glimpse at Tuck Lake. At that point we turn left that follows a faint user trail around the lake to several campsites, but before it gets there, a big rock provides an excellent lunch spot with a much better view. The view from that point is pretty much the view you find on the majority of pictures if you just google Tuck Lake. It shows the deep blue green waters of the lake surrounded with granite slopes and a little rocky island in the middle. The water is clear enough that you can see parts of the bottom from the edge of the lake.

By then the sun was shining on top of our heads and we were already feeling the heat. We knew it was only going to get even hotter so after lunch, we filtered some water and continued our trek up to Robin Lakes. Finding the trail was a bit of challenge as it doesn’t necessarily follow what is indicated in the map. Reality is that the route from Tuck to Twin Lakes is more of a user path than an actual trail. But first we had to negotiate the south side of the lake itself. We went over rocks and climbed up and down as we zigzagged around to the lake outlet. We crossed some dead logs and then the uphill became clearer. Steeper took a new meaning as we marched under the beating sun up. Heavy breathing and heavy sweating was the norm as we negotiated granite slabs going up. Behind us the views now included Tuck Lake and the ridge behind. It was an immense view that was difficult to gauge. We huffed and puffed burning every little bit of energy we had until we saw the end of the hill. We found a small maze of little cairns that we followed until the Robin Lakes basin came into view. Then it felt like we were so close to the sky that it was almost unbelievable. The lakes with their deep, crystal clear blue waters made contrast with white granite and the blue sky above. We were in awe and didn’t know whether to turn left or right. We went left first exploring and also looking for a place to drop our packs. We were done. We went as far as the upper Robin Lake which is the bigger one before turning back and heading the other way. A small waterfall moves waters from the upper lake to the lower lake. We followed the shore walking towards the other end which, from our perspective, looked like it was just going to drop into thin air.

On the other side a big hump looked like an island but we couldn’t say if it was that or just the weird shape of the lake. Finally we found the lake curved around a big mound before ending on the south side where we found a camp spot.

Dropping our pack and taking our shoes of was the best part of it all. That is without counting the part where we just sat with our legs in the cold water. We thought about jumping in the lake but Val was the only brave one from the group that actually followed thru and did. The sun was still high up and warm that drying up without freezing was pretty easy. While at camp, we had a couple of visitors that came to check us out and hanged for a while before continuing on looking for food. After dinner we just dedicated ourselves to enjoy the sunset. It was quite the spectacle from our standpoint as we saw the sun go behind a ridge and illuminate the granite in a warm orange before it got dark.

Day 2: Robin Lakes to Peggy’s Pond

After a good breakfast and packing our stuff we got back on the trail a bit later than usual. The first part of the day was spent retracing our steps all the way down to the Deception Pass Trail so we went over the hump and then started the staircase climb down towards Tuck Lake. The advantage was that now we had the views in front of us rather than behind.

Going down actually proved to go much easier and faster. Once all the way down and back in the shade of what looked like it was going to be a very hot day, we turn right towards the pass where we would turn at the junction with the PCT. I had read that there were two or three tricky creek crossings so the adventure was about to begin. Soon after we got on the PCT, we passed the first creek that didn’t require a lot balancing. From the trail we had now a complete different angle so the views were very contrasting to what we had seen the day before. As we were passing the creek canyon, we could see the lower vegetation covering everything all the way down to Hyas Lake. On the other side was the steep hill that starts green on the bottom but then the granite rocks take over towards the top. We could almost make the route we had taken the previous day to go up to Robin Lakes from the trail. As we continued, the day got hotter and hotter and we had a lot of exposure so we stopped to get our heads wet every chance we got. At some point the trail made a turn into a narrow canyon and descended towards a creek. From the trail we couldn’t see clearly were to pass but as we got closer, we realized we needed to climb down the embankment to cross it. The crossing point was right in front of a small very refreshing waterfall. We learned pretty quickly that it was just the opening scene. The path continued over the rocks circling the waterfall which opened the views to the narrow canyon. We could see a small and fat waterfall in the distance that looked pretty inviting although it would have taken a good hour to reach it.

We started wondering where the rest of the water was as the crossing didn’t look as complicated. Then we saw it. It was the crossing I had seen pictures of that has two narrow logs that you can choose to use or not. Some of us took the risk of walking on the wobbly logs to get across while the rest just went into the cold water. After that one, we had several other creeks to pass but nothing challenging at all. At some point though, the trail crossed a small meadow and then turn to follow a ridge going towards Cathedral Rock. We did several switchbacks were the rocks would disappear and we would get disoriented only to reappear at the next turn. We were close to it, but not as close as we needed to get. We pushed up for a while and then got a meadow right at the foot of the rock formation. Finally flat terrain for a bit as we circled Cathedral Rocks towards the junction with the Deep Lake trail. We reached the saddle and stopped to decide whether we wanted to climb down to Deep Lake or go to Peggy’s Pond. I had my sights on Peggy’s Pond but also being a shorter distance and not too much elevation change, we decided to head that way. The part we didn’t know was that the trail was going to be a bit of a challenge. At first the trail just followed the contour of the back rocky wall of Cathedral Rock. The drop off to our left was very impressive. We found a couple of sections were the trail was almost a goat path. Tight turns and steep descends. In one particular section, we had to hug a rock as we went to the other side. Letting it go would have meant falling some 300’ on rocks and rubble to the bottom of the valley. But then, the trail flattened out and stated going up. We took a wrong turn and suddenly found ourselves navigating thru thick brushes. We realized that this pass was very likely going to miss the lake so we retraced our steps and found the correct trail up to the lake. By that time we were exhausted and the only thing on our minds was dropping the bags and resting. Finally we came to the last push, about 200’ of vertical gain on dusty and slippery slope that placed us right on the south end of the pond. It proved to be very well worth it.

The place is almost magical with the steep rocks on one side and the tucked in lake in the middle. We walked around the lake and found a perfect place to set up camp so we just dropped. That night I woke up at around 3 in the morning and went for a short walk under the moon light to take pictures of the stars. The night was warm and the valley completely illuminated to the point that I didn’t need a headlamp. My midnight walk ended abruptly when what I think was a deer moved somewhere behind me.

Day 3: Peggy’s Pond to Tucquala Meadows

Since we wanted to hit the trail early to be back at a reasonable time for the drive back, Val and I woke up early and went for our usual morning walk. I took her on the same path I had gone the night before while shooting stars. If I had to mention a single moment of this weekend that made the trip. This walk would be it. The sun was starting to come up and it was illuminating the sky with a purple/pink hue some clouds were lingering high in the sky so the entire sky was soft. Even more impressive though was the ridge to the west of us. It was a postcard moment were time just doesn’t pass.

We walked by a small pond that was reflecting the entire ridge that made the scene almost fluid. Once we were able to close our jaws, we went back to camp for a quick breakfast and pack our gear. Once again we navigate the treacherous trail to the saddle following the rocky goat path to the saddle were the downhill started. At first it was a slow downhill following a very wide ridge and passing by several lakelets and ponds until we got to Squaw Lake. This lake is a bit shallower that the other lakes and it’s surrounded by a rock field on the west side. As you walk around it, the reflections are really beautiful.

That’s the last fully open area of the trail as it makes a turn and starts going down the hill quite fast. Several long switchbacks, rocks and roots are in the way as you quickly loose over a thousand feet on the way down to the Cle Elum River. The trail gives the impression that will be much longer though but then, all of a sudden it flattens out and you are back in the basin. You realize that you’ve gotten down when after a turn you find a bridge over the river. From there a short walk and a small creek separates you from the trailhead.



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Another quick jaunt to Table Mountain, Jun 28th

When Val and I need some good elevation gain to get our heart pumping, we tend to pick one of a very few hikes close to home. Table Mountain is certainly one of those. The route hasn’t changed although they finally closed the shortcut trail to Carpenters Lake. From the trailhead, instead of taking that shortcut, you have to take the route towards Aldrich Butte and then turn right to connect to Table Mountain. Then was the standard, follow the trail until you reach the sign that marks the start of the torturous uphill following the Heartbreak Trail. Weather was a mix with threatening clouds and pockets of light in the distance so we didn’t know what we were going to get. We reached the ridge and followed to the end towards our preferred lunch spot right at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Gorge. Or our way back, we took the trail towards the back to do the lollipop loop down. As we were coming down, some more menacing weird clouds started filling the Gorge. We didn’t get rained on but we did certainly get some really cool views. So relaxing.

McIntyre Ridge, June 20th

Another hike off my list! I read about this hike probably four or five years ago and put it on my to-do list. The reason was the promise of spectacular views (which the hike did provide). The abstinence if you will, was due to the trailhead. As far as I known, this hike has changed trailhead three ties now. I’m not sure why the first change happened but I think it was a similar case as the most resent one. It was being used for target practice. As you can imagine, it’s not very comforting driving in the middle of the forest to get to the end of the road where you can find graffiti painted over the rocks, hundreds of bullet casings of all calibers and holes in every surface you can see. Yes, it’s not the place where you want to leave your car, unattended, for a full day. Naturally I was resisting. But then I read an article a couple of month ago indicating the Forest Service was closing the access road to the trailhead. I learned afterwards of another trail, the Douglas trail that could be used to access the McIntyre Ridge trail from the south. Promising a more peaceful destination, I decided to plan a hike and finally explore the area. I’ll say that, if this trailhead is much better than the older, I don’t even want to imagine the old one. I’m not sure if there’s still a lot of target practice in the area as the day we went, there was a huge group from the search and rescue team doing some training in the area. Still. The area around the parking area and the approaching road to the Douglas Trail (now decomitioned) was covered in debris and bullet casings. Either way we felt safe having a few dozen rescuers and policemen near the trailhead. The good thing though is that once you get on the Douglas trail, you leave all this behind pretty quickly and the views of the Eagle Creek Canyon become the main attraction. The climb is not too hard and soon you get to the fork with the end of the McIntyre Ridge trail. Form here there are a couple of options, left and right. We went left first towards the famous McIntyre viewpoint on the ridge. Part of the hike is forested but some other parts, along the ridge, are more open. An unexpected sight was finding wildflowers in full bloom and the tallest beargrass I’ve seen so far. As we walked thru the beargrass meadows it was impossible not to come out covered in pollen – certainly not a hike for someone with allergies.

We passed several of those meadows until we reached the viewpoint. Yes, the views are as good as you’d expect. There’s a couple of trees that have gotten pretty tall and will obstruct part of the view but it’s still amazing. We took a small break in that area before we continued on heading downhill towards the lower viewpoint. That one is not as impressive as the first one, but considering that now the hike is done in reverse, it makes sense. We had a light lunch at that spot before retracing our steps back to the junction where we took the second option to go check out Wildcat Mountain (and to get some more mileage and elevation gain). Doing this after covering the McIntyre Ridge didn’t seem as interesting. Still it’s a worthy destination, if for nothing else, for the extra elevation.



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Siouxon Creek Backpack, May 29th to 31st

Mark and Brian had come up with a plan to do a backpack in the siouxon Creek area that included a loop over Siouxon Peak and another over Huffman Peak. Some of this changed as we went along, but that was the idea.

Day 1: Siouxon Creek trailhead to Chinook Creek trail junction

I met Mark early in the morning and we went from there to pick up Brian on the way to the trailhead. According to the plan, we had an easy day ahead as we were only hiking to the fork with the Chinook Creek trail. Brian had mentioned that it was going to be about 8 miles, mostly flat travel. We started from the lower trailhead quickly descending to the creek. The first thing we noticed was that Siouxon was running incredibly low. I couldn’t say how low but could estimate a foot at the vey least. It was scary. The hike went fast with fantastic views of the creek as we went. Some memories came back as we got closer to the bridge over Horseshoe Creek as you see the waterfall to the left of the trail.

I did remember this fall carrying a lot of water. I was still beautiful but again, not a lot of water. Further down the trail, we passed the trail junction with the Wildcat Creek trail that requires fording Siouxon Creek. We didn’t know at that point if we were going to cross there or somewhere else, but if the plan was to do the Huffman Peak loop on the way out, we needed to cross somewhere. I did the Huffman peak loop a long time ago and I remembered crossing on the way there and then on the way back. That time wasn’t terrible, but I couldn’t say it was easy either. This time, the crossing section looked pretty easy with enough rocks to be able to cross without getting our shoes wet. We continued on until we got to the bridge over Siouxon Creek. We’d read that it was closed because it was about to fall off. The Forest Service had parked it and even put ribbons across but somebody took them off. We crossed on the bridge being careful not to jump or do more damage. This was our destination for the day. The puzzling part was that it was still very early. When we checked the map and the GPS, we realized that Brian and Mark had estimated the distance of the first day from the upper trailhead instead of the lower. Once we picked up a campsite, setup camp and had lunch, we went exploring. At first we thought about continuing upstream on the Siouxon Creek trail but with the water level being so low, we decided instead to follow the creek itself. It was a hot day so getting wet was not an issue either. We walked about a mile upstream passing some narrow canyons and small waterfalls. It was a very scenic adventure that would have been very easy to miss.

Later that evening, after dinner we went the other way to check the Chinook Falls. It was going to be the same route we would take the following day for our day hike to Siouxon Peak, but we wanted to check the waterfall. I’m glad we did as it was almost magical in the late afternoon and low light.

After a while, we went back to camp for a good night sleep.

Day 2: Siouxon Peak loop

The plan for the day was to leave camp after breakfast and head up on the Chinook Creek trail up to the Huffman Peak trail. Reach Siouxon Peak from there and then come back down on the Wildcat Creek trail to complete the loop. We started going up again thru Chinook Falls and taking the trail on the other side of the creek. Right after the fork the arduous climb started. Most of the trail was a dense forest and we could hear the creek down below. As we hiked up, several mountain bikers passed us pedaling their way to the top. Most of the hike up went without many views or interesting things to comment other than some gigantic cedars half way up. As soon as we reached the junction with the Huffman peak trail, views changed dramatically. We came out to the end of a dirt road with open views to the north. Some trees were blocking part of it but Mt St Helens was close enough to almost reach out and touch. To our left, we could see the remnants of the road that was converted to a trail and our destination not too far away. This section was completely exposed so the beating sun didn’t help. We found ourselves dragging our feet as we continued up. In the distance we could clearly see Helens and Rainier and, depending on the angle, part of Mt Adams to the back. Finally the trail made a couple of switchbacks as we were getting closer to a point in the map were the trail makes a hairpin turn. We realized we were going to get some good views from there but we were not ready for them. At the hairpin, some tress were blocking the views but a short path went around to a rock outcrop. The views from that point were just incredible. Right in front of us, down below we could see the Swift Reservoir at the foot of Mt St Helens. Farther in the distance Mt Rainier was also clearly visible and a bit to the right, Mt Adams was peaking over the ridge line.

After numerous pictures taken there, we continued on and took a spur trail to the top of Siouxon Peak. Since the trail had made almost a 360 turn at the hairpin, we were now looking south so the views extended over the Columbia Gorge to Mt Hood. We stopped at the summit to eat lunch while enjoying the views. Once we ate and got fried with the sun, we decided to continue knowing it would be mostly downhill, but before that, we needed to reach the Wildcat trail. To get there we hiked on the ridge line between Huffman Peak and Siouxon Peak which continued to offer some really nice vistas. Then we got to the unction, veered left and started… climbing? Well, it so happens that before going down, you have to go up. It wasn’t a long climb but after reaching Siouxon Peak we were a bit tired. Eventually the downhill arrived and we started quickly going down thru mostly drier forests and very little bushes and undercover. Most of the trail didn’t offer much in terms of views until you get farther down and get the first glimpse, from above, of big water fall as it plummets down into the abys. A couple of switchbacks later you make a last turn and there, right in front of you is the very tall and green Wildcat waterfall.

We stopped there for a while to take pictures and rest as our legs were really sore by then. The last part of the loop was reaching the bottom of Wildcat and taking a connector trail that took us back to camp late in the evening just in time to soak in the creek, have dinner and go to bed.

Day 3: Hike out

The original plan was to pack and hike up the Wildcat trail (the same trail we hiked down the day before), go over Huffman peak and come back down the other side. Distance and elevation was comparable to the 10 miles 3000’ of elevation gain we had done already, but our sore legs said it was going to be too much. Besides that, we didn’t want to get back too late so attempting such a long route around was just not feasible. So instead, we packed our gear and went back to the Chinook Creek to play in the water, build cairns and take pictures. We spent most of the morning doing that before going back to camp where we had a quick bite, grab our gear and hiked back to the trailhead.



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Twin Lakes backpack, May 23rd to May 24th

With the warmer weather we had been having, Val and I were itching to go backpacking, so we picked a close to town route that we could easily do as an overnighter. Luck was not in our side as the weather changed and we got a mostly overcast weekend with just a tiny bit of sun when we were already hiking out. We started from the Pansy Lake trailhead meandering thru the woods while we slowly climbed towards Pansy Lake. On the way in, we didn’t stop at Pansy but I did notice the lake looked to be shallower and more like a marsh than a lake from what I remembered. From there we continued on the Mother Lode trail without views until we got to the burnt area further up. I’ve always found burnt areas to be very intriguing. On one side is the sense of desolation as you walk thru black and white tall dead tree trunks, on the other, is the amazement as nature keeps going with new plants and flowers. The views are very contrasting with incredible backgrounds and colorful foregrounds. Along the trail we found both Rhododendrons and Bear Grass in full bloom. Then the trail kind of disappeared below our feet at the same time we got our first view of Upper Twin Lake. We saw several campsites already taken so we walked a bit further and found a nice site next to the lake. Views were a bit limited but with all the fog and clouds, there was not much to see. We took a short walk to the lower Twin Lakes just to check it out and found that half the trail, as you get closer to the lake, is buried under bushes and fallen trees. You pretty much have to make your own way. We did see people heading that way and camping around the lake though so I guess the footpath eventually take you there. That evening we had a small fire to warm up while we had dinner and then hi the sack quite early. The following morning was not much different so we retraced our step back towards the trailhead. We thought for a while taking a detour to climb to the ire lookout to check the scenery but as we were getting closer to the trail junction, we met a couple that was just coming down from there. They told us that the fire lookout was inside the cloud so there was absolutely no views. With that we just decided to continue on towards the trailhead. Towards the end, as we were hiking the last mile or so, the sun finally peeked thru the clouds and illuminate the forest just for a little bit. It was still a relaxing weekend sleeping under the stars.



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