Mt. Persis

Today was my first attempted scramble. A buddy and I headed out early in morning to climb Mt. Persis. Getting there was quite an adventure in and of itself. It's difficult to find the "trailhead" without knowing where it is. It's best to go with someone who has been there. The road becomes increasingly more rough and bumpy as you climb higher to the start. It would probably be wise to bring a sturdy vehicle with some good ground clearance.

We starting hiking at 2800 ft. elevation and climbed very quickly. The "trail" is more of a footpath rather than a well marked trail. (After all scrambles are mostly just climb to this peak rather than follow this trail.) The forecast called for a 100% chance of rain for the day, they weren't wrong. The

morning started out raining, as we climbed it turned into freezing rain and eventually we got up high enough to see it snow.

As the elevation increased the amount of snow on the ground increased. Every step became harder and harder. The snow was soft, so we would sink into the snow with each step. We got to a point where we would regularly sink waist deep into the snow. We had our ice picks and crampons, but the snow was too soft for crampons.

Eventually we decided with the difficult conditions, poor weather, and poor visibility it may not have been worth even making it to the peak. We wouldn't have been able to see much anyway. We turned around and headed back down. On the way back down we had to come back down the rock field covered in snow that we climbed on the way up. That was quite scary. The possibility of stepping in-between rocks that were covered in snow and injuring a leg was quite real. In fact my buddy did get his leg stuck in-between two rocks but luckily his weight didn't carry him forward causing a possible break.

We made it down safely but weren't able to stay dry. Having stepped waist deep into snow several times, slipping and falling in the snow, constant downpour of rain and the combination of sweat made it a wet adventure. We didn't make it to the peak, but it was good to get out and exercise in nature once again. It was a fun adventure, we will be back to summit this peak in better conditions sometime soon.

Region: Central Cascades, Stevens Pass-West
Distance: 2 miles
Elevation Gain: 2658 ft.
Peak Elevation: 5464 ft.
Difficulty: Difficult
Pass Requirement: None

As always check out all the photos from of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.

Lake 22

This weekend I was finally able to get out and enjoy the wilderness again, it had been far too long. A buddy and I headed out toward Granite Falls early Saturday morning. We got to the Lake 22 trail head around 7:30 to an empty parking lot. A car pulled in right behind us as we were getting our gear together. I was surprised to find a complete absence of any snow all the way up to the trail head. We decided to leave the snowshoes at the car, because we didn't think we'd need them.

So we headed up the trail, we found the trail completely snow free until about 1 mile from the top. As we hit the snow and starting trucking through the snow along the rocks we found it very advantageous to have our trekking poles with us. It did get pretty slick walking on those slippery rocks. Once we did get to the top we found quite a bit of snow, and once we stopped moving it got fairly cold rather quickly.

We took a few pictures, drank some hot chocolate, walked around the Lake as far as we dared, even blazed a few feet of new trail in the snow. We turned back and headed back down. We passed a few people on their way up (who I thought were very ill prepared to be out in the cold/snow...). We made it down in good time and were able to be home by early afternoon.

 

Region: North Cascades-Mountain Loop Highway
Distance: 2.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 1350 ft
Peak Elevation: 2400 ft
Difficulty: easy (slightly more difficult due to some snow at the top)
Pass Requirement: Yes. All passes honored.
Water Source: Lots of creeks and streams due to the snow-pack. Lake 22 2.9 miles (iced over, covered in snow.)
Wildlife: Very limited due to the cold weather and time of year.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.

Monte Cristo/Silver Lake

This weekend I headed out to the old ghost town of Monte Cristo. (And old town in the mountains that was a mining town and was quite the thriving little place in the late 1800's to early 1900's.) There are plans to close down the town to all visitors for several years for some environmental restoration and cleanup, apparently there is arsenic in the water from all the mines. So I wanted to get up there one more time before they closed it.

So after work on Friday I loaded all my gear in the truck and headed out. I got to the trail head at 5:00 in the evening and I hopped on my bike and rode the 4 miles to the old town. The hike in, or ride in my case, is 4 miles of mostly flat gravel/rocks that was once an old road, but is now closed to all motorized vehicles. It is a very popular activity to ride your bike into Monte Cristo as witnessed by the many bike racks placed all around the campsites and town of Monte Cristo. The trail in is relatively easy however you do have to cross the Sauk River on a log which is quite large and wide so its fairly easy.

I got to the campsite at Monte Cristo just at 6:00 and took claim of the last available campsite. After searching for some suitable trees I set up my hammock and got camp all situated. Then I gathered some tender, kindling and fuel and started a fire in the fire pit. I sat and stared at the fire for a bit, then after that went out I went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and met my brother and his co-worker at my campsite. (They rode in on bikes that morning.) After they set up their tents and got all situated and we all ate breakfast we set out to hike to Silver Lake.

The old trail to Silver Lake looked to be overgrown and abandoned. The trail sign now points to a different trail which was difficult to locate for us lot. The trail head is hidden behind one of the old buildings but once you walk around the building its easy to locate. The trail climbs steadily and is a mix of dirt, tree roots and rocks. You are amidst the trees almost the whole way apart from one short jaunt where the trees open up and you can see some of the mountains around you. It would have been a spectacular sight, but for us there were low clouds and visibility was severely limited. You climb 1600 feet over the 4 mile hike from Monte Cristo to Silver Lake but the hardest part is the last half mile where you climb almost 500 feet. Its quite steep but luckily its not for very long.

At the top the lake was nice, however by this point visibility was even worse and it started to rain. Clouds were very low and we were getting wet (I was not fully prepared for the rain.) We took a few pictures and filtered some water some the lake. It's best to get your drinking water as high as possible due to the potential of arsenic in the region. Our original plan was to continue on past Silver Lake to Twin Lakes and witness more majestic views. But due to the poor visibility and increasing rain we decided to skip Twin Lakes and head back down. On the way down we stopped at the creek and did some gold panning. There were traces of gold flakes, but we were getting rained on pretty good so we cut that short and headed back to camp.

By the time we got back to camp it stopped raining and started to clear up. We spent some time checking out the old town and looking at the history. Then we made some dinner at camp and then went to sleep. In the morning we woke up and ate breakfast and then packed up camp and biked back to our vehicles. The weather was much better and saw quite a few people heading into Monte Cristo as we were leaving. It was a fun trip but I wish it was a little better weather while we were hiking so we could have gone to Twin Lakes. A lot of cool history, and unfortunately it appears to be closing soon.

Region: Central Cascades, Stevens Pass-West
Distance: Monte Cristo 4 miles/Silver Lake 8 miles
Elevation Gain: Monte Cristo 400 ft/Silver Lake 2000 ft
Peak Elevation: Monte Cristo 2700 ft/Silver Lake 4300 ft
Difficulty: Monte Cristo Easy/Silver Lake Medium
Pass Requirement: Norhtwest Forest Pass
Vegetation: All kinds including ferns, moss, mushrooms, wild berries, sticker bushes, deciduous and conifer trees.
Water Source: You follow Sauk River from the trail head to Monte Cristo. 76 creek flows through the town of Monte Cristo. Silver Lake 8 miles from the road. (All water has the potential of arsenic, get drinking water from as high as possible.)
Wildlife: Lots of birds, frogs, slugs, various insects, chipmunks.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.

Upper Lena Lake

Day 1

I had been looking forward to this hike for quite a while now. I was really excited when the day finally arrived. It was a Friday so I still had to go to work, but I contemplated leaving early all day long. But alas I didn't. I had too much work to do. Finally when my workday was over I literally ran to my car and drove straight to my destination. It took me quite a while to reach the first stage of my trip. 4 hours and a ferry trip later I reached Lena Creek Campground where I camped for the night. Because I arrived rather late and I had been up since 3:00 am I didn't do much other than set up my tent and walk around the campsite for about 30 min. Then I went straight to sleep for my big day in the morning.

Day 2

This day was...difficult to say the least. It started out great. I woke up packed up my tent and headed to the trailhead for Lena Lakes. I started hiking to Lena Lake and that was quite easy actually. The trail was really well maintained. It was a mix of dirt, gravel and some big rocks, but it was nice and wide and exactly zero blowdowns to navigate around. I got there pretty quick and spent some time relaxing and eating lunch. There were a handful of groups at the lake, some camping and some doing some fishing. I imagine it would have been more beautiful had the low clouds gone away. There was no sunshine at the lake, but at least it wasn't raining. After Lena Lake I headed for Upper Lena Lake. This is where things got difficult. As soon as you leave Lena Lake the trail narrows and becomes less forgiving with lots of tree roots, large rocks and several blowdowns on the trail, not to mention the intense gradient change. The trail steepens, gaining about 2000 feet the last 2 miles. I was quite tired by the time I got to the top. I had rested several times and changed my shirt 3 times. Each time my shirt was completely drenched in sweat, so whenever I stopped to rest I got cold quickly. The sun finally started peaking through once I arrived at Upper Lena Lake. As soon as I got to the top I laid down and rested for a bit. Then I set up camp and cooked some dinner. Then laid down some more, I was tired. But resting in my hammock looking out at the lake was quite relaxing, peaceful and worth it.

Day 3

I woke up after a great night sleeping under the stars in my hammock. I got to see an amazing sunset, stars at night and a

beautiful sunrise all while resting peacefully in my hammock. (By the way, if you haven't caught on yet, I much prefer a hammock over sleeping on the ground!) I made some hot breakfast on my stove, and started to pack up my campsite. After spending some time at the lake and enjoying the sunshine I headed back down the trail. I found going down was faster, but a little more dangerous especially with a full pack on. Because it was steep and my legs were very tired from the day before and the loose dirt/rocks on the trail there was very good potential of slipping and falling. I managed to make it down with only one minor fall. I slipped on a slick rock causing my front leg to spread forward causing me to almost do the splits, luckily I'm somewhat flexible and nothing major was hurt. I did see some folks from WTA doing some maintenance on the trail cleaning up some of the blowdowns. So that was nice. I took a quick break at Lena Lake on my way down and reached the trailhead in about 2 hours from Upper Lena Lake. Then I made the long drive home but was able to enjoy a nice ferry ride due to the beautiful weather. All-in-all it was fun trip and a good first trip to the Olympic National Forest.

Region: Olympic National Forest, East
Distance: 7 miles
Elevation Gain: 4000 feet
Peak Elevation: 4570 feet
Difficulty: Difficult
Pass Requirement: Yes. All passes honored here.
Vegetation: All kinds including ferns, moss, mushrooms, sticker bushes, wildflowers, deciduous and conifer trees.
Water Source: Lena Lake at 3.0 miles. You cross Lena Creek at 5.0 miles and reach Upper Lena Lake at 8 miles.
Wildlife: Lots of birds, frogs, slugs, various insects. Lots of fish in the lake.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.

Greider Lakes

Today is the EXACT reason why I LOVE the Pacific Northwest and precisely the reason I started this blog. It was an absolutely perfect day for hiking. Blue skies and 75º with a light breeze.

This morning I was headed toward Greider Lakes. The trails to Greider Lakes and Boulder Lake now start at Spada Lake. You hike along an old closed road for 2 miles before you get to the old trail heads of Greider Lakes and Boulder Lake. The road from Spada Lake to the old trail head is gravel and mostly flat except for the constant gullies that have been constructed to make it impassible by vehicles. This part of the trail could make for decent trail running and even possibly mountain biking if you don't mind dismounting every so often for the deep gullies and downed trees. (I think I might try biking it next time just to make it a quicker trip.) Don't forget to check out the Spada Lake overlook as you hike along this road en route to either Greider Lakes or Boulder Lake.

Once you reach the old trial head of Greider Lakes you start hiking on a VERY overgrown trail. You notice almost instantly this trail has been neglected for quite some time. After a few hundred yards you get out of the heavy brush and the trail opens up a little bit. The trail conditions go from compact dirt to rocks/small boulders and large tree roots all while navigating over/under/around several downed trees. You climb approximately 1500 feet in about 1.5 miles. After you reach about 2900 feet you continue for another .5 mile or so until you reach Little Greider Lake.

Little Greider Lake was nice and quiet. I was the only one there; there were no other cars in the parking lot when I arrived. I knew I was the only one up there, but I did find two tarps and a tent...very strange. I don't know how someone could manage to leave behind their tent. There were about 4 established campsites at Little Greider Lake.

Then I continued on to Big Greider Lake. Big Greider also has a few established campsites for camping overnight. The trail from Little Greider to Big Greider is a short hike but VERY VERY overgrown. Its doable but just be very cautious of your footing, because its hard to see where you are stepping. But I must say I was very glad I went, it was the most peaceful time I've had in a long time. I enjoyed a nice beautiful hike down passing only 5 parties totally 17 people on my way out. This is truly one of the forgotten trails of the region.

Region: Central Cascades, Stevens Pass-West
Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1500 feet
Peak Elevation: 2970 feet
Difficulty: Medium
Pass Requirement: None (I think). You do have to register your vehicle at a registration area, and display that on your dash while you're there, but there is no charge.
Vegetation: All kinds including ferns, moss, mushrooms, sticker bushes, skunk cabbage, wildflowers, deciduous and conifer trees.
Water Source: Trail begins and Spada Lake, you hike along Spada Lake for 2 miles on an old road elevated from the lake. You cross a few creeks along this road and leave the road just as the lake connects with Sultan River. Little and Big Greider Lake 4.5 and 5 miles respectively.
Wildlife: Lots of birds, frogs, slugs, various insects. Lots of fish in the lake.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.

Mount Pilchuck Search and Rescue

Well my plans to go on a hike to Greider Lakes was foiled by a call to go out on a search and rescue mission. We went up to Mount Pilchuck to pack out an injured hiker at about 8:00 pm Friday night. Ended up escorting his 2 uninjured buddies down at about midnight. Went back up to the injured hiker with hypothermic gear and stayed the night on the mountain and waited till first light for a helicopter rescue.

Here is an article about it.

Region: North Cascades-Mountain Loop Highway
Issue: Injured hiker-pack out
Mission Length: 15 hours

Eagle Lake

What better place to go than the lake named after the National Bird of The United States of America on our nation's Independence Day. Eagle Lake on the 4th of July. This lake is a less-known and even less-visited lake situated between Baring Mountain and Townsend Mountain near Skykomish.

There are two different ways to get to Eagle Lake. One way is by taking the Barclay Lake trail and then going up to Eagle Lake, this way is easier to find and get to as Barclay Lake is pretty well known and accessible. But the hike from Barclay Lake to Eagle Lake is extremely difficult (from what I've heard, I've never gone that way.) The other way (which is how I went today) is much more difficult to find and access. It is accessed through a variety of gravel forest roads and there is no marked trail head. But the hike to Eagle Lake is easier.

First off the trail was difficult to see form the forest road, luckily there was already one truck parked right where the trail started so we had a good idea where to look. The first half mile or so of the trail was very narrow and overgrown. Which made it especially difficult for me as I was hiking with my 16 month old girl on my back, and I had to be sure and not let branches whip her in the face. (I was also hiking with my wife and brother.) After the overgrown area of the hike the trail still remains narrow and you begin to hike under trees that shade most of the entire trail. The trail climbs steadily for the first mile or so all on a trail that is covered in tree roots and uneven terrain. There were a few blow-downs on the trail as well that required climbing over or around. The trail was almost entirely dry until you reached the top.

Toward the top the trees open up and a little snow is left in some areas. The snow is melting due to the hot weather which means a lot of the open areas are swampy and muddy. Plus once you reach the opening in the trees you are close to the lake and Eagle Creek is flowing right next to the trail so that causes a lot of wetness in the area. Because of the snow it was hard to tell where the trail was exactly, but it was easy enough to know where you are going. So we just headed for the lake.

The lake was pretty majestic. Nestled a midst mountain peaks and trees it is truly a secluded gem. The lake has 2 campsites for those wishing to camp overnight. There was a dad and his daughter who was about 10 years old camping there and they said the fishing was great. And perhaps the coolest part about the lake is a cabin right on the lake front fully stocked with clothes, sleeping bags, lanterns, cooking ware, stoves, propane, axes, saws and even a fireplace. It was really quite awesome.

Region: Central Cascades, Stevens Pass-West
Distance: 2.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 620 ft
Peak Elevation: 3970 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Pass Requirement: None, you're out in the middle of nowhere. No established parking or trail head.
Vegetation: Lots of trees for shade throughout the hike, undergrowth including berry plants, ferns, moss and grass in the fields at the top.
Water Source: Eagle Creek and Eagle Lake about 2.3 miles in.
Wildlife: Lots of birds, a few mosquitoes, frogs, deer track and bear signs. Lots of fish in the lake.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.