Flashback 1988

Chilling in Chile!

Back in the Summer of 1988 (winter in the Northern Hemisphere) this world hiker set out on a little jaunt in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia. Unbeknown to him at the time that he would someday be authoring a Backpacking Book! Check out that pack- must be at least 60 pounds- and that hair! Thank God this author has discovered hiking light techniques and a razor since then!

Pining for Larch Season

The autumn equinox has passed and over on the eastern slopes of the Cascades one of nature's finest shows is now in full swing. Growing up in New England I became accustomed to what a real autumn is all about-and what spectacular autumn foliage (that's fole-i-age not foil-age-arrghhh!) looks like. Cracked me up when I first moved to western Washington and folks who had never left the region told me about the spectacular falls they get here. I don't think so- big leaf maples that turn turd-yellow doesn't quite cut it! You want awesome autumn foliage you need hardwoods-and lots of them-and variety- and warm days and cool nights-and frost-and you get my drift- Places like New England, West Virginia, Quebec, Ontario, the Maritime Provinces, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan's Upper Peninsula-that's where you need to go!

But here on the east slopes of the Cascades and in the Kettle River Range, Blues and Selkirks of Eastern Washington we have larches that light up entire mountainsides- larches that emit a golden hue in a stark lake basin. Larches that almost rival eastern hardwood forests when it comes to amazing autumnal artistry. Check em out- they're enough to make this native New Englander not miss (well almost) Autumn back east. I'm off to the Methow next week- perhaps I'll see you in one of those golden lake basins.

(photo-Twisp Pass-Okanogan National Forest-early October 2006)

Into the Heart of the Continent

It's easy for North Americans who reside on both coasts and recreate in such magnificent wild gems as the Cascades, Appalachians, Sierras, Everglades, Alaska and Newfoundland to not consider that any comparable wilderness and recreation haven exists in the Midwest. But ironically one of the largest roadless wilderness areas in North America lies right dab in the middle of the continent-the heart of the continent-straddling the US-Canada border. The Boundary Waters Wilderness of Minnesota and Ontario's Quetico Park make up the brunt of a contiguous 5.5 million acre protected wilderness! And that wilderness is about to turn 100 years old and gain even stronger protection. Check out the latest issue of Paddler magazine for my story on the Boundary water's upcoming centennial and the new Heart of the Continent partnership which aims to protect and manage this magnificent area even more wisely. Last September I had the opportunity to spend some time paddling and camping in Quetico with Park Supervisor Robin Reilly. The Boundary Waters are an amazing area and one that definitely should be placed on your bucket list of wild places to experience.

(photos- camping on a tiny island on Batchewaung Bay, Batchewaung Lake, Quetico Provincial Park)

Out of the trailhead and into the Fryingpan!

I've recently begun work on my 6th book, Backpacking Washington (Mountaineers Books) and am currently in the "research" stage! This volume is meant to be a companion to the Day Hiking Series introducing hikers to great trips beyond 15 miles round trip. Many of the hikes in this book are in the 18-25 mile range making for a nice weekend getaway. One of the coolest aspects of the book is that it is statewide. I get to include some of my favorite places from throughout the state. An oft overlooked area among many hikers (but not hunters and equestrians) is the William O Douglas Wilderness in the South Cascades. Much of this wilderness consists of a high plateau of ancient lava flows, cinder cone peaks and hundreds of little lakes.

And where there are hundreds of little lakes you can expect billions of little mosquitoes. But now is the time to hike this area-with the little buggers dying off-just be prepared to share the area with scores of bow hunters. But in their camouflage half the time you won't even know they are out there! Check out Fryingpan Lake (a chapter in my new book) and set up base camp there. Then roam! Up the steep slopes to Fryingpan Mountain for an awesome view of the region- over to Tumac Mountain, an ancient volcano, or over to the Twin Sisters, the prettiest bodies of water in the region. You want more info? Reserve a copy of my upcoming book!

(photo- grassy shores along Frying Pan Lake)

A River Runs Through Me
Actually, I run through the river! This is the perfect time of year to do those hikes you've been avoiding due to their daunting river fords. Right now, most of those fords aren't very daunting at all. September is the perfect time to hit many of those trails that are off limits in early summer. The recent warm dry weather means river flows are low. The only exception to this is where the rivers are fed by torrents of glacial melt-then the warm dry weather is not your friend. But in many of our rivers, non-glacial fed- and a few of the glacial fed ones too-this is the time to ford away.

I recently crossed the Napeequa- knee deep and not too swift.
The North Fork Skykomish is pretty low right now too, as well as the Chiwawa. Over on the Olympics head to the Queets and one of my all time favorites, the West Fork of the Humptulips. Don a pair of old running shoes or sport sandals and let your tootsies feel the cool soothing waters of the Northwest. Hurry though-for it won't be long before those rivers start swelling again and you'll have to wait a long, long time to hit those trails again.

(photo-me having a blast at the West Fork of the Humptulips-Olympic National Forest)

Receding Access to the Glacier Peak WildernessWhile it is a well known and documented fact that the glaciers of the North Cascades have been receding for the past several decades, I wish to bring to your attention another aspect of these mountains that has been in decline--Access! While we can argue whether human-induced processes are responsible for the melting ice caps-nature has clearly been responsible for the reduction of access into the spectacular Glacier Peak Wilderness coupled with the inability of our federal government to restore it. But, we have the power to restore access if we can only get Congress to properly fund our National Forests. We bail out reckless financial institutions leaving us with huge debt but we can't bail out the Forest Service-which manages lands that we ALL own-so that we may have access to OUR land?

It is so darn frustrating! Currently not one trail access exists on the west side of Glacier Peak. North Fork Sauk River- road closed. Suiattle River Road- washed out. White Chuck River Road-obliterated! If you want to get into the heart of the Glacier Peak Wilderness you have to head east. I recently trekked above the Suiattle River from Buck Creek Pass hiking in from Trinity at the end of the Chiwawa River Road. The road and trails on that side of the wilderness are in decent shape. But here in the west? Its dreadful. Hikers- start making some noise are you may be relegated to sticking to less and less trails-and none that dwell deep into the spectacular Glacier Peak Wilderness

(photo- Glacier Peak from Buck Creek Pass)

The Buck Stops Here-But the Adventure Continues! I've been busy working on my 6th book, Backpacking Washington (Mountaineers), the companion volume to the six new Day Hiking Books (three which I authored). The fun part is doing the research-and this past week I set off with Don and Chris Hanson of Scottish Lakes High Camps and Katka and Jirka the intrepid Czechs for a four day trip from Trinity to the White River in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. The route included Buck Pass and Boulder Pass, two chapters in my upcoming book-linked together by the infamous High Pass Route to the Napeequa Valley! All I can say is, "Wow!"

I have hiked well over 10,000 miles in Washington State and the High Pass-Napeequa Valley route has got to be one of the most spectacularly beautiful corners in the Evergreen State. The view of Triad Lake from the high route is breathtaking! So too is the view of the multi-glaciated Clark Mountain from the Napeequa. The weather for our four day trip was grand! The bugs nil! The fording of the Napeequa easy- and the snow and rock through High Pass just a tad bit challenging. I managed to do a little exploring around Buck Pass too, bringing my four day mileage total to just over 45. Gotta love the research. I have 10 of the 70 trips for the book under my backpack buckle now. Lot's left to do. See you on the trail!

(photo- Katka and Jirka pause to take in the beauty of Triad Lake, Glacier Peak rises in the background)

Doing the Happy Dance on Evergreen Mountain!
Well, summer has returned in the Cascades- allowing me to return as well. And on Thursday, September 4th, I researched the 125th-the final hike for my upcoming Day Hiking Central Cascades Book (Mountaineers Book). It was up Evergreen Mountain in the new Wild Sky Wilderness. A little 3.0 mile roundtrip hike that I had to mountain bike 18 miles roundtrip to access it! The road-other than the two washouts is in excellent shape and made for a nice ride-albeit 2,000 foot elevation gain-but what a glory ride down!

And the Hike? Fantastic! The views simply glorious- what a way to finish my research and perfect for doing the happy dance! My fifth book with the Mountaineers now coming to a finish. What was supposed to be the easiest of my three Day Hiking books to research turned out to be the hardest with a long winter-cold spring , crappy second half August and lots of road washouts.

Of course even done with this project there is no time to rest for this busy guidebook writer. On Friday I was off on another mountain bike-hike adventure-to Twin lakes- a brutal but gorgeous day trip that's going in my upcoming backpacking book. Yeah- I did it in a day-but it's backpacking material. Next week? A four day backpack to Buck Pass- High Pass-the Napeequa Valley and Boulder Pass- man-when will I have time to write all of this down? As soon as it starts raining of course!

Happy Anniversary

This past weekend Heather and I headed up to Surprise Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to celebrate a special anniversary. It was 12 years ago that Heather and I took our first hike together (our second date) and was here at Surprise. Back in June of 1996 we started out in pouring rain and had the sun coming out. This year we started in light rain and had pouring rain at the lake! And it was cold too!

Back then we just went to Surprise and back and those 9 miles were enough for Heather. This year we kept hiking- to Glacier Lake, then up and over Trap Pass to Trap Lake-onward to Hope and Mig Lake and out the Tunnel Creek Trail. It was then a run down Forest Service road number 6095 and a run down US 2 until trail (or rather highway) angel Steve Leary (a fellow hiker who took pity on us) stopped and gave us a ride back to our truck at the Surprise Lake Trailhead. It was a 17 mile hike at that point and another great memory created in our 12 wonderful years together.