Mount Adams

Second to None

Washington's second highest summit is by no means second rate. While Mount Rainier is certainly Washington state's "mountain," 12,276-foot Adams deserves more respect than being the runner-up. Adams is bulkier than Rainier making it a more massive mountain. And being located farther east than Rainier and Washington's other snow cone volcanoes, the terrain here is much drier. Lacking are the lush wildflower meadows that make Rainier famous. But Adams has its own mystique-pumice flats and alpine tundra and massive lava flows. This week I was able to make it to Devils Garden, the highest point on the Mount Adams Highline Trail. Here at the border between the Mount Adams Wilderness and the Yakima Nation you can stare out at an expanse of golden eastern Washington hills as well as glacial draped Rainier, the jagged Goat Rocks and the serrated spine of the Dark Divide. And mountain goats! My hiking partners, wife Heather and brother Doug, and I were able to watch over 40 goats ply the rugged alpine flats between the Lyman and Wilson Glaciers. Many years ago I was forced to turnaround on the Highline because I could not get across a swollen glacial melt creek. Not this week-the creek was negotiable and we made it to the Devils Garden. Its a 20 mile round trip from the Muddy Meadows Trailhead-and yes, its a featured trip in my upcoming Backpacking Book. You have one more day this month before the weather turns nasty to reach this spectacular destination. Otherwise, put it on your 2010 hiking calendar!

(Photo-Heather hops across a fork of Muddy Creek)

The most Wonderful Campsite on the Wonderland Trail

Harvey Manning described the backcountry campsites at Klapatche Park in Mount Rainier National Park as the most beautiful on the entire Wonderland Trail. I agree! And unlike other spectacular places to set up camp along that wonderful trail-such as Indian Bar and Summerland, you won't have gobs of people around. The west side of the park is the quietest side of the park and perhaps the wildest. On a recent two day 32 mile backpack that took me up the South Puyallup Trail to the Wonderland Trail to Klaptache Park and then down to the North Puyallup Trail to St Andrews Creek Trail back to Klapatche, the Wonderland and out-I encountered the following:

The first day- no one on the trail! Just got to share Klapatche Park with two other groups and a young black bear.
The second day- just three people on the trail-and got to watch a really big bear down in an isolated basin. Saw five goats too!

My campsite-site number one-was absolutely a stunner. I got to stare at the mountain all evening-and watch moonlight twinkle on little Aurora Lake. It was hard to pack up the next day. If you haven't checked this part of the park out yet-get to it. Of course Klapatche Park will be in my upcoming Backpacking Book!

A Mine is a terrible thing to Waste

(not exploring)

Two weekends ago Heather and I celebrated our third year wedding anniversary by hiking in the North Cascades National Park up and over Cascade Pass to Horseshoe Basin. It was an exceptionally beautiful day-perfect weather-great trails-and a fantastic corner of a fantastic park to explore. One of the highlights was following the old road now rocky trail into waterfall saturated Horseshoe Basin to the old Black Warrior Mine. The Mine is in pretty good shape for an old mine and was in use (somewhat) into the 1950s. It would have been a tough place to make a living but quite a nice view! While we scouted around the talus beneath the mine, I stumbled upon a penny. Its date was 2006-the year we were married. Dear Abby refer to these events as pennies from heaven-the oft happenstance event of discovering a penny bearing a significant date reminding you of a loved one, anniversary or event. Yeah- I know a 2006 penny is no big find. But on a scree slope-off trail in a remote basin on that particular day? Sounds like a penny from heaven to me! And if the one cent piece wasn't minted in heaven-God sure did a good job creating the props for that wonderful day!

Cougar (Lakes) Country

I've been meaning to get to the Cougar Lakes for years. I heard it was gorgeous-full of wildlife (and mosquitoes) and was one of the prettiest places in the William O Douglas Wilderness. Well- I finally got there! Just finished up a three day backpacking trip with Kim Brown to the lakes via the Pacific Crest Trail from Chinook Pass and out the Laughingwater Trail to Ohanapecosh in Mount Rainier NP.

Here are some highlights of the 3 day 34 mile trek:

• Do not get your Rainier permit at Ohanepecosh-they are not prepared for it-may not know what to do and you will be a victim of bureaucratic bungling--but has once again convinced me about what a nationalized health care plan will look like (ok-no, more politics!)
• Do Cougar lakes during the week in chilly weather. Why? We were the only ones in the entire basin-had a premiere site on Little Cougar Little with a view of House Rock. And no bugs! It was too cold for the little buzzers.
• The Green Trail Map (Bumping Lake no 271) has lots of inaccuracies. That's the bad news. The good news is that I was tracking trails on this trip for a new Green Trails Mount Rainier S-map that includes this area. Cougar Lakes from the PCT is 3.3 miles-a lot longer than what the map says-
• And the Laughingwater Creek Trail is a lot longer too- I always had a feeling that was the case too as this was my third time on this trail and I knew it was longer than what was stated on signs and maps. Trailhead to Three Lakes Campground is 7. 3 miles not 6 miles. And Three Lakes to PCT is 2.0 miles not 1.5 miles.
• The old trail from Big Cougar to the PCT exists! And it is in good shape! Kim and I hiked this 2.2 mile gorgeous trail through meadows and rocky basins and over a high shelf on the crest. It will appear on that new map (available next spring) that I was telling you about.
• Swamp Lake is actually a nice lake while Three Lakes is actually a nice swamp.
• Three Lakes campground is probably one of the quietest backcountry campsites within the entire Mount Rainier National Park
• Only spooked one elk on this trip but they are out there in numbers-elk droppings and tracks everywhere-
• Goats too!
• You want views, meadows, alpine lakes, amazing old-growth, and not much company? You'll want to do this trip-and yep-it'll be in my upcoming Backpacking Washington book.

Baker's Delight!

The picture in Harvey Manning's 100 Hikes North Cascades for Boulder Ridge is an uninspiring photo from the trailhead. No other guidebooks mention Boulder Ridge. Trail reports from various sources mention a scary rope climb, killer mudholes and brush and lots of bugs. I left it out of my Day Hiking North Cascades Book because of all of that negative publicity. Boy, was I wrong to not check this place out earlier. This weekend in the 80 degree sunny weather, Heather and I went up the Boulder Ridge Trail and this is what we found:

• First two miles in old-growth forest is nice trail and a delight to hike
• Next two miles on climbers path not bad at all
• one steep section
• good tread and no route finding needed
• no mosquitoes just some biting flies down in the valley
• mud holes minimal but could be a problem during a wetter year
• Brushy in spots but just huckleberry bushes-I wore shorts and came out with no scratches
• the scary rope-it is there but only if you want to continue on a mostly climbing route
• You'll get plenty of scenery and excitement beforehand making for a wonderful 4 mile journey
• You can explore the moraine up to the snout of Boulder Glacier without any climbing concerns
• There was nobody here! How many people do you suppose were out at Artist Point, Skyline Divide, and Park Butte. Yep, hundreds!
• This hikes is definitely going in a future edition of my Day Hiking North Cascades Book
• Get out there and enjoy it!

The Greening of St Helens

I just finished up 37 miles of great hiking in the Mount St Helens area and let me tell you that it is amazing how fast the forest and landscape are coming back to life there. I first hiked the region in 1989 over a blasted land of gray, gray and more gray! Now the ridges are green-sub alpine firs are over 20 feet tall. Just amazing. Lots of wildlife and wildflowers and surprisingly very little people. My 21 mile loop down the Green River Valley and back along Vanson Peak and Goat Mountain I saw no one! And my 16.5 mile hike into the Mount Margaret Backcountry Lakes I only encountered one person-the backcountry ranger! No one around! So, if you are looking for a nice wilderness experience in the St Helens region-I have two picked out for you. They'll be in my upcoming book, Backpacking Washington. Next week I move back up to the volcano in chief, Rainier! See you on the trail!

American Beauty

This past Friday I did one of my toughest hikes in recent times- a 19 mile trek across American Ridge followed by a 4.5 mile run down highway 410 to retrieve my truck! It was a long and hard day-but quite spectacular. American Ridge in the William O Douglas Wilderness is one of the loneliest spots in the South Cascades. The ridge trail is rugged-non-existent in spots and climbs and drops repeatedly and steeply- if you want to do a backpacking trip and be all by yourself-this is a trip for you. Now, when I say all-by-yourself-I mean no other humans- I met over 30 elk on this trip-most of them in the Big Basin which is a great place to spend the evening and one of the more gentle spots along this rough and rugged ridge. Full details of this trip will be in my Backpacking Book. And you'll want those details too because the Green Trails map is wrong- the distance is actually longer than what is shown and Harvey Manning doesn't mention the 1,200 foot drop and climb between one high basin and the other!

(photo- Bumping Lake and Nelson Ridge from American Ridge)

Horseshoe Basin is a real ringer!

I just got back from a short two day 26 mile backpacking trip to Horseshoe Basin in the Pasayten Wilderness. Talk about a fantastic place for exploring. Set up camp in the wide grassy basin and then choose among a half dozen 7,500 to 8,000 foot peaks to "walk up" and explore. I headed up Armstrong mountain-right on the BC border and Windy Peak the following day. Armstrong is amazing-all alpine tundra with lots of ridges and two border monuments. I bagged the high point over in BC and proved just how easy it is to walk back and forth over the border-yeah like the drug runners and illegal aliens don't know that already!

Windy Peak is south of Horseshoe with a trail up it. It is a hot hike through open tundra, rocky slopes and the Tripod burn zone. But what a view! You can actually see Baker peeking in the distance. I hiked off of Windy via the Clutch Creek Trail which is really difficult in spots with lots of bad tread and a steep hellacious climb out of the Middle Fork Toats Coulee. Oh well-that's why I do the research for you so you now know! This will all be in my upcoming Backpacking Washington book. I'll give you lots of pointers and suggestions in it on the region-but here's one right now- wait until late summer to come over here for the mosquitoes cant get enough hiker blood right now. By late summer however, much of Horseshoe's pretty wetland pools will be dry. Little buggers-only thing keeping this destination from being complete paradise!

Anatomy of an abandoned Trail

Using Karen Sykes' Hidden Hikes in Western Washington, I ventured over to Barlow Pass this past week. The Barlow Pass Trail is in excellent shape and in no danger of disappearing. However, the connecting Old Government Trail is fading into history. Yep-death of another trail. I lament yet another trail being loss to either lack of maintenance, lack of access, and/or lack of government funding and interest in keeping it alive. It is amazing how much our trail inventory has shrunk just in the past 20 years.

I only hope that the Obama administration with its propensity to pull money out of thin air and liberally sprinkle it across the land-will see that next to auto companies, banking firms, fraudulent vote getting machines, and corrupt loan offices-that maybe some of my hard earned tax dollars can make its way to our trails! Please! FDR who also spent quite a bit of public money spent quite a bit of it on our natural resources. And 70 years later we have quite a legacy for it. I'll take trails over GM any day for an Obama legacy.

Meanwhile-the Old Government trail isn't completely unhikable. The tread is still in pretty decent shape-and while there are lots of blowdowns across it-almost all of them are quite easy to negotiate. You can easily amble 1.5 miles down this trail. Bring along a saw and help clean it up. I'll do my part by publicising it and trying to get you to hike it. Save our trails!

Forget the Tulips-

Let's hit Anderson Mountain!

From my home office window I stare out over the Skagit River to Blanchard and Anderson Mountains. Many a Northwest Hiker is well aware of Blanchard-but not many know of Anderson. In fact, if you were to ask many a Skagit County resident-you'd get a blank! Yet, Anderson is a fairly prominent peak rising over 3,300 feet above the Skagit Valley just a few miles east of Alger. It's owned mostly by private timber companies and the WA DNR. But the good news is the Pacific Northwest Trail traverses right over it. And while the peak is forested there are some nice clear cuts here and there. Nice clear cuts did you say? Heck yeah- they allow some amazing views from Lake Whatcom in the north to the San Juan Islands, the Skagit Flats and the Olympic Mountains to the south and west. And on this particular sunny Sunday there was no one out out there- no one except for a cougar that left fresh tracks in the snow and lots of winter wrens. The hike from the Alger CCC road is a good workout- 7 miles one way and about 2800 feet of vertical. Still lots of snow on the top but a good choice for a spring warm up. I'll probably put it in one of my books eventually-so get out there now before it gets "discovered." But, even then you'll have a hard time prying away most people from nearby Blanchard.

(photo- Heather hikes by a nice clear-cut view of Lake Whatcom)

The Goose is Loose

Cyclists, hikers and runners looking for a superb long distance rail trail that blends urban and rural settings need to set their eyes on Victoria BC's Galloping Goose Trail. Extending from Victoria's Inner Harbour to the Sooke Hills, the trail travels for 60 kilometers through the gorgeous British Columbia capitol city and its spectacular surrounding countryside. But there is even more! The Lochside Trail branches off from the Goose to travel to Sidney and Schwartz Bay adding another 30 kilometers. I recently had the opportunity to do some running and walking on these two trails and now I can't wait to return with the bike to do the whole Goose! There is a reason why Victoria is ranked as the fittest city in all of Canada. With such an amazing trail system coupled with the mildest weather in the country, how can it not be? There were plenty of people out running,walking, and cycling while I was there and despite the fact that the city had just received a rare snowfall and the temperature was hovering at 0-Celsius! Anyhow take a gander at the Galloping Goose's website and perhaps I'll see you on the trail this year. And check out the upcoming articles I'll be writing about Victoria's running scene including its glorious marathon in Northwest Runner this year.

In Support of National Scenic Trails There was a front page article in the Seattle Times yesterday on the prospects of the Pacific Northwest Trail becoming our newest National Scenic Trail if the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 becomes law. The same bill also contains a provision for the creation of the New England National Scenic Trail. As someone who hikes frequently and loves the trails of both my home state New Hampshire and adopted state Washington, I couldn't be happier about the prospects of two new great long distance trails traversing my favorite hiking haunts.

Most Americans- folks from all walks of life support these trails. And it would seem that they are pretty non-controversial, right? Well, you'd never know it based on some of the idiotic posts on the Seattle Times article. Most of the drivel came from far right kooks convinced that the National Trail Act is a land grab or yet another way the Federal government is undermining a state's rights. Far from it! Most of the land that the trail traverses is already public land. Where it traverses private lands, the owners have consented to its placement there granting an easement. The owner does not relinquish his right to do what he pleases (within the confines of the law of course) with the rest of his property. And land grab? All that is purchased for a national trail in most cases is just a narrow corridor. Once again only from willing sellers and at fair-market value.


The National Parks Service has jurisdiction over the trail but maintains a very small role. Local land managers of lands that the trail traverses still make the land use decisions for those properties. Land managers work together- and that is a good thing- but the trail and surrounding lands are by and far managed by local people. And there is a huge amount of private participation in the form of financial donations and trail work. Most of the National Scenic Trails have private conservation groups working on their behalf-these groups are not funded by Congress, but by private citizens like you and me. So, will the anti-conservation, anti-trails, anti-public lands kooks stop sipping the kool aid for minute and actually do a little research on what they are so against? And then perhaps actually get out on one of these trails and see just what a great asset they are. Far better than another race track, mall, casino, and second-home development I assure you!

(photo- granddaddy National Scenic Trail, the Appalachian Trail)

Just like the Enchantments..

'cept no people!

As a guidebook author I have been fortunate to hike so many of Washington State's great trails. And I am always amazed that so many hikers always go to the same crowded trails over and aver again-especially when we have so many trails available. And it is always funny to hear many of these people constantly complain about all of the crowds on the trails and that they didn't get a wilderness experience. Well folks- you're not going to get a quiet wilderness experience off of I-90. You need to actually put some distance between you and the city- allot a little more time- and do a little research. The Enchantment Lakes are beautiful but you'll be surrounded by tons of people-and many not too friendly- they think they were going to get a wilderness experience! You want solitude? You want wilderness? Head to the North Fork of the Entiat River Valley. Fern Lake is gorgeous, lonely and as wilderness as you can get even though the area isn't in a federal wilderness. It's a 15 mile roundtrip. The only lake in the area-but what a lake! Want more info? It'll be in my new book, Day Hiking Central Cascades (Mountaineers 2009)-due for release next spring. And you know something? Even after the book hits the stands-most people will still be heading to the I-90 corridor and will still be complaining about how crowded those trails are! They can have 'em! See you at in the Entiat!

Trail Treasure

Last week while Alan Bauer and I were roaming the trails in and around Stehekin in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area we stumbled upon a little trail treasure. Two unopened cans of beer! Yahoo! Now, there was a time when I would have without hesitation plopped down, popped er open and downed er. But alas, I'm older now, more responsible, smarter (I think) and knew if I did, the following would probably happen:

1. An upset stomach. God knows how long that thing has been sitting under snow and in the sun

2. A sudden urge to nap

3. And a sudden urge to abandon any more work for the day

So, I reserve my beers now for the end of the day and ones that I purchased or at least weren't found on the trail. But I add- money, sun glasses, and the occasional gear left behind on the trail is treasure that I still quickly put to good use.

(photo by Alan Bauer)