Hiking with Annie
October - December
2010
Trailhead: N47 21.811 W121 25.355 (NAD83) Elevation: 2950 ft Distance: 7.0 miles Elevation gain: 955 ft
Hike time: 10:57 am to 4:32 pm Total time: 5 hrs 35 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 20 54.5 W121 25 49.8 Elevation: 3905 ft Total Ascent: 2505 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 54 and turn south toward Hyak Ski Resort. At the stop sign, drive straight through the intersection onto Hyak Dr E. Stay on this road for about 3.5 miles. It changes to FR9070 just past the water treatment plant. Park on the right side of the road on the first hairpin corner.
Hike description: It was cool and gray when we started out at that morning. The walk up the Cold Creek trail to Twin Lakes was an easy hike and after a short stop we continued up the ridge on the Cold Creek trail. After Twin Lakes the trail gets extremely steep and was wet and slippery. About halfway up the hillside we lost the trail temporarily but we soon found it again. I took the opportunity to take several photos of Silver Peak as we progressed up the ridge, including when we made to the top where we turned south onto the Pacific Crest trail. Heading down the other side of the ridge, it wasn't long before we were at Mirror Lake. A decent sized lake, it sits at the bottom of Tinkham Peak and is right next to the Pacific Crest trail. We found a spot on the shore to eat lunch and feed the Canadian Gray Jays. It wasn't long before 3 full bearded hikers came by from the south. We chatted for a minute and it turned out they had started from the Mexican border in April and were hoping to finish at the Canadian border within a week or so. After wishing them good luck, we headed for Cottonwood Lake. Cottonwood is about half the size of Mirror Lake and is only about a half mile to the east. It lies at the base of the ridge (to the north) that heads toward Keechelus Lake and eventually becomes Roaring Ridge. After a short stay we headed back up the ridge to the Cold Creek trail. The hike down was slippery and treacherous. Annie took my legs out from under me once and I nearly lost my GPS. Once we were off the hillside and at Twin Lakes it wasn't long before we were back at the car.
Oct 04 - Mirror & Cottonwood Lakes
Trailhead: N47 21.842 W121 21.506 (NAD83) Elevation: 3520 ft Distance: 7.0 miles Elevation gain: 2085 ft Hike time: 11:08 am to 4:49 pm Total time: 5 hrs 41 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 22 59.8 W121 20 21.6 Elevation: 5605 ft Total Ascent: 2830 ft
Driving directions: From I-90 take exit 54 and turn north onto Lake Mardee Rd. After a few hundred feet, turn right onto FR4832. At about 4 miles, at a fork in the road, keep to the left onto FR4934. The trailhead parking lot is on the left in about 1/4 mile.
Hike description: We left the trailhead on a clear, crisp autumn morning. The climb up the ridge starts immediately but is not too overly steep (about 840 ft per mile) and is only about 2 miles. At a little over 3/4 mile, the views begin to open up and Mt Rainier graced the southern horizon. At a little over 1-1/2 hours we crested the ridge and headed down the other side into the lake basin. It wasn't long before we came to Lake Yvonne, a very small lake that had a slight layer of ice on top. A short time later we reached Margaret Lake, a decent sized lake sitting at the base of Mt Margaret. These lakes are just two of several lakes in this terraced basin. Yvonne and Margaret sit in the upper terrace, Stonesthrow Lake is in the middle terrace while Swan and Rock Rabbit Lakes are in the lower level. After eating lunch and exploring around the lake awhile, we headed back up the ridge to the main trail and headed for Mt Margaret. The trail up the mountain is little more than a boot path and is somewhat difficult to find (and even harder to follow in places). It is also rugged and steep - 340 ft in 1/4 mile - but once you make the summit the views make it worth the hard work. The entire lake basin lies below to the southeast, to the south Mt Rainier towers over hundreds of Cascade peaks, to the east are the peaks around Kachess and Cle Elum lakes and to the northeast is Rampart Ridge and the various peaks around Chikamin Ridge. After enjoying the view for awhile, we headed back down to the main trail and headed back to the trailhead. However, I soon spotted another boot trail headed to the east and we followed it to another smaller peak due west of Margaret Lake. It was much easier to get to and still had pretty commanding views. After a few more minutes of basking in the beauty, we headed back to the car.
Oct 13 - Mount Margaret & Margaret Lake
Trailhead: N47 24.040 W121 17.031 (NAD83) Elevation: 2800 ft Distance: 7.2 miles Elevation gain: 1890 ft Hike time: 11:32 am to 5:20 pm Total time: 6 hrs 12 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 25 22.2 W121 19 45.8 Elevation: 4690 ft Total Ascent: 2095 ft
Driving directions: From I-90 take exit 62 and turn north onto Kachess Lk Rd (FR49) and continue for about 5 miles. Turn left onto FR4930 and follow for about 4 miles to the trailhead parking lot on the left.
Hike description: We left the trailhead on a sunny but cool morning. The first leg of the hike is a fairly easy walk along Box Canyon Creek with only 800 ft of elevation gain in 2-1/2 miles. About a mile from the trailhead the creek runs across an exposed slab of bedrock which it has smoothed to an interesting moonscape. For the next 1-1/2 miles the trail skirts Hibox Mtn and Box Ridge before coming to a gushing waterfall. We rested here before pushing on as the next mile to the lake gains about 1200 ft of elevation on a rough, wet, slippery trail. In about 1/4 mile up the ridge, as the trail turns to the southwest, it affords commanding views of Hibox Mtn and Box Ridge before ducking back into the trees. In about another 1/4 mile we came to what writer Dan A. Nelson calls a "fan-tail" waterfall. Its not a large volume of water but it was a refreshing place for a rest. From here its only a little over 1/2 mile to Rachel Lake. It sits at about 4700 ft off a terrace of Rampart Ridge. As we sat and ate lunch, I had to share bits of mine with a tiny visitor - a Ground Squirrel that came snooping around. After resting in the afternoon sun for awhile we headed back down to the trailhead.
Oct 15 - Rachel Lake
Trailhead: N47 25 40.5 W121 24 48.4 (NAD83) Elevation: 3020 ft Distance: 9.0 miles Elevation gain: 27255 ft Hike time: 9:40 am to 3:56 pm Total time: 6 hrs 16 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 27 38.1 W121 23 51.7 Elevation: 5775 ft Total Ascent: 3155 ft
Driving directions: Eastbound I-90 - Take exit 52 and turn left at the end of the ramp.Shortly after crossing under the freeway, turn right onto a dirt road leading into the trailhead parking lot. Westbound I-90 - Take exit 53 and turn left at the end of the exit ramp. After crossing under the freeway, take a right on Highway 906. Shortly after crossing under the freeway again, at about 3/4 mile, turn right onto a dirt road leading into the parking lot for the trailhead.
Hike description: We started out on a clear sunny October morning. At just under 2 miles, the views opened up and our objective became visible. Guye Peak and Snoqualmie Mtn sit about north-northeast from here, Lundin Peak nearly due north and Red Mtn in a north-northeast direction. Red Pass is a ridge between Lundin Peak and Red Mtn. About 1/2 mile up the trail I noticed a small waterfall up on the eastern ridge that I had never seen before. It is most likely a small tributary of Commonwealth Creek down in the basin. In fact, it was just a short distance from here that we cut off of the Pacific Crest trail and headed down into the Commonwealth Basin. At the bottom of the basin, we crossed Commonwealth Creek and headed up the other side on the flank of Red Mtn. Starting out in deep tree cover, its not long before the trail climbs high enough to where the trees thin out and the views begin to open up. We eventually came to a small side-trail and turned off the main trail to a small promontory about 1/8 mile from Red Pond, where we stopped and ate lunch. Afterwards we continued on toward the talus slope of Red Mtn that forms the east side of the cirque that Red Pond sits in. Once we reached the top of the ridge we stopped to enjoy the views. Besides many of the peaks around the Kendall Katwalk area, many peaks from the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River valley are visible from the pass. Most impressive is Big Snow Mtn looming above most everything else in the area. At the far west end of the pass, a little used trail cuts off and heads down the north side to eventually join the Middle Fork trail. There is also a faint bootpath heading west, so I decided to follow it to see where it went. As we went I began getting hopeful that it would take us to the top of Lundin Peak and, maybe, eventually Snoqualmie Mtn, but after a 1/4 mile it ended at a large rock with a steep ravine between it and Lundin Peak. It wouldn't be impossible, but it may require climbing gear and would most definitely be beyond my capabilities. At any rate we spent some time here enjoying the view before heading back to the trailhead.
Oct 18 - Red Pass
Trailhead: N47 25.486 W121 35.007 (NAD83) Elevation: 2180 ft Distance: 7.2 miles Elevation gain: 2075 ft Hike time: 10:43 am to 3:14 pm Total time: 4 hrs 31 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 25 33.2 W121 33 04.1 Elevation: 4255 ft Total Ascent: 2545 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 45, between North Bend and Snoqualmie Pass, and turn north onto FR9030. At about 3/4 mile the road splits. Veer to the left onto FR9031 and continue for 3 miles to the trailhead.
Hike description: It was cool and cloudy when we started out that morning. As we hit 1-1/2 miles, the trees opened up a bit to see a cloud obscured Mt Kent and McClellan Butte. At 2-1/4 miles it appeared that the clouds were beginning to lift, although they still obscured Mt Kent. A short distance later the trail comes out of the trees and there is a clear view of the I-90 corridor looking west toward North Bend. A bit farther the view opens up even more as we came to the snow dusted talus slope. From here it's only about 1/4 mile to the Mason Lake/Bandera Mtn trail junction. After we turned toward Mason Lake, it was only about another 1/4 mile to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary and the top of the ridge. Once we were headed down into the basin, the lake was only another 1/4 mile away. I decided to head to Little Mason Lake after we ate lunch on the shore so we headed north around the lake. It wasn't long before I realized we most likely had passed the side trail and turned around. Once I found what I thought was the trail, I decided to give up. It was too wet and swampy to get to the lake, so we turned around and headed back down. A short ways past the talus slope we scared up a large bird that I thought was a grouse but after looking at the photos, when we got home, I realized it was a ptarmigan.
Nov 08 - Mason Lake
Trailhead: N47 30 34.0 W121 50 37.3 (NAD83) Elevation: 1060 ft Distance: 8 miles Elevation gain: 2020 ft Hike time: 11:09 am to 4:24 pm Total time: 5 hrs 15 minutes Permit required: Discover Pass
Destination: N47 28 17.9 W121 49 15.4 Elevation: 3080 ft Total Ascent: 2330 ft
Driving directions: Eastbound I-90 - Take exit 27 off I-90 just west of North Bend. At the end of the exit ramp, turn right and follow the road up the hill. The parking area and trailhead is to the right at the top of the hill. Westbound I-90 - Take exit 31 off I-90 at North Bend and take a right, at the end of the ramp, onto Bendigo Blvd S. Follow Bendigo for .6 miles and take a left onto W North Bend Way. Follow North Bend Way for 3.3 miles, then follow the road under the freeway and up the hill to the parking area.
Hike description: Starting out that morning, the weather was cold, cloudy and foggy but would eventually clear up to, at least a partly sunny day. The snow was barely a dusting near the trailhead but steadily increased in depth as we got higher. By the time we were halfway, the trees and bushes were all covered in snow, which made for many photo opportunities. As we reached Grand Prospect we met an unexpected visitor - a small snowman on one of the benches. By this time, the sun was shining from between the clouds. We ate a quick lunch, snapped several photos, then headed back to the trailhead. About 3/4 of the way back, the setting sun lit up the foothills north of Snoqualmie.
Nov 28 - Rattlesnake Mountain: Grand Prospect
Trailhead: N47 51 57.1 W119 04 57.1 (NAD83) Elevation: 1810 ft Distance: 7.1 miles Elevation gain: 370 ft Hike time: 12:18 pm to 4:55 pm Total time: 4 hrs 37 minutes Permit required: Discover Pass
Destination: N47 53 09.8 W119 02 30.1 Elevation: 2180 ft Total Ascent: 1035 ft
Driving directions: On State Highway 155 between Coulee City and Grand Coulee, turn east on a gravel road 3.3 miles north of the entrance to Steamboat Rock State Park marked as Northrup Canyon.
Hike description: Getting a late start on this cool winter day, we hiked out from the trailhead. The old Wagon Road being closed this time of year, we headed straight down into the canyon. Within an hour we were at the old homestead and another 1/2 hour at the viewpoint, within a little over 1/4 mile from the lake. As we got closer to the lake, the trail got harder to follow because of the snow and no foot prints to follow. We eventually got on the right track and soon arrived at the small lake. There were a set of animal prints (probably deer or coyote) across the frozen lake. After a short break, we explored a little around the lake before heading back to the trailhead. We reached the homestead at sundown and managed to get some dramatic sunset photos.
Dec 26 - Northrup Lake
A note about the Google maps: Because of the way the Google maps work, the marker for the parking lot or trailhead is not always in the right position on the map. However, there is a way to find the exact position. First copy the GPS coordinates from the description below the map. Then click on the word Google in the lower left corner of the map. This opens another window with a full sized map of the area. Paste the coordinates into the search box and hit enter. A red marker appears at the exact coordinates of the parking lot or trailhead. You can also get directions to it by clicking the word "Directions" - just under the box you pasted the coordinates into - and then entering a starting location.