Hiking with Annie
April - June
2014
Parking: N46 58 05.4 W120 38 43.9 (NAD83) Elevation: 1875 ft Distance: 10.3 miles Elevation gain: 2025 ft Hike time: 10:41 am to 4:32 pm Total time: 5 hrs 51 minutes Permit required: No pass required
Turn around: N46 56 55.4 W120 42 51.3 Elevation: 3900 ft Total Ascent: 3285 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 101 at Thorp and turn south onto S Thorp Hwy. Follow for about 2 miles, then turn right onto Cove Rd. Follow for about 6 miles. Continue straight through the 2nd stop sign and park in the lot just past that.
Hike details: Hiking south from the parking lot, the actual trailhead is about .1 mile farther down the road and across a small drainage ditch. Once on the trail, it begins to climb steeply up the draw as well as up the west side of the draw. It reaches the top of the west wall of the draw about 3/4 mile from the trailhead. From here it continues along the top of the draw to the crest of Manastash Ridge, almost 2 miles from the parking lot. The Westberg Memorial is here at the top of the ridge. It started out as a memorial to Ray Westberg, a local high school wrestling coach who passed away at the age of 47, but has become a site for many memorials, including deceased military personnel. The view here is incredible. Besides the view of the valley below, it offers an outstanding view of Mount Stewart and the Stewart Range. From here, the University of Washington runs a small observatory about 3-1/2 miles to the west that is reached by walking along the dirt road running along the ridgetop. We managed to get within about 1/2 mile of it but had to turn around as we were almost out of water and it was a very warm and sunny day.
Apr 07 - Manastash Ridge: Westberg Memorial trail
Trailhead: N47 29 44.5 W121 38 22.3 (NAD83) Elevation: 840 ft Distance: 7.9 miles Elevation gain: 2160 ft Hike time: 10:11 am to 3:48 pm Total time: 5 hrs 37 minutes Permit required: No pass required
Destination: N47 30 41.9 W121 39 34.0 Elevation: 3000 ft Total Ascent: 2655 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 34 at the east end of North Bend. Turn north onto 468th Ave SE and follow for about 1/2 mile. Make a sharp right onto Middle Fork Rd and follow for about .9 mile. At this point you can take either the left or right fork. The right fork - Follow Lake Dorothy Rd for about 4-1/4 miles to the trailhead on the north side of the concrete bridge that crosses the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. At about 1.6 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56, about where the pavement ends. The left fork - Continue on Middle Fork Rd for about 1.2 miles to the stop sign. Turn left onto Lake Dorothy Rd and follow for about 3 miles to the trailhead on the north side of the concrete bridge that crosses the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. At about .3 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56, about where the pavement ends.
Hike description: There is no parking lot for this trailhead so we parked on the south side of the concrete bridge as the shoulder is a bit wider there. The weather was very pleasant - sunshine filtered through thin clouds. The first leg of the hike starts on the Sitka Spruce trail. Its about 1-1/2 miles long and is pretty easy hiking with only a few places being uphill. This trail ends at the CCC Road - a Depression era road turned trail. As we came out onto the CCC, I noticed a rock cairn marking the Sitka trail. I then noticed a similar cairn across and up the road a few feet, marking another trail. I thought it might be a shortcut trail, but it wasn't on any map so we headed down the CCC to the Green Mountain Road. A short ways up this road I saw another trail heading to the right and figured it was the shortcut. This is where the easy hiking ends and the uphill really starts. About a mile farther, the trail crosses a creek. Just below the crossing is an impressive slide falls but there is no place to get a decent view of it. Another 1/2 mile up, we took the right fork at the trail juction and another 1/4 mile we were at Absolute Last Promontory. After enjoying the sweeping view of the Middle Fork valley, we headed back to the trail junction and went up the left fork for about 1/2 mile to a small viewpoint at the side of the trail. After a couple of photos we headed back down. Along the way I decided to check out the shortcut trail and, sure enough, it came out just where I thought. Besides being a little shorter, its also a little more interesting.
Apr 14 - Green Mountain: Absolute Last Promontory
Trailhead: N46 37 54.9 W119 23 43.8 (NAD83) Elevation: 900 ft Distance: 8.4 miles Elevation gain: 0 ft Hike time: 10:52 pm to 3:15 pm Total time: 4 hrs 23 minutes Permit required: Discover Pass
Destination: N46 35 38.8 W119 22 29.5 Elevation: 415 ft Total Ascent: 1095 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 137, just across the river from Vantage, heading south on Highway 26. In just over 1 mile, turn right onto Highway 243, continuing south along the river. Stay on SR243 for just over 14-1/4 miles and turn left onto Road 24 SW. Follow through Mattawa for about 13.8 miles then turn left on Highway 24. At just over 10 miles - just past milepost 63 - turn right onto a dirt road into the Wahluke Wildlife Refuge through a solar powered gate that closes at dark. Follow this road for 4 miles to a 4-way intersection, going straight through. In another 4 miles, park in the area near the gate.
Hike description: A long day for such a short hike - up at 6:30 (on Sunday?), on the road by 7:30 and get back home around 7:00. It was partly cloudy for most of the day, but started out extremely windy. Not sure if the wind eventually died down or if it was just less windy once we came down off the bench into the river valley. At least it was dry - unlike farther west. The trail is actually a section of road, traveling down near the river for about 3 miles to another gate. There are also other side trails for exploring - one heading down toward the river to interesting sand and clay formations, sculpted by wind and water. We also explored several areas where no trails existed, walking along the river or higher up on the hillside for more overlooking views. Other than a couple boats heading up or down the river, we didn't see another person all day. As we headed back to the car, the wind seemed to pick up - but it still didn't seem as strong as when we first started.
May 04 - White Bluffs: South Slope
Parking: N47 25 52.2 W121 37 56.2 (NAD83) Elevation: 1320 ft Distance: 7.3 miles Elevation gain: 1390 ft Hike time: 10:45 am to 4:40 pm Total time: 5 hrs 55 minutes Permit required: Discover Pass
Destination: N47 25 55.5 W121 36 16.3 Elevation: 2710 ft Total Ascent/Descent: 2550/2390 ft
Driving directions: Eastbound I-90 - Take exit 38 off I-90 east of North Bend. At the end of the exit ramp, turn right onto Homestead Valley road and follow for 2 miles to the parking area. Westbound I-90 - Take exit 38 off I-90 and, at the end of the exit ramp, turn right. The parking area is only about 300 feet, just around the bend near the power lines. Don't drive through the gate to park or your vehicle may get locked in.
Hike description: The weather was mostly cloudy when we started out from the trailhead, but it was dry and pleasant. We walked up the road to the trailhead for Dirty Harry's and proceeded up the trail. Up until we turned off the Dirty Harry trail we passed maybe a dozen people - after turning off onto the Little Balcony trail, we didn't see another person. This trail is an unmaintained trail and is rough in places - more than once I had to haul Annie up a tough spot. After about 1/2 mile, a short sidetrail up a small rise leads to Little Balcony. We took a 30 minute lunch break here, then continued along the Little Balcony trail to where it cuts off from the Ira Spring trail, about 1-1/4 miles away. After this we headed back and made a short visit to Dirty Harry's Balcony. Leaving Dirty Harry's, we turned off onto the Birdhouse trail. This is another unmaintained trail and is steep and slick in places - I ended up on my backside more than once. To make things worse, it had been raining now for awhile so everything was even more slick. About a 1/2 mile after turning onto this trail, a short sidetrail leads to Winter Block viewpoint. However, by this time the rain had settled in permanently and visibility was zero. So, after a few quick photos, we headed on. At just over another 1/4 mile, we came to the Squishy Bell viewpoint, right on the trail. Visibility here wasn't any better so, after a quick glance, we pushed on. After a little more than 1/2 mile, we came off the trail onto the roadway just north of the bridge over the river and were soon back at the car. Just one more thing to note: make sure you have a Discover Pass here - the ranger station is just down the road aways, so they check this parking lot frequently. I forgot to put mine out, and now have a $99 ticket to deal with.
May 25 - Little Balcony
Trailhead: N47 25.486 W121 35.007 (NAD83) Elevation: 2180 ft Distance: 4.4 miles Elevation gain: 1900 ft Hike time: 10:34 am to 2:51 pm Total time: 4 hrs 17 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47° 26' 08.3" W121° 35' 24.3" Elevation: 4080 ft Total Ascent: 2200 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: Yet another attempt at making the top of this ridge. The weather was mostly cloudy, but dry. As with other attempts at this hike, the first half of the hike is fairly easy as there is little elevation gain. Once we hit the switchbacks, though, it got a lot tougher and took us a lot longer to make progress. Eventually the switchbacks disappear and the trail heads straight up the ridge face. The trail being so dry made it loose and I was having to pull Annie up the steeper spots. After a while I decided I didn't have the stamina to keep that up so we turned around.
Jun 08 - Putrid Pete's Peak or P3 (attempt)
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.