Nordic Pass

It is May 30 and Im setting in my kitchen catching up with six months of pictures to be posted on my blogs. It is the perfect thing to do on a cold winter day, which in Seattle, apparantly occurs on May 30. I dont remember feeling this cold in any of these snow pictures I'm about to post.  I headed up to Nordic Pass, really just to check out how much snow was there. It was only  December 1, but already the snow is deep enough for good snow shoeing. There is a good winter out in front of us. I headed up the hill and came to Hyak Lake. I've been here many times, but only stumbled across the sign once. It looked like something out of a real estate developers dream. Perhaps someone has torn it down but the lake is always interesting.

And like so many Northwest Lakes, the snow depth on it varies from many feet to open water.  It has been my experience that it is never good to snow shoe across an open meadow surrounded by trees unless you really know that it is an open meadow, and not a lake.  But you don't have to be very observant at Hyak Lake.  There is usually open water visible where the stream enters the lake.  And there is usually an interesting challenge of trying to get across the outlet stream with its six foot snow banks at the exit to the lake.  However, there is usually some interesting ice formations at these two points.  You can see the ice crystals that have formed on the grasses .  In fact, the tecture of the snow was one of the interesting parts of this trip.  People say, usually in an attempt to demonstrate the meagerness of our language, that eskimoes have eleven words that mean snow.  Well, the Mountaineers Book as fourteen words just to describe the surface of the snow.  This one is called hoar frost.The one I hate the most is cascade concrete.  It is heavy and sticks to your snowshoes like concrete.



I'm not sure which of the fourteen would be used to describe this.  We may have to add a fifteenth word to the book.

I ran into this guy up at the top of the ridge. If you look closely at his snow board, you will see that it is mounted atop of a doubled ended ski.  I believe he called it a skate board and he could turn 360 degrees in the length of the board. The coiled cord that you see dangling is th.e run away strap.  If you fall off, which he said is the most likely thing to occur on this device, it immediately heads to the bottom of the hill.  This is hand made and not yet available in stores, though he did give me the name of someone in Mamouth that could make me one.  I'll get you the name if anyone is interested.



The view from the top was as always, great

Though on this day, it was only enjoyed by the skae boarder, me and a rabbit that was heading through the snow.

And then the sun went down, the mist headed in, and I headed home to a warm shower.

Gold Creek

Sometimes I intentionally go hiking in the snow.  It's called snow shoeing, but people still ask me "why do you do that?  Well, it's beautiful, it is usually quiet, and if you're at Snoqualmie Pass, you can get a great cup of hot chocolate at Red Mountain Coffee when you're done.

When you hike the same place it can be different because of the light, weather, or fall foliage, but in the winter it actually changes shape depending on the amount of snow.  I  like edges of Gold Creek or Mardee Lake. I have never seen the same ice formation or reflection twice.

In the summer it is easy to see that Mardee lake was formed from a gravel pit used to build I-90, but in the winter it is different.  Some times it is a lake and some times it is covered with snow and ice,  Ive seen beaver swim in it and foot prints that cross what looks like an open  snow field only to disappear in the center. (I kind of wonder about those foot prints.) Monet painted 30 pictures of Rouen Cathedral to catch the  light at differnt times of the day across its facade.  I've taken several hundered photographs of the light on Mardee Lake, but you're in luck.  I'm only going to post two.

And the lake is quite beautiful when the sun had gone down behind the hills. (Bring a warm coat.  It is also quite chilly.)

Of course, to see beavers swiming, you need a little open water than in this picture.

And once the sun has gone down, you get some great mists that form over the open water.

So it was a great day followed by hot chocolate and a safe drive home.

Green Lake

Normally I hike in the mountains, but there are  walks in the city that are short, flat, and just across the street from fine resturants.  It is civilized walks with nature that are great on a afternoon when you do not have a lot of hours.  So Tom, Marily, Molly and I headed off to Green Lake to see the fall colors. There are several types of decidious trees that turn gold and loose their leaves, but look like everygreens.

There is a nice grove of Western Larches or tammaracks if you're from Montana.  The closest stand of these trees that I know of are at Ingals Lake and usually involves a ten mile round trip hike with three thousand feet of elevation gain.  If you ask Mary and Vangie, they will also say that it requires hours of hiking through deep snow.  This tree does not naturally grow below 6500 feet, so I was very surprised to see it at Green Lake.

You can see that the needles look just like a fir tree.  It only stays this color for about a week before the needles drop off.

And there are the completely normal trees that turn gold and lose their leaves

And then Green Lake itself is quite beautiful.



So if you would like to see some fall color, do not want to hike ten miles through the snow, and would like to stop at a good resturant afterwards, then head over to Green Lake. Otherwise, I'll be heading back to Ingals Lake next fall and you are welcome to join me.

Rattle Snake Ledge

It was a beautiful crisp fall afternoon and I headed up from Rattlesnake Lake to the ledge. You can see the top of the ledge in the top left of this picture. It’s a great hike if you’ve only got three or four hours and don’t want to spend them in the car driving. It is just out of North Bend

It is not a wilderness experience. You can expect to see people from age three to age eighty and a fair number of people glaring at the person who brought them. But it is the best view for a one hour hike in the state.

In the distance you can see Chester Morse Lake, the source of your drinking water if you are from Seattle, or if you’re from Mercer Island which happens to buy its water from Seattle. The canyon in front is boxley canyon.

As crowded as this gets, if you continue on for another ten minutes to the second ledge, you will likely be all alone. I’ve seen 50 people setting on the ledge, moved on for ten minutes, and watched for an hour without anyone walking by me. and you get to watch all of the people on the first ledge hanging on for dear life. You walk out of the trees and in five steps you’re at the edge of 600 foot drop off. Many people get there before realizing it, quickly set down and carefully scoot back.

The moon was rising over Mt. Washington and in the distance you can see Bandera Mountain. 

 

The best time to hike this trail is to time it so that you’re at the top about an hour before sunset. The walk through the trees usually has a beautiful golden lightand you get back to the lake to see a sunset.

And if it is the fall, the timing is perfect to stop at Scotts in North bend for one of their great burgers.

 



Snow Lake

 

I went up to Snow Lake because I refuse to believe that autumn is over and winter has begun.  The trail in supported the idea that autumn is still here,

but I hit my first snow on the trail at 3500 feet.  It was a light dusting at that altitude, but it stayed there all day and didn’t melt.  Winter has started.

When I reach the pass above Snow Lake, the lake was trying its hardest to live up to its name.

and the freeze thaw cycles of the previous week had laid down a inch of slick ice on the trail.

But I made down to the back country off trail to some beautiful little lakes

with a lot  of interesting ice formations.

The best light for the grasses is just before the sun goes down, but it really cools off quickly when that happens.

But luckily it is only a twenty minute climb back up to the pass and you are back into the sunshine. It was still a quick hour and fifteen minutes back to the warmth of the car.

 

Full set of photos

Cowiche Canyon

 

I could not take the rain any longer in the second week of October so I headed to Eastern Washington for the sunshine. It was pouring down rain in Seattle and continued until I got past Cle Elum, but by the time I reached the canyon it was blue skies and 70 degrees.

Cowiche canyon has everything you need for a fall hike.  It is flat walk that goes through a canyon that use to be a railroad bed.

There is a stream running through it

 

In the afternoon it gets great light reflections off of the side of the canyon

and the canyon has  every fall color that you might imagine.

There is also a trail across the top of the canyon , may be 300 feet elevation gain, that goes through beautiful grass lands.

There is a short side trail to a winery, which I didn’t take this trip, but this is sure to become a fall classic.  The trail ends at another parking lot.

so you could do this as a three mile hike, but the trip in across the canyon rim and back along the canyon bottom is an easy six miles. But I would recommend it in middle October.

full set of photos

Back to Ingalls yet again

 

Mary and Vangie wanted to see the larches and they were prepared to put up with a beautiful but long hike and the snow. The temperature at the bottom of the trail was in the mid fifties, but seemed much warmer in the sunshine.

Lunch break in the snow

and a little clarification that that really was where we were headed to.

In another forty minutes we were crossing the pass

to some incredible views,

 

from some awe inspiring view spots.

full set of photos

Back to Ingalls again

 

It was a week later and I was heading up to Ingalls Lake for two reasons: 1) was to check to see if the larches were in their full color and 2) to make sure the trail was passable since I was taking Mary and Vangie up it two days later.  People get very irritated when you make them get up early on their day off drive 2 1/2 hours to a trailhead and a couple miles up the trail only to find out that you have to turn around. But the weather was beautiful with sunshine and a crisp 40 degrees. There was fresh snow on all of the peaks.

There was fresh snow on the trail, but no more than 18 inches.  Just enough to make pretty pictures.

And the larches had reached their full splendor.

So I spent a couple of hours playing in the snow

and photographing larches before heading back down to my car.

Full set of photos