Urban Hike II

 

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon hiking around Foster and Marsh Islands.  That’s the water front trail between the Museum of Industry and the north end of the Arboretum.  “Every thing is beautiful, in its own way.”  Ahh, I’m having a flash back.  Someone please intervene before I go out and buy some red and white striped bell bottoms.  I usually refuse to take pictures of ducks, little children and rabbits, but these ducks had a great synchronized swimming routine.

Duck pictures

There is still an amazing amount of fall colors.  And a wide variety of things to see in a short flat hike. There are herons and other birds flying across the water ways

 

eating berries

And in general, just making a lot of noise in the trees.

Bird Pictures

The hike has a lot of variety and in the November light, it is golden.  There are waterways

Marshes

and trees.

It looks as though the water front rental at University of Washington is rent kayaks instead of canoes these days.

 

Pictures from trail side

 

If you are willing to get off of the trail, work your way through the swamp with out sinking, with a little luck, you will come across a ferry ring.  Molly assures me this is where the little people live. Anybody want to come back with me on a night with a full moon?

Ferry ring pictures

And I have finally figured out why people in Texas don’t understand conservation. Our freeway on ramps are prettier than 80 % of Texas.

It may be a state where a flooded open pit mine actually adds beauty to the landscape.

Freeway pictures

Snow Lake

 

I headed up to snow lake with the intention of heading on up too Gem Lake.  My plan was to take some pictures of the fall foliage. There comes a time when you have to abandon your plan, no matter how conceptually brilliant it it, and go with the flow.

It was a three season hike, all in six hours.  The temperature was 75 degrees.  Well in Seattle, but it probably got to sixty where I was. The hike up in the sunshine was pleasant with some fall colors.

Of course winter was setting in by the time I got to Snow Lake

And was pretty well established in the higher lakes off of the trail.

Pictures of the trail

Winter and fall seemed to be locked in a battle, but the transition to winter is winning.  Due to La Nina, there is going to be a lot of snow this year

Snow, Ice, Rock, and plant Boundaries

I really like the ice during the first two weeks of cold weather.  My relatives in Arizona may think that discussing the best snow and ice conditions to hike is  the first stage of hypothermia, but there really is a difference.  The ice is iridescent shades of gray, before it is covered with snow.

Pictures of the frozen lake

and some wonderful ice formations are at the boundary of the ice and land.

Ice formations

On the way back down, there was some great late afternoon light on the water.  October and November are my favorite months for photography because of the great low light angles.

Light on the streams

All in all it was a wonderful hike, even though it did not go to plan.

Urban Hikes

 

Molly and I went al over New England in search of fall colors and we saw some beautiful villages, dark blue skies, and great colors, but I was even more blown away by the colors in the Japanese Tea Garden at the end of the arboretum. So, if you want a short level hike with lots to see, try the Tea Garden.  There are of course the beautiful colors, which by the way, are not characteristic of Japanese Gardens.  They are suppose to be lots of shades of green.

And some beautiful ponds with bridges, rest areas and great reflections

Surprising to me were the animals.  I expected the Koi

but the turtles sunning themselves on the rocks were a surprise.  I have to admit, it was a great day for it.

So if you get a sunny day and a few hours before November is and the leaves are gone, I highly recommend the Japanese Tea Garden.

By the way, you cannot actually get a cup of tea there, but if you drive over the hill, there are lots of great lunch spots in Madison Park.

More Pictures of the Tea Garden

After the Fall

 

I knew it was late in the season, but I headed up to Ingalls Lake with the hope that a few larches still had their needles.

There  were a few trees that still had needles and most of the trees had some, but not like it would have been two weeks ago.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a beautiful hike.  It was a gorgeous afternoon.

The trail started off in the shade with warm spots of sunshine.  they were perfect for taking a couple of bites out of a Hersey's bar and sipping water.

Like all hikes, this one kept climbing above the tree line where the views were beautiful and the air thin.  I thought I might have had a touch of altitude sickness, but on second thought decided it was food poisoning.  I do not recommend taking pastrami sandwiches with Aioli. It made for an uncomfortable two hours.

I crested the ridge

 

and headed down into headlamp basin.  You have to be here after dark in the summer after dark when all of the climbers have returned from climbing Mt Stuart to appreciate how it got its name.

I wandered around for an hour setting relaxing in the meadows and jumping over streams.

and playing at the ponds

But I wanted to get back over Snoqualmie Pass before they closed it for rock blasting.  On the way out, I discovered some grasses that were the color of my hair, when I was ten years old.  There was good reason they called me carrot top. Alas, the only reminder of my red hair is the mis information on my drivers license.

 

I made it over the pass with two minutes to spare before they closed the road.  I pulled into the rest area to use my cell phone.  When I pulled back onto the freeway, I didn’t see another car until I got to North Bend.  It was eerie.  Like those day after movies when you drive around in your car to see if there are any other people left alive.

Lots more photos of the hike

Cave Ridge

 

Having never gone to Cave Ridge, I decided to give it a try.  I headed up Commonwealth Basin and over the ridge between Guye Peak and Snoqualmie peak. I was hoping for a simple hike, but this one gained two thousand feet in less than two miles.  Well trail is a little strong.  Sometimes it was hard to see except in the places where it was well marked because of the moss being scraped off by boots in what was probably desperate struggles by a hiker sliding down the hill.

I finally got to the top and was able to look out across common wealth basin in a view I don’t usually get. Across the top of the ridge across Kendall Peak, you can see the trail to the catwalk.

I didn’t have a lot of time to wander around cave ridge, but I will get back.  I was surprised that there were still a lot of fall colors.  It looked like there were a lot of places to wander around.

I decided to traverse over to the Snoqualmie Mt trail and drop down to Alpental.  It  an additional mile and 1/2 walk back to where my car was parked, but I hoped the trail was in better shape.  Well that was a fantasy.  the Snoqualmie Mt trail was steeper than I remembered.  It drops down 1500 feet in 1/2 mile.  But I got down pretty quick. (Actually it took an hour to cover that half mile because you really need to be careful going down something that steep.) But it was still a great hike.

 

Cave Ridge Photos

Snow Lake

 

The sun was out, more or less, a little less than more, so I headed up to Snow Lake.  I didn’t actually stop at Snow Lake, but headed up to a couple of little lakes near it. The area has several small lakes lwith a stream wandering between them and then eventually going over a thirty foot waterfall. I like them because this time of year they are surrounded by tall golden grasses.  The grasses were a foot shorter than normal due to the short growing season and they still had some green in them, but I was afraid this might be the last sunny day before they are covered with snow.  The Oregon grape and huckleberries have turned a nice red.  It makes for a pretty walk along the edges of the lakes.

 

Additional photos of trail

The grasses are starting to turn a nice color of yellow.

 

The trail wanders by the lakes and over a stream many, many times.  The term trail is a misnomer.  You walk where ever you would like, but it is boggy, so you have to watch where you’re walking.  Or put a lot of faith in the waterproofing on your boots.  The streams are narrow enough to jump over, with one notable exception, and filled with plants.

I really enjoyed the sun on the water as it was tumbling over the many little falls.

Additional photos of stream

 

The lakes were beautiful and  I had them all to myself. (If you don’t count the bugs.  The dragon flies I liked, the mosquitoes not so much.)

and the calm water had great reflections,

 

 

Additional photos of lakes

 

It was a very enjoyable day and I managed to break in my new hiking boots just a little bit more.

Naches Peak Loop

 

I couldn’t wait for the sun any longer.  I had to go on a hike. I did the Naches Peak Loop which is at the top of Chinook Pass.  It has several admiral qualities.  The hike is a loop, so there is no back tracking.  It is only three miles long with about 600 feet elevation gain, so it is not hard.  It has incredible fall colors and views of Mt. Rainier.  And on a day when there is a chance of rain, you are never more than a quick 35 minutes from your car incase you have to beat a hasty retreat.  And did I mention, it was gorgeous with beautiful alpine meadows and lots of lakes, tarns, and other bodies of water.

The hike begins at Lake Tipsoo which is pretty even in the fog.

 

The trail wanders along side some lakes, through some, meadows and beneath Naches Peak. It is a short scramble up Naches Peak, though on a cloudy day, the view is no better from the top of the peak than it is from the trail.

View along the trail

There are two named lakes, Tipsoo and Dewey,  and countless  tarns and ponds or  along the trail. The difference between a tarn and a pond is the nationality of the person who named it.  If you are Scandinavian, a tarn is a small lake or pond formed where a glacier scooped a hole in the ground.  If you are from the mid west, a pond is a boggy, bug filled depression  with scummy water inhabited by  slimy creatures that give you warts. It’s a personal bias, but I prefer  tarns.

Tarns and lakes

The fall colors are just beginning to turn, which is distressing since I don’t remember actually having a summer.  The colors should be great in the next couple of weeks, especially if you happen to hike on a sunny day.

 

Photos of Fall colors

And the views of Rainier would be great on a less cloudy day.  The hike through the mist was quiet and peaceful. 

The crowds are gone when you hike on a rainy Monday, though I did meet one through hiker.  He started at the US/ Mexican border in May and should be in Canada in the next two weeks. I did not turn him into immigration.