Category: Day Hikes (Page 4 of 13)

I can do this, right?!? I’ll just ignore the 2 screws sticking through a bone in the bottom of my foot causing major irritation (insert sarcasm here).

The hike from Highway 410 near the Sunrise Road to Crystal Lakes is up up up, and then more up ~~ about 2100 feet of elevation gain in 3 miles. The lower 3/4 of the trail is through not-very-exciting forest with only one small chance to see Mt. Rainier, but that small spot affords a beautiful view up the White River valley directly to the Mountain.

The real magic of this hike is at the end, at Upper Crystal Lake, with views of the beautiful lake basin and up to Crystal Peak. It makes the climb worth it, in my humble opinion. Wildflowers near the top were in full bloom, and so were the blood-sucking mosquitoes. They go hand in hand, the wildflowers and insects, it’s impossible to have one without the other in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Though there were several other people in the upper lake basin, we were spread out with plenty of good picnic lunch spots to choose from for everyone. This is one of those places to just sit back and let the beauty of Mother Nature soak in.

I struggled a lot on the hike back down to the car because of my compromised gait due to foot surgery and the screws, but I’m still glad I had a day of beauty!

Should I take my big camera on today’s hike? I floated this question around in my mind at 4:30am in the dark before heading to Sunrise at Mt. Rainier. I don’t enjoy carrying it, but what if I see wildlife? I’m glad I decided to bring it along, it came in very handy!

Boots on trail before 6:30 am, knowing it would be hot and crowded later in the morning. Once I got to the Frozen Lake trail junction, I decided on the Fremont Lookout tower, since glimpses north showed layered mountains toward Glacier Peak and I knew I would get beautiful photos from that vantage point. I saw a solitary mountain goat on the way, far below me, and figured that would be my single wildlife sighting for the day.

The trail from Frozen Lake to the Fremont Lookout is not for anyone with vertigo or a fear of heights. It’s a good trail, but can make a person feel wobbly during some sections.

It was extremely windy at the lookout, but that thankfully kept the insects away. I had a few minutes to myself there before other hikers also showed up, and we spent a half-hour in easy conversation before I headed back down. The layers from the lookout tower were incredible, with views of The Enchantments, Mt. Stuart, Glacier Peak, and the tip of Mt. Baker. Also a wonderful view down to Grand Park.

Heading back toward Frozen Lake, I spotted a herd of Mountain goats just above me on the trail, and we paralleled each other for at least 1/4 mile, always keeping a good distance. This is where I was so thankful to have my camera with zoom lens, glad I decided to bring it along. This time of year they’re shedding last winter’s coat and will soon grow out a new long coat for the upcoming winter. This herd had 2 youngsters that were so fun to watch!

From Frozen Lake I debated which route to take back to Sunrise, and decided on Shadow Lake where bears sometimes like to spend time. I had a nice conversation with marmot for a few minutes, while swatting mosquitoes. Coming around a bend, I got to spend about 10 minutes watching a juvenile black bear foraging, with nobody else nearby. I was far enough away to be safe, again using my zoom lens. Mosquitoes were fierce and relentless every time I would stop, but trading a few pints of blood for good bear photos was a fair exchange.

Overall, a wonderful day. The kind of day that makes getting up at 4:30 am worth it.

I’ve been itching to do longer, more challenging hikes after my foot surgery in March, and today was the day. I decided on Comet Falls and VanTrump Park, at Mount Rainier National Park. As always, I got an early start, leaving home at 5:30am to avoid crowds. I forgot how rocky, uneven, and gnarly the majority of this trail is, and while my foot is not at all pleased with me now, the rest of me sure feels good about today’s hike!!

With our heavy winter snowpack this past winter and the heat we’ve had this week, Comet Falls was raging and so beautiful, including rainbows in the mist. It is the tallest waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park, and on a hot day like today, the mist it was throwing off was the perfect way to cool down. There are several other smaller waterfalls along the way that are also worth stopping to visit.

I decided to continue on the trail up to VanTrump Park, about 1 mile past Comet Falls. The entire trail is rough and rocky, with hundreds of big steps, so I definitely got good exercise today.

There were so many different types of wildflowers blooming, it’s a much later wildflower season than normal because of our past winter. I had to stop and enjoy the beauty of all of them. They bring so much joy, if only one stops to appreciate them.

This June was the lowest tide in 13 years, so of course we headed to the Salt Creek Recreation Area and Tongue Point for low tide to explore the tidepools and sea life. This is a beautiful area east of Port Angeles along the Straigt of Juan De Fuca, and fortunately the weather was spectacular!!

There is so much to see out here, if you’re willing to squiggle and squirm your way over wet rocks and seaweed, crouch down, and take the time to notice the little things. It’s possible to walk out to the very tip of Tongue Point that isn’t normally accessible except for the lowest of tides.

Unfortunately there are not nearly as many sea stars as there were years ago, there was a massive die off in 2013/14. The disease is called “sea star wasting syndrome” and continues to kill sea stars along the Pacific Coast of North America.

Walking along Crescent Beach is also beautiful, and right next to Tongue Point. Having sunshine is a bonus!!!

The Olympic Peninsula has some gems to explore, and Fort Worden State Park is one of them. Near Port Townsend, it’s well worth a visit. Construction here started in 1898, to protect Puget Sound and Admiralty Inlet from invasion by sea. It was an active Army base from 1902 to 1953.

It became a Washington State Park in 1973, with beautiful views to the ocean and Puget Sound, and trails around the artillery batteries to be explored.

I try to head to Eastern Washington every spring for sunshine, but this spring weather and my foot surgery didn’t allow for that. I was able to spend a couple of days camping at Potholes State Park, with some lovely time in the Columbia Wildlife Refuge.

This place is a haven during certain times of the year for migrating birds. The geology of the Channeled Scablands is fascinating. There were very few people around, and I hiked/walked several miles (as much as my foot would allow, which wasn’t much) enjoying the solitude, sights and sounds of nature.

There is something magical and timeless about standing among the tallest trees in the world, something that is impossible to put into words. There is an energy here that’s difficult to describe until you feel it for yourself – A connection to something infinitely bigger than we are. Some of these trees are over 3000 years old, imagine the stories they could tell. Walking through these forests is like walking through the giant cathedrals of Europe.

I’m not much one for including myself in my photos, but with the sheer size of these trees, it’s impossible to understand the scale without a human for perspective.

One of my favorite nature-related books is The Wild Trees by Richard Preston, about how these giants were first climbed (safely) and the amazing hidden world that lives up in the canopy. It’s also incredibly sad to know that only about 3% of these living beings are still standing, the rest were logged without consideration that it takes literally thousands of years for them to grow to this size.

These forests demand respect and reverence. We can’t begin to imagine how many generations of humans it will take to rebuild just ONE generation of these trees. We need to protect those that are still standing tall.

I’ve had Smith Rock State Park on my radar for a few years, and we finally managed to add it to our Eastern/Central Oregon trip in May – so very glad we did. Smith Rock is heaven for rock climbers, and while I don’t do any climbing, there are also wonderful hiking trails here.

Feeling adventurous, we opted for the Misery Ridge Trail – very aptly named!! If you look closely at the photos, you can see the switchback trail we climbed up from the Crooked River, then another set of switchbacks to get to the top of the rock. From the top we found a small spur trail with a beautiful bench, and spent at least an hour looking down across central Oregon and counting the line of mountains and volcanoes in the distance: Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, the Three Sisters, Black Butte, and Mt. Washington.

But what goes up must come down, and we most definitely took our time on the descent. I would have never made it without hiking poles. The trail was steep and covered in loose pebbles that act like marbles, easily slipping your feet out from underneath. On the way down we paused to watch climbers on Monkey Face, a column of rock that must be wonderful to climb – if you’re into that kind of thing!

The final section of the hike was flat and followed the Crooked River back to the entry point, with huge cliffs on one side and the river on the other. If Misery Ridge is not your cuppa tea, it’s well worth it to still walk the flat trail that follows the river.

Quite different the second time around! When I was here 2 years ago temperatures were nearing 100, and hiking was a slow, sweaty ordeal. This time around weather was perfect!! There are 3 units of the John Day Monument in Central/Eastern Oregon, and Sheep Rock is the main one with a fantastic visitor center that we were very pleased to find open. It’s well worth a stop if you ever get the chance.

My favorite hike is to Blue Basin, an other-worldly short hike up a canyon prone to flash floods, thus at least a dozen sturdy bridges to cross to get to the end. Don’t think you’ll make it to the moon in this lifetime? Hike the Blue Basin trail! I didn’t do the larger loops when I was here before because of the heat, but this time we did do the full loop up and behind, where we were able to look down into Blue Basin – with views stretching far and wide along a large part of the area.

If geology and dinosaurs are your thing, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is definitely worth a visit.