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Spray Park, MRNP – wildflower season!

June 26, 2015 / doublemom94

I’ve never been up to Spray Park on the NW side of Rainier during full-on wildflower season. I decided it was high time I corrected that little problem. I was on the trail by 7 a.m. on a week day and had the trail to myself the entire way up to the top of Spray Park. Wildflowers were incredible! And a bonus was that mosquitoes weren’t unbearable like they sometimes are. I spent several hours wandering around the many levels of Spray Mark taking photos and just relaxing and enjoying the amazing views of Rainier and more wildflowers than seem possible.

On the way back down I met 2 wonderful young men who were hiking the Wonderland Trail and we sat and talked for quite a while. It’s so fun to see our beautiful Mountain through other people’s eyes, makes me realize that I can’t ever take this amazing park in my back yard for granted.

Summit Lake, near MRNP

June 13, 2015 / doublemom94

Since Summit Lake is one of the best areas to see fields of Erythronium (avalanche lily) in the Rainier area, we decided to check it out yesterday. A couple of little birds told us the flowers were in full bloom, and they were so right! DH, Elizabeth, and I headed out early in the truck to get up the rather nasty forest service road before it was crowded. The hike up to the lake is a nice forest-y climb, but up at the lake itself is absolutely stellar!

It started out cloudy and breezy, and we thought we wouldn’t get a good view of Rainer today, that the wildflowers would be worth it though. It was a bonus day, because while we were up on the ridge the clouds blew away and Rainier was spectacular, as usual.

There was so much in bloom, it was sensory overload. I’ve never hiked the loop up the ridge that goes all the way around the lake, and that’s where the flowers were. Erythronium by the acre, paintbrush, penstemon, lupine, sedum, aster, the list goes on and on. It wasn’t too crowded, and there were NO mosquitoes out yet. An absolutely stellar day 🙂

A lot of photos, because this is one of those places that Mother Nature loves to paint beautiful scenes.

Mowich and Eunice Lakes, Tolmie Lookout, MRNP

May 31, 2015 / doublemom94

Summertime brings hordes of people and mosquitoes to several areas of Mt. Rainier. Fran and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather last weekend, and the fact that the gate to Mowich Lake is still closed and that mosquitoes aren’t out yet. We backpacked from Paul Peak parking lot up to Mowich Lake on Friday night and camped there, with only 2 other groups. In the summertime this place is a madhouse and I would never, ever stay there.

Early Saturday morning we woke up to gorgeous sunny skies, had coffee/tea and oatmeal, and headed out to Eunice Lake and the Tolmie lookout tower. There should be several feet of snow still covering everything up there, but it was 99.9% snow-free the entire way. Beautiful, but kind of scary also to see the lack of snow cover, makes me wonder what this summer is going to be like. We had the Tolmie lookout tower entirely to ourselves, and had a wonderful picnic lunch up there while enjoying one of the best views to be had of Mt. Rainier. After wandering around Eunice Lake and enjoying the wonderful geography and cliffs, we headed back to our campsite.

We were lucky to be packing up camp just as a ranger was heading back down the hill, and were able to hitch a ride with him back to our car parked 5 miles down the road. Being up there without the summer crowds and with no mosquitoes was a treat!!!

Skookum Flats, Mt. Rainier

May 8, 2015 / doublemom94

Let’s talk surgery first, then we’ll get into the Skookum Flats hike. Apparently my name should have been Humpty Dumpty, because I keep falling apart. I found out less than a month ago that I had grade 4 (a.k.a. bone-on-bone) arthritis of my right shoulder AC joint, so last Tuesday my most-wonderful orthopedic surgeon put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I had an open distal clavicle excision and acromioplasty. Apparently other body parts were jealous that my knees were getting all the attention, and they decided to very vocally express themselves. Surgery is done, healing is going freakishly quick, sutures are out, and I feel wonderful now…

So, on to Skookum Flats trail. I needed a not-so-steep trail since I can’t yet use hiking poles with my right shoulder. Skookum Flats was a perfect post-op hike, mostly flat, beautiful deep forest, and of course I hit my favorite wildflowers at their peak. Everywhere I looked there were trillium, calypso orchids, mahonia, skunk cabbage in full bloom. I hiked a wonderful, flat 6 miles on a gorgeous sunny day, and only saw 3 other people the whole time. Skookum Falls still had a decent amount of water, which was nice considering how unseasonably warm it is and our lack of snow pack this winter.

Nature therapy is the best rehab out there, I got to check another trail off my list, and I got to see some of my favorite native wildflowers.

Dusty Lake, Eastern Washington State

April 20, 2015 / doublemom94

We’ve been blessed with some incredible spring weather this year, and I’ve been taking full advantage of it! J. and I headed out early Thursday morning to the Ancient Lakes area near Quincy. We hiked a little bit further to Dusty Lake, thinking we’d have a better chance of fewer crowds. We set up camp near the lake, and some kind person had left a bit of firewood for us to use, so we were able to have a nice fire that evening. We spent the afternoon exploring the coulee, looking for birds and animals and wildflowers. We saw many different species of birds, a few wildflowers, a yellow-bellied marmot, turtles, and a lot of bats (I LOVE bats!). After a very lazy evening, I crawled into my tent and slept pretty well, like I always do when backpacking.

The next morning we packed up early and headed to Beezley Hills Nature Conservancy. Wow! Weather was perfect and wildflowers were at their prime. This is one of the largest concentrations of hedgehog cactus in the state, and they were just coming into bloom. A gorgeous area to wander around and enjoy a different side of Washington than I’m used to.

Next we drove out to Rock Island Grade and drove several miles up a steep dirt road for some beautiful views of the canyon and the Columbia River Gorge, with more wildflowers. There was a beautiful herd of free range horses that I had to stop and get photos of too. All in all, a wonderful April backpacking and wildflower hunting trip.

Mt. St. Helens – Hummocks to Loowit Lookout

April 9, 2015 / doublemom94

I spent a wonderful day going on a solo hike out at Mt. St. Helens. Started at the Hummocks TH since the road is still closed up to JRO until next month. I hiked through the Hummocks area to Boundary Trail 1 and then up the ridge to Loowit Lookout. Gorgeous day! I could see JRO, but my view was so perfect at Loowit that I didn’t feel the need to go another 3/4 mile. Sunshine, quiet solitude, a picnic lunch looking out over a gorgeous volcano – THIS is why I love to solo hike. I always feel so recharged after a day like today 🙂

Ginkgo Petrified Park and Wild Horse Wind Facility – Eastern Washington

April 5, 2015 / doublemom94

What a fun day in the sun! I met a fellow “Washington Hikers and Climbers” member for the first time, and she, my husband, and I drove to the other side of the Cascade Mountains for a bit of desert wildflower and sunshine therapy 🙂 We started with quiche and cookies from the Cle Elum Bakery, yum! Then drove to the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park at Vantage, right on the Columbia River, and explored the bluffs above the river and took a lot of wildflower photos. It was a bluebird day and the sun felt wonderful.

Next we hiked an old deserted Jeep road for several miles, on the hunt for more wildflowers and bighorn sheep, which unfortunately we never saw. More sunshine and vitamin D…

Finally we ended up at the PSE Wild Horse Wind Facility, where we had planned on a last short hike for wildflowers before heading home. We walked in the visitor center to get a hiking permit, completely unaware that a tour was about to start. We had hard hats and safety goggles handed to us and were asked to join in, and we had so much fun! It was completely unexpected, and a wonderful bonus to our day. We got to see the inner workings of the huge wind turbines, and got to go inside one of the towers. These guys are HUGE, and photos can’t even begin to explain what it’s like to stand next to one of these… the tower is 220 feet tall, each of the 3 blades is 128 feet long, and the “box” at the top is the size of a full-size bus. At full speed, the tips of the blades are traveling at 150 miles an hour.

We ended our day with a short hike in a beautiful area in the wind facility, again in search of more wildflowers. Then the long drive back home, totally tired out, and totally worth it. Such a wonderful change of scenery!

Palouse Falls and Eastern Washington State

March 29, 2015 / doublemom94

J. and I spent a wonderful 3 days in Eastern Washington State, following the sunshine. We started by driving to the Richland/Hanford area in search of burrowing owls and were lucky enough to find one of these very elusive birds before it flew away.

Then on to Palouse Falls State Park where we set up camp and spent the rest of the day wandering around, flirting with yellow-bellied marmots, birding, and soaking up the sunshine. We had a wild turkey walk right past our campsite that evening.

Next day we hiked out to a ledge below the falls, along the Palouse River, in search of wildflowers, but were a bit too early in the season and only saw a few. We then drove to Lyons Ferry State Park, which is closed, but we spent a while walking around the area looking for birds, and found a bald eagle next on the way back that we were able to get photos of. In the afternoon we hiked to Upper Palouse Falls, not nearly as much of a drop, but very wide with churning water that looked like it was boiling. Recent rains and all the runoff meant a LOT of water flowing through, and even though it was muddy it was just gorgeous.

Palouse Falls – note little people in the upper left corner

Clouds rolled in the 2nd evening, and unfortunately so did an extremely rude, obnoxious, loud, disrespectful group of 14 who thought that they could camp wherever they wanted to, even though all the sites were taken. They pitched camp in the dark on top of everyone else, and proceeded to be loud and absolutely horrid the rest of the night, so loud that we could hear them through the wind and rain that pelted us all night long. A boyscout troop actually packed up and left in the middle of the night because of them. So… not a good ending to a wonderful 2 days, but still very glad we spent time there!

On the way home we hiked at Columbia National Wildlife Refuge near Potholes, saw a lot more birds and some absolutely beautiful scenery, before heading home. We were going to stop and hike at Whiskey Dick, but the wind was so strong by that time we could barely get the car doors open, much less hike in it.

Overall, a wonderful 3 days (minus the pond scum people at the campground) and I finally got to check Palouse Falls and Potholes off my wish list 🙂

Mowich Lake in Winter – MRNP

March 18, 2015 / doublemom94

I’ve never been up to Mowich Lake in the NW corner of Mt. Rainier Park in wintertime. It’s only been summertime hiking for the amazing wildflowers and views from Tolmie, along with blood-sucking mosquitoes and far too many people crowding the trails. With the light snowpack this year, I finally decided it was time 🙂

The gate is still closed at Paul Peak trailhead. I biked about a mile up the road and then locked up my bike. After 2.5 road miles, the Grindstone Trail cuts off the last two huge road switchbacks and is a great way to get up to Mowich Lake. It’s an “unmaintained” trail but still in pretty decent condition, considering the time of year. Quite a bit of mud, but nothing that a good pair of hiking boots can’t handle.

The Grindstone Trail comes out on the road about 1/4 mile before the Mowich Lake parking lot, short-cutting 1.5 road miles. On the day I went, I had the entire place to myself and it was heavenly!! A lot of sunshine, a picnic lunch at the edge of the frozen lake, silence that was almost deafening, huge views, and not a single other person. Solo days like this do wonders to recharge my batteries and I always head home feeling so calm and peaceful afterward 🙂

Ranger Falls and Green Lake, MRNP

March 4, 2015 / doublemom94

I haven’t been on a bike in at least a century, but last weekend was so nice that S & S and I decided to break out the bikes and head up the Carbon River Road on the NW corner of Mt. Rainier National Park. The road is in good condition for bikes, considering how may times it’s been washed out. It’s a gorgeous 3.5 miles through old growth rainforest to the Ranger Falls/Green Lake trailhead, where we locked up the bikes and headed out on foot. Ranger Falls was much fuller than last year, since it had recently rained. After photos, we headed further up to Green Lake where we spent an hour sitting on logs in the sun, drinking coffee and tea and having a picnic at the lake, and skipping stones on the frozen lake (rather unsuccessfully).

Back down to the bikes, and since the road has a slight grade to it, the ride from the trailhead back the car was a wonderful glide back through the rainforest. If you like huge trees, moss, draping ferns, and river views, this is a must trail!