I have some of the best hiking/camping/backpacking friends, and I thank SharonM for introducing me to Takhlakh Lake near Mt. Adams. I’ve never explored this area before, and after living in Washington State for 28+ years, it was about time I got out there 🙂   I got one of the last campsite reservations at Takhlakh Lake, so Tori and I packed up the kayaks, grabbed SharonM and SharonB on the way, and headed south.

The lake has an absolutely wonderful view of Mt. Adams, and it didn’t hurt that we had a supermooon while there. We spent the first afternoon being lazy at camp, kayaking, and enjoying the view.

On day 2 we left the kid at the campground and headed up to Killen Creek TH. I managed to eat a few (ok… MORE than just a few!) wild blueberries and huckleberries along the trail. The trail is beautiful through forest, berries, and wildflowers. The biting flies and mosquitoes, on the other hand, were *brutal* since they seem to love me so much. Between swatting ourselves repeatedly with handkerchiefs, we were able to enjoy a great lunch in an open wildflower meadow right at the base of Mt. Adams. Then back to Takhlakh Lake for a wonderful swim and a lazy paddle that evening. I had forgotten how much I enjoy swimming in open water instead of a pool.

Thanks to Sharon-Squared for a wonderful time and for introducing us to yet another beautiful PNW place.

This was a new trail to me, the drive up the Forest Service road is an adventure in itself.  I love beargrass, and this was definitely the best beargrass area I’ve ever seen. We were on the road before 5:30 a.m., and were up on top of the ridge by 10 a.m., for some incredible views of Mt. Rainier to the south and the North Cascades and Alpine Lakes Wilderness area to the north. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m a sucker for wildflowers and this trail definitely did not disappoint 🙂  Up top used to be an old fire lookout, but it’s not there any longer. I think if there was a lookout tower there, I would move in to it and never want to leave again.

It was a most excellent hike, a fantastic day with expansive views that are hard to describe, and complete wildflower sensory overload…. the best way to spend a gorgeous PNW summer day!

If you want WILDFLOWERS… Spray Park at Mt. Rainier is the place to go.  Denise and I hit the wildflowers at their prime (as well as the bugs at their prime) at the beginning of August.

We started at Mowich Lake (about 12 miles of gravel road, some of it with a good amount of potholes and washboard, but still fun) We took the little side trip to Spray Falls, which is hard to see unless you can cross the stream to the other side, but the water was high enough that we didn’t feel comfortable with it, so we got 1/2 of the waterfall instead.

We then continued on up to Spray Park, which has spectacular views of Rainier along with a complete riot of wildflowers. It is just gorgeous up here, and photos can’t convey how many flowers there are in every direction you look.

If you want Rainier wildflowers and don’t want to put up with the masses of crowds and tourists at Paradise… definitely consider Spray Park instead.

Great dayhike out to the 3 Burroughs Mountains, Sunrise, Mt. Rainier. It’s very desolate out there, no trees, but nice wildflowers (and mosquitoes and biting flies).  We got in a little Mountain yoga at the top of Second Burroughs, and had nice clear skies and could see Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak to the north, as well as plumes of smoke from the Central Washington wildfires.

Nice little hike out to Shadow Lake with Janelle, out of Sunrise, Mt. Rainier. Perfect timing for wildflowers… John Muir definitely got it right when he said that nowhere else has wildflowers like Rainier does. 

We were able to talk to a couple of SAR helicopter pilots who were looking for a missing hiker, it was sad to know someone was missing, but also very interesting to get their perspective what a SAR mission is like.

Bugs were pretty horrible, but they go hand-in-hand with wildflowers, so they are a necessary evil sometimes.

Well, I can verify that my knees are back in good working order after my surgeries in February and March 🙂  J. and I hiked up to Crystal Peak on the east side of Mt. Rainier, 8 miles round trip, 3100 feet of elevation gain and loss, topping off at about 6600 feet in elevation. The knees did GREAT, the views were spectacular, and we had a most wonderful day.

The lower half of the trail is nothing to write home about, a lot of raggedy forest without very much pretty undergrowth like so many other areas around here . Once you break out of the forest, though, the views just keep getting better and better and better. Miles of huckleberry fields and wildflowers as you switch-back up and up to the top of the peak.

From the top we could see Rainier and a perfect perspective of the White River Valley, along with Goat Island Mountain, the road to Sunrise, and the 3 Burroughs perfectly. We could also see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood in Oregon, as well as Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak in the North Cascades near the Canada border. Looking to the east we could look down on Upper Crystal Lake and Sourdough Gap.

All in all, not an easy hike, definitely burned some calories off, but so very very worth it for the HUGE expanse of views up top. Word of advice: GO!

Well, my knees have again challenged me. I’ve had surgery on both knees in the past 9 weeks for chronic bursitis and ITB syndrome (surgery #2 on the left and #6 on the right), and am ready to get back on the trails after physical therapy! I’ve been building back up endurance by sticking to level hikes to begin with, and the Carbon River Road is a perfect place for that. The northwest entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park is a gorgeous rainforest in a river valley, and 5 miles of flat gravel road that is now closed to cars. Perfect for working those knees back into shape!

I already have Yosemite, Ansel Adams, and Enchantments permits in hand for this summer, plus a lot of other trails with my name on them. Can’t wait to get back up on my Mountain for some snow-shoeing next week!