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Coldwater Lake Kayak, Mt. St. Helens

June 29, 2016 / doublemom94

J. and I had a great 2 days camping at Seaquest State park, kayaking Coldwater Lake by Mt. St. Helens, and hiking for wildflowers by Johnston Ridge Observatory. Coldwater Lake used to be a little creek, and was formed when St. Helens erupted and a natural dam blocked the valley, creating a beautiful 5-mile lake perfect for kayaking. We ‘yaked 3 miles out, and turned as weather started to change and get windy, so 6+ miles overall. By the time we got close to to the dock, sun was out and it was HOT, but perfect for being on the water.

The next morning we were up at 5 a.m. to hike Harry’s Ridge trail, but were in low, heavy cloud cover and only ended up hiking a couple of miles. No crater viewing today, but the wildflowers were putting on a beautiful show for us.

Crystal Lakes, MRNP

June 29, 2016 / doublemom94

It was a beautiful day for a hike, and I’ve never gone up to Crystal Lakes in Mt. Rainier National Park before. I’ve hiked to the top of Crystal Peak and looked down on the lakes, so I decided to make it happen today. Up at 5:30 a.m., and on the trail by 7:15 a.m. It’s 2300 feet of elevation up up up in 3 miles. The lower part of the trail is through scrubby forest, not that exciting, but when you get near the top and to the lakes it’s a beautiful subalpine area. I was lucky enough to have the entire Upper Crystal Lake basin to myself for almost an hour before any other hikers showed up. I had my foldy-chair, a book, a thermos of iced tea, and brunch. I found a great rock outcropping to sit on, and I just kicked back and relaxed and enjoyed the amazing view! Once other hikers started showing up it was time to leave, and I was thankful that I had a nice time of solitude for a while.

Packwood Lake, G.P. National Forest

May 15, 2016 / doublemom94

First backpack trip of 2016, first backpack trip since my shoulder surgery in February, and first time to Packwood Lake! S & S and I headed out on a gorgeous Friday morning on the 4.5 mile trail to Packwood Lake. It’s a huge, beautiful lake with a nice island and great views of Old Snowy Mtn. in the Goat Rocks Wilderness.

Our first campsite (with picnic table!) was nice, until I discovered that we were camped close to a mosquito bog and I was ambushed by the little blood-sucking critters. We packed everything up and moved to a much nicer campsite a short distance along the shore, so glad we did. It was a perfect site, right on the shore, good fishing spot, protected from wind.

Saturday morning was gray, good chance of rain, so we packed up and headed out by 11, and took a different dirt bike road back to the car. The shoulder did quite well, it was a perfect trip to test out how things would go, both with carrying a backpack and sleeping on the ground. Now… I want to get out even more!

Dog Mountain – Columbia River Gorge

April 27, 2016 / doublemom94

Frani and I had an excellent hike up Dog Mountain. It’s 2800 feet up in 3 miles, but the expansive views and fields of wildflowers up top are worth the effort! There are views east and west along the Columbia River, Wind Mountain, and the tip of Mt. Hood from the summit of Dog Mtn. Acres of balsamroot are blooming, along with Fritillaria, larkspur, paintbrush, phlox, trilliums, Calypso orchids, and dozens of other flowers all along the trail. And, of course, the ever-present poison oak!!! We saw a lot of people in shorts, but I’d advise long pants and long-sleeve shirt for this particular trail. This is a great trail any time of year (except for when there’s a lot of snow), but it’s especially beautiful when the balsamroot is in full bloom (and it also means the parking lot and trail are a lot more crowded this time of year.)

Grand Park, MRNP

August 17, 2015 / doublemom94

I’ve always looked down on Grand Park from the upper trails, Mt. Fremont and Skyscraper Pass, and I hiked out once in a round-about-sort-of-way that was beautiful, but didn’t afford the huge, jaw-dropping views that you get when coming in via Lake Eleanor. Time to fix that, and I’ve been out twice now in the last week.

The trail starts from a Forest Service road, and gently takes you to Lake Eleanor in just under a mile. There is a nice MRNP camp here, and the lake itself is beautiful. From the lake, it’s a fairly easy trail through forest for another 2 miles to the beginning of Grand Park. Once in Grand Park itself, you can wander for several miles through this huge meadow, with amazing views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Fremont, Skyscraper Mountain, and Willis Wall. Wildflowers up here must be amazing at the right time of year, but with that of course are the mosquitoes and flies, which I’ve heard can be fierce. The only downside of Grand Park is that at this time of year there is no water anywhere near, which means you have to carry in plenty for the trip.

This is the kind of hike where you want to bring a chair or hammock, plan on spending the day wandering the meadow, exploring, taking in the incredible views, and not being in a hurry.

Goat Rocks Wilderness

August 14, 2015 / doublemom94

I’ve been wanting to backpack at Goat Rocks for several years, and finally got out there this summer. J. and I hiked from Walupt Lake up the Nannie Ridge Trail to camp at Sheep Lake for 2 nights. It was a lifesaver being at the lake and being able to swim because of the heat. A lot of other water sources around the area were dry from our crazy weather this year.

On day 2 we day-hiked north on the PCT toward Cispus Basin, nice and early in the cool of the morning. Such a gorgeous area! The huge basin before Cispus Pass is gorgeous and we spent a lot of time just taking in the views. Then heading over Cispus Pass and into Cispus Basin it was jaw-dropping views all over again. That afternoon was spent back at Sheep Lake, floating in the water and keeping cool in the afternoon heat.

The hike back out to the car next morning was much easier than the steep hike in. I definitely need to do more exploring in this area, I want to visit Snowgrass Flats and Old Snowy Mtn, but that will be another trip.

Spray Park and Cataract Valley, MRNP

July 19, 2015 / doublemom94

I spent a wonderful 2 days with J.H. and S.H. on a backpacking trip at Rainier. We headed to Mowich Lake campground in the evening, where the wind kept us awake most of the night. Next morning we packed up and headed up through Spray Park and Seattle Park. Gorgeous weather and very few mosquitoes, but plenty of biting flies 🙁 I was hoping for Mr. Bear, and near the top I walked right past him without seeing him, until J. called my name and told me to look to my right. Mr. Bear was in a thicket right on the side of the trail. He ambled away from us, not in a hurry, and we were able to follow at a safe distance for a few minutes and get some great photos (keep in mind I have a zoom lens, we weren’t too close!) before he headed into the trees.

At the top of Spray/Seattle Parks, the terrain changes dramatically into a lunar landscape, which is absolutely beautiful. We only had 2 tiny snow crossings, which is remarkable for this time of year. The views of Rainier from here are spectacular. Then we headed down down down into Cataract Valley to the Cataract Valley backcountry camp. The trail heading down was very rocky, uneven, with big steps, and it torqued my ankles with every step, but it was worth it. Cataract Valley is a nice campsite with a stream running right through the middle of it, which is very handy. We pitched tents and had an afternoon siesta before dinner. The biting flies were annoying at first, but disappeared in the evening and it was perfect weather for us.

The next morning we headed further down to the Carbon River suspension bridge, which is always a lot of fun! At the Ipsut Pass trail, J. and S. headed back up to Mowich Lake, and I headed to Ipsut Campground where I had left my bike so I had a nice 5-mile glide back to the Carbon River gate where Fran was waiting to pick me up. An absolutely wonderful 2 days spent with my Mountain 🙂

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!!!