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!

I spent an incredible two weeks in October 2013 hiking through Southern Utah with my hiking buddy Frani   Unfortunately this coincided with the federal government shutdown so the National Parks weren’t open part of the time we were there, but we were able to get into Bryce NP, Canyonlands NP, and Arches NP.

The shutdown actually forced us to consider other areas to hike beyond the national parks, and I have to say that UTAH ROCKS IT’S STATE PARKS!!!!!  Anywhere else in the country, and these would be considered national parks, IMO.

I’ve since returned to explore Utah’s canyon country twice. Click HERE (2021) and HERE (2022) to see those amazing trips.

Wasatch Range / Wardsworth Trail and Bridal Veil Falls

A huge thanks to my cousins for putting us up (or putting up with us!) near Provo, UT. We spent a day hiking at Hobble Creek Canyon on the Wardsworth Trail, perfect timing for fall colors. We also went to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon for a little scramble near the waterfall, followed by In-N-Out Burgers, the only way to finish off a good day of hiking

Red Canyon near Bryce NP

The weather was a bit too cold for my comfort in a tent, so we splurged and got a hotel in Panguitch, UT, for a few days in the Bryce area. We spent 2 days hiking in the Red Canyon area, which is spectacular in its own right. On the first day we covered the the Arches Trail, part of the Losee Canyon Trail, and then hiked out to Red Rock Canyon via the Thunder Mountain Trail, which was wonderful in the late afternoon/evening light.

The second day we hiked from the Visitor Center (closed, thanks to our very dysfunctional government) along the Pink Ledges, Hoodoo, and Birdseye Trails. In the afternoon we Hiked out the Cassidy Trail (a.k.a. Butch Cassidy hid out here for a while), to Ledge Point, and then down the Rich Trail… a very gorgeous day!

Kodachrome and Petrified Forest State Parks

On the day we drove from the Bryce Canyon area to Escalante, we stopped at Kodachrome State Park and Petrified Forest State Park. Both are very worth the time to see. Kodachrome S.P. has a great view of Bryce Canyon NP from the distance, and has some wonderful rock formations and colors, as well as Shakespeare Arch. Petrified Forest S.P. is amazing with the big rounds of petrified wood in rainbow colors spread all around the park. Our favorite was an extra back loop off the main trail, steep and rocky, with some wonderful pieces of petrified wood and a great view down into a canyon. We stayed in wonderful little cabins at Escalante Outfitters.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

The next day we hiked out to Lower Calf Creek Falls in the Calf Creek Recreation area with a wonderful couple from Germany that we met the night before over a couple of beers. It’s a gorgeous and easy hike out to the falls, through beautiful canyonland with cliffs, blooming flowers, flowing water, and good friends. Just the drive from Escalante to Calf Creek was wonderful.