Another foolish weekend in the rain down at Mount Rainier National Park and along the Carbon River valley. I had some regret for NOT taking a particular shot last week so I decided to head back down to get it. Once again, the weather was steady rain and a complete challenge to keep my camera & lenses moisture free.
This was the shot I noticed last week:
I also took advantage of the hike in to explore the old growth forest:
My first visit to Washington State was in the summer of 1992 and I spent a week with my best friend staying with his aunt and uncle. His uncle took us out on a few tourist type outings down to Mount Saint Helens and to Mount Rainier National Park. I was in awe of everything I saw but what left a lasting impression on me was a simple hike to Green Lake in the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. I can’t explain it but the stillness and peace of the setting has always been something I’ve looked forward to. Now that I live here, the opportunity to visit Green Lake in a winter setting is really special to me.
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Back in 1992, accessing Green lake was pretty easy. The trailhead lies at the side of the road halfway between the Carbon River Park Entrance and the end of the road at Ipsuit Creek Campground. Flooding in the late 1990s changed all of this and sadly, the road can no longer be driven (and most likely will never be repaired). What used to be a 1.8 mile hike is now requires a 3 mile hike along the road just to reach the trailhead. The extra hike along the road makes this a long day but the flip side is that it allows you to enjoy the temperate old growth forest that would normally blur past you while driving the road.
On this particular outing, I expected rain and hoped for snow at the lake (both of which I got). I also enjoyed the entire day in solitude. At the lake, the weather was steady light rain with some brief sleet. After 2 1/2 hours of hiking in the rain, I was saturated and slightly chilled so I was not able to stay as long as I would have liked. After some quick pictures and lunch, I was headed back and trying to take photos of all the things I made a mental note of. I’ll have to make a return trip just to explore the forest along the road..
Having studied the weather forecasts, Saturday was projected to be a dry day as a lull between storm systems. The snow level would also drop so I figured some early snowfall shots might be in order. During my visit last week, I noticed a mountain just east of Jacks Pass which had red tinted meadow slopes near the summit. The mountain is named Frog Mountain and, from looking at maps, it could be scaled halfway on a series of abandoned logging roads.
On my way to Jacks Pass, I could see that portions of the very top did have fresh snow and the weather seemed to be clearing out more. I was hoping that some visual navigation would be possible once the old roadway faded away. The first challenge was finding the entry point of the road. From Jacks Pass, the old road begins clearly but that leads to a huge open area littered with way too much target practice debris- shell casings, clay pigeons.
This made me very nervous because I didn’t want to be heading back only to be BEHIND some people firing guns. Anyways, I found the entry point which had grown over, making it less obvious. Once on the old road, however, it was still fairly well defined. Young alders are filling in the road surface but the going isn’t too bad. Without signage, some decisions had to be made at a few of the road spurs but I made good time along the road section.
I reached what I decided was the end of the road in short order but was not encouraged by what I saw. Above me, the more mature forest above the regenerating clearcut I was in was pretty thick, and there was no direct line of sight to the upper slopes. Being alone and without my GPS, I thought better of continuing. After that decision, I did spy a road spur that continued further upslope. I determined that one spur dead ends in a clearcut but the second spur is promising. I will have to check it out some other time.
I made it back down fairly quickly and still had most of the afternoon so I explored some of the other Forest Service roads in the area. Always good to know what’s out there for future pursuits!
The next storm system starting making its appearance in the late afternoon and on my way home, I across two rainbows at two different locations. Pretty cool!..
I wanted to do some additional exploration of the Beckler River area so I headed towards the Rapid River road. Surprisingly, the wonderful fall colors of last weekend were largely gone. In a week’s time, lots of leaves fell and those that remained had morphed into more faded colors.
Despite the 100% certainly of rain, I ventured into the Cascades for a forest hike. The heart of the Central Cascades and the end of Forest Service Road 63 is what attracted my attention. At the end of that road are several trailheads: West Cady Ridge, North Fork Skykomish River, and Quartz Creek. Of those options, I decided on Quartz Creek after some research on the web. The normal access to this area is provided by the Index-Galena Road near the town of Index (also identified as Forest Service Road 63) but an alternate route is now required due to the 2006 flood damage.
Access is now achieved via the Beckler River Road (Forest Service Road 65) which goes up and over Jack Pass (2,000 feet) and then intersects FS Rd 63. This was my first visit to this area and it’s simply amazing. Fall color is now really taking off all along the Beckler River as well as the upper North Fork Skykomish River valley and the road is in really great shape. In what seemed like short order, I arrived at the trio of trailheads.
I was surprised by the absence of rain at the trailhead. After gearing up, I headed out on the trai, which was also in great shape. The Quartz Creek trail makes its way up the valley towards Curry Gap, a distance of about 4.5 miles. Not too long after starting, the rain began and alternated between stronger and lighter cells.
During my research, one of the trip reports I read mentioned a log which was large enough and hallowed out that it allowed someone to get inside of it. After finding it along the trail, I decided to get in for a photo opportunity:
I pushed further along on the trail and was taking some additional photos when thunder and lightning made an appearance. It was loud and it was close so I immediately packed up and scampered back to the trailhead. Since I had some extra time, I looked a little closer at the surroundings as I headed home. I was so impressed by what I saw, I returned the next day to take more photos (which I’ll post later this week).
Washington’s weather has settled back into its normal pattern- sunny weekdays and cloudy/rainy weekends. Plan A was thwarted once again by the weather so I had to find a Plan B. Given the 100% chance of rain, I tried to keep in the forest and at lower elevation. After rejected a few options, I settled on returning to the Goat Lake Trail off of the Mountain Loop Highway. I had hiked this trail many years ago and remembered that it paralleled Elliott Creek for much of the way to Goat Lake. It seemed like the best option given the 100% chance of rain.
The trail to Goat lake is five miles long and actually has two options- an upper trail and a lower trail. The upper trail follows a decommissioned road while the lower trail follows Elliott Creek. About halfway in, both trails merge and continue onward to Goat Lake. On this day, I focused just on the lower trail and Elliot Creek. It gradually gains elevation as you head up valley and always stays within earshot of the creek. A nice added bonus is that the forest along the lower trail is very diverse and lush, offering even more to look at.
On this particular day, it rained steadily the entire time and both myself and my camera gear got drenched. Thankfully, Pentax makes cameras and lenses that are built to take these kind of conditions! As these outings tend to go for me, the destination wasn’t as important as the trail to it so I only managed to make it a fraction of the way in towards Goat Lake.
With my abbreviated trip earlier in the week, I decided to take advantage of it by heading back to Cougar Divide to wait for sunset. I thought the coming low pressure system might bring in some clouds to add some flavor and interest for sunset. The pending storm system actually traveled quicker than I had expected and left me with mostly gray skies for sunset. I had the entire ridge to myself this evening with the notable exception of mosquitoes. I was somewhat surprised to discover that the bugs on Cougar Divide were just as ferocious this evening as they were during my last visit several weeks ago. This is definitely one of the buggiest locations I’ve visited here in the Pacific Northwest..
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Plans don’t always come together like you intend. For me, I had planned on a five day exploration of the five mile long Lost Creek Ridge within the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Subalpine meadows, lakes and constant views of Glacier Peak sounded like a great combination for photography. It stands to reason that you have to GAIN the ridge to enjoy these sights. Several years ago, I day hiked up to the ridge so I already had some familiarity with the trail and what to expect.
The trail starts at 1800′ in the North Fork Sauk River Valley and, for the first half mile, affords a very rich forest understory. Water is common during the first half mile but only early in the season (bone dry during my trip). After the first half mile, the switchbacks begin and just don’t seem to stop. The steepest portion of the ascent does end with your arrival at Bingley Gap, a forested ridgeline 3 miles in at 4400 feet.
From Bingley Gap, additional switchbacks and 500 vertical feet finally reward you with your first unobstructed views of the Sauk River Valley. Leaving the forest, the trail contours the steep slopes and enters the subalpine meadows. About five miles in from the trailhead, you reach a fork in the trail which leads you to Round Lake, a beautiful lake tucked away in a bowl below the ridge. Excellent camping exists at the lake but they must be accessed by a steep 0.7 mile long trail down into the bowl.
My plan was to access the ridge on day one, hike across to the east end on day two, spend day three exploring the area around Lake Byrne, hike back across the ridge for day four and then hike out on day five. Forecasts called for sunny conditions (including a brief warm up during the week) the entire week. Unlike previous summers, I would be doing this trip solo (a first for me). My backpack seemed heavier than normal this year and weighed in close to 60 pounds. Unlike last year, I expanded my camera gear to 3 lenses along with other accessories.
The full pack, constant barrage of bugs, and underestimation of the trail with a full pack wore me down and I arrived at Round Lake much later than I would have originally expected. This trip was one of commitment and by the end of my first day, I knew that I just “didn’t have it” to make the full trip as I had planned. The wilderness is no place to be foolish and so I headed back out the next day. Disappointing to be sure, but there’s always tomorrow. Here are a few additional shots from the ridgeline overlooking Round Lake..
[Part 3 of 3]
Due to my extended stay at Chinook Pass, I was running a bit behind schedule so I raced to Reflection Lakes as soon as possible. This was to be my first trip up Mazama Ridge and based on some research of the topo maps, I had an idea of where I wanted to be for sunset. As I quickly learned, topo maps only tell part of the story and so I had to venture further and higher up the ridge than I had originally anticipated.
Sunset this particular evening was nothing special and a report estimating peak wildflower blooms in another week also seemed true. Still, several locations had magnificant displays of wildflowers..
Around the official time for sunset, I finally reached higher and more open ground. I scrambled to find a nice foreground and found this stretch of lupine in bloom. It was getting dark and I had to use longer exposures along with a graduated neutral-density filter to balance exposures for the sky and foreground. Bugs were still quite active making for a hasty session. While these photos looked good during a very quick review in the field, they didn’t not live up to their potential once I was back home. Still an amazing place to experience..
[Part 2 of 3]
After finishing up at Tipsoo Lake, I took the log bridge over Highway 410 and started out on the Naches Loop Trail on the backside of Naches Peak. Wildflower conditions along the trail (which is also part of the Pacific Crest Trail) were also in prime conditions. Due to time constraints related to my last stop of the day, I only traveled about a mile to a wonderful small, unnamed lake alongside the trail..
Once I finished up, I quickly raced over to my last stop of the day: Mazama Ridge for sunset.
