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.
As I eluded to in my previous post, I was so encouraged by what I saw up and down the Beckler River valley that I returned the next day to spend more time exploring. Here are the results….
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).
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Hoping for a third sunset in as many weeks, I decided to head south to Mount Beljica.
Mount What??
That’s the reaction I seemed to get by everyone I mentioned this to. It’s ironic since this is a location that’s included in the 100 Best Hikes in Washington book. Mount Beljica is a small mountain located just outside the Southwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park and was the site of a former fire lookout. It is also located just inside the very small Glacier View Wilderness which is wedged between the massive clearcut logging of decades past and the protection of the National Park. It may just be one of the best kept secrets!
Access is provided by the Lake Christine Trail and is reached by the Copper Creek Road (Forest Service Road 59). The former lookout is reached in a very short 1.5 miles with about 1,100′ of elevation gain. The lake is reached in a short mile through a very nice forest with plenty of interest in the understory. Prior to reaching the lake, the trail enters the wilderness.
The lake is good sized and located in an attractive setting with meadows located along its eastern shore. The only views to behold are those of Mount Beljica itself. Beyond the lake, the elevation gain begins again and, in short order, a fork in the trail is reached. The junction is unsigned but the right trail leads to a saddle and then descends down to the Beljica Meadows. The left trail (technically, straight ahead) leads to you to the former lookout.
The trail to the top ascends through some huckleberry slopes before finally arriving on the summit outcrop. The views are fantastic, especially considering how easily they’re attained. Mount Rainier dominates the landscape but Mount Adams, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Hood are also visible. On this particular day, luck was NOT with me and the sunset on this particular evening did not happen. The day was beautiful but clouds thickened during the late afternoon and effectively blocked and direct sunset on Rainier.
As an epilogue, if this location peaks your interest, GO. The road to access the trailhead was severely damaged by a slope failure 2 miles before the trailhead. The Forest Service lists it as a closure but it can be passed (but not by much). In short, one of the two lanes slumped away and a steep dropoff is all that remains. I had a brief conversation with someone while out there and they indicated that the Forest Service will not repair the road once it completely gives out.
Once this finally happens, the 3 mile roundtrip hike will become a 10 mile roundtrip hike. This will be sad since this kind of easy access to the highlands is pretty scarce..
LINK: Forest Service Trail Description
LINK: VisitRainier.com Trail Description
Earlier in the week, winter returned to the mountains. At Artist Point near the Mount Baker Ski Area, 4″ of snow fell. My highly anticipated Lee Graduated ND filters also came this week after a lengthy production delay so I was eager to get out and try them. The unsettled weather from the week was forecasted to spill over into Saturday but, as Saturday morning developed, the weather looked MUCH more promising than the forecasts so I decided to roll the dice and head out for sunset.
My destination would be the Bagley Lakes area of Heather Meadows. I wanted to find out how the fall color was developing in the Nooksack River valley (it’s about 2 weeks off) but I was also hoping to include the new snow as part of my compositions. A beautiful fall afternoon followed me and seeing most of Mount Baker from the outskirts of Glacier was a good sign. These first snows of the season also brought the closure of the Mount Baker Highway at the ski area so my hike would be starting from the ski area.
Photographers of all abilities head to Heather Meadows, primarilly to capture their own version of the famous photo of Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake. Today was no exception and both visitors and photographers were scattered all over the trails around Heather Meadows. For me, I wanted a bit more solitude and less crowds so I opted for a slight cardio workout and made my destination the saddle that divides the Bagley Lakes basin and the Chain Lakes basin.
From the ski area parking lot, this amounted to a 2.1 mile hike with about 1,300′ of elevation to gain. Although I’ve been here too many times to count, I’ve never explored this trail. Almost from the start, I realized there were many, many interesting compositions. I’ll have to return next summer during the peak of wildflowers. The trail starts by paralleling Bagley Creek for a half mile or so.
Upon reaching Upper Bagley Lake, the trail winds around the base of Mount Herman and the elevation gain begins…
After some switchbacks, the views get bigger and the saddle comes into view. The upper basin is notable for the high concentration of volcanic rock. There’s still a couple hundred feet of elevation gain and it’s accomplished by a few, drawn out switchbacks.
The snow deepened before the saddle but was no more than 2-3″ deep. From the saddle, the race was on to find compositions for both Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. I felt it was just a bit too far to drop down to the Chain Lakes (although it did look interesting!). After deciding on a location, the show began. This sunset easily surpassed last week’s sunset and was one of the better ones I’ve been able to photograph in a while.
Alpenglow was present and strong and the scattered cloudcover kept providing highlights to the changing light. It spectacular but made it chaotic because I rapidly kept changing positions to photograph Mount Baker to the south and Mount Shuksan to the north. Sunset passed and just about the moment I decided to pack my gear, a full moon broke through the building clouds to the north. I decided to snap only a few quick shots since I still had a ways to hike out with wet & icy conditions. About an hour later, I was back safe and sound in the parking lot. I was so glad that I rolled the dice for this outing!
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This past weekend brought one last “summer”-esque pattern of weather so I decided to find someplace to go for sunset. After researching some options, I decided to head out for Anderson Butte, which is located just along the perimeter of the Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness in the vicinity of Baker Lake. The site of a former fire lookout, it’s accessed via a spur trail off of the main trail that travels to Watson and Anderson Lakes. The trailhead is located above 4,000 feet so you’re already treated to great views of the Baker Lake valley and Mount Baker.
The trailhead is located high on a ridge along the east bank of Baker Lake. It’s accessed by crossing the Baker Lake Dam and heading up the Forest Service road 12 miles. From the trailhead, it’s a short mile through the forest brings you to a small meadow within a ravine and the junction for the Anderson Butte Trail. Although the wildflower season was long over, the huckleberries were in absolutely prime conditions and located everywhere. I had arrived early to the area so that I could make some quick sidetrips to check out the lakes in the area.
The Anderson Lakes were by far the more picture-esque lakes:
Another brief sidetrip to the Watson Lakes didn’t reveal too much so I turned around to make it up to Anderson Butte. The trail to the Butte starts out gently but has a short, steep stretch before joining the ridgeline below the lookout. The payoff is immediate and fantastic but just gets better when you finally reach the site of the former lookout. From this vantage point, the Cascades drop off all around you. Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan dominate the view but American Border Peak, Mount Rainier, the Olympics and Mount Redoubt are all visible as well.
On this day, patchy clouds drifted throughout the area which added interest during sunset. Unfortunately, Mount Baker remained mostly cloudy but it was still a fantastic sunset. This spot is truly a gem and I’ll be adding this into my annual rotation of destinations (if not more than once a year!).
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Weather once again forced a Plan B selection. During my recent trips along the Mountain Loop Highway, Buck Creek caught my eye so I made it my destination this weekend. Buck Creek is located just east of the Mount Dickerman trailhead and drains the east slopes of the mountain. It would be easy to miss if it was not for the one lane controlled bridge crossing. The creek has been eroding the downstream bridge abutments prompting Snohomish County to put in the protective measures. There is no trail here so this outing was a good old Cascade Bushwhack.
AFter gearing up, I headed upslope. After 50 yards, the creek actually has two paths to follow- the main channel which is on the left and a flood overflow channel on the right-hand side. I opted to follow the main channel. Water flow by this time of the year is substantially less than during the peak snowmelt months of early summer. What is striking is the width of water flow during significant rain events. Flood related debris carried downslope seems to cover an area 20 yards wide. This is DEFINITELY a place you do not want to be during flooding!
The creek is a steady series of cascading levels and pools along with several large logjams of flood debris. Progress upstream isn’t bad for roughly 1/3 of a mile but gets more challenging due to a large area of flood damage and slope failure. Given the time of day, I decided this would be the end of my exploration on this occasion so I headed back down. Interesting area and one that I’ll return to in the future..
I’ve been trying to attempt this trip for the last couple weeks but the weather hadn’t cooperated until this past weekend. The destination was Tolmie Peak and Eunice Lake, which are located just 2 miles north of Mowich Lake in the northwest corner of the park. I thought Eunice Lake would provide a nice foreground in contrast to the mountain during sunset and it was still relatively close to the trailhead (which would reduce the time and distance of hiking out in the dark).
90 minutes after starting, I found myself atop Tolmie Peak one hour before sunset. Two things immediately became apparent- tonight would not be a spectacular sunset and the better vantage for photography is WELL below the summit on the 1st switchback up from the lake. Rather than miss any of the sunset light, I opted to stay put at least until the best light had faded. There were no clouds to add interest but Rainier did receive some warm orange light during the peak of sunset.
After Rainier lost its direct light, I quickly packed my gear and flew down the trail back down to what I consider to be the better vantage point (at the lower switchback). I didn’t have much time so I quickly set up to snap one shot that included more of Eunice Lake and the mountain.
Once complete, I put on my headlamp and headed back to the trailhead. The trail to Eunice Lake is completely in forest and, once dark, is REALLY dark! I’d be lying if I didn’t admit some nervousness while hiking out alone. Every trail looks like an Edgar Allen Poe tree by the pale light of a headlamp! This day might not have been the best but there’s great potential for future visits..
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.
Unfortunately, this weekend’s weather prevented me from doing what I had planned. Hopefully next weekend’s weather will cooperate!
