Great day in the mountains, some challenges with the low snow cover
This was a fun low water packrafting trip on a lower section of the Washougal River, Clark County, Washington. Water level was about 5.4 feet on the Hathaway gauge, which is pretty much the minimum level without too much contact with rocks in shallow areas.
9 of us made a giant "choose-your-own adventure" loop: Poo Poo up to Hidden Forest/One-View to Poo Top, W. Tiger 1 and 3, down the TMT and back for 10.5 miles and just under 3000 gain to beat the rain.
A scramble up an obscure peak south of Stevens Pass and accessed from the Pacific Crest Trail.
Calm conditions made for a very pleasant late fall trip up the scenic Tilton and Cowlitz Gorges. Lake level and river flows allowed us to make it up to the Mossyrock Dam with a little strenuous upstream paddling.
Third hike on the day to the Ledges, not a soul on the trail (climbers disappeared). Beautiful dry November afternoon.
A rare dry November hike to roaring Big Creek and Otter Falls with lovely trail conditions and wonderful conversation. Private hike with a buddy, scouting conditions for a December hike lead to come.
As a scouting trip, before meeting a friend for Otter Falls and Big Creek Falls, I stopped to see this gem of a trail as my warmup.
A brief post huddle had no complaints other than the weather although we all agreed that it was a good exercise in fog navigation. What we lacked in scenery was more than made up for in wildlife sightings!
The route is scenic the whole way, as the Woody Trail meanders along the Wallace River, through lush vegetation. Beautiful day (~45°) at Wallace Falls (Woody Trail) with a few sprinkles but mostly overcast. The falls were flowing after all the recent rains.
10 of us enjoyed seeing and hearing 37 species including good looks at bald eagles, northern shovelers, green-winged teals, great blue herons, a hooded merganser, tons of waterfowl, and my favorite, the wood duck. Not a drop of rain, barely any wind. Great birding conditions for mid-November.
Beautiful trail with mossy trees, small creeks, and the massive Snoqualmie River to keep us company - a PNW dream.
The salmon are RUNNING! Carkeek Park Salmon Stewards were there to answer any questions we had. Should continue to run into early December.
Fun short hike with mountaineers youth group Jr Mac and Explorers. This hikes goes in the rain or sunshine!
A flatwater trip with some good, some not so good, took longer than we expected
4400 CFS, a good flow between the others described here in Mountaineers website trip reports
What a glorious Veteran's Day adventure to Grand Prospect with 10 bird species, a fleeting rainbow, super cool spider webs, and VIEWS between storms. Couldn't have asked for better.
Early Winter Scramble to Evergreen Mountain Lookout from FS 6530 (Rapid River). Good amount of snow after the upper trailhead but not enough to warrant snowshoes.