Basic Snowshoe - Commonwealth Basin
Sat, Dec 3, 2022
A beautiful day snowshoeing in a winter wonderland!
A beautiful day snowshoeing in a winter wonderland!
Great day out in excellent early-season conditions.
Successful climb of Mount Prophet via South Ridge.
Shot of the North Face of the North Sister from an unmarked logging road. Thick ice patches, steep hike and unknown destination of this logging road/trail made me turn around after 2 miles or so.
A wonderful trip through the Tilton and Cowlitz gorges with all kinds of weather - rain, sun, and wind. Current flows were high, so we didn't quite get to the point where we could see the Mossyrock Dam.
Another beautiful chilly autumn day enjoying sunshine in the hills!
Late November hike near Lake Cushman along Shady Lane, Staircase, and then on up the North Fork Skokomish trail for a couple of miles. 9 miles/800 feet of elevation gain.
Gorgeous sunny fall trip. Stunning scenery, nice variety of conditions and currents.
A leisurely tour of the heart of the South Sound, with circumnavigation of Steamboat and Hope Islands
Great trip, great group, sunny skies, calm winds and waters! Lots of bird sightings. We saw a couple of Banded Kingfishers in the trees along the shore of Hoypus Point, several Rhinoceros Auklets on the water between Skagit and Hope Islands, some cormorants on the Washington Fish and Wildlife buoy just south of Skagit Island, and a large flock of Oyster Catchers on the rocks off the southeast end of Hope Island. Not a single starfish along the rocky island shorelines. The water was clear and the bull kelp patches looked pretty healthy in the places along the shorelines where the current runs strong. We didn't see any rafts or romps of otters. Or seals of any kind.
We ascended the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass to a little past the switchback at 4,500' then ascended off trail to a viewpoint.
An overnight, off-pavement bikepacking tour of the Cascade Trail from Sedro Wooley to Concrete with camping at Rasar State Park Campground.
A beautiful sunny and clear day with little wind was the reward for a very cold start! Great views of the Olympics and Mt. Rainier throughout the day.
A great Winter Scramble tune-up, with clear/cold weather (to verify our emergency clothing/gear), and a lengthy/confusing network of trails (made even more so by recent logging) to hone our conditioning/navigation skills. Lead photo by Nathan GH.
