Beautiful autumn day! Perfect cool weather, awesome views, and wonderful companions!
An unexpected consolation prize! Success on a new scramble route to Gobblers Knob (after an unsuccessful exploratory attempt of Mount Wow’s NW spur).
We scouted this river section to determine suitability for the Flatwater Packrafting course. It is too long, and slightly too hard for the course but a candidate for a Class 1+ trip
Fun exploration of the Nisqually Delta at peak high tide. We saw herons, eagles, and seals basking on an island.
Late summer is mostly trail then Teanaway and the ridge rock run to Iron
This was a mentored backpack trip for Ryan to Pete Lake. In all 2 families joined along with a dog. It was a first overnight for one of the youth and the dog. After some discussion about the smoke risk, it was decided to move forward with the trip, which was quite lovely. If people go to Pete Lake in the future, it would behove them to seek campsite further north toward where Lehman Creek feeds into Pete Lake. We had a lovely time exploring, seeing snakes, tryout our hand at some fishing and camping.
This trip reminds me of why I started sea kayaking. I can’t think of a nicer crew to have done it with and I am reminded of how blessed we are with our beautiful San Juan Islands paddling playground! Photo: Will Wade
Fun romp in a pretty mega setting. Figured I'd write up another trip report since the last one is from 2016.
A very strenuous/pristine trip (~14 miles, ~5400’ gain), and unlike the usual Double Peak outing, it had zero bugs, zero devils club, and zero avalanche hazards. This new route required all the game-trail-following/brushcraft skills in our respective toolsets, made even more challenging by persistent clouds that added a bit of mystery…
![Shuksan Fisher Chimneys and SE Ridge-[_ND14186]-Aug-20-2022-Edit.jpg](https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/routes-places/north-cascades-national-park-cross-country-zones/high-occupancy-xc-zones/mt-shuksan-fisher-chimneys/images/shuksan-fisher-chimneys-and-se-ridge-_nd14186-aug-20-2022-edit.jpg/@@images/210651cb-cb89-4358-87ef-728234cd1fc5.jpeg "Shuksan Fisher Chimneys and SE Ridge-[_ND14186]-Aug-20-2022-Edit.jpg")
Fisher Chimneys with the more technical SE Ridge finish was a very bold trip for 2 brand new climbers, it took longer than expected. However, excellent weather and generous trip planning made this a very successful outing with abundant learning opportunities.
It was the best of climbs, it was the worst of climbs...
Excellent scramble of Pinnacle and Plummer (we skipped Denman due to heat and smoke).
Clockwise circumnavigation of Anderson Island to satisfy the requirements of the Olympia Branch South Sound Islands paddle pin.
Excellent hike, it was a beautiful lake. Everybody in the group were awesome. Picked some abundant wild blueberries along the trail.
An after hours scramble up the Open Book scramble route of Little Si
Great route, but strenous and technically challenging. Strongly recommend only small parties (eg 3-4) with screened participants. Highly recommend high camp (above the Fisher Chimneys, either above or below Winnie's Slide).