This was a 4-day backpacking trip beginning, and ending, at the Thirtymile Trailhead (north of Winthrop). Cathedral Lake, with Amphitheater Mountain as a backdrop, is just amazing.
The Ebey Waterfront Trail is a paved trail along the Ebey Slough and Qwuloolt Estuary, south of Marysville, Washington.
Get a different view of the perennially popular Mount Si on the Talus Loop Trail. A little over 5 miles long, the Talus Trail explores the eastern slopes of the mountain. You'll hike briefly with the crowds headed to the haystack, then peel off and enjoy a much quieter forest walk, along with a good workout.
Our group of ten hikers enjoyed a stunning PNW fall day as we made our way to and from the Kendall Katwalk. This day hike is part of our summer hiking series, Lookouts and High Places and was the final hike needed for several of our participants today.
Fun technical rock, a bit of bushwhacking, and a lot of fall colors. A great way to spend an early fall weekend.
This is a fun class 2 or 3- whitewater trip on a Wild and Scenic River in central Oregon. Beautiful area, clear water, spawning steelhead, and lots of fun rapids.
This is an excellent class 3/3+ whitewater trip of about 7 miles on a Wild and Scenic River with spawning steelhead, exciting rapids, and excellent scenery.
Beautiful Margaret Lake (one person took a swim) and some took the side trip to Mount Margaret for a great view. But smoke dampened the views and some people found the smoke to be irritating.
A traverse from the Pinnacle Lake trailhead to the Mount Pilchuck Trailhead (or vice versa) done as a key exchange. The group split into two and met in the middle to exchange keys for cars in the two trailhead parking lots.
Most parties approach Big Snow Mountain via Hardscrabble Lakes (involving a bike approach). We opted for the Myrtle Lake route and climbed Big Snow Mountain via Northwest Shoulder—a quieter, more rugged alternative. The trail to Myrtle Lake is mellow after a steep first mile, but beyond the lake, it’s a full-on adventure: intense bushwhacking, boulder field hopping, and steep duff traverses with veggie belays. The alpine scenery at Big Snow Lake and Snowflake Lake was stunning and made the rugged approach worthwhile. I’d rate this scramble route S5/T3 overall, with two short but notable T4 sections.
It was a traditional Basic climb taking the full 12 hours. For a summer approach it wasn't as bad as I remembered, at least now that I am home.
A quick after work scramble to the top of Guye Peak. Despite a little bit of smoke, we saw some gorgeous fall colors and made it back just after sunset.
Successful mid-week hike with good weather and few hikers.
1 day climb of Whitman Crest - canceled due to late season conditions.
An intermediate alpine climb to the summit of Austera Peak in mid-July 2025, navigating technical glacier travel, rappels, rock climbs, and rock scrambles. We were forced to cancel the traverse to Primus Peak due to snowmelt, fog, and low visibility.
A fun scramble with short sections of moderate spice on a warm sunny day.
A dreamy day of climbing in the PNW, only regret was wishing more people were there to eat Danyels amazing magical brownies.
7 of us hiked above the recent inversion to better air quality and fantastic views from Alaska Mountain's east ridge (17.5 miles 3900'), with good looks at 5 lakes, a pileated woodpecker and soaring bald eagle, and a foot-soak in Ridge Lake on the return. We also shaved a mile of switchbacks by exploring the "abandoned" trail down Commonwealth to a gorgeous waterfall.