What happens when you start on trail and then are routed off and blocked by blowdowns over and over again. Do you... 1. Boulder hop over giant body sized boulders in the creek that would exhaust a gymnast. 2. Scoot down pitchy blowdowns. 3. Hang on to the side of slope when the trail has disappeared. 4. Turn Around. This is an adventure to find a lost trail where the past is met with the latest route finding skills.
Lovely Climb with lovely people
Hidden journey from Ballard Locks to discovery park. Great leader!
We scrambled Governor’s Ridge on June 29 with Shirley R., Tamara H., and Anthony T. The route involved bushwhacking, mixed snow conditions, side hilling on loose scree, and an exposed summit with rewarding views of Hood, Adams, Helens, and Goat Rocks. Solid teamwork and careful descent through rockfall-prone gullies made for a safe and memorable day out.
Cruiser send up the Corkscrew route to the summit of Sloan Peak. Back to the cars in time for dinner in Seattle.
This full roster (12!) had stunning views of Rainier/Olallie Lake and clear blue skies. Recent snow melt at Island Lake means many bugs - Rainbow Lake is definitely less buggy. Great group, great outing.
Wonderful views along a ridgeline hike in and out of the trees to a fire lookout with 360 views. A hidden gem: saw less than 10 other hikers all day. Bugs were pretty bad.
Two-day climb of the Kautz Route on Mt Rainier with an overnight at Camp Hazard, featuring straightforward ice pitches (AI2) and lots of penitentes. The descent was interrupted due to a medical emergency, leading to a helicopter rescue at 11,800' — huge thanks to the rangers and fellow climbers who helped along the way.
A sunny, late-spring trip on the North Fork John Day River from Driftwood Campground to Monument.
Two things to know one be sure and ask if anybody’s carrying additional water in there, Kayak it could be an issue should you need to do a rescue. We were at Cape Horn and a gentleman went over in his kayak when I attempted to pull him up on a T rescue the bow was so heavy I suspected there was a flooded hatch compartment. It was a son of a gun anyway I turned the kayak over before pulling it up my deck because it was more than I could manage. After got him back in the kayak, he informed me that he was carrying 6 L of water in the front compartment. Do you realize that’s like 27 pounds when people carry additional water, it normally goes behind the seat of the Kayaker in that first compartment right behind the seat. In the future I’m gonna ask this question. This man was a brand new. Kayaker just graduated his basic badge this year. He just didn’t know any better. Number two when posting a paddle be sure to make a reservation at Walker County Park in Shelton you should call the park department and reserve the picnic area the picnic shelter for the day. There’s a parking lot next to that shelter that is part of the reservation and you can fit in approximately 12 cars if you do it correctly the parking lot for Walker County Park only has approximately maybe nine maybe 10 parking stalls in the other side of the parking Area. This was news to me. I’ve paddled here several times and never known this. I’ve been on their website. It Doesn’t say this, so this is kind of new to me I’ve been leading trips for eight years did not know this. Gounds keeper the man who runs the park his name is Scott, informed us of the need to reserve the shelter and the lot. Fortunately, there wasn’t a reservation so we were able to use the parking lot. It said if you’d had some kind of a reservation it wouldn’t have allowed us to park there. But making the reservation at the parks department is a good idea and reserving that Schelter allows The Mountaineers to go there take up all the parking stalls and that extra lot and then all the locals and anybody else who comes to the park, has a place to park. A good thing. we try to not impact local users when we go to these destinations. The only thing the county request is donations, and Leader can set up. The donation thing in the paddle notes are in the template of the pattern so if there is a donation that donation can be picked up by the Leader, and deposited into the parks donation box, or the participants can do it individually. I think. It would Be a good idea to do that.
Rainy and misty, but midweek solitude
Epic climb with perfect conditions on the snow, and rock. Supported by an amazing team where everyone contributed to high moral, decision making, route finding and positive attitude.
McClellan Butte is a great 11 mi/3500+ft hike this time of year with a few snow patches and a snow bridge left on the last 1/3 of the summit approach with a great short low Class 3 scramble at the top. The main trail is accessible to all hikers in good shape, while the summit scramble is accessible to most scramblers during dry conditions.
A dynamic fun ascent up a bulger peak off Washington Pass.
Spectacular colorful variety of late spring wildflowers on this premier NW wildflower hike!
Midweek ride with clockwise loop road ride to Lost Lake.
A very wet late winter/early spring hike in the rain with plenty of snow and beautiful lake views above 3000ft near Snoqualmie Lake.
Wednesday evening paddle launching from Boston Harbor. Route was to Gull Harbor and a bit further south, determined at launch based on conditions and group preferences.
Sea slug/nudibranch hotspot. There are also sea stars, anemones, crabs and more.