Well, today is my birthday and I am sitting here in Redding, California and it's 100 degrees outside. To hot to do anything today. Looking forward to getting back to the coolness of Washington. To be honest, I have been absent from any hiking trail this whole spring/summer. I have been riding my bike a little in WA and CA. But now that I am living in Port Orchard, I might have to switch my hiking area to the Olympics instead of the Baker area. I do miss the trails and need to go back. Might spend a weekend somewhere out there since Labor Day is coming up.

It is good to be back on the West Coast. I am spending time with my wife in Northern California before heading back to Washington in a few days. Hopefully my new schedule will accommodate hitting some trails.

Just got back from a great but HOT weekend trip to Boulder Lake with Jake and Lance. This trip was my friend Lance's idea, he's been there twice. The drive took us across Route 20 to 530 to Suiattle River Road, FS Road 26 to 2660. We hit the trail with an in-car thermometer reading 99 degrees. Since no one had a watch and Lance forgot his GPS, we estimate we hiked for 4 hours mostly up hill along Tenas Creek through some old growth (thank goodness for the shade) and some open fields. The last push to the lake at 5000 feet was scambling up and over the final hill. We were welcomed by a beautiful view of the lake surrounded by Hurricane Peak. The lake was refreshing to jump into with the crazy heat. Rainbow trout were abundant along with the Grey Jays and of course huge flies and mosquitos. Saturday had some cloud cover which spared us the intense heat. Lance went up to Pear Lake while Jake and I tried to remain cool. Sunday morning we awoke with the sun (and bugs) and packed up and scurried down the trail to the truck. We stopped at Birdview Burger on Route 20 and had a great Cascade burger (a huge hamburger with sausage, bacon and cheddar)

I decided to reserve my first official hike of the year on May 29 for the lake that denied me last year. Once again, I turned around and went home. The first part of the trail was pretty much covered in snow which made the going up confusing and more difficult then normal. Maybe if I was in better shape things would have been different because I was pretty exhausted walking in the snow. But I refuse to let this trail get the best of me. I shall return.

Tuesday, the 25th, I had the day off from work and was set on hitting the trail. I selected Bell Pass Trail in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF. It was a 10 mile round trip hike and although the sky was slightly overcast, the trail had soem pretty good views of the Pass. And the end of the trail is Mazama Park with a hut and the beginning of Park Butte Trail which leads to Cathedral Crag. I decided to eat lunch at the turn-around point. After finishing my sandwich, I was getting ready to head out and took one last look around. Coming my way down the Park Butte Trail was a black bear probably wanting to see if I wanted to share my lunch. I decided I had enough time to get around the corner of the trail and get out of his sight. It worked and I never saw him again. It was a pretty exciting event during a great day of being alone in the wilderness. Well, mostly alone.

After seeing Black Butte by I-5 in California many times while driving to & fro, I finally got some directions and found the trailhead and hiked my way to the top. I have been staying in Redding for the past few days now and it's been insanely hot, 100+ degrees every day, so I was slightly concerned about hiking in that heat. But the Black Butte trailhead is about an hour north and over 3,000 feet higher, which resulted in much cooler temps. It turned out to be a beautiful day with great views of Mt. Shasta. For those of you unfamiliar with Black Butte, it basically is a pile of rocks with an elevation of 6,325 feet next to Mt. Shasta and I-5 in Very Northern California. Maybe someday I will get the chance to hike around Mt. Shasta. I got my info from summitpost.org.

I leave for Northern California tomorrow morning. Not sure if I want to drive down the coast on 101 or take the usual I-5 route. Plan on doing some hiking there, definitely Black Butte by Mt. Shasta next week some time, we'll see what else. Looking forward to a much needed vacation.

I went camping by Mt. Baker this past weekend with some guys from work. Although it rained off and on for most of Saturday, it was a pretty good time. While waking up Sunday morning, the sun was shining bright, just in time to pack up and go home.

I made the drive out to Lake Lillian although the weather was questionable at best. I was hoping the further east I drove the better it would get. I was wrong. Made it to the trailhead determined to atleast try. There were others on the trail but I was in no mood to be cold and wet. Well, I didn't get all that far, actually I didn't even make it to the first of four lakes, Margaret Lake. I was extremely disappointed with myself and went home. I can say that the first part was a nice little incline, worked up a good sweat in 46 degree weather. I have every intention of making in back there and actually going to Lake Lillian. Just give me some warm dry weather for crying out loud!

I got out of work until late tonight to go hiking but since every place is calling for rain and possible heavy stuff, I guess I will opt out. Maybe tomorrow. And what is with this 59 degree highs in June??? It was warmer in December!

While walking the dog Sunday morning, I discovered a nice day was on the way, so I threw some stuff together and made the 2 hour drive over to Route 90. I was planning on going to Franklin Falls adjacent to Denny Creek. Although the Falls were pretty nice, the round trip of 2 miles wasn't enough for the time I spent in the car already, so I decided to just drive around the area and sooner or later I would find a trail of some sort. After a half an hour, I stumbled onto the Gold Creek Trail. It turned out to be a pretty good day. The trail was hard to follow in some spots which meant I had to pay attention but the minimal views allowed for that. Eventually I lost the trail in the snow but thought maybe it crossed the river. Didn't really have the equipment to do any river crossing, so I turned around. When I got home, I checked here to see about the river crossing and sure enough, it was probably at that point. Maybe next time. It was a good 3 hour hike, with a good mix of terrain and a nice waterfall in one of the clearings. It definitely made the trip worth it.

Spent this sunny day not at work but on the trail, the Denny Creek Trail in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest to be specific. Had a good day, great lunch, and a good workout walking through the snow. The trail was pretty well maintained, atleast the part you could see. Had a beautiful view for my lunch break, sat on a big rock in a exposed area, the highlight of the day. Thanks, John, for this website. Once again another good hike.

I guess I got a little over-zealous in the snow yesterday. I left Whidbey Island around 7AM and went over to Rampart Ridge off of Route 90. Once I got on Road #4930, it was covered in hard packed snow. I decided to turn around and maybe park further down before hiking but came across a fellow hiker driving up the road. So I turned around again and started going back up the road. He turned off of the packed snow and got his vehicle stuck in the softer foot-and-a-half deep snow off to the side. I parked my vehicle in the middle of the road and we commenced to dig him out. Three hours later, he was successfully back on the road, but as the day went on, the hard packed snow of the morning began to melt and was much softer now. Not really having any room to turn around, I began to back my vehicle up hoping to reach a wider part to turn around. Being unable to have total control in the now softer snow, I quickly got stuck myself on the side of the road. My Ford Expedition was no longer sitting on its tires but the frame was resting on the snow unable to move in either direction. My new-found friend and I were not prepared to dig out yet another vehicle (all we had with us was my ice ax used to chop the harder snow and his skis used to scoop the snow away. Since his vehicle was now loose, we left mine there, and made the crazy drive out of there to get more tools. After purchasing chains, bringing shovels and another person, we successfully dug out my vehicle in the middle of the night, made an additional new path around another stuck car on the way out, and was on Route 90 around 1AM. All in all, although I never actually got to go hiking yesterday, the events gave me a new found realization that total strangers can get together and do some pretty productive things and there definitely is a future for us as humans if we can continue to work together like we did yesterday.

Can anyone explain this weather to me? When was the last time it rained? I forget what clouds look like. It is to bad I have to work all this weekend or I would probably wander around Mt. Baker. I cannot believe I am about to say this, but we need some rain or we will be hurting this summer.

Finally hit the trail for the first time this year. Woke up this morning, caught the ferry to Port Townsend, made the short drive through Quilcene to the Mount Walker Road off of U.S. 101. The trail begins using the forest service road, then the actual trail option starts about a quarter of a mile up. The trip up is pretty short, only two miles, but fairly steep, a 1,000 feet per mile elevation. It was crowded but probably because of President's Day. I heard a couple people comment on how many people were there. The views were impressive at the two viewpoints, the clear sunny day helped out. I took the trail up and the longer service road down for a round trip of 6 miles. It was a good day, even though I had to wait quite a while for the ferry back to Whidbey Island.