Tag hikes

The Needles

Martin recommended the Needles and an amazing recommendation it was too. Old battery, new battery and the rocket engine test site. With views of the ‘ needles, cliffs, caves and everything ’!

The boys were fantastic with the hike down to the headland in the freezing weather. Special mention to little-F who managed to dig deep despite being several shades under the weather.

Lovely spot for some piccy snapping…

…and waving across the Solent to Nana and Granddad
(who didn’t wave back despite us being clearly visible).

Old Battery was sign-posted as closed at the start of the walk down, but don’t be put off, there’s great views and the National Trust redeemed itself with an open tea room!

A lovely end to a FAB thanksgiving weekend. Big thanks to KMDFM.

Posted by aiddy on Mon 29 November 2010. For more like this see: hikes

Roundball Hill

A strange collection of characters made the trek up to the summit of Roundball Hill on Sunday afternoon…

Dad

Boj & Brov

H & A

Fay (photo by A)

and F.

Hide and seek was played enthusiastically on the way up,

and the view from the blustery top was pretty darn good.

Sunday roast was calling so we high-tailed it back down the lane.

Posted by aiddy on Mon 22 November 2010. For more like this see: hikes

Welsh Hike

A super duper camp-and-hike in the Welsh Hills with Martin, Martin, David & Elsie.

And some ponies.

We totalled 28k horizontal and 1.06k vertical. Pausing at the trig point on Sugar Loaf…

…to watch an incoming squall soak the tourists.

Tea half way round was only surpassed…

…by amazing storm kettle powered tea back at camp.
Followed by some beer.

Great w’end. Thanks Guys.

Posted by aiddy on Tue 17 August 2010. For more like this see: hikes

Rattlesnake Mountain

Family walk in the (February!) sunshine to Rattlesnake Ledge/Edge
(although it appears to have been upgraded to a mountain!)

Great views: Mount Si, the Snoqualmie Valley and the Cedar River Watershed which supplies much of Seattles drinking water.

Finn was in charge of navigation, and kept up a commentary on exactly where we were for most of the 90 minute hike up.

Posted by aiddy on Fri 19 February 2010. For more like this see: hikes

Turtleback Mountain

A great little hike up to Ship Point on Turtleback Mountain. Steep going up but the views were fantastic.

F found the going a little hard at first, but magic signs on the trail soon had him whizzing upward.

Our lunch spot was out of the wind but got damper as the rain set in…

…we didn’t get too wet though!

Posted by aiddy on Sun 22 November 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Garland Peak

Up early on a dark and misty morning to cross the mountains to the east side.

It was a tad chilly – 19 degrees in old money (or -7 Celsius if you prefer).

The hike up was tough (to quote one guide “The first half of this trip is a brutally steep, brushy at times, curse-inducing slog”) although Chris and Jeff appeared to dance up.

But the views of peaks, including Glacier, Rainier and a hint of Baker, the autumn colours, and the pumice field that exploded out of Glacier 10,000 years ago left me speechless (or maybe that was just the lack of all round fitness)

A couple of warming brews at the top (7525 feet) before the obligatory summit photo…

…and the longest shadow of me I think I’ve ever seen.

Thanks guys. Awesome trip.

[ More on flickr ]

Posted by aiddy on Fri 16 October 2009. For more like this see: hikes

A Stroll Up Ingalls

A beautiful day for a walk in the mountains, a stroll with Chris & Jeff

our intended destination, seen here in the centre, was South Ingalls Peak

Hot day, so lots of hydration on the hike in…

…or maybe just a chance to admire the views

A spot of lunch in headlight basin and some time to study maps and things.

Headlight Creek and Mount Stewart forming the perfect backdrops

Lake Ingalls at 6,463ft was still covered in ice (just), and the views got better and better as we went higher.

Chris spotted something strange…

Was it Jeff poking at clouds?

Or maybe pointing at real climbers (look closely!) on the dogtooth spires leading to the north peak.

After some much needed scrambling lessons from Jeff, we reached our high point of about 7,400 feet (below the south summit) defeated by time and my dodgy sprained ankle.

But we had enough time on the way down for some fake ‘victory’ piccy’s

before taking the super speedy way down
(how my ankle wished for snow all the way back to the trail head :-))

as the clouds rolled in.

Fantastic day. Thanks guys!

Posted by aiddy on Thu 16 July 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Chilnualna Creek Hike

A short, but very very hot, hike to the lower Chilnualna Creek waterfall from the cabin.
H lead the way along the road…

…and through the colourful meadows.

After a mile or so, with a couple of diversions to explore new rock routes,

we arrived at a cool spot at the base of the lower fall. An ideal spot for a rest and a snack…

…and some more climbing :-)

Energetic nana & granddad went onward and upward to the bigger falls – granddad got lost and was found several days later with a little more stubble than is considered smart!

Top climbing H!

Posted by aiddy on Mon 06 July 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Panorama Hike

With a big breakie at Paradise Inn behind us and the boys safely off with grandparents it was onwards & upwards for us.

We left the guide service hut and dirty snow at Paradise behind…

…and climbed up along the western side of Alta Vista through Paradise Park

The trail led up through the snow – a different route from Camp Muir last July – and was helpfully signed to avoid embarrassing falls down step slopes.

The view from Panorama Point was amazing, with Alta Vista, Mazama Ridge and then Mounts Adams, St Helens and (just visible) Hood on the horizon.

Mount Adams (from last years’ escapade )

Mount St Helens (not as much as there once was)

We even had some company for lunch

The way down was fun: steep and slippery. Fay tried plunge stepping before giving in to the charms of glissading (at which she was too fast for me to get a pic).

Wide brimmed hat = no/little sun burn

Kuhl cap & no hair = red ring of embarrassment next day in the office

Some more pics on the way down and then a well deserved drink back at the Paradise Inn.

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-15 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Mon 08 June 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Christine Falls Hike

A gentle hike through the woods along the trail blazed by the Mighty Finnster…

…to a bridge…

…over the gushing Van Trump Creek.

Just below, the creek drops over Christine Falls and then beneath the road that winds up the mountain from Longmire to Paradise.

Posted by aiddy on Fri 05 June 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Unidentified Flying Object

With Grandparents in town Fay & I had a Sunday to hike up to Panorama Point on the southern flank of Mt Rainier. Snow all the way up to 6,300 ft with some amazing views, including this one of a large lenticular cloud floating east of the summit.
Getting down was fun & fast J

Posted by aiddy on Tue 02 June 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Wally’s at Wallace

The boys took another crack at the Wallace Falls Hike

We found the overlook (seriously kids, falling != good) and the picnic shelter…

…which was quite good because Dad had foolishly dismissed the 4’’ of snow forecast with a ‘it doesn’t look that bad to me lads’.

But we really did have fun

Apparently, the ‘W’ is for Wallace, not William, least that’s what I’m told. But it wasn’t clear if this was more graffiti or something more profound.

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-21 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Mon 09 March 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Night Hike

We repeated last year’s excursion to the top of Mount Si [4,167 ft (1,270 m)], only this time with less light and less snow. I say less light cause it was night and therefore dark, except for the fantastic views of the Snoqualmie Valley and Bellevue in the distance.

Posted by aiddy on Mon 02 March 2009. For more like this see: hikes

A New Year Hike

To celebrate the new year, Chris, Martin, Jeff and I did a little snowshoe hike up the Surprise Creek valley, along trail 1060, to not quite Surprise Lake, just inside the Alpine Lakes Wilderness .

Deep snow, and no one else on the trail, meant we were more snow-wading than snow-shoeing. A party of four that overtook us when we stopped for lunch gave up soon afterwards. A shame, since it was nice to follow someone else’s tracks for a while.

Obstacles slowed progress considerably, but added to the fun, although not shown is the 5 minutes I spent digging my left foot out from a hole.
(Of course, I blame the heavy pack & weak snowpack structure and claim that excess Christmas eating had nothing to do with it.)

Jeff excelled by finding a fallen tree route across the creek. Nice one!

Crazy Jeff and crazy Chris blasted through their turnaround times and headed back down the trail for some headlamp fun with darkness approaching.

With the forecast for snow and temperature down to –11 Celsius, crazy Martin and crazy Aiddy dug in and camped overnight in a beautiful spot above the creek.

With a view from the tent upwards through snow capped trees to the sky (and amazing stars after dark)…

and across the creek to the snow fields on the opposite side of the valley.

A totally amazing and awe inspiring trip.
Thanks guys!

Posted by aiddy on Sun 04 January 2009. For more like this see: hikes

Talapus Lake

With Mum in Nicaragua, what better way to spend the first day of Autumn than a little hike to Talapus Lake ?

The lake is in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness ...

...so you need one of these.
Aside: We also needed to renew our NorthWest Forest Pass — turns out Talapus was the first hike that the ranger in North Bend did when he was a kid...

On the way up there are some good rest spots alongside Talapus creek.

There's also muddy spots to avoid.
H is looking pleased with himself because he did a Matrix-style triple stumble around this particular patch, avoiding getting his knees, face and bum covered in the sticky stuff.

Not forgetting the skunk cabbage to pose by.

We found a quiet spot at the edge of the lake for our lunch: but dad forgot the swimmers so we stayed dry (just as well really)

On the way down F decided to do route finding by "taste" rather than by "sight"

wile H did impressions of Dad's ears.

Sign of a good walk? Muddy legs :-)

Posted by aiddy on Tue 02 September 2008. For more like this see: hikes

Adams

183 is the South Spur route (aka the dog route) from cold creek camp ground up Mount Adams.

The spring flowers were out in abundance around 7,000ft...

...but the landscape soon dried out.

The hike in gave us some time to practice poses for the summit photo...

...and to see how tall Martin is.

The first snow field was a welcome change from rocks and gravel

but it didn't half go on, and on, and on

until eventually we reached the lunch counter @ just over 9,000ft and found a stone wall to pitch the tent behind (out of the wind so long as you kept below 2ft) and a sunset above the clouds...

...which made for good piccy's :-)

Next day was a slow sicky slog up past piker's peak...

...to the top

where a miners hut remains,

and then a more rapid decent, pausing for views of St Helens and Mount Hood in the distance.

For the interested, the picture that started it , and more on flickr .

Enormous thanks to Chris and Martin for getting us all up and down safe and sound.

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-22 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Wed 20 August 2008. For more like this see: hikes

Camp Muir

Mount Adams was closed (a case of forest fire) so we decided to try a little day hike from Paradise (5,400ft) to Camp Muir (10,188ft)

Paradise meadows was still partly under snow

but spring flowers were making a show wherever they could.

Panorama point made a good spot for piccy's of the crew...

...and of Mount St Helens (or what's left of it) and Mount Adams to the distant south.

Next was the climb up to the Muir Snowfield...

...with views up to the summit of Rainier and across to the scared valley left by the retreating Nisqually Glacier.

After a long slog up the snowfield: Camp Muir appeared through the misty cloud!

Where we pitched the tent and cooked up some lunch
(a different tent from the picture 'cause I forgot to snap Chris')

Going down, the clear weather changed to foggy as the predicted 12,000ft cloud base came in at about 5,000ft.

Going down was quicker thanks to a spot of glacading.
Martin, aka chief shoot spotter, and Chris, aka Mr. Speedy, led the way with Aiddy, aka I feel a bit tom-and-dick and need to check the GPS every 10mins so we don't slide off a cliff or into a crevasse, followed some distance behind.

Back to Paradise just before 7pm in the gathering gloom.
I conveniently didn't get a piccy of Chris beating me in a run back to the car (Martin correctly observing "it's all a bit matcho").

Good day out. Can't wait till the boys can give it a go :-)

Big thanks to Fay & the Boys for the day pass.

Posted by aiddy on Tue 29 July 2008. For more like this see: hikes

Rattlesnake Ledge

We planned a quiet hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge , but didn't bargain on the thousands of people for 'Trail Fest' .

Surprisingly, the trail wasn't as busy as the road full of parked cars suggested
(although it was busy at the top).
Maybe Rattlesnake Ledge was too tame for the people attending trail fest...

...or maybe the strange creatures lurking in the woods put them off!

Lunch at the top was pukka.

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-22 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Mon 21 July 2008. For more like this see: hikes

Day trip to Rainier

Thanks to Dawn for transport, we had a great day trip to Mount Rainier, stopping off for donuts and a view of the Alder Dam on the way.

Kautz Creek was a trickle compared with last time we were here . In the November 2006 storm the creek decided it preferred a different route down the mountain

There was still snow at Paradise, but the road was open thank's to the snow blower and snow plough.

From Paradise we hiked the relatively short, but fun in snow, Nisqually Vista trail...

...which leads to an overlook of the end of the Nisqually glacier.

On the way back we stopped for a spot of downhill bin-bag sledging.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oar-somme.

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-22 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Sat 05 July 2008. For more like this see: hikes

Summer Hike

The family thought I was crazy (well, more crazy then usual) when I geared up for a little hike on Mount Pilchuck (yes, that Mount Pilchuck )

But the conditions didn't disappoint: low cloud, rain and snow, and this is June, I mean this is meant to be summer.

No GPS, bad viz and fresh snow at the trail head (plus no other idiots on the trail leaving tracks to follow) meant navigation by map and compass.

Soon we'd climbed into a world of frozen trees, ice and dodgy snow

Where lunch came with a spectacular view of uniform gray and a most welcome brew (thank you MSR, the stove worked below zero)

We think we made it to the top,
but when everything is a shade of white you never can tell. 

Are you standing on fluffy snow or fluffy cloud?
Just don't look down

Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-22 to fix broken links

Posted by aiddy on Tue 10 June 2008. For more like this see: hikes