11/19/2025 Jim and I did a fun loop in the local hills, taking advantage of a sunny day in November before the winter snow began in earnest. We began in the Olallie State Park picnic area parking lot and took the Hall Creek trail for a quarter mile, before making the short, steep climb up to join the Hall Creek trestle and the Palouse to Cascades Trail. Jim was actually involved with the restoration of the trestle in 1999 following a washout in the 80s, which was fun to hear

10/30/2025 I made an attempt on Mount McCausland via the Smithbrook Trailhead but was thwarted by deep snow on the final slopes to the summit. An early heavy dump of snow had left the Cascades blanketed in white by late October. I tried driving up to the Smithbrook trailhead, but being the cautious snow driver I am, I decided to park on the roadside after I encountered the first areas of slick snow on the roadway. I had made it about 1.3 miles up the road, which left me with

10/28/2025 I took a fall color hike to Robe Canyon and was very impressed by the scenery and power of the South Fork Stillaguamish River. The trail drops into the canyon via a series of switchbacks, losing about 250 feet from the trailhead on the Mountain Loop Highway before reaching the bottom. The rest of the hike consisted of flat walking, until the trail terminated abruptly at a closed sign. I was really impressed by the river here and the fall color was spectacular, even

10/28/2025 Quick jaunt up Barlow Point on a cloudy late October day. There was a bit of snow on the summit, and some nice views of Big Four Mountain. Round trip time was just under an hour. Big Four and Hall Peak from the summit Barlow Pass sign Beautiful fall color on the Mountain Loop Highway Couldn't get enough of the fall color Final Stats: 2.5 miles / 864 feet of ascent

10/8/2025 In a tie for the 200 th  tallest peak in Washington with over 400ft of prominence, Wallaby Peak is a is a nice destination with a high reward to effort ratio. Departing straight from the hairpin near Washington Pass, it doesn’t take long to get up to views into the heart of the North Cascades. Early Winters Spire is seen early and often on the Kangaroo Pass trail The trail to Kangaroo Pass is mostly well-defined, with only a few sections of boulder-hopping low down

10/4/2025 This was a great fall-color loop with Katie. While the hordes of larch marchers were congregating at the Maple Pass trailhead, we departed from the quiet Bridge Creek trailhead, just a mile down the road. We hiked on the PCT for about an eighth of a mile before turning off onto the Stiletto Spur trail. This trail was quite well maintained, despite a bit of brush in the valley, and we quickly reached the turnoff to Stiletto Peak. The climb up to the old lookout site