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

10/12/2024 I had been talking about day-tripping Mount Fernow for years and this perfect weather fall weekend as the perfect time to make it happen.   I drove out to the Phelps Creek Trailhead the night before and settled in for the night in the back of my car. Big shoutout to the crews who repaired the final switchbacks up to the trailhead, it was night and day different compared to my last visit a month prior.  The alarm rang nice and early and I was up and moving by 4:00.

10/7/2023 - 10/8/2023 Katie and I made the long drive to the Entiat river valley in the trusty Prius on Friday night. Once you leave pavement the road is 95% totally fine and 5% borderline for a Prius – there were some “grit your teeth and hope you have enough clearance” dry creek bed crossings and one mogul section of the road that required me to push from behind as Katie floored, but overall, the Prius performed admirably! A higher clearance car would have no problems. In f

9/30/2023 It was the first weekend on Larch Madness in Washington, and I was looking forward to getting out for a day trip. I had spent precious little time in the Chiwaukums and figured they would be a great place for larches and solitude. I settled upon Big Jim and Big Lou (named after Jim and Lou Whittaker) as a big day. I headed out early from Seattle, making it to Hatchery Creek Road in good time. I had read some reports that there was a rough section of the road about a

10/1/2022 Western Washington had been plagued by near consistent wildfire smoke during the exceptionally dry September and October of 2022. I had been monitoring the smoke forecasts and was cautiously optimistic about clean air in the Chelan Sawtooths. I figured the larches would be a bit early for peak color but was still excited about the chance to camp at a larchy lake and knock off another Bulger via a seldom-done route. I had heard tales of horrific bushwacking from late

9/22/2022 I'd been eyeing Robinson for years as a fun day-trip Bulger but had never gotten around to it. That would change in September 2022. After a good night's sleep in the back of the car at Ballard "campground" (really just a nice, dispersed camping zone as far as I could tell), Katie and I hit the Robinson Creek Trail at 6:30 am. I always enjoy getting out into the Pasayten, and this trip was no exception. Excitement grew as we travelled along the nice trail until we hi

10/7/2021 Abernathy Peak is one of the most straight-forward of Washington’s Top 100 mountains, so I decided to make a day trip out of it. I started from the Scatter Creek Trailhead, which is a couple of miles before the end of Twisp River Road, shortly after 9 am. The route is immediately a little confusing, because you have to turn off the Twisp River trail by making a right onto the Scatter Creek Trail shortly after departing. Once I found the right trail, it was a matter

9/21/2021 - 9/23/2021 With some weekdays available and a decent weather forecast, Katie and I headed out to the Chelan Sawtooths for some peakbagging, larch viewing and lake camping. This area is a long drive from Seattle but is always so worth the trip. Our adventure began with a night in the car at Crater Creek Trailhead. The gravel road up to the trailhead was in great shape for us and was a breeze to drive at night. After a good night’s sleep, we packed our overnight ge

10/2/2020 - 10/4/2020 With resplendent larches, rugged granite peaks, and a fraction of the crowds of the Enchantments, the Chelan Sawtooths are a great alternative to some of the more popular larch havens in Washington State. Katie, my dad, and I planned to spend a few days camping, summitting some peaks, and appreciating the golden fall color. We made the longgg drive from the Seattle area and located the West Fork Buttermilk Trailhead. Evening was already fast approaching,