12/31/2025 I took advantage of a spectacular winter weather day to climb West Granite Mountain aka Tusk O’Granite, starting from the standard Pratt Lake/Granite Mountain Trailhead on a frosty morning at about 8 am. The whole parking lot was a sheet of ice (thankfully the road in from I-90 wasn’t too bad) so I wore microspikes from the car. Typical forest climbing I hiked up the very familiar trail, continuing past the Granite Mountain trail intersection for about 0.5 miles to

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

9/28/2025 Aaron and Kyle were up for an ascent of Mount Thomson. We met at 6:30 at Snoqualmie Pass, and it was still quite dark outside – the first time all year that I had to confront the grim reality that peak summer had passed us by. We took the shortcut up Commonwealth basin, joining up with the PCT and cruising the easy miles below Kendall peak, reaching the Katwalk a bit over 2 hours after leaving the trailhead. It was clear that wildfire smoke was thick to the east, bu

9/19/2025 - 9/20/2025 I had made two previous trips to the basin below Boulder Pass. One was an attempt at Clark Mountain that ended when we found ourselves inside of a thick cloud and was comprised mostly of hanging out in the tent to avoid the rain. The second was a successful climb of Clark Mountain that was also spent mostly in the clouds. Needless to say, I was very familiar with the approach but wasn’t fully convinced the sun ever shone on Boulder Pass or the surroundin

8/30/2025 - 8/31/2025 Labor Day weekend occupies a prime spot on the peakbagging calendar in Washington. When a prospective trip to Holden was cancelled due to lightning-caused wildfire, we wanted to pivot to something closer to home that wouldn’t be overrun with crowds. Eric came up with the great idea to camp at Rock Lake and add on a scramble of Malachite Peak. We passed a huge number of cars parked at the Necklace Valley trailhead (I guess the secret is out about Tank Lak

8/23/2025-8/24/2025 The Drop Creek approach is a method for accessing Formidable and the Ptarmigan Traverse that has been gaining in popularity in recent years. It avoids glacier travel, making it a nice alternative to the traditional approach from Cascade Pass in late season. Plus, there has been some recent maintenance on the South Fork Cascade River trailhead that has made this approach arguably the most pleasant it has been in years. Huge thanks to the people who have bee

8/1/2025 - 8/3/2025 Blackcap and Lago from the summit of Monument Lake and Monument were on the docket for the weekend. Both are remote peaks in the Pasayten Wilderness area that are hard to get to by any approach. Monument Peak is especially rugged and the most remote peak in the Lago group. My adventure would start at the Monument Creek trail and take me all the way up and over Pistol Pass to a camp at Lake of the Woods. I had tentative aspirations to hike all the way in to

7/12/2025-7/13/2025 The goal for the weekend was Azurite Peak, a member of the Bulger List north of Tower and Golden Horn. It’s a peak that takes a substantial effort to get to regardless of the approach. I toyed with the idea of coming in from the Methow River side but had seen trip reports stating that the trail was horribly overgrown and in disrepair. Other climbers have come in via Mill Creek or even from Harts Pass, but there was another approach that piqued my interest.

5/31/2025 Brad and I set off to summit the high point of Snagtooth Ridge – Big Snagtooth – starting from the same pullout on the side of Highway 20 that I used to climb Silver Star Mountain via Burgundy col. We immediately dropped down to the river on the familiar junky climber’s path, losing 200 or so feet in the process. We wandered around a bit off trail to find a suitable place to cross the creek, eventually finding a nice log to shimmy our way across. Crossing Early Wint

2/9/2025 In honor of the Eagles playing in the Super Bowl, a morning ascent of Philadelphia Mountain seemed appropriate.   A recent spurt of cold weather had brought a bit of snow to the lowlands, so I wasn’t surprised to see the road to the Lake Serene Trailhead completely covered in a few inches of snow. I was there early in the morning and the road was icy, so I just opted to park in a wide pullout near the highway and save myself the headache of snow driving.  Microspikes

1/26/2025 Persis seems like it should be a popular winter climb. Proximity to the Seattle area, a safe winter route, and incredible views of Index and other peaks all make it a very appealing destination. The only problem? There is a locked gate on highway 2 that adds 5.5 miles one way of forest road to reach the trailhead.   Chasing cars up the icy road Our group consisted of Mike, Eric, and myself. Eric kindly offered me usage of one of his e-bikes, while Mike, an accomplis

1/19/2025 Enjoyed a pleasant snow hike out to Hurricane Hill with my dad and Katie. The drive up to Hurricane Ridge was easy, the weather was perfect, and the snow was perfectly compact for easy walking.   Olympics in the morning light Heading up on open slopes The summit ahead Good to be above the marine layer Heading down Final Stats: 6 miles / 1,021 feet of gain

1/17/2025 In search of a pre-work hike to a new place, I searched around the Sultan Basin for something that might have decent views. Baby Blue seemed to fit the bill.   Snowy road walking The ascent is made entirely on logging roads (there was no active logging this morning), but you actually get some nice views from the road out to the Skykomish River Valley and Puget Sound, as well as peek-a-boo views toward Vesper Peak.   Fog in Sultan Basin Trees that survived the clear

1/12/2025 Arrowhead is a great winter climb – steep, but avalanche-safe, with a fun and scenic route and great views. Eric and I set off from the unceremonious pullout on Highway 2 just east of a WSDOT maintenance yard. To start we walked back west on the shoulder of the highway and left the road shortly after crossing over Nason Creek. Parking on the side of Highway 2 I was wondering whether snowshoes would be necessary for the lower parts of the mountain, so I took an optim

1/7/2025 The Mailbox Peak Old Trail is infamous for a reason; it is steep and makes for a great training hike. I usually try to get up to the mailbox for a sunrise each winter and was treated to a great one this morning. Sun starting to rise Beautiful colors Microspikes were helpful near the summit Checking the mail Heading down There was some compact snow and ice that necessitated microspikes, but was otherwise smooth sailing.  Final Stats: 5.3 miles / 3910 feet of gain.

1/5/2025 This was a solid choice for a cloudy day with bad avalanche conditions. Despite being a forested hump on the south end of Lake Whatcom, Anderson Mountain boasts over 3000 feet of prominence. In fact, it’s Washington state’s 51st most prominent peak. Because of this, it does receive a bit of attention from peakbaggers.  Most ascents are made from highway 9 on the east side, but I chose to ascend from the north on a trail that is sometimes used by mountain bikers. I pa

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.

9/7/2024 Hike in to Lower Ice Lake   I apparently couldn’t get enough of driving the Phelps Creek Road this summer, so I braved the endless miles of sharp rocks yet again, this time for a solo outing of South Spectacle Butte. There was some haze in the skies from wildfires, and I was hoping it wouldn’t impair the experience too much.  Leroy Basin The climb up the Leroy Creek trail is steep, especially with an overnight pack in the middle of the afternoon on a hot day. I was s

8/30/2024 - 9/2/2024 Day 1: Getting to the Trailhead (aka the crux of the trip) and Spider Meadows  Our annual Labor Day backpacking trip got off to a strong start when Katie realized she forgot her shoes and I forgot my climbing helmet right as we were pulling into the Phelps Creek Trailhead. Sigh . after a three hour round trip back to Leavenworth to buy new gear while navigating the razor-sharp rocks of the road both ways we were finally gearing up (with Katie’s brand-new