9/17/2022 The weather in the Cascades was finally starting to feel a little bit like fall. With commitments in Seattle later that day, we drove out to the Snoqualmie Pass area with hopes of a fun, quick hike with multiple peaks. After parking a bit before the trailhead due to some rugged sharp rocks on the road, Katie and I took off on the PCT on a nice brisk morning. We traveled an easy 1.7 miles to where the trail to Silver Peak branches off, which is marked by a giant cai

9/2/2022 - 9/5/2022 Katie and I spent 4 days exploring Lost Creek Ridge over Labor Day weekend. This was an area that had always interested me, and I’d wanted to see Lake Byrne for years. Day 1 Wildfire smoke had started to plague Western Washington, and it was pretty thick on our drive out to the Mountain Loop Highway. I had been tracking the smoke forecast thoroughly and was semi-confident that it would clear out over the course of our trip. Nevertheless, it was a little da

8/22/2022 Took advantage of the long days of summer by doing a quick weekday evening jaunt up Tolmie Peak in Mount Rainier NP The Mowich Lake Road is long and unpaved, but aside from a few washboard sections goes pretty quick. By the time I took off on the Wonderland Trail it was about 5:15 pm and summit of Mount Rainier was in a thick cloud. It seemed like the entire state was under clear blue skies except for the northern aspect of Rainier, and I was pretty pessimistic abou

8/21/2022 Tomyhoi Peak is great Type 1 fun trip off the Mount Baker Highway. Eric and I started from the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead at a reasonable 7:45 am. I had heard that Yellow Aster Butte was a nice hike, especially with fall colors popping, and I’d always wanted to check it out. We hiked up in a thick, weirdly humid, mist that was forecasted to burn off steadily throughout the day. It wasn’t long before we were bursting out of the woods and into beautiful meadows. We

7/9/2022 Keyes Peak was a long time coming for me. I had been drawn to it since my first of many trips to Blanca Lake years ago. It also helped that it was the highest point of the Monte Cristo Range, and views down to Blanca and the surrounding area were sure to be spectacular. There is no way around the fact that Keyes is a long day. The stats are big, and travel on the ridge above Virgin Lake is often slow. I’ve heard of parties completely underestimating this peak and hav

The weather for the Fourth of July weekend wasn’t looking too great for western Washington. The saying “summer doesn’t start until July 5th" had never been truer. With that said, it looked like there was an option to squeeze in a short overnight before the weather rolled in and Townsend Mountain fit the bill. Townsend (not to be confused with the much more popular peak of the same name in the Olympics) is a relatively obscure peak in the Wild Sky Wilderness in the vicinity of

6/25/2022 Bulger season was upon us, and that called for a long drive to a remote part of Washington to kick it off. Katie, my dad, and I made the voyage out to the town of Winthrop and camped for the night at a nice campground off Forest Road 5130. The next morning, we drove up the last 10 miles or so of road to the Copper Glance Trailhead. It promised to be a nice day, and we got started at about 8:30 am. The trail was pretty nice, if a bit overgrown, and had only a few b

2/13/2022 Katie, Marissa, and I made the long drive down from Seattle on Saturday evening with nervous anticipation for what was bound to be a fun but challenging adventure the following day. I always seem to forget how far south you need to drive to get to the St. Helen’s climbing routes. We eventually pulled into the Marble Mountain Sno-Park at around 10 pm. The road was perfectly dry and clear all the way to the lot (FYI you need a Sno-Parks Permit to park here in the win

1/29/2022 Humpback Mountain is a solid winter destination close to Snoqualmie Pass. There are two viable approaches in the winter, either the northeast or northwest ridge. My dad and I opted to ascend the northeast ridge because it was closer to the “trailhead.” To get to this “trailhead”, merely take exit 47 on I-90 and park on the shoulder of NF-9034 on the north side of the freeway. To get started, we crossed back over the freeway on the exit 47 overpass and then proceeded

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

9/14/2021 - 9/16/2021 Glacier Peak with peak fall foliage...what a combo! A mid-September venture into the Glacier Peak Wilderness was on the schedule and we couldn’t be more excited. This trip promised meadows, big mountain views and plenty of fall color. Katie and I made the drive out to Trinity and got started up the Buck Creek Trail at around 2 pm. Our only goal for the first day was to get a few miles up the trail and find a good place to camp. The weather was misty and

9/7/2021 With another great September day on our hands, Fern, Isabel and I headed out in search of Gunn Peak (or the infinity tarn if we were being honest with our priorities) in the Wild Sky Wilderness. Gunn is one of the steep, pointy summits you can see on highway 2 driving into Sultan and is actually the high point of the wilderness, so I was very excited about this one. The climbers path trailhead is very non-descript. We located a narrow gravel spur off the main road n

7/27/2021 - 7/28/2021 Desolation Peak is a worthy destination not only because of its unique approach and incredible scenery, but also because of the historical interest of the fire lookout that sits on its summit. The mountain resides directly above Ross Lake on its east side in the shadow of the imposing cliffs of Hozomeen Mountain to its north. It can be approached via a long walk on the East Bank trail from Highway 20, but most people opt to take the Ross Lake Resort wate

5/15/2021 Ross Lake and Hozomeen from high on Ruby This trip began with a bit of indecision. To bring skis or not to bring skis, that was the question. I had my splitboard in my car for another ski trip at Washington Pass, but I just wasn’t sure if it was worth it to carry it for this trip. After a night in the back of my car at a pullout on the side of Highway 20, I set off up the Happy Creek trail without the splitboard. I reasoned that the snow level would be too high, an

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,

9/5/2020 - 9/7/2020 The incredible Berdeen Lake requires a hefty price of admission There are some places in the Cascades that have a near magnetic pull on me. I love looking at maps of the mountains and dreaming of new places to visit and Berdeen Lake was near the top of my list. One look at a satellite image shows a large turquoise lake surrounded by rugged, glaciated peaks like Bacon and Blum. I had to see it with my own eyes! I had concocted a plan for Labor Day Weekend t

8/27/2020 - 8/30/2020 I had spent precious little time in the Pasayten Wilderness, and it was time to change that. The Pasayten is in the northeast corner of the Cascades and is drier and less glaciated than the rest of the North Cascades that are located further west. This doesn’t mean it is less interesting, necessarily, because the area is still home to many of the tallest mountains in Washington that are unique and rugged in their own right. It is filled with big ridgelin

8/8/2020-8/9/2020 Fern, Erik, and I set out to bag two more Bulgers in the beautiful part of the world that is the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Chiwawa and Fortress were on the menu this time. I had already been up Chiwawa once before, but we were interested in linking them with a big loop, hitting Chiwawa first, then carrying our gear up and over Fortress and back down the Buck Creek Valley. We got started from the familiar Trinity trailhead at around 9:30. The weather was overc

8/1/2020 - 8/2/2020 Snowfield Peak is a great glacier climb in the heart of the North Cascades. I was excited for my second ascent of the mountain, this time with Katie. Our journey started at the Pyramid Lake trailhead, which is just a pullout on the side of the North Cascades Highway before Diablo Lake. The trail up to the lake is moderately graded, and I’m always surprised by how dry the forest seems close to the highway. Our packs were heavy with glacier and overnight g