Goldmyer Hotpsrings May 4-5, 2013

We finally got a sunny weekend, unfortunately the mountains had super high avalanche danger leaving us with few options. Luckily we were able to score a reservation at Goldmyer hotspring for a weekend of relaxation.  Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I headed out of Seattle after a lazy morning and out to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

Goldmyer is a privately run hotspring on the edge of the national forest. It's not very far from Seattle, but involves a fair amount of dirt road driving to really get there. We parked at the Dingford creek trailhead (same place we departed for Derrick Lake) and headed along the road.

Things are starting to melt fast in this area as you can tell from all the roaring creeks. It was so nice to be out in the sun and looking up at the beautiful mountains of the Cascades. The hike in is about 4 miles and relatively flat. We decided to do some luxury backpacking which meant we had some pretty loaded down packs. Sam even hauled in a giant frying pan.

We arrived at Goldmyer around 3:00 and were greeted by the grounds keeper who lives on site. He check our permits and gave us the low down and we headed to pick out a campsite along the river. We set up our tents, suited up and headed to the hot springs.

The springs are about a quarter of a mile from the camp and well worth the extra walk. There are four pools. The hottest one is in cave that has been blasted out of the rocks and goes back for about 20 feet. Below that is a second small pool that is the perfect temperature. Below that is a larger slightly cooler pool. Lastly there is a small cold pool. I will note in case anyone is interested in going that the hot springs are clothing optional so you might want to reconsider if your shy about nudity.

Enjoying the pools

It was great to soak and relax and enjoy a sunny day. It was cool enough in the trees that the springs were very pleasant. Sam and Derrick spent most of their time jumping back and forth from the cold pool to the hot pool. There were a few other folks enjoying the water, but the limit the visitors to 20 per day so it never felt crowded.

Sarah in the second pool

After some soaking it was back to camp for a stir fry dinner. Then back to the pools for a night time soak. In the morning we had pancakes and egg scrambles. We packed up our gear, got in one more soak and then hit the trail. It was hard going back to work the next day after such a beautiful relaxing weekend. Derrick and I agreed this is our favorite hot spring in Washington.

The river which runs right by the hot springs

Under the big log is the cold pool

High Hut and the MTTA trails - April 5-6, 2013

Months ago Sarah and I decided to make reservations to some of the huts of the Mt Tahoma Trails Association out near Ashford, WA. You have reserve these huts pretty far in advance so it's a bit of a gamble when it comes to the weather. Unfortunately, our forecast was looking a little bleak--rain, cold, cloudy, but we headed out with high hopes.

We arrived at the trail head not sure what to expect. We brought skis and snowshoes. The road to the trail head was snow free, and the snow began about a quarter of a mile up the road. We were really hoping to cross country ski and had heard rumor of recent grooming so we left our snowshoes at the car and headed up in our ski boots. This we later learned was the wrong choice.

We soon hit snow and strapped on our skis. The weather was above freezing and the snow was kind of a slushy ice mix. There might have been grooming a few days ago, but with the recent rain all we had was a mildly compacted mess. We quickly discovered that even with waxless skis traction was going to be a bit of an issue. After a few hours of skiing and slipping our way up we finally made it onto the ridge. Here the snow was a bit colder, but slipping was still a problem. The wind was also quite strong making us really glad to see high hut in the distance.

We made our way into the hut and found it empty. We quickly started a fire and shed all our wet clothes. It was very homey inside and a nice reprieve from the slog up. On a clear day high hut is staring down Mt. Rainier with panoramic views. Unfortunately, with the weather all we saw were clouds. We made dinner and were getting ready to play a game of boggle when we saw a light outside. A couple from Seattle had just arrived.

Drying our clothes inside the hut

One of the sleeping areas

The kitchen

Looking towards Rainier 

They came up on backcountry skis with skins and informed us that another couple was on their way, but probably wouldn't be in until quite late. We chatted for a while as they made their dinner. Eventually it got late and Sarah and I head to bed, unsure if the other couple was going to continue in the dark or turn around.  Sure enough at about 10:00 they rolled in, exhausted but in good spirits. The girl had also brought up cross country skis and had an equally challenging day.

Warm potato stew...delicious!

The next morning we awoke to more clouds and took our time making breakfast and coffee. It took a little motivation to leave the warm cabin and head out into the weather, but we did eventually. It had snowed a bit overnight creating a layer of powder on top of ice--not ideal conditions to say the least. Our original plan was to head over to the yurt for a second night, but after about an hour of falling and sliding our way down the mountain we had second thoughts. We were struggling a lot with the conditions and just couldn't get much control coming down. At the junction, we decided heading back to the car was sounding a bit more appealing than trudging on for another few miles.

A brief break in the clouds allowed for a few views

The view in front of the hut

The valley down below

All in all, it was nice to check out a new area and the huts are great. Next time though, I would choose snow shoes over skis. It doesn't seem like the grooming is frequent enough to make it doable for most cross country skis. Another hour or so and we were at the car. Made a stop in Elbe at the train diner for some lunch and then headed back to Seattle.

Skyline Lake February 9, 2013

Snow shoeing is not Derrick's favorite outdoor activity. However, in the winter there aren't many other options. After a bit of negotiating, I convinced him another snow shoe trip was in order and sure enough he had a great time!

The destination this time was Skyline Lake, again very near Stevens Pass. We parked in the north lot and hit the trail. You follow a groomed road up so snow shoes weren't even really necessary for a lot of the hike. It was a fairly gradual climb with increasingly nice views. We reached the end of the road at a tower (cell phone maybe?). At this point you have a nice view in several directions.

Here we mistakenly followed a smaller trail that we thought was leading to the lake. We soon realized it didn't quite seam right, but were almost at a high point so decided to keep going. We got up to a nice little summit where we met a few snowboarders and back country skiers. It was their tracks we followed. They were getting ready to hit some backcountry slopes so we took over their spot and had a nice lunch.

The views were great and the weather was quite cooperative. We decided our high point was more exciting than the lake so didn't bother to make a stop there on the way down. We realized later that the turn off to the lake is actually before you get to the tower. On the way down we attempted a mini glisade without much success. However, we did manage to amuse many other groups who were on their way up.

We found a snow hut along the trail. Derrick decided to climb on in and take a picture.

Derrick actually enjoying snow shoeing

Panorama from our view point

Snowy trees and ski runs

King of the mountain!

Lunch time

Derrick being a poser

Lanham Lake February 3, 2013

We were starting to feel a bit too stationary this winter and decided it was time to head to the mountains. Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I agreed a snow shoe trip was in order. We set our sites on Lanham Lake a relatively short hike near the Stevens Pass Nordic Center. This is a nice hike for two reasons; low avalanche danger and free parking!

It felt great to get out and stretch our legs. The hike in was pretty easy, gradual climbs through the snow covered forest. The lake was frozen with deep snow all around. We saw a few other groups, but were able to pick a nice area by the shore to have lunch. We all decided this would be a good place to come for winter snow camping.

On the way down Derrick and Sam were having way too much fun with impromptu glisade shoots. I don't think they could go more than 50 feet at a time, but it was pretty amusing. All in all a great day out in the mountains!

The four of us on the lake shore

 

Skyline Divide - November 10, 2012

Our hiking foursome spent a weekend in Glacier, WA hanging out at a cabin and making the most of the slightly gloomy fall weather. We decided a bit of a leg stretcher was in order and headed up to Skyline Divide. We headed up the ridge and just kind of meandered through the compact snow. There was light snow falling, the clouds were rolling in, and we weren't really geared up for a full day adventure. After a couple of miles we decided to call it a day and head back. This is definitely an area I'd love to return to.

Skyline Divide Panorama

Someone missed the memo that we were hiking. Tennis shoes, jeans, & messenger bag isn't Derrick's normal hiking attire.

Sam and Derrick taking in the view

Sarah and I happy to be in the mountains

Tonga Ridge, Mt. Sawyer, Ptarmigan Lake - September 1-3, 2012

This labor day weekend we decided to head in search of a new experience...camping on an island. I'm not sure how we got the idea in our heads, but we decided we really wanted to find a lake with an island that we could set up camp on and Ptarmigan Lake fit the bill.

With a slightly late start, we headed up to the Tonga Ridge trail head. The ridge walk was really nice with lots of great views. We followed it until taking a small slightly hard to find path down to Fisher Lake. Fisher Lake was nice, but we forded on to our destination. From Fisher it is a bit of a bushwhack over to Lower Ptarmagin. We managed to make it down to a pretty tree lined shore where we blew up the raft, loaded up our pack and floated over to the island.

Fisher Lake

Our campsite on the island

Lower Ptarmigan Lake

The island was nice and had a large campsite where we set up for the night. The next morning we spent a relaxing day on the lake. We took our raft around an explored a bit. We considered hiking up to the upper lake, but decided to just relax instead. We met one other person their camping near the shore, but it was pretty quiet.

Terrace Mountain

Sun beginning to set on Ptarmigan Lake

Reflection

Evening tent glow

Stars above Terrace Mountain

More stars

Rafting back to the mainland

 The next day we headed out and made a side trip to Mt. Sawyer for some lovely views of the Alpine Lakes wilderness.

 Daniels (left) and Hinman (right) from Mt Sawyer

Rainier peaking over with Chimney and Overcoat on the left

Looking towards Ptarmigan Lake with Terrace Mountain and Daniels

Summit Marker

Glacier Peak

Fernow Peak with Columbia, Foggy, and Sloan in the background

Daniels through Silver

Tonga Ridge Trail

Our approximate route

Lake Sylvester - August 4-5, 2012

After an epic trip to Derrick Lake last summer, we decided to go in search of other off trail lakes. This time we set our sites on Sylvester Lake off of Icicle Creek Road.

I had done my research and heard about an old fishermans trail that climbed steeply up to the lake. With some trial and error and a good map, we were able to locate it. Make no mistake I use the word "trail" very loosely here. It was tricky to follow in places and we hit a lot of very rocky steep areas in the process.

Daniels and Hinman in the distance

Harding and Bootjack Mountains

Ingalls, Hawkins, Harding, and Bootjack 

Almost at the lake 

Eventually we made it to the lake, both feeling a bit tired and ready to unload our packs. Camping sites at the lake were a little minimal, but we found a spot pretty close to the shore. The unfortunate thing about this trip was the mosquitoes. They descended upon us pretty quickly making it hard to enjoy our private lake. Luckily we brought our raft and were able to find some solace out on the lake where the mosquitoes apparently don't travel.

Sylvester Panoramic

Grindstone Mountain

We spent most of our evening on the lake until we were ready to turn in. The next morning we went for a paddle to check out the other shores. This lake a has a dramatic setting with grindstone peak looming above, but it lacks the open shoreline that many of the areas alpine lakes have. Reluctantly, we packed up camp and headed back down the long steep slog to the car. We ran into another man heading up as we were coming down. It never fails to surprise me that even in some of the more remote areas we run into other folks.

Overall it was a nice trip, but I wont put it on the same level as Derrick Lake.

Approximately where we went