Mt Walker

 Hiked up Mt Walker near Quilcene to get in some elevation without needing to use snowshoes. 5-1/2 miles round trip with 2,000 ft gain. Happy to be out on a sunny day after all our snow storms.
We only saw a few other hikers on the trail today. We were the only ones to continue on to the south viewpoint.
The lower parts of the trail had a thin layer of snow and ice with some bare patches. The snow was deeper as we gained elevation, The snow was well packed down from previous hikers and icy in places.

 Some small icicles among the moss

 Several gray jays gathered in the trees nearby when I stopped briefly on the trail.

 View of the Olympics to the northwest from the north viewpoint.

 View of Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan to the northeast from the north viewpoint.












From the north viewpoint to the south viewpoint is 1/2 mile each way, the snow here was not packed down.There were a few boot tracks, I tried to stomp down the areas between the boot impressions to start making a packed down trail.














South Viewpoint, Mt Rainier was hidden by the distant clouds, but we could see the Seattle skyline, Quilcene Bay, Hood Canal and Puget Sound. The wind died down while we were here, we were able to enjoy the views and our lunch in the warmth of today's sun.

Franklin Falls

We took exit 47 off of I-90 to hike to Franklin Falls today. The access road is closed because of the snow, so we parked under the overpass and walked down the closed access road. Because of the road closure, this is a 7-8 mile round trip hike with 700 ft of gain.
The route was well packed down, so we did not need snowshoes. We brought micro spikes but did not need them as there was enough fresh snow so it was not icy.

This is a walk through the forest, but there were nice views of theSouth Fork of the Snoqualmie River and some distant peaks

Shortly after reaching the summer trailhead, we saw this adorable red cottage across the river.















Some small cascades along the river.

 First view of Franklin Falls as we came down the trail

 lots of icicles near the falls

 rainbow near the base of the falls

 side views of the falls

 We saw several large chunks of ice drop off from the far side of the falls while we were there this afternoon.

 View opposite the falls

Mount Walker

 With all the recent low (sea level) snowfall, I wanted to get in a hike with elevation and no avalanche risk that I could drive to on mostly plowed roads. Mount Walker fit all my requirements today. Although we brought our snowshoes, we did not use them. This was a 5 mile round trip hike with 2,000 ft of gain.
There was snow along the sides of Hwy 101 going all the way up to the top of Mount Walker. Light snow near the bottom of the trail.









Heavier snow as we gained elevation.

 We were able to see some of the Olympic Peaks from the north viewpoint (looking Northwest).

The Cascades across Puget Sound were covered in clouds.

 We found the most snow walking between the north and south viewpoints. The post holing was not enough to warrant using our snowshoes.

 View from the south viewpoint today.













I enjoy seeing icicles.

 Interesting snow prints made by a bird.


















As we returned to the north viewpoint and trail, we could see the sun disappearing in the clouds.
















It was soon windy and dark, we made it back to the car just as the snow started falling.

Paradise Snowshoe and Waterfalls

 Forecast was for mostly sunny skies at Paradise this afternoon, so we drove up to Mt Rainier. The roads were icy and the gate at Longmire did not open until 10 AM. On our drive up we stopped at Narada Falls, and using micro spikes, we hiked the 0.2 miles down to the falls. So pretty with all the frozen ice.














We then continued up to Paradise and snowshoed over to Mazama Ridge. This was the clearest view we had today in the park.

 The creek at the beginning of 4th Crossing.

















About a foot of fresh powder to snowshoe through.

 The sun only broke through the clouds for a minute.

 Enjoying the gorgeous snow covered trees.

 As we neared the top of Mazama Ridge, the clouds began to descend.

 We continued about 1/2 mile up along where the Skyline Trail would be.

 As the clouds became thicker, it was more difficult to continue due to lack of depth perception. We stopped for a lunch break and waited to see if the clouds would lift. They didn't, and we decided it was not safe to try to navigate this narrow ridge with the poor visibility so we returned back down.

 Nearing Paradise, it was still socked in the clouds.

 We continued past the closed Paradise Inn and snowshoed over towards Myrtle Falls.

 This is the snowiest I've seen Myrtle Falls, it's hard to see the falls under all the snow.

















Close up of me standing on the bridge above the falls.

Trail to the bridge above Myrtle Falls

View from the bridge, looking back towards the Myrtle Falls viewpoint.

Even in the clouds, Mt Rainier is a gorgeous park!

As we drove back towards Longmire, we stopped at Christine Falls.

Icicles and small waterfall along the roadside.

Another view of this small waterfall.

There were lots of icicles near Christine Falls.

Christine Falls as seen above the road

Christine Falls underneath the road/bridge.