Mount Walker Spring Hike Olympic National Forest

With the forecast of partly cloudy, wanted to revisit Mount Walker to see the views.

 We hiked the 2 mile, 2000 ft elevation gain trail in 70 minutes!

From the Nort View Point, we could see the Olympic Mountains to the Northwest

 and to the Northeast, Quilcene, across Hood Canal and Puget Sound to Mt Baker.

From the South viewpoint, we cold see across the Kitsap Peninsula 

to the Seattle Skyline and to Mt Rainier

On the hike back down the trail we saw this squirrel 

and these Calypso Orchids,
also called Fairy Slippers.

Lower Dungeness River Hike in Washington

Nice low altitude conditioning hike to take in Spring time in the Olympic National Forest

We hiked about 12.6 miles round trip with 2000 ft elevation gain. 

he trail had some nice wooden bridges and walkways, but they were more slippery than the slightly muddy trail. There were many small creeks and waterfalls along the trail.

in the first two miles we climbed up 1000 ft, the clouds parted and we saw Iron Mtn in the distance

 we hiked down about 500 ft to the Dungeness River and followed the river to the upper Dungeness River trail head with more ups and downs, along this beautiful river

 And there were some early wildflowers in bloom.

 

Snowshoe to Carter Falls at Mt Rainier

 We went about 6.5 miles round trip with 900 ft elevation gain. The trail out to Carter Falls starts at Longmire on Mt Rainier and goes along a small portion of the Wonderland trail. 

The trail parallels the road to Paradise until you reach Cougar Campground.

A log bridge takes you across the Nisqually River. 

The log was very icy, we removed our snowshoes and put on Yak trax  to cross.

The trail to Carter Falls is to the right, then goes to left behind the river bank.

 The trail continues up along the Paradise River.

 About 3.3 miles we reached the lookout over Carter Falls.

 We tried to find the trail to Madcap Falls, only 0.2 miles further on, but there were no tracks to follow.

We did find the site of where there was an old dam before we turned back.

Gray Wolf River Spring Hike Washington

In early Spring, we're looking for low elevation hikes that are free of snow. 

This hike in the Olympic National Forest has enough ups and downs to make it interesting.

About 8.5 miles round trip and a total elevation gain of 800 ft.

The trail starts out in the open with views of Maynard Mountain.

 After about 1.5 miles the trail descends to the river.

 Along the river there are several hills to ascend and descend.

We were to early in the year to see wildflowers, but there are always interesting trees & lots of moss.

 We encountered a little snow and some rough bridge crossings.

At 4.2 miles out the trail comes to abrupt end, as the high bridge crossing washed out  in the early 1990s. We enjoyed our day out in the sun.

Mount Walker Winter Hike Washington

In the summer, you can drive up to the top of Mount Walker (2800 ft)

 for fabulous views on clear days.

The foot trail is open year around. A 2 mile up hill hike with 2000 ft elevation gain.

View of Mt Walker from Hwy 101 south of Quilcene in the Olympic National Forest

 The trail climbs through cedar and hemlock forest.

 The trail takes you to the North Summit. We had some peek a boo views across Puget Sound.

 A half mile trail takes you to the South viewpoint. 

We could see across Hood Canal to the Kitsap Penninsula through the clouds.

 Since the road was closed to cars, we decided to take the longer and gentler slope road down hill.

This made our trip a 6 mile hike. Nice day out on this wintery day.

Snowshoe Kendall Peak Lakes Washington

This hike is on the East side of Snoqualmie Pass right off of I-90.

Start at Gold Creek and turn up an old forest road, the snow was well packed, so we didn't wear our snowshoes until the snow softened up a couple of miles further along the trail.

 We choose to go up some of the steeper short cuts away from the road.

 A great place to catch my breath and get a glimpse of Mt Rainier to the South.

 We weren't ready to stop at the first lake, so we kept hiking.

 Ate lunch at the second Kendall lake, enjoyed the rest and the sun.

 Hiked over the ridge line to the east for fabulous views.

 Overlook of Keechelus Lake

 Found more short cuts on the way down. Love the deep soft snow going downhill.

Snowshoe at Jungle Creek Washinton

Another snowshoe trip away from avalanche chutes. 8 mile round trip with about 1000 ft elev gain

Jungle Creek is in the Teanaway River Valley north of Cle Ellum

The trail begins on a forest road, the first 1/3 of a mile is shared with snowmobilers, 

then the trail splits off for non motorized activities only.

 We were the first snowshoers to go on this trail since the last heavy snowfall.

Made for heavy going in the deep wet snow, but the weather was great.

 Trail is in the woods, so we only had peak a boo views.

 Where we stopped for lunch and turned around for the day.

 The view was a little better on the way down.