Mount Walker

I drove up south of Quilcene to hike up Mount Walker going to both the North and South Viewpoints, overall 5.5 miles with 2,000 ft of gain. There was no snow or ice on the trail and the morning was cloudy.  Lots of tall trees along this steep trail.

This shelf fungus was as large as my head.

At the top there was some fresh snow on some of the leaves and branches from last nigh.

Mostly cloudy view at the North Viewpoint:

And more cloudy at the South Viewpoint:

Pleasant morning on the trail, only saw 2 other hikers on the way up and about 10 as I was going back down the trail.

 

Mt Walker

I drove up to Quilcene to hike up Mt Walker this morning. The lower gate was closed, so I parked at the end of the road by Hwy 101. This was 5.5 miles round trip with 2.000 ft of elevation gain. The hike is mostly in the forest, except at the two viewpoints on top. View of some northern Olympic peaks to the northwest from the North Viewpoint.

zoom of Mt Constance and Buckhorn Mountain

view across Hood Canal to Mt Baker and MT Shuksan to the northeast from the North Viewpoint

zoom of Mt Baker

zoom of Mt Shuksan

The 0.5 mile road walk to the South Viewpoint was mostly covered in snow, there was a well packed down trail.

view from the South Viewpoint looking across Hood Canal

zoom showing a very hazy Mt Rainier in the upper center of the photo

I didn't see any wildflowers blooming yet, but I did see a couple of fungi:

 

 

Mount Walker

We drove up to Mount Walker to hike this morning. The forest road was open and we were able to park at the trailhead. We hiked to both the North and South Viewpoints for a 5 mile round trip hike with 2,020' gain. We saw one hiker on the way up and less than 10 on our way down. We were happy to see that the wildflowers are starting to bloom: yellow violets, 

trillium,

and calypso orchids.

We ran into consistent snow by 2,6000 ft.

We had blue skies, with clouds covering the mountains. North Viewpoint to the northwest

North Viewpoint overlooking Quilcene

Views from the South Viewpoint

some fungi along the trail:

 

Mount Walker Loop

Drove up to Quilcene to hike up Mount Walker. We decided to make it a loop by hiking up the trail and coming back down the closed forest road. About 7 miles with 2,000 ft gain.  We saw 2 other hikers on the trail and 7 skiers as we hiked down the road. The gate was closed by Hwy 101. There were several inches of snow from the highway. 

Enjoyed seeing the fresh snow covering everything.

some icicles along the trail

The snow increased in depth as we continued up the trail.

Cloudy up on top of Mount Walker, not much view from the North Viewpoint.

We had some occasional glimpses of the outline of Olympic Peaks to the northeast.

From the North Viewpoint we walked down the closed road towards the South Viewpoint.

The sun tried to break through the clouds.

Snow laden branches low down over the trail right before the South Viewpoint.

The clouds obstructed the view at the South Viewpoint.

But the trees were so beautiful in this winter wonderland!

We met a skier coming up to the top of Mount Walker as we were headed down. He told us to walk in his tracks as it would help pack it down, he would be returning several times this week to keep working on it.

Viewpoint about halfway down the road. we could see the north end of Quilcene Bay,

and at the other end the Big Quilcene River below.

Some snowy trees towering above us on some rocky cliffs.

small icicles and dripping water in a mossy niche

 

Mount Walker

Drove up to Quilcene to hike up Mount Walker before the storm hit today. There was lots of blue sky above Mount Walker when I started at 8.30 this morning. The lower gate is now closed for the winter, overall hike was 5.5 miles with 2,000 ft gain.

Found some nice hair frost along the side of the road walk.

Consistent ice/snow started about 1,600 ft.

zoom of a snowy Olympic Peak seen between the trees

About halfway up the trail, I put on my micro spikes as the trail was getting slippery. Further up the trail, the snow was getting a bit deeper.

A nice wintery trail as fall nears the end of its season.

Beautiful up at the North Viewpoint on Mount Walker. 

Happy to see some Olympic Peaks to the northwest.

Some lovely blue sky as the clouds were moving in. Quilcene below

There was some nice fresh snow on the closed road between the north and south viewpoints. A snowshoer ahead of me broke trail this morning.

It was cloudier at the South Viewpoint. Could see Quilcene Bay down below.