Lower Big Quilcene

Hiked up the Lower Big Quilcene Trail and back. This trail links up with the Marmot Pass Trail at 10 Mile Shelter. This is a beautiful forest hike and is a multi use trail. Overall we hiked 13 miles round trip with 2,000 ft of gain, as this trail rambles up and down.

Some of the photos were taken on the way up the trail and some on the way back down.

There are so many creeks with small cascades along the side of the trail. A wonderful place to meander.

 We saw quite a bit of hoar frost, even though there wasn't any snow or ice on the trail today.

 some frosty leaves

The Big Quilcene River

nurse log over the Big Quilcene

 lots of moss

High Hut snow hike under the Full Moon

We were able to drive up to the Upper SnoPark lot in the south district of the Mount Tahoma Trail Assoc system. From the Upper lot, this is a 6 mile roundtrip hike with about 1,700 ft of gain.
There was no snow or ice on the road. The snow started right after the closed gate.
We talked to snowshoers returning to the lot and discovered the snow was well packed and snowshoes were not needed. We hiked up using micro spikes and stayed to the side of the road, leaving the middle area for the skiers.
We headed up in the late afternoon under cloudy skies.

There were a few small streams along the side of the road

We saw the clouds clearing momentarily, revealing blue skies.  We were hopeful that we would see the lunar eclipse when we returned down the trail in the evening.

There was a little fresh snow as we gained elevation.

We reached High Hut at 5:30pm and the the area was covered in clouds. We had a leisurely dinner break in the warmth of the hut. Enjoying conversation with the hikers spending the night in the hut.

It was still cloudy as we hiked down, so we needed our headlamps.

Saw one old pinwheel along the small slope near the trail.

About 1/2-1 mile down the trail, the clouds parted and revealed the full moon. This lighted up our way.
















I only had my iPhone with me, so these photos are a bit grainy.
















This was a beautiful winter hike in the snow under the full moon! We were the only ones on the trail this evening.

So fun to watch the moon turn red during the totality of this lunar eclipse.

Crystal Mtn area snowshoe

 We drove up to Crystal Mtn Ski Resort hoping to take the gondola up to the ridge with fantastic views and do a little snowshoeing. Unfortunately, the gondola was closed because of the wind.
We ended up going up the otherwise of the valley, wandering around, enjoying the beautiful day. We snowshoed about 3.5 miles with 1,000 ft of overall gain.
From the resort, we headed up hill to the north.

 We could see some of the peaks behind us.
















Followed closed forest service roads for a bit.

 Snowshoed above the left area.













Snowshoed up a steep hill until we felt it was better to retrace our steps for awhile

Found some tracks in the forest, and decided to follow them.

Decided not to continue up this chute, as it seemed it was mainly a place where back country skiers came down.

 Continued up through the forest on a narrow track

 Kept going until we decided it was time to return.

















Stopped for a lunch break where we had a nice view overlooking the ski basin

Continued back down to the resort, enjoying our day in the snow!