Rampart Ridge Winter Hike

 We were hoping to go up to Reflection Lake and beyond on Mt Rainier today, but the gate at Longmire was closed and we were told the opening would be at least 2 hours late. So we made alternate plans over a hot drink at the Inn at Longmire.
We did see some elk on the drive up!

We decided to do the Rampart Ridge Loop Trail and go counterclockwise, as I heard some people had a difficult time finding the trail where it joins the Wonderland Trail when coming the other way. Plus it was fun to go the opposite way that I had hiked before.  This was a 5 mile loop hike with 1,300 ft of elevation gain.

There were no reports on how much new snow had fallen on the ridge overnight, so we carried our snowshoes with us. We ended up not using them, but I would have been sad if I had to turn around due to post holing.

The sky was overcast with a light rain when we started out, so we donned our rain gear and headed up the Wonderland Trail. 

 This part of the trail was well packed down and a mixture of slushy and icy, so we wore our microspikes. There was evidence of the fierce windstorms from last fall as we both hiked over, and

  ducked under fallen trees along the way.
The rain soon stopped, but we kept on our rain gear, as the trees were dripping in the warming day.

 We went across a couple of small streams on log and bridge crossings.  Further up the ridge, we met a couple of young men who had spent the night at Kautz Creek, so we had their snowshoe tracks to follow while we stayed on the Wonderland Trail.

About 1.5 miles, we reached the junction where the trail up to Van Trump Park splits off, noting that our trail turnoff would be about 0.2 miles further along the Wonderland Trail.

This section was well trampled by our snowshoing friends.

 We caught a glimpse of the end of the Tatoosh Range above the trees in one area.

 We could not find the sign where the Rampart Ridge Trail leaves the Wonderland Trail. It must be buried in the snow. About 6" of new snow had come down since anyone last came up the Rampart Ridge Trail. We were still able to see an indentation in the snow, marking where the trail lay underneath the snow. I love new snow!  We could see the sun coming out from the clouds above us, as we hiked along the Rampart Ridge in the forest. This section is about a mile long. We had lots of snow come off the trees, but did not have any snow bombs land on us.

 For a short ways, the trail breaks out into the open. Here we found the deepest snow, but did not need to wear our snowshoes.

 Here we turned around, and were happy to see Mount Rainier with no cloud cover!

Such an amazing view!

 Panorama looking across Pyramid Creek toward Satulick Mountain, Iron Mountain, Copper Mountain, Pyramid Peak and Mt Rainier.

 The trail then crosses up and over Rampart Ridge, and heads back down to Longmire. We had some views across the Nisqually River Valley of Eagle, Chutla and Wahpenayo Peaks in the Tatoosh Range.

 Were also able to see down to Longmire in the valley below.

 We started down the switchbacks towards Longmire in the fresh snow, it was a while before we met hikers coming up the trail. Amazing how we had most of the trail to ourselves today.

 There were a few bare patches on the trail where water crossed the trail.

 Longmire meadow, a short flat section on our way back to the Longmire Inn.

The clouds had lifted, and we were able to view Mt Rainier from the Longmire Inn. A great ending to a fun hike.

Mount Storm King and Marymere Falls Winter Hikes

 We headed out to the Storm King Ranger Station on Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park today to combine two hikes. First, up Mount Storm King, a 3.8 mile hike with 1,700 ft of elevation gain. Second, a 2 mile hike with 200 ft of elevation gain to Marymere Falls, but since they share the same trail for 0.5 miles, it was only an additional mile for us.
The trail starts at the Ranger Station that takes you to a short tunnel under Hwy 101. The first 0.5 mile is a nice flat walk in the woods.

Here the trail splits at a large fern covered mossy boulder. Straight to Marymere Falls, and left up the hill to Mount Storm King.

The rest of this hike is uphill (2000 ft in 1.4 miles). We would hike through the woods, passing large cedar trees and

many madrona trees.

Occasionally, we would have peak-a-boo views of nearby peaks.

I love all the varying shades of green and the moss covered rocks and trees.

 Almost 1 mile up the mountain (1.4 from the start of the trail) the view opens up. Here, we looked down on a fog covered Lake Crescent.

 There were lots of nice rocky cliff walls to see.

 From here, the trail continues to climb another 0.5 mile and 400 ft up a steep path with a long drop off.

There is a short section where the trail drops off on both sides.

From the "official" end of the trail, there are gorgeous views looking into the Barnes Creek Valley, we could see Marymere Falls way in the distance.

Taking a moment to enjoy the views! This is the end of the "official" trail. There are some ropes to help you up the next 0.25 mile where you can get great views of Lake Crescent. It is a steep exposed section. We decided not to go up the damp trail today. Great excuse to come back another time.

 We noticed the clouds were lifting on our way down.

When we returned to the first viewpoint, we were excited to see the clouds had mostly lifted and we had a great view of the east end of Lake Crescent. We were able to see the mountains far across Puget Sound to the cascades (probably in Canada).

 Found some color along the trail:

When we reached the bottom of the trail, we headed off to Marymere Falls. The first part of the trail is nice and flat, a could cool down.

 Bridge crossing on Barnes Creek.

 Then the trail climbs 200 ft up to Marymere Falls overlook. Here we had a sneak peak of the falls through the trees.

90 ft Marymere Falls.
There is a nice loop trail with a lower and upper viewing area. The section closest to the creek was closed due to fallen trees and what looked like trail erosion. It was possible to get to the lower viewing area from the upper viewing area today. However, that meant returning back up the trail, before heading down ;)

 Some lovely trees we saw along the trail today:

After the hike, I walked a very short distance down to the shore where I found these mallard ducks resting.

View of the east end of Lake Crescent from the dock:

 Mount Storm King, as seen from the dock.

 We then did a short drive to the north shore. Looking south across Lake Crescent towards Mount Snow King.

Copper Creek Hut Winter Hike/Snowshoe

Today, we drove up to Ashford to hike/snowshoe up to Copper Creek Hut and back on the Mount Tahoma Trail Assoc groomed trails. We were able to drive up to the lower SnoPark lot at about 3,200 ft. Our hike was 9 miles round trip with 1000 ft of elevation gain.

The lower section had a thin layer of compact icy snow, so we started out with our microspikes on and carried our snowshoes.     We found the entire length of the trail well packed, so carried our snowshoes the entire way up. Then opted to wear our snowshoes on the way back for a good workout.

 There are lots of beautiful trees along the way.

















The snow got deeper as we gained elevation, but the trail was well groomed, so we didn't post hole.

Occasionally, we had views to the south along the way.

 We saw lots of rabbit tracks.

 Although it was cloudy with a few snow flurries, we loved the snowy forest.

 Copper Creek Hut, on a clear day, I hear there are good views of Mt Rainier.

 We did have views to the south across the Ashford Valley.

 view to the southwest.

 some snowy trees that caught my fancy today: