Snow Lake trail off I-90. WTA work party. Building trail this time. Digging and moving rocks mainly, and waiting around. 3 high school kids. Most of the group are retired men and they hiked twice as slow. 8:30am - 3:30pm. Actually working barely 3 hrs. Was a bad idea joining them for breakfast -- another 1.5 hr precious sleeping time was deprived. Was fun overall, different muscles got used.
Beautiful day. Fog persisted in the valley for better part of the day, clear sky on the cliff side. Many small waterfalls. Some flowers.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
2009.7.18-19. Rail Road Grade + Park Butte in Baker Lake area
Railroad Grade + Scott Paul loop in Mt Baker area. 
View is stupendous, especially around high camp and along the western slope of Railroad ridge. Flowers were coming in full force, would be in peak in ~a week. Well located and designed camping sites. 7 at ~ 2.5 miles in Morovitz meadow, best would be the 4 at High Camp (~3.75 miles in), with easy access to snow and more expansive view. Mt Rainier appeared to be small and hazy. Glacier Peak and other Cascade peaks were clear, can even see San Juan and Olympics. Tons of huckleberry bushes and heather. Quite a lot of strawberry at low elevation. At least 3 large climbing groups were at base camp Saturday afternoon, practicing. Sunday when I arised, they were already half way to the peak.
Park Butte (1 mile from the meadow) has a wonderful fire lookout with a queen bed, stove, maps and binocular inside. A "clean out" instruction for any user when he/she leaves.
Scott Paul trail goes around south of Baker east of the moraine, goes around several ravines for ~4 miles. The first mile had the best flower and a fun swing bridge. More boulders and rocks, and many more lupines were coming. Get to see Shuksan. The last 2 miles are in the woods.
Minor snow on trail, no mosquitoes, some flies.
View is stupendous, especially around high camp and along the western slope of Railroad ridge. Flowers were coming in full force, would be in peak in ~a week. Well located and designed camping sites. 7 at ~ 2.5 miles in Morovitz meadow, best would be the 4 at High Camp (~3.75 miles in), with easy access to snow and more expansive view. Mt Rainier appeared to be small and hazy. Glacier Peak and other Cascade peaks were clear, can even see San Juan and Olympics. Tons of huckleberry bushes and heather. Quite a lot of strawberry at low elevation. At least 3 large climbing groups were at base camp Saturday afternoon, practicing. Sunday when I arised, they were already half way to the peak.
Park Butte (1 mile from the meadow) has a wonderful fire lookout with a queen bed, stove, maps and binocular inside. A "clean out" instruction for any user when he/she leaves.Scott Paul trail goes around south of Baker east of the moraine, goes around several ravines for ~4 miles. The first mile had the best flower and a fun swing bridge. More boulders and rocks, and many more lupines were coming. Get to see Shuksan. The last 2 miles are in the woods.
Minor snow on trail, no mosquitoes, some flies.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
2009.7.15. Mt Pilchuck
2009.7.13. Tiger conditioning hike. About 1hr 10 minutes to go up.
2009.7.15. Mt Pilchuck Lookout.
Perfect day for the climb. Not too warm, clear sky for the 360° view. ~ 1 hr 45 to go up, and 1 hr 30 min to go down. Snow on trail about 1 hr in, but didn't pose any problem. Lots of hikers: when we left, 29 cars at trail head. 
Direction: Verlot east 1 mile, Pilchuck Rd 7 miles (first 6 gravel) to the end (saw 2 deer on road).
2009.7.15. Mt Pilchuck Lookout.
Perfect day for the climb. Not too warm, clear sky for the 360° view. ~ 1 hr 45 to go up, and 1 hr 30 min to go down. Snow on trail about 1 hr in, but didn't pose any problem. Lots of hikers: when we left, 29 cars at trail head. 
Direction: Verlot east 1 mile, Pilchuck Rd 7 miles (first 6 gravel) to the end (saw 2 deer on road).
Monday, July 13, 2009
2009.7.11. Mount Rainier Summerland
8 miles R/T, 2100 ft to Summerland. 
Absolutely beautiful. No space to park. Well maintained trail with solid wood creek crossings. First 2 miles are relatively flat, until the waterfall. Then trees give away to lush verdure. Avalanche lily filled the slopes before reaching Summerland area. 
Quite a number camping spots. Open vista, Little Tahoma, Rainier are too close to shoot a nicely composed photo. A not-too-small creek rushing down. 1+ mile further up, more rubbles and ice, until Panhandle Gap.
Monday, July 06, 2009
2009.7.6. Barclay Lake
Barclay Lake. Pleasant alpine lake. 4.2 miles RT. Almost flat. Drizzle turned to rain. Fog obscured the Barring Mountain. Direction: Hwy 2 to Baring, milepost 41. Turn North on FS Road #6024, gravel, 4.6 miles to the road end.
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