Trips

Scramble

Sourdough Mountain – Winter

  • March 18, 2019August 10, 2021

This trip is not really for Sourdough Mountain but really for peak 6308 because the summer route goes through a lot of avalanche terrain so to get the same fantastic views you turn off the trail early and head up the ridgeline for a little more elevation.

mileage

~11

elevation gain

5,500 ft

location

North Cascades NP

drive time from Seattle

2h45

useful gear

Poles, microspikes, snowshoes, navigation

permits/passes

n/a

I went out with a group of mountaineers in search of epic views and conditioning elevation and we got both in spades. Unfortunately, the long drive and the shorter daylight hours meant we had to leave Seattle before the crack of dawn. We planned to start on the trail by 8 but were a little late at 8:45. My calves certainly remembered the trail from when I did it in the summer and in fact I remember thinking wouldn’t be back to do it again for a while! In the first 2 miles of trail, you climb 3000ft which comes in the form of very steep switchbacks. Pretty much from the beginning, there was intermittent snow on the trail, hard sheets of ice at the very bottom getting much softer after the first few switchbacks. We set a slower pace than I did on Teneriffe last weekend which made the climb bearable.

It took us around 2 hours for the first 2 miles, at this spot you get a view of some of the peaks through the trees and we decided to put our snowshoes on because we’d already started slipping a little climbing in the snow. The day was warming up and the snow already felt pretty soft. At around 3 miles the route breaks away from the summer trail and here the navigation got a little tricky. It seemed like there were tracks going in every direction so we followed some we thought were heading the right way. They veered too much to the right and we discovered we’d gone ~400m alone the summer trail instead of heading up the ridge. To get back on the route we cut up from the summer trail to try and intersect with the winter route. It was really hard going and in hindsight, we should have just backtracked. The snow wasn’t consolidated at all and breaking trail was exhausting. The soft snow on the slopes was sliding a lot making some of us a little nervous. It probably took us 30mins to get onto the ridgeline and intersect with the winter route.

As we climbed up the ridge the trees thinned out and the sun started to beat down on us turning into t-shirt weather. We continued climbing, the sun was warming up the snow and we saw lots of signs of wet loose avalanches that the forecast had predicted. Getting on to the top of the ridge required snowshoeing up a knife-edge type ridge. From there it was 360 views of many of the North cascade peaks (colonial and pyramid being front and centre) the views down to Diablo lake were also spectacular where you could see it was partially frozen.

We were starting to run really short on time as we move along the ridge so we decided to stop just before making it to peak 6308. We had a quick lunch break and had to start heading back down to make it back in a reasonable hour. The knife-edge ridge was sketchier on the way down, we were worried about the wet slides so took it one at a time.

 

The trip back to the car was pretty uneventful we were all pretty tired, the sun really taking it out of us. The wet snow made snowshoeing the steep slopes difficult as it was hard to get good traction. We didn’t make any wrong turns on the way down, we stopped a couple of time for a break and to take off snowshoes returning to the car at 5:30.

Scramble

Mount Teneriffe – Winter

  • March 11, 2019August 10, 2021

I needed a butt-kicker this weekend and boy did this one deliver. I was planning on taking the old trail up Mount Teneriffe (past Kamikaze falls) getting the most bang for my buck with the elevation gain. Unfortunately, when I drove to the trailhead the car park was closed because it was still covered in snow from the snowpocalypse! Quickly changing my plan I thought I parked at the Mount Si trailhead about half a mile down the road. From here I used Gaia to map a route to Teneriffe and it still seemed reasonable just a few more miles.

mileage

~8

elevation gain

4,500 ft

location

i90

drive time from Seattle

40 min

useful gear

Poles, microspikes, snowshoes

permits/passes

Discover Pass

Daylight savings got me this morning so I was moving pretty slow. It took me a while to talk myself into getting ready and getting on the trail. For training for bigger things to come I loaded my pack up with extra water and was carrying around 27lb. There was pretty much snow the whole way from the bottom, it was crunchy this early in the morning so it wasn’t long before I put on my microspikes.

Thankfully Gaia was showing me the way because I forget how many interconnected trails there are between Mount Si and Mount Teneriffe. I took the Talus loop trail to connect with the Teneriffe trail then I got on the Kamikaze connecter. Thankfully I didn’t have far to go on this trail because there were only 2 or 3 sets of footprints. I was post-holing every few steps, getting stuck in trees and trying to stay on the trail. Finally, I met up with the kamikaze trail which was pretty well packed down.

The falls were looking great covered in snow with icicles coming off the rocks. I took a few photos before joining the trail again. Here the trail goes straight up which was pretty exhausting moving over that much snow. It was still pretty hard but the traffic was less than the Kamikaze trail so I had to do a bit more trail breaking. I broke the ridge from here it was another mile at 2000ft elevation to the summit. I was worried it had taken me too long to get to this point (about 90 mins) and I had to do a lot of mental pushing to not turn around. closer to the top the snow got much softer and I had to swap to snowshoes because I was exhausting myself slipping after every step.

When I finally broke the tree line I moved through the open sections as fast as possible because there were some obvious signs of small slides due to sun warming. The snow in these sections was super icy that I was glad my snowshoe crampons were biting into it. When I got to the summit there was one other guy there who had come up the other ridge from Si which was about 8 miles one way. He headed back and I had the summit for myself.

I debated avoiding the steep descent by going back another way but it seemed like the quickest way down and I was already slower than I thought I would be. I headed down the same way, had some troubles with my snowshoes in places where the snow was really icy and found my butt in the snow a few times! I was glad I still had them on though because further down the trail it was still soft snow. Almost at the end of the ridge where it gets really steep and narrow, I swapped back to microspikes.

The way back was pretty uneventful from the falls, the connector trail was still crappy and I managed to posthole up to my hips on one leg which was pretty exhausting to get out of. Back on the packed down Talus loop trail and Mount Si trail it was warmed and was getting pretty sloshy.

I made it back to the car on the 6-hour mark and was pretty tired!

Backpack

The Three Capes Track

  • January 23, 2019

Three Capes Track is Australia’s newest hut-to-hut backpacking experience. It is a 3 night, 4 day hike which includes a boat ride and 48km of trail. The track starts at Port Arthur in Tasmania’s southeast and finishes at Fortescue Bay. In planning a trip back to Australia I suggested doing this to my family and was joined by Mum, Dad Andrew. We booked our starting date for January 2019 almost 6 months out. They only have space for 48 walkers a day. The big drawcard on the Three Capes Track is the spectacular cliffs of the peninsula which the track hugs for most of the trip. These are the tallest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere and tower hundreds of meters above the ocean below. Another drawcard for hikers is the amenities available on the track. Each night’s accommodation is a hut where you are given a bed in dorm-style rooms and cooking facilities. This makes it perfect for first-time backpackers and families because you don’t have to carry a tent, cooking equipment, or mattress.

As far as capes go, you really only see two on the track, making for a confusing name. Apparently, when the track was originally planned they were going to include Cape Raoul, which sits on the west side of Port Arthur. They spared no expense on the amenities and trail for the first section of the hike so one can only assume they didn’t have the funds to do the planned extension to the third cape.

Overview of the walk
Overview of the Walk

Day 1

The starting point for the hike is the Port Arthur Historic Site, which we arrived at early to on our first day. Parking for the 3 capes track was up the hill from the normal day-use area. Instead of walking down the road to the tourist office where we were due to check-in, we managed to take a wrong turn, follow a dirt trail, and get lost. Pretty stupid on our part but we ended up having to look at a map to walk through the historic site and enter the tourist office from the backside. We were pretty early for our check-in time so we had no troubles checking in. We got given our tour booklet which had lots of information on the track ahead. I went and got coffee and breakfast from the cafe and we killed some time by looking around the historic site for about an hour. We elected for the earlier of the two boat rides (11:30am) which would give us plenty of time to start the track and reach the first night’s hut.

We boarded the boat with the other hikers starting at the same time. It seemed to be a collection of families some old, like us, and others with young children. The boat was run by Pennticott Wilderness Journeys which gives you a scenic boat ride out to view the first of the 3 capes, Cape Raoul. We also saw views of the cliffs and out to Tasman Island where we’d be hiking to in the next few days. The seas started to get a little rough as we left the shelter of Port Arthur, I was glad to have put on the dorky wind/rain jacket they supply because the seawater was pretty cold! After about an hour the boat dropped us at Denmans Cove and the start of the track.

We ate our lunch on the beach before starting the 4km walk to the hut for that day. The beach was a beautiful white sandy beach, but the presence of a dead seal made it a little less idyllic and a cool breeze kept us from taking a dip. Along the track, there are all these ‘storyseats’ which are cleverly designed seats that have a theme and story that relate to an entry in the track guidebook. These entries range from the telling of the area’s history to the native flora and fauna. For the first day, the trail stays close to the water passing the cobblestone beach of Surveyors Cove.

The first night was spent at Surveyors Hut which is situated on the headland looking out to sea at Cape Raoul. Each hut has dorm-style rooms of 4 and 8. We were lucky to have a group of 4 so we had a room to ourselves for the whole trip. You get assigned a room number at Surveyors Hut and you keep that room number for the rest of the trip. The amenities at the hut sort of blew us away. They had a bbq outside, gas stoves inside, and plenty of cooking accessories to cook up whatever you want. The huts also have a small library of books about the history, ecology, and biology of the area. We arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon and had plenty of time to enjoy the large deck of Surveyors Hut to read, drink tea and watch for wildlife. The highlight was seeing a large tiger snake right off the deck! Surveyors Hut had a scale to weigh your pack. We took turns to see who was carrying the lightest, Dad had 11.9 kg, Mum 10.0 kg, Andrew 17.8 kg and I had 12.3 kg. Later in the afternoon when all parties had arrived the ranger (and host of the hut) gave us a briefing on It was becoming obvious we’d have a bit more free time on this walk than what we are used too so I was regretting not packing extra tea. Bushfire smoke had swept in during the day so we didn’t get great views of Cape Raoul but the sunset was great and we even saw the supermoon rise.

Day 2

We woke to cloudy/smokey skies so once again didn’t get the view over to Cape Raoul. The walk for day 2 is an 11 km hike to Munro Hut over Arthurs peak (which is more like a hill). Some of the trail gets exposed to the sun and I did get warm on the walk. There were plenty of storyseats to experience on this day which kept us busy along the trail. The one that interested me the most was of the people who pioneered the trail out to Cape Pillar looking for the first ascent. We got to Munro Hut at lunchtime. The hut has a fantastic view out to Cape Huay (our destination for Day 4) from a boardwalk lookout. After eating lunch we decided we didn’t want to sit around for the whole afternoon so we walked out to Cape Pillar for the afternoon (the walk to Cape Pillar is recommended for day 3 of the itinerary).

The track out to Cape Pillar is 14km and had the longest stretch of boardwalk I think I’ve ever seen. One section seems to stretch along for miles! Once the trail follows the cliffs you get amazing views of Tasman Island, the Blade, and other rock formations like Cathedral Rock and Dad’s favorite ‘The Trident’. We saw many people on their 3rd day of the walk going back towards Munro Hut. When we got all the way out to the Blade at 3 pm we got the cliffs all to ourselves! The highlight of Cape Pillar is definitely the walk up the blade, which follows a narrow knife-edge ridge that directly faces Tasman Island. You get a good view of the lighthouse on Tasman Island and can marvel at the block-like columns towering hundreds of meters from the sea. We walked all the way back to Munro’s Hut and felt significantly more tired than the other walkers. My feet were aching from all the walking on boardwalk. There is a shower at Munro Hut but it was broken so we weren’t able to make use of it.

Day 3

Morning view from Munro Hut out to Cape Huay

Andrew is a crazy person so he woke up early to get sunrise in out at Cape Pillar. The rest of us opted for more sleep so left at 9 am and we met him out there at a more respectable time. We had to vacate the dorm rooms for the next guests but we were able to leave our overnight packs in a storage shed. The long walk out to the cape felt more tedious the second time but it was nice seeing the sights we’d seen the previous day in the morning light. It was a cooler windy morning than the previous two days but we were lucky because it kept the smoke/haze away. On the way back we read all the story seats from the trail guidebook.

Once we got back to Munro, we grabbed our gear from storage and headed off the final hut, Retakunna. With the trip out to Cape Pillar, it was a 19km day. Retakunna was in a eucalypts forest where we enjoyed relaxing on the deck in the sunshine for the afternoon.

Day 4

Day 4 was set to be another 14km day. The hike out of Retakunna goes over Mt Fortescue which is the highest point of the trail. At only 482m the climb is short and over quickly, they’ve also done a good job of ensuring it’s gradual. The track goes through rainforests to get up and over Mt Fortescue with large tree ferns mixed in with the eucalypts. We powered up the climb and passed many groups who’d left before us. Again we got cliff views and this time we got to see a rock arch formed by a headland eroding from underneath!

At the junction with Cape Huay, we left our big packs and hiked out to the cape with just a daypack. Here we came across more people who were just hiking Cape Huay as a day hike. Cape Huay is like a smaller version of Cape pillar, it has tall sea cliffs and the trail ends at a lookout over the features called the Totem Pole and The Candlestick. These features are popular with climbers but the easiest route on the Totem Pole is a ridiculous 5.12 mixed trad. Disappointed no one was there climbing it but with grades and stiff, I wonder how many climbs it gets a year. The candlestick is easier (5.10) but the rock quality is poor.

We made our way back to our backpacks and hiked what felt like a million stone steps downhill to the white sands of Fortescue Bay where we’d meet the shuttle and end our trip. We had plenty of time to kill as we waited for the shuttle. We took a swim in the bay and had icecreams from the kiosk!

The three capes trek was definitely way bougier than hikes my family is used to but we still enjoyed our time. The huts were really nice quality and were great to not have to carry camping gear. I think this is great for a young family or people going for their first backpacking trip. If I was to make the trip out to Cape Pillar again I’d probably just do it independently and stay at the national park campground near Munro Hut.

Backpack

Mount Anne Circuit

  • January 14, 2019August 9, 2021

I was pretty excited to get out and do some hiking in Australia for my trip back over in January. The week before the Three Capes Track, Mum and Dad wanted to take a shot at the Mount Anne Circuit in South West National Park in Tasmania. They’d been wanting to do this one for a while but were always waylaid by bad weather (notorious in this part of the world). After it was suggested, as soon as I saw some photos of Mount Anne and read a few trip reports I was in.

Mount Anne is the highest mountain in Tasmania’s South West. At 1425m it doesn’t seem like a very imposing mountain but the view of the range and from the summit is nothing short of spectacular. The circuit which includes a summit of Mount Anne as a side trip is typically done over 4 days and follows the ridge along an ancient glacial cirque that surrounds Judd Lake.

Day 1

As the circuit doesn’t start and end in the same place, they are separated by 9km along the entrance road. We got dropped off at the trailhead at Condominium Creek by Andrew who would be taking the car while we were walking. The swampy trailhead was full of mosquitos so we rushed to get ready and leave the hungry pests behind. Like a lot of trails in Tasmania, it starts with a boot cleaning station to prevent the spread of disease to the native flora and keep out invasive species.

The trail started flat for about 2 minutes before heading straight up the shoulder of Mount Eliza the first peak in the cirque’s ridgeline, at a gradient that wouldn’t give up for most of the day. The weather was beautiful, we couldn’t have asked for better. As we climbed we got amazing views of Lake Pedder and the Western Arthurs. The vegetation was pretty thick made of low-lying shrubs which gave us little protection from the warming sun. On the way up we stopped for a couple of rests, before making it to High Camp. High Camp Cabin is half a kilometer under the summit of Mount Eliza and is a small stone structure built for shelter and has surrounding campsites. We stopped here to fill water from the rain tank, eat lunch, and read through the cabin visitors’ book. Not sure this was the best idea as I started reading about how many people failed to reach the summit of Mount Anne or couldn’t complete the circuit because of the dreaded section know as ‘The Notch’. I started feeling a little anxious about some of the climbing to come.

We set off on the trail and the gradient increased yet again. Now instead of a trail, we were following cairns and pulling ourselves up large boulders. The Mount Anne cirque is geologically unique because it is red dolerite on top of a white quartzite base. These boulders marked the beginning of the quartzite which we would be on for the next few days. As I pulled myself (and my heavy 4-day pack) over the boulders I started to realize how dangerous this trail would be if the weather was bad, it was hard to follow even when we could see.

Finally, we made the summit of Mount Eliza where we took many photos of the beautiful view and had a celebratory fruit tingle before continuing along the ridge towards Mount Anne. Now in the high alpine, we started seeing small tarns, cushion plants and pandanus palms giving the landscape a Jurassic theme. It was 2km from the summit of Mount Eliza to the fork in the trail with the Mount Anne summit trail. From a detour off the path along this ridge, we got our first views of Lake Judd 400m below the dolerite cliffs. As we continued towards the nights camp, we had to skirt Eve Peak which meant more boulder hopping. This was proving to be a pretty exhausting task keeping balance with the heavy packs as you moved from rock to rock. I was tired and happy when we reached the junction of the Mount Anne summit trail. We looked down and saw the camp for the day with one other tent already set up. It took about 15 minutes to walk down to Shelf Camp where we set up our camp for the night.

Shelf Camp was an amazing place to spend a night, we were incredibly lucky with the calm weather because it is high and very exposed the wind can rip right through it. The location provides great views of Mount Anne and Mount Lot. To the north, it seems like an endless drop into the valley below and the cliffs of Eve Peak loom over to the south. The tent sites are rock slabs so you need to set up tents without pegs (there was plenty of small rocks around to help) and there was a very small running stream we used for water. The camp is also surrounded by tarns which we took a dip in to wash off the days’ efforts before dinner. An early night was had by all of us to prepare for an early wake up to attempt the summit of Mount Anne the next day.

Day 2

I woke early on day 2 and I was able to watch the sunrise over Mount Lot while packing up camp. The weather was just as stunning as the day before, no wind, blue skies and we could tell early it was going to be warm. We started out backtracking along the trail from the day before, heading for the Mount Anne summit junction. We were all appreciative of being able to carry our day packs and leaving the heavy ones back at Shelf Camp. We followed the trail, getting amazing views towards Lot’s Wife and down the Lake Pedder in the other direction. We boulder hopped following the cairns until we got to the bottom of the summit block. Here was the hardest part of the trail. The route was pretty exposed requiring scrambling up 3m chimneys, traversing to the left, then up a very exposed 3m shelf (thankfully with bomber handholds) followed by a traverse right over some rock slabs which had a little bit of water running over them. The route then goes over boulders along the exposed southeast ridge to lead up to the summit. Overall it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be after reading people’s description in the logbook the day before and when we reached the summit I was surprised there wasn’t anything worse. Having said that in worse weather conditions it would be much harder and I can see why people would turn away. The views were amazing from the top and we spent some time taking photos and soaking it all in. We took the descent off the summit block carefully and made it down with no issues.

 

Back at shelf camp we picked up our heavy gear and started heading off towards the next bit of anxiety ‘The Notch’. The trail was all steep up and downs, muddy in sections, involved a lot of scrambling and required taking off and lowering packs in certain sections. We were mostly on the north side of the ridge but we did climb to traverse across it on a narrower section to give amazing views down to Jude Lake almost 400m below. Back on the north side of the ridge, the trail leading up to The Notch was easy enough to follow. The Notch itself is a saddle with steep dropoffs to both sides. It is important to climb up above The Notch as you approach it for the safest route. Again when we got there it was not as bad as I was expecting from everything I’d read. Some people choose to use a rope to haul packs but we managed to do it without. First, we descended into The Notch via very steep steps to the bottom where it’s level but with steep drop-offs on either side. Next, we were faced with going up again but this time it was not possible to step up and some climbing moves were required. The first being a chimney you have to stem across to the right side followed by a ledge that’s very exposed with a drop off to either side. There isn’t any great hand holds here so we took off our packs lifting them up first before pushing ourselves up using a move that’s not quite a mantle but one that I like to compare with getting out of a swimming pool.

The anxiety of The Notch and was lifted and we continued on the trail which was headed for the summit of Mount Lot. It wasn’t really much of a trail but it traversed the south-east slopes of the Mountain to start climbing directly up a steep gully. In this section there seemed to be two routes you could take but they both ended up in the same gully. The route we took (which veered to the right and down) had some areas of loose rocks you have to climb up. We definitely had to break on the way up these steep gully as it was pretty exhausting work, luckily the views down to Judd Lake were beautiful giving us something to take our minds off the heat, the climb and the hunger from not having lunch yet. Finally, the climbing was over and we reached the top of the ridge of Mount Lot with a short traverse to the summit. We stopped for lunch here after a measurement of the high points to determine which one was the highest and making sure we stood on the summit (in true peak-bagger fashion). Over lunch, we really soaked in the views of Lot’s wife, Judd Lake, Mount Anne and looking down to our night’s campsite of the Lonely Tarns.

Continuing after lunch the trail starts to head almost directly down the narrow Lightning Ridge. We said goodbye to our views of Mount Anne and steeply descended towards the Lonely Tarns. After a descent of 300m, the trail veers to the east and into the scrub. It now becomes an extremely steep, stuffy hike down through the bush to get to the Lonely Tarns. You had to be really careful using trees to help stop from slipping. Even though the humidity in the trees made it really sweaty going I was happy to be out of the sun for a little while. The trail eventually clears out of the bush, gets muddy and hits a ridge between two of the Lonely Tarns (Lake Picone to the north and Judd’s Charm to the south).

Camp for the night was at the east end of Judd’s Charm. When we got there I was so hot, and my feet extremely sore that I went for a swim immediately while Mum and Dad found a campsite. We had plenty of time to set up camp, get water and have a cup of tea because we started the day so early. As it got later it started becoming obvious that the weather was turning. Storms hadn’t been in the forecast but once we finished dinner it became obvious there was one heading right for us. The Lightning coming out of the storm front as it approached was pretty incredible, I hadn’t seen that many lightning forks from a storm in some time. We got ready for bed and headed into the tents early as soon as the rain started. The rain didn’t last very long at all and we were able to get out of the tents again after about 20 minutes. Once we got out of our tents we smelt smoke and saw a fire had started from a lightning strike far to the east of us. We didn’t really know if we could do anything about this, it did seem really far away but we were concerned that we were probably the only ones that knew about this fire. The sun set and we went to bed. I got up again after it was dark to look out to the fire again and saw the red glow of the flames and I started to worry about it a little. Not really sure what we should do I went to bed.

Day 3

We woke in the morning to extremely smokey skies and the smell of burning. Mum’s hope of a side trip to climb Lot’s Wife was dashed with this as Dad and I both deemed it to not be worth it with the poor visibility (not to mention being pretty tired from the activities from the day before). We did take a small detour to Lake Picone in the morning which was lower in elevation and much marshier than Judd’s Charm. The view here was incredibly smokey and if anything it seemed to be getting worse.

We went back to pick up our bags from last Judd’s Charm and we decided to send a message to Andrew on the inReach to keep us informed about fires in the area. The smokey conditions had us a little concerned, not knowing if there were any closer than the one we saw start the light before. We continued on the trail which climbed past some more tarns and gained elevation once again joining back to the ridge which was an open plateau on the North side of Mount Sarah Jane. The views down to Judd Lake were very hazy due to the smoke and we couldn’t see Mount Anne at all. Here we got some phone reception and we looked for information on the fires. Nothing was really apparent so we continued on our way.

The trail continued and got incredibly muddy, passing more lonely tarns on the way around the east face of Mount Sarah Jane. The scrub was thick and spikey and my legs (which were sunburnt) were not loving it. I was very jealous of Mums long gaiters which I’m sure would have been protecting her from the spikes. Just before the turnoff to Mount Sarah Jane summit, there was a boardwalk section which needs to be extended as you had to hop over some huge mud sections to get to it.

When we got to the track junction with the Sarah Jane summit trail we decided to take our lunch to the summit. The trail to the summit was boulder covered and there wasn’t really a clear path, we had to just follow cairns to the top. There wasn’t anything very exposed and the boulders were big enough we didn’t have to be consered about rockfall. We got some views from the summit but they were very obscured by smoke and haze. As we were eating lunch we heard helicopters and finally saw one. It was flying low around the ridge and appeared to be flying above the circuit. We decided it must be looking for bushwalkers like us. It flew around the summit of Mount Anne, circled The Notch then the summit of Mount Lot. It then circled Lot’s Wife, Judd’s Charm and along the east side of Mount Sarah Jane. We thought it would circle the summit of Sarah Jane but it became apparent it wasn’t going to. We had phone reception again and we called the state fire department. They were able to tell us where the fires were. There were several new fires across the state but near us, there was one on Mount Eliza (from day 1) and one near the Anne River (which we were set to cross the next day). They didn’t advise us to change our plan but said not to hesitate to press our SOS button if we got too close. This didn’t fill any of us with confidence but we headed down off the summit hoping the helicopter might do another lap and see us.

When we reached our packs we were still wondering what we should do. We knew the next section of the trail was to descend through a lot of scrub to get down to Judd Lake so we wouldn’t be visible if the helicopter was looking for us. Luckily our answer came quickly, we received a call from Andrew who had been in contact with the Parks Service. He informed us that the Mount Anne Circuit was being evacuated and we needed to contact the parks service to let them know where we were. It really was lucky we had reception and were able to call and give our GPS coordinates. We were on an open plateau so they told us to stay there and put bright things out on the ground so the helicopter could find us. Mum and Dad had some bright orange garbage bags they use to waterproof their pack which we laid out on the ground. Within about 15 minutes the helicopter we saw before was landing in front of us and we were loaded into the back.

We didn’t have a car at the trailhead so we were taken to the Parks Service Headquarters at Mount Field National Park where they were basing the evacuations from. We learned here how widespread the fires were from the storm the night before. It seemed to completely cover the southwest of the state and they were still finding them. Because of this they were closing access and evacuating many trails in the area. After completing some paperwork we were given campsites in the campground to stay for our final night, arranging with Andrew to meet us there the next morning. It was so weird to go from complete wilderness to sitting in an office with a cappuccino in about 20 minutes. We were quite the celebrities in the campground that evening with many people having seen us get out of the helicopter when we arrived.

Overall it is a shame we didn’t get to finish the full circuit, but it also didn’t sound like we missed too much. It was one of the toughest backpacks I’ve ever done and I am very grateful I could join my parents for it.

Hike

Blanca Lake

  • November 10, 2018August 10, 2021

The cold weather had set in this week but the forecast for the weekend looked clear. There was new snow in the mountains and I wanted to take advantage of it to visit a really popular where the conditions might deter the normal crowds. Blanca Lake is an absolute PNW classic and it’s really easy to see why. The glacial feed lake has beautiful turquoise colors reminiscent of Lake Louise in Banff but unlike the Canadian counterpart, it’s a bit more of a challenge to get to.

mileage

11

elevation gain

3,300 ft

location

Wild Sky Wilderness

drive time from Seattle

2 hr

useful gear

Poles, microspikes

permits/passes

NW Forest Pass

With the days being so short this time of year I left Seattle not long after 6 am to drive to the trailhead. Highway 2 was a beautiful drive, watching the sunrise on the freshly snowy peaks. The road to this trailhead is washed out so it adds an extra 2 miles to the hike each way. Parking is along the side of the forest road next to the road closure sign. It appears the forest service isn’t planning on fixing the washed-out areas anytime soon and have put up a trail information sign behind the road closure.

The 2 miles along the road were pretty unexciting. Luckily it doesn’t have too much elevation gain and its only at the very end that you reach the washout areas. When the regular trail begins it starts climbing pretty much straight away. I enjoyed seeing the light making beams through the thick forest as the low clouds from the morning begun to lift. The trail gains about 3000 ft in 3 miles and I started hitting snow on the trail at about the 2-mile mark. I’m not sure what it was, whether it was carrying the additional weight of snowshoes or not used to the cool air but I felt pretty awful on the ascent and took it a bit slower than I normally would.

The 3-mile point of the trail starts heading up a ridgeline. Here there was a lot more snow and I put on my snowshoes to avoid slipping. As I was out early the snow hadn’t been packed down properly yet so it was harder going than I was expecting. After a short descent, I passed the frozen Virgin Lake, which would be better named as a pond. From here you drop 600 ft to the cirque that contains Blanca Lake.

I couldn’t be happier when I reached the lake, the turquoise waters were beautiful and the peaks surrounding were dusted with snow. I was able to eat lunch sitting on a log on the lake shore and take photos from the top of a snow-covered rock pile. With the amount of snow covering the ground, it was difficult to do any exploring so I didn’t hang around too long. I also got pretty cold because the side of the lake the trail reaches was shaded.

The hike back to the car was completely uneventful, I didn’t need to put my snowshoes on for the way back as more people had compacted the trail. The way back also reminded me how dull the trail is. Apart from a view of Glacier peak along the ridge near Virgin lake its just a steep trail through a thick forest which brings you back to the 2-mile road walk back to the car. Despite the boring trail the views of the lake were definitely worth it. Looking back at the photos it really is hard to believe it is Washington and not Canada!

Scramble

Vesper Peak

  • October 27, 2018August 10, 2021

Vesper Peak has long been on my list of mountains to climb. With summit views such as these its easy to see why. I had been putting off making the attempt waiting for a nice day, waiting for people to be free to join me and being a little unsure if I could do this solo. Finally, I bit the bullet and decided I could do it.

mileage

8

elevation gain

4,200 ft

location

Mountain Loop Highway

drive time from Seattle

2 hr

useful gear

Poles for river crossings

permits/passes

NW Forest Pass

The trailhead for this climb starts off the Mountain Loop Highway on the Sunrise Mine trail. This trail was built by miners wanting to mine under Vesper peak back in the 1900s. To begin with, the trail has a few river crossings which I honestly could have done with some hiking poles as there was more water than expected. Then the trail heads up and up and doesn’t give up. It climbs through the Wirtz basin and a narrow couloir to reach the top of Headlee pass (named after the first mining dude). I don’t know what it is about mining trails but they always head directly up. leading up to and after the pass there were open talus fields that require spotting cairns that mark the way. Take care on sections where the trail switchbacks, loose rocks from hikers above could be dangerous.

On the other side of Headlee Pass, you have to traverse up another talus slope until reaching the outlet stream of Vesper lake. From here it was a short walk following the outlet stream to reach Vesper lake. I decided to check out the lake before the summit because I new on the way back I would be tired and want to head out. The lake was a beautiful granite cirque, the water was crystal clear and didn’t seem to deep. It looks like it would be a nice swimming spot a little earlier in the season.

 

After taking my photos of the lake I headed up the peak, following the bootpath which starts from back near where the trail first met the Vesper lake outlet stream. The trail was easy enough to follow but pretty steep. Above the treeline, the top of vesper peak is made of this really awesome granite rock which is super grippy. I was able to comfortably walk up granite slabs following cairns. There had been a small amount of snow overnight near the top, so the only thing I needed to worry about was keeping away from water puddles which could be icy. Before I knew it, I’d reached the summit! The views were amazing, I could see 4 volcanos, the Olympics and the Seattle skyline!

 

A bit of wind of the summit made it pretty chilly while I took photos and ate my summit snacks. The weather was taking a turn for the worst so I made the hike down without too much delay. All the talus on the trail made my feet pretty sore by the time I got back to the car.

GPS Track:

Hike

Hood River – Mitchell Point

  • October 20, 2018August 10, 2021

Some friends of Boyd were running in the Columbia River Gorge Marathon this weekend so we decided to make a weekend of it and join them in an Airbnb in Hood River. I obviously agreed to make the trip down for the weekend with the hope of doing a hike in the area.

 

We lucked out with the weather for this weekend, it was sunny and warm, completely unknown for this time of year. On Sunday morning we had breakfast in Hood River then headed to do a short hike I’d looked up that was nearby. Without much planning and not really knowing what would be accessible after the fires that ran through the gorge last year I chose Mitchell Point. I had wanted to drive to Mount Hood but it seemed out of the question when I realized we all had to drive back together.

Mitchell Point

mileage

2.6

elevation gain

1,270 ft

location

Columbia River Gorge, OR

drive time from Seattle

4 hr

useful gear

Good footwear

permits/passes

NW Forest Pass

Mitchell point is a very short hike that would lead to a big view over the gorge. The mileage was short but the elevation gain was high. The trail was steep the whole way. There were sections that were really rocky too and Boyd wished he had his hiking shoes for. There are lots of cuts off the trail too so keep your eyes peeled to make sure you’re heading up the right one and avoid cutting the switchbacks.

The trail zigzags until it reaches the ridge behind Mitchell Point where it passes under the powerlines. It’s weird huffing up through the forest and coming out to a clearing with such evidence of humans. The final part of the trail is pretty exposed, hiking up the ridge to reach the high point. There isn’t much room on the top so hopefully, you can get it all to yourself as we did. You get a good view across the gorge either side. It was a little hazy but when you normally expect grey and showers for this time of year you really can’t complain!

 

Further info on trail

Hike

Carne Mountain

  • October 13, 2018August 10, 2021

I decided to make use of a great weather forecast and get a summit and see some Larches in the process. I went through my list of larch hikes and decided Carne mountain would be a great option. I hadn’t been before because I’d always been a little turned off the road to get there which by all reports the last few miles are some of the worst around. Thankfully with our new Jeep which has high clearance, we made the trailhead with no issues. The road is as bad as everyone says, places where there are huge rocks embedded in and washed out areas that look like they would be very scary in the wet. The parking lot isn’t very big so most people park along the road.

mileage

7 mi

elevation gain

3767 ft

location

Central Cascades

drive time from Seattle

2.5 hr

useful gear

N/A

permits/passes

NW Forest Pass

I arrived at the trailhead around 9 and was really surprised at how many cars there were already. I knew this was a popular trailhead for overnights into Spider Meadows and it was prime larch season so I hoped I would have some solitude on the trail. The trail to Carne mountain branches off the Spider Meadows trail after the first quatre of a mile. The mountain trail heads straight up through the forest with some helpful switchbacks. After about 2 miles the trail clears out as it traverses a rock field and you get views into the valley below. It was still pretty early and this part of the trail was shaded and cold when I stopped hiking.

My first sign of larches was after another mile when I entered a high basin with larches galore and a small creek. From the bottom of the basin, you can stand in the grassy clearing and look up to the summit of Carne Mountain. The ground in the basin was crunchy and frozen as I walked through but as I climbed up from here I got into the sun and it was beautiful!

 

After climbing through the small basin and up to the saddle the trail splits off to the Old Glib Trail to the right and I went on the Carne Mountain on the left. The trail enters a really thick group of larches here and it feels like you are in a larch tunnel. Along the ridge, the main trail starts heading down into the valley below but for Carne mountain I stayed on the ridge following the path another 0.3 miles.

The view from the summit was definitely impressive. It was a small summit and I had to share it with two other hikers. You get a really good view of Mount Maude in the Entiat Mountains when you look North, to the west Buck Mountain looms as one of the snowiest peaks of the bunch. I spent plenty of time on the summit taking photos and enjoying the view.

 

I didn’t have extra time to explore the area before heading back down to the car as I had something on in Seattle that evening. I would have liked to have explored the ridge that Carne Mountain is on. On my way back down from the summit, there were now several groups of people in the basin and dogs galore. I was glad I went a little earlier to mostly miss this rush.

Backpack

Sunrise and Cooney Lakes

  • October 7, 2018August 10, 2021

Having been back from our trip to Iceland for two weeks I was itching to get out into the mountains to see the Larches that had started turning. I knew that my opportunities might be my last chance to overnight for the season so was keen to plan something for Saturday and Sunday. First plans included creating a trip with one of my Mountaineers friends to scramble Maude and Seven Fingered Jack. These peaks are in a high larch area so would be an ideal goal this time of the season. Unfortunately, this plan was canceled two days before with recent snowfall on the peaks making a scramble to the summit a bad idea in the freezing temperatures set for the weekend. Focused on my plan to go backpacking but having no one to go with I put a call out on a local women’s outdoor group on Facebook. Through this, I was able to link up with Anuja who invited me to come with her and her boyfriend, Pramod, for the weekend to the Washington Sawtooths.

mileage

19 mi

elevation gain

5,036 ft (Ascent) 1,232 ft (Descent)

location

Methow/Sawtooth

drive time from Seattle

4 hr

useful gear

Warm clothes, it was chilly!

permits/passes

NW Forest Pass

We met in the Preston park and ride at 7 am Saturday and started the long drive out to the East side of the cascades. The drive was pretty scenic, over Blewitt Pass we saw larches turning by the side of the road and laughed at why we were driving so far to walk further to see these trees. We stopped for fuel, coffee, and the biggest cinnamon rolls you’ve ever seen in Pasteros about 30 mins from the trailhead.

We got the last car park in the Foggy Dew Creek trailhead and after the long drive, we were keen to get on to the trail. The foggy dew creek trail is open to horses, trail and mountain bikes making it feel like a bit of a highway. It gradually makes its way up 2500′ and 5 miles to the large junction with the trails to Foggy Dew Ridge, Cooney Lake and Merchants Basin trails. The only thing of note on this pretty boring trail is Foggy Dew Falls which is roughly halfway to the junction.

 

From the junction, it was another mile to Merchant’s basin where we saw our first larches and open meadows. We didn’t spend much time in the basin and chose to head straight up the trail to Sunrise Lake. Most of this trail from the basin was snow covered and filled with larches. The afternoon sun coming through the larches was so pretty and we made it to the lake with only one other group of backpackers there before us. The lake was partially frozen and the surrounding cliffs dusted in snow.

We left our big bags and decided to explore around the lake, chasing the warm sunny spots on the North side of the lake. We set up camp in our campsite among the larches. I studied a map of the area and noticed the Sunrise lake trail continued on over the pass, I decided to try and find this trail and get a view of the lake from the ridge above before dinner. I couldn’t find where the trail left the lake edge but I headed up from the outlet and figured I intersect with it. I did with no trouble and followed the rock cairns up the steep side of the basin. It took me maybe 15 minutes to reach the top and but that time I’d warm right up. The ridge was in the sun and I got a great view west of a see of peaks. The best view was down into the basin of the lake, I could see our campsite and watch the giant sheet of ice drift on the lake slightly. I spent time taking photos and enjoying the warm sunshine. Knowing that I still needed to make dinner back at camp I headed back down about an hour before Sunset.

Once the sunset it got pretty cold and after dinner and hanging our food we were off to bed. I ended up having to heat some water for my Nalgene to keep me warm in my sleeping bag. It was only about 9 pm when I fell asleep being pretty tired from the day’s activity. I didn’t sleep that well because of the cold temperatures but it was restful enough.

We set our alarms just before sunrise and I found it hard to get out of my warm sleeping bag. The goal this morning was to pack up and head back to Merchant basin, leave our packs there and do the short trip to Cooney Lake. Even though Cooney lake was only a 1.5 mile from Merchants Basin it required a 1000′ ascent and 600′ descent.

We made the ridge in pretty good time and as soon as I saw the view into the Cooney Lake basin I felt like the 1000′ climb was totally worth it. The lake was a little bigger than Sunrise but the surrounding basin was bigger and completely full of golden larches! It was a beautiful sight.

 

We made our way down to Cooney lake and took lots of photos among the larches and at the shore of the lake, there was a little snow on the way down that we had to be careful but it was nice to not have our heavy packs for it. The weather was starting to deteriorate at this point and we had a lot of hiking to go for the day so we headed back over the pass and into Merchants Basin.

The hike back to the car and the trailhead went without event, we didn’t stop too much, at the main junction then at Foggy Dew Falls. We were back to the car later than we hoped (around 3pm) with the long drive ahead of us.

Backpack

The Coast Track

  • March 22, 2015August 11, 2021

This was the first backpacking trip that I wanted to do (ie not dragged on one by my parents). Instead, I dragged them on it! Mum and Dad drove to Sydney to join me on the Coast Track, a 26km walk from Bundeena to Otford. Located in Royal National Park in Sydney’s South. After leaving my car at Otford we took Mum and Dad’s car to Bundeena to start Day 1 which was 18km to North Era Campground.

The weather started a little iffy but we got lucky and had no rain. Along with the weather, the coastline started very dramatically. We were rewarded with beautiful sandstone cliffs straight out of the gate. The first formation being ‘The Balconies’ which were tiered sandstone stepping down to cliffs over the ocean. In a short walk, we got to the Water run, which is where a river cuts into the sandstone headland, creating a small waterfall that cascades into the ocean. One of the highlights of this part of the walk was wedding cake rock (which is now fenced off for its protection), it’s a big ‘slice’ of white sandstone perched on the end of the cliff. Apparently, since we did this walk they’ve assessed the cliffs around the wedding cake and have determined it’s likely to fall into the ocean in the next few years. It was one of the busiest sites when we were there. Several people had just hiked in to see it for the day. They’ve put up a big fence to stop people sitting on it.

We left all the other people a Wedding Cake rock and kept hiking to Marley and little Marley beach. If only the weather was a little nicer these beaches would have been the perfect place for a swim. From Little Marley beach, we did the section of the Coast track I’d previously done as a day hike which followed beautiful sandstones cliffs to Wattamolla Dam and Wattamolla Beach. We stopped for lunch at Wattamolla Dam before continuing our hike South. Wattamolla Beach was a popular spot, it’s a weird feeling to be on an overnight hike and continually passing through day-accessible picnic areas.

Continuing along the coast south we got more views of sandstone cliffs and arrived at what was probably my favourite landmark for the day, Eagle Rock! Eagle Rock is a rock that juts out over the ocean and looks exactly like an eagle’s head, to top it off it’s right next to Curracurrong creek which dramatically ends as a cascading fall into the ocean. We finally got some sunshine to take some great photos! The rest of the day was spent hiking to Garie Beach, which was another day-use area. I was surprised to see many private shacks at Little Garie Beach. This being a national park I didn’t realize people could own property there. Turns out there are several of these private shacks along the coast going south from Garie. There was one final climb from Little Garie beach, to get over the headland and to our campground for the night. The trail was under maintenance and was pretty steep heading down to the North Era Campground. The campground wasn’t very busy, other than us only a few other tents. To stay here you need a permit. There were nice grassy spots to camp for the night and a composting toilet!

On day 2 we were roused from our tents by the sound of a landing helicopter. The park service was dropping supplies and workers to work on the steep trail into North Era. This was the hint we needed to pack up our gear and continue with the rest of the track. The final day was only 8km but involved a climb out of the beach to Otford lookout. Before starting the climb we checked out Figure 8 pools. To get there we had to detour from the track at Burning Palms Beach. This was the start of Figure 8s Insta fame and we ran into a couple doing a photoshoot with the pools. It’s definitely important to visit these at the right tide because they are a rock platform that gets completely covered by big surf at high tides. Back at Burning Palms beach, we took our first swim for the trip making use of the sunny weather. Lucky we cooled off because the rest of the day was climbing away from the ocean through palm forests to Werrong Lookout and on to Otford.

This was a great hike for someone getting into backpacking. It’s interesting to reflect on this trip now, years later, how much I’ve done since. Also how I did this hike with all-cotton clothing! and even packed a new shirt of the second day (something I’d never do now haha). I’m glad I got the chance to do this before I moved from Syndey and it’s always special to share these experiences with Mum and Dad.

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