MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK: Lake George, Gobblers Gnob, Emerald Ridge, Wonderland

Tahoma Creek borders the West Side Road via Nisqually Entrance, you have to hike in on the road about 4 miles to reach the Lake George Trailhead. 

These Scrub Jays are even up here at Gobblers Gnob! The cutest... I tried to behave myself :) 

Trail up to Emerald Ridge, pictures will not do it justice. Just have to go!

View of the mountain from Gobblers Gnob lookout.

Our own Lake George, somehow got a private Lake in the midst of one of Rainier's busiest summers ever!

Marmot Face. He was soooooooo cute!

Suspension bridge back to Wonderland Trail, this is where we turned the other direction and head back along the "unimproved" Tahoma Creek Trail. Was a special adventure!

INDIAN HEAVEN LAKE LOOP HIKE: JULY 2016

Here is your link for the 16 mile lake loop hike which we completed last week. 

http://www.nwhiker.com/GPNFHike63.html

The most important thing to know about this hike is THERE ARE A SHIT TON OF MOSQUITOES. Most people know that, this is a well known program up in the Indian Heaven Wilderness Area--but I just wanted to remind everyone, it's not a joke, may want to bring the deet for this one. Whether you are in the sun, shade, near water, doesn't really matter, it's a party. If you come later in the season, closer to September, it usually eases up and doing an overnighter would be a bit more manageable in the bug department. 

The road getting here was a little rough in spots, so bring the four wheel drive, and a good map. You will pass what seems like about 20 lakes on the hike, I lost count. They are all beautiful, and if you decide to do an overnight backpacking trip, you could most definitely have a private lake to yourself. How lucky are we to be surrounded by these magic areas?

We did the 16 mile dog bone in a little over 5 hours. We were moving fairly quick and could not stop because of the bugs, so no lunch or nap breaks :)

We also spotted a ton of elk tracks on the trail, and a few cougar tracks freshly scattered in the mud nearby, so keep an eye out!

Thomas Lake

One of the many meadows, we were blessed with perfect weather.

Thomas Lake, right before a duck tried to kill Greg.

Very cool old PCT flash.

One of the many lovely lakes, didn't get the name of all of these! Will try and get my map and add later :)

Greg is part mountain goat.

Pretty new trailhead signs.

Kalama Horse Camp, Toutle Trail, Mt. Hood; February 2015

Well, we originally intended to do this trail, but it turns out the forest road is closed in the winter, although none of the research I did beforehand suggested that. Oh well, that will happen in the winter sometimes. Luckily, the road was closed right at Kalama Horse Camp, which just so happened to be a trailhead for the Toutle Trail. How great in the Pacific Northwest?!

Lots of washout on the trail

 Most-of-family photo

This trail had a very cool look to it. Lots of flat spots, lots of moss, lots of green. Very unique looking in some areas. 

Fungus

Maggie and mom

Maggie living on the edge

Fully stocked: Dog leashes, binoculars, pocket knife, bear spray.

It's real touch to tell in this photo, but you'll have to take our word for it...that indentation in the mud is a sizeable fresh bear print. While we had the bear spray, we decided to turn around. Better safe than sorry, especially with the dogs.

Chloe the wood nymph

After our aborted mission on the Toutle trail, we pushed on towards to Ape Caves. We had no intention of going in (dogs don't like dark caves), so we did the .25 mile Tale of Two Forests Interpretive Trail, which is a cool little trail explaining the history of Mt. St. Helens and how it changed the landscape of the forest. There are cool lava tubes that you can spelunk through as well. Very cool.

Klickitat River Trail, South Cascades, Columbia Gorge, Washington

We visited the Klickitat River Trail this week, and were treated with warm weather, gorgeous views, and found some bone treasures. Click the link for details on the trail.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/klickitat-rail-trail

The Wild and Scenic Klickitat River. 

There is a sign about leashing your dogs on the trail (this is Chloe just before leashing I promise!) Apparently they have had a few unfortunate incidents involving dogs on the trail this last season, whether it be from rattlsnakes, or "unfriendly neighbors with guns that don't want dogs on their property". Regardless, we kept them on leash the whole way, we only went 2 miles there and back, but the trail goes for 10.5 miles, so perhaps there are some sketchy areas further in.

Using my new Goodwill binoculars that I got for $6.00!!! To watch the natives catch Chinook Salmon. There were DIY platforms all over the river, and they had so many salmon, this must be a hot spot!

Tim took this picture of the Native Lady Fisherman, using the digital camera, through the binocular lense, pretty cool!

some of the platforms you can see all down the river.

Bone treasures! So beautiful.

Back Home and in full Cuddle Puddle mode.