CENTRAL OREGON LOOP: Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds, Fall Mountain Lookout, Steens Mountain Wilderness

Our quarters for the evening.

Dreamy Dream Dream.... sigh...

Yes please! Gosh this place was incredible!

Thank you beautiful Oregon and hard workers that built these amazing structures in the 30s!

Cheeesh!!!

Painted Hills, some jerk face ran up the side, big troubs. 

Yikes what a gorgeous view! Interior and Exterior :)

Night walk view.

Dreamy.

Strawberry Mountains love.

Big Indian Gorge

Kiger Gorge.

Wildhorse Lake besos.

East Rim Alvord Desert Lookout ladybug.

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.

ENCHANTMENT LAKES 2016: Stuart Zone

I have been slacking in getting pictures and trip reports up on the blog. I promise it's not due to a lack of hiking or adventure town, I've just had a lot on my plate, because I am a lucky soul who is blessed with work and projects. 

Several of us entered the Enchantment Lakes lottery this year, and a few of us were awarded permits. We only ended up with permits for the Stuart Zone, for late June, and early October. The following are some pictures from our late June trip. 

Here is the website for the permit application in case you are interested in applying, 

.... (CLICK HERE) I'VE ALSO NCLUDED AN EXCERPT FROM THE WEBSITE BELOW...

Overnight Permit Season Expanded

Starting this year, the limited entry overnight permit season for the Enchantment Permit Area will increase by six weeks to help manage increased visitor use and resulting resource damage at this popular destination.  Permits for overnight stays will now be required from May 15 through October 31.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of this unique area, all overnight visitors must obtain a limited entry FEE permit for trips planned between May 15 and October 31. Demand for overnight permits far exceeds the number available, therefore advance reservations are highly recommended. A pre-season lottery is held in February through early March of each year to allocate the majority of permits.  Following the pre-season lottery, remaining permits are available on a first come, first served basis through the recreation.gov advance reservation system. A small number of permits are available on an unreserved daily walk-in basis.

PLEASE BE AWARE: While permits may be reserved as early as May 15th, early spring snow and weather conditions may not allow road access to the Stuart Lake or Eight-mile Lake trailheads during the early part of the season. Even if road access is possible, traveling and camping on snow is highly likely during May and June. Please familiarize yourself with the change and cancellation policy if you choose to apply for permits during the early spring or late fall. 

Colchuck Lake

Jeremy's friend, the very un-shy Buck

View from lookout just outside of Colchuck

From the trail to Stuart Lake, looking up and over the pass.

View from our campsite on Stuart Lake.

Hiking back down from Horseshoe Lake. Fun group this year!

At the Stuart Lake Trailhead with Adam and Dale.

Colchuck Lake in all it's glory.

August 2015: ENCHANTMENT LAKES HIKE: CENTRAL CASCADES, ALPINE LAKE WILDERNESS, ENCHANTMENT WILDERNESS

I'm a bit late in posting about our epic Enchantment Lakes trip which was back in August, but better late than never I suppose. It is almost time to enter the lottery again for the 2016 season, so I figured I should get these up before I have another year of photos to share! The trip was just as we'd expected. So so so breathtaking, and the most challenging hike most of us have ever done. We came in the from Icicle Creek Rd, coming in from the lower lakes instead of tackling Aasgard Pass and the Colchuck Trailhead. We did this because our camping permits were only for the snow lakes area, so we could only set up camp here. We figured we'd come in, tackle the biggest first climb, sleep at upper snow lake, and then hike around the next day without all our gear in the upper enchantments. This was essentially a good plan and worked out, but we could have really used an extra day, and I realize even more now why the "core" lottery permits are so hard to come by. It would be nice to be able to move through the lakes with several days, and camp wherever there are spots.

Re-organizing before packing everything in to the other car. "Don't need that, don't need that, don't need that".... You know, that kind of re-organizing.

Lower Snow Lake in the morning.

Looking down at Nada Lake on the hike down/home.

Dale at Inspiration Lake

Upper Snow Lake the next morning. Leg warmers, don't go hiking without em.

Yoga every damn day, Upper Snow Lake. This place makes it easy.

Dale, Lani, and Rob on the way up to the upper enchantments on  Day 2.

Can't wait to go back!