Fannie Goes West!

I know, I know.  It’s been weeks, or months :(, since the last post.  I have no one to blame but myself (this is Max by the way). It’s not that there haven’t been hikes to post.  It’s that life has gotten in the way of actually posting them.  With the last few months being focused on finding jobs and a place to live, we haven’t done a great deal of hiking, and those that were done seemed to take a low priority in actually being written about.  But now I can wait no longer (and have run out of excuses), so here it is: the first in a three-day posting series of hikes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of Northwestern Washington.  Aren’t you excited?

Denny Creek was mentioned to me by a friend has being a pretty terrific hike.  It’s relatively close to Seattle, pretty challenging, which wards off the masses, and has some great scenery and lakes, which are my favorite. It’s shares an exit with a sister hike that will be posted in the coming days, Granite Mountain Fire Lookout. While a peak ascent needs good weather for great views, lakes don’t necessarily need sunshine and cloudless (or high cloud) skies.  So on a foggy and chilly Monday morning I dropped Linda off and work and headed into the west Cascades.

The hike starts out easy enough with a decently flat trek up to the creek the hike is named for, Denny Creek.  I was there at low tide as it hadn’t rained in a couple days, but I can imagine how impressive the running creek would be after a good rainstorm.  I was able to walk up the creek a ways on a few very, very large boulders, and it was quite calming to watch and listen to the creek. But this was only a stop along the way to my final destination, a glacial lake.

The views of the valley and the foliage along the way were quite stunning, as the maples had just started to turn a bright shocking orange on their annual pilgrimage to deep red. What I wasn’t expecting to see was a waterfall, which shocked me as I turned a switchback.  Dramatically flanked by beautiful fir trees and orange maple leaves, it was a welcome addition to what was already one of the more beautiful places I’ve been.

After ascending the gorge, I kicked into switchback gear and headed back into the trees.  After circumnavigating the peak, through dense trees, I started a quick uphill walk before coming into a fog-laden gorge of which water and trees were barely perceptible.  Mesmerizing is an understatement.  It was amazing to watch the fog roll of the lake.  It was close to 40 degrees at the lake and I was glad I thought to bring light gloves and an extra jacket.  While I ate my lunch I watched the fog slide across the glassy water and begin to clear.  As the day warmed (very slightly) the fog lifted to reveal a beautiful, clear, deep blue lake, surrounded by more beautiful firs and maples.  This was Melakwa Lake, and it was amazing.  

I took my time wandering around the lake and came to find on the far end what is Upper Melakwa Lake. Much smaller, and feeding itself into the main body, it was dramatically set into the valley as if placed there purposefully.   Its entry to the main body was quite beautiful as well.  Creating a mini bubbling creek through a narrow gap in the rocks, it filled the main body and allowed the two lakes to coexist peacefully. 

 As cool air began to creep through my layers, it signaled my time to get my body moving again to generate some heat. So I bid farewell for now to these sister lakes and made my way back down the valley retracing my steps to Fannie waiting, who was waiting to take me on my next adventure.

Last weekend we went on our first hike with our friends Tessa and Steve.  We also went to a new part of the Cascades.  Well, really, pretty close to where our last hike was but we accessed the mountains from the south instead of the north.  If you were doing a multi-day trip, which many people do and we want to get to eventually, you can connect many, many trails together and see a whole host of lakes, peaks, and old growth forests.  But for this trip we stuck with 1 trail, 4 lakes, and no peaks, except the ones we could see above us

As this hike was a lot closer to the city, and we were going on Sunday, we got an early start to the day to beat the crowds.  However we were amazed when we showed up the parking lot around 8am to find it completely full, and cars up and down the access road.  We were afraid that our hike wouldn’t be quite so peaceful and refreshing but we all hopped out and put our packs on anyway.  As we started up the trail we found a lot of people coming down, which was odd for that early.  It turns out that it was a 6:30am meetup for Geocaching, and most of the people were already done for the day at 8:30 or 9am!  With the knowledge we would have some solitude we pressed on.

At the first clearing we were awarded with beautiful views of the valley below and Mt Rainier to the south.  It’s really quite amazing to see this mountain on a clear day.  Even from the city on a clear day you are still met with a sense of awe at its size compared to the landscape around it.

We continued to push up the ridgeline and left the area of smaller trees, which used to be a tree plantation, and moved into a proper old growth forest of Fir and Cedar.

Our destination(s) for the day were lakes, four of them to be exact.  At the top of the first ridge is access to the first, Lake Margaret. The trail to the lake drops down the other side of the ridge for about a half-mile.  After cutting some switchbacks you’re dropped into a small meadow. From there you follow the trail through a patch of trees and bushes to access the lake.  

A beautiful aquamarine this was the most aesthetic lake of the three.  If we would have known that at the beginning we could have headed back to the car and had a late breakfast! :)

After taking in our fill, we gained the ridgeline once more and continued on the same trail.  After a quick, easy walk through more forest, with rocks and trees steaming in the late morning sun, we came to a pretty good decent through rockslides and then side-hilled around Mount Margaret, with another descent before coming upon Twin Lakes.  Definitely the least spectacular of the stops on this hike, but a good spot nonetheless to catch our breath and have a little lunch.

After our break, we pushed on to the third lake.  The trail gradually ascended until it abruptly shot straight up the mountainside. A climb we thought wouldn’t ended, finished as quickly as it started.  At the crest you could see beautiful deep blue water surrounded by steep walls of rock and fir.  The largest lake we’ve seen so far, Lake Lillian was also one of the most inviting to swim in, relax by, and spend the day at.  If we head back this way in the future, we will make a beeline to this lake with some good food, beer and wine, and floaties and hang out by the lake all day.

After another long break, we reversed the process and headed back past Twin Lakes, up and over the ridgeline, around Mount Margaret, and back down the main trail to the car. There were still a few folks Geocaching on our way down, but luckily none of the large group had gone past the first junction, and most had cleared out by the time we returned to the car.

In a serendipitous moment in April, the same day that we decided to move to Seattle, we saw an Instagram post from our friend Lauren stating the same!  We’re sad to say that she decided to move back to Chicago and headed out of town last week.  We were excited to explore a new city with her, but circumstances change and we had to say goodbye.  We wanted to give Lauren a good send off, PNW style, so we found what looked to be a great hike and headed out for some adventure.

We all had been seeing pictures glacial alpine lakes and had put those at the top of our list. Linda also really loves waterfalls, so with the Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene on the same trail it seemed like a perfect sendoff hike.

If an easier hike is on the docket, the trek to Bridal Veil Falls is about 4 miles round trip with elevation gain mostly at the end as you arrive at the falls.  The total trip to the falls and the lake is about 8 miles and 2300’ up.  Not as burly as our last hike, but you can still feel it in your legs on the way up and the way down.  The first mile and a half is pretty flat through dense forest.  It’s a great warmup for the legs, lungs, and heart.

As you approach the falls you start to get some pretty great views of the valley below.  It also makes you realize that you’re starting to gain some elevation and to get ready to gain some more.

After some switchbacks and stairs built in the mountainside we arrived at the falls.  With some recent rain in the area they were flowing pretty nicely.  There are three distinct flows down the cliff face and together they make for an impressive sight.  You can really get a sense of the scale with Linda and Lauren at the base!

After checking out the falls for a while, which we had all to ourselves, it was time to continue on up to see our first glacial lake.  This is where the real climb starts, and you keep climbing until the last three hundred feet that goes down to the lake.  While a steadier grade than our last hike, and certainly less switchbacks, your legs start to feel it after the first mile and your pace steadily declines. We had the falls to ourselves, but the trail up to the lake had a good amount of people going up and coming down.  With the continued elevation gain we were rewarded with some pretty spectacular views, which only got better the higher we went.

After a final push, there is a sense of calm as you finally start downhill, and as you round the last bend the beautiful blue waters appear below you and you get your first view of Lake Serene.  

It’s a pretty special lake in that it has no inlet, other than the glacier that sits on the bank. As the glacier melts it fills up the bowl creating the lake.  Though the glacier had receded in the warm summer months, it was still a pretty good size sitting on the far bank.  You can walk around the bowl to take a closer look, but that would have taken us another hour round trip and we had already gotten a late start on the day as it was.

In only our first week in Seattle, we’ve already gone on two great adventures.  Soon after we arrived we were looking for a way to get some great views of the city, as well as see a new part of the area.  Our friend Lauren suggested that we take a ferry to one of the islands west of Seattle.  There are many commuter and longer distance ferries that take off from the city so we had our choice of places.  We ended up choosing Bainbridge Island, which is a quick 35-minute ferry crossing from the terminal downtown.  So we headed downtown to meet Lauren and get in line.  The ferry time we wanted was already full so we waited for the next one and checked out the terminal and the view of downtown.

15 minutes before launch we were back in the car ready to go.  Once the ferry docks and everyone is unloaded, they start by loading bicycles and motorcycles.  Then it was time for the cars and we pulled Fannie onto the boat, parked on the lower parking deck, and headed to the upper deck to see the sights.

From the upper deck we were able to get spectacular views of the city as well as Rainier off to the south. It was a gorgeous day and just warm enough that the strong breeze felt great as we watched the city shrink behind us. As we got closer to the island we headed back down to the car to be sure we were ready to disembark.

Once on Bainbridge we took a short drive around before we ended up in the downtown strip.  It is really nice with lots of shops, restaurants, cafes, and wine stores with tastings!

While we didn’t have a tasting, we did duck into a few shops and got an iced coffee to tide us over and give us a little boost.  After coffee we headed back to the dock to get on the next ferry back to Seattle. It was a great trip, although short, and we will definitely head back to Bainbridge to explore more!

A few days later, our Airbnb host Aaron invited us to go on a hike with him.  We were eager to explore the Cascades, so we jumped at the chance.  We’ve also never summited a mountain together, so this would be our first chance to do so.  

We headed up north in the Mt Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest, our objective Mount Dickerman. At 8.4 miles and with a 3800-foot climb, it was one of the toughest hikes that we’ve ever done.  About 3/4s of the way up it seemed like we weren’t going to make it.  But the beautiful vistas and plump blueberries along the trail kept us going.

Once at the top we sat down to take a break, take in the view, and have some lunch.  It was well worth the climb to be surrounded by peaks in every direction.  

After our rest, we realized we still had to make it down.  While slightly easier than going up, going down still took its toll on our legs.  At the bottom we were thankful that we’d made the climb, but also thankful that it was over.

After Missoula we continued our journey west.  From here we would follow along the Lewis & Clark Trail across Idaho and into Washington.  Our first stop would be Lolo Pass where the expedition crossed the Continental Divide for the first time.  It was the pass used by the Lolo and Nez Perce Indians as a meeting place and trading post between the plains tribes and the river tribes.  We stopped in the visitor center for a little history before flowing west with the Lochsa River.

We camped in the Clearwater National Forest.  A quiet and secluded campground, we were butted up against the Lochsa River, which is beautiful, rocky, and always steadily flowing.  It was a nice soundtrack to the couple of days we spent there.

At the visitor center we also got information on a hike to some hot springs.  We were excited for a longer trek with a goal at the end. However the Ranger failed to mention that the five-mile hike was almost continuously uphill.  We also set out on the most humid day of our entire trip. Needless to say about three miles in, nowhere near the top of the ridge, and sweating buckets, we decided to return to camp.  While the trail was clearly marked, a topographic map would have been a good idea so we knew just exactly what we were getting in to.  We did get some good views and Linda spotted an amazing snail on his own climb up the trail!

After Clearwater we continued west into the college town of Moscow, Idaho.  Home to the University of Idaho it’s almost a dual college town with Pullman, Washington being right across the boarder, home of Washington State. You would think it would be a bigger rivalry, but The Vandals of Idaho save all their animosity for Boise State to the south.

Western Idaho and Eastern Washington is a beautiful part of the country.  It’s filled with rolling hills of wheat and chickpeas.  We took a little adventure before dinner and found ourselves in the middle of the fields on a small dirt road.  The sun was making its way down turning the wheat a beautiful golden color and the chickpeas a rich, vibrant green.  We savored the view for an hour before hunger got the best of us and we headed back to town.

The next day we drove across most of Washington State.  Turning into high desert, the landscape gets drier, hotter, and harsher.  As we drove down the road little dirt devils would spring up next to us, twirling away.  At one point we came around a bend to see one about five times higher than all the others!

Our final destination for the day was Rainier National Park, our fourth and final National Park on the trip. You get your first glimpse of the mountain as you drive through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  A beautiful sight, its amazing how it rises so much higher than all of its surroundings.

We were only camping for the night, and will be back to Rainier soon enough, so we just hung around our campsite relaxing and taking in the natural beauty.  This was by far the most scenic campsite we had on our trip. Nestled in a grove giant fir trees and backed up against the Ohanapecosh River, Max did an amazing job of randomly selecting this campsite online.  We cooked our dinner that night almost entirely over the campfire and there really is nothing better than food cooked over an open flame.

The next morning we took an up close look at the mountain to see what we would have to tackle when we come back to hike it!  We would have ventured up but we were excited to get to Seattle and finally start to get settled!

From Great Falls, we traveled to East Glacier Park, Montana for a quick night stay in a quiet cabin just outside the reservation town of Browning. We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast first thing in the morning and promptly set out to try and grab a campsite at the famously competitive campground called Many Glacier in Glacier National Park. It was an unusually busy Wednesday and all of the campsites on the east side of the park filled up before 11:00 am! We were had to drive through the park to the west side campgrounds, and we really feel that was for a good reason.

Not only was the drive to the west side breathtaking, the campsite that we landed was pretty awesome. At Apgar campground, we had phone service, easy access to firewood, ice, and restaurants and stores, and we were right on the absolutely gorgeous Lake McDonald.

After we set up camp we went for a quick hike to the west side of the lake.  The lake feeds McDonald Creek, which we crossed over on our hike.  It has the clearest water we’ve ever seen.  The color went from perfectly clear, to turquoise to deep blue.  The lake is the same way.  They both look incredibly inviting to swim in, but you either have to have super tough skin or have to be really hot, because the water is frigid.

Back at our camp we made dinner and received a visitor at our campsite.  This Pika came right up to our picnic table and sniffed around our feet. He was extremely bold!  It probably means someone has fed him in the past, which you aren’t supposed to do.  Keep our wild animals wild!

After dinner we headed back to the lake to take in the sunset.  We noticed there was a slight haze hanging about the park earlier in the day, and now it was very pronounced.  It turns out there was a large wild fire south west of the park and the smoke was carrying in turning everything slightly blurred.  While not ideal for our shots of the park, it added a beautiful softness to the night landscape around the lake.

The next morning we got up bright and early to beat the crowds on our hike.  We drove up to Logan Pass, which is the only pass through the park, to hike up to hidden lake.  

The main trail out to hidden lake is mostly boardwalk and filled with day-trippers just out for a walk. It offers some beautiful scenery, a chance to see mountain goats, and a view of Hidden Lake.  We took this trail all the way to the end to get our first partial view of the lake.  

We also got a great show by a Marmot.  He was playing right by the trail and kept ducking in and out of the brush.  What we weren’t prepared for is that when they’re scared they make a very high pitched long whistle to warn others of the impending danger.

On our way up to the main lookout we noticed a man going out a side trail to the east of us.  It looked like a little more of a challenge that we were looking for, so we decided to take the trail.  At the trailhead we were met by a gatekeeper. He was very intent on blocking our way. We tried to circle around him but he came to meet us that way.  We realized it was because we just had a snack and the smell of food was emanating from us.  A few quick claps and shouts and the goats move out of your way!

So on we continued on our hike out toward Mt Reynolds.  We followed a well-worn path over rock and snow across the slope.  Neither of us had traversed on this type of terrain (well, Max had on a split-board but no on foot!) so it took a little getting used to. 

We started to gain altitude, and lose our breath, as we made the final scramble to get to the ridge.  The last push was totally worth it.  We were given a full view of Hidden Lake.  We took a little rest at the top with two kids, their mom, and their grandma!  Though we were looking at the same lake as before, it was more gratifying to know that far less people see it from this vantage point, and the effort you put in to get there makes it all the better.

The mosquitos started to close in on us so we took our leave back down the ridge, across the rock and snow, and onto the main boardwalk.

After our hike we went for a swim down at the lake, but not before we stopped for a few more sights on the way.

On our last morning we snuck in a quick hike on the Loop Trail before heading out of the park.  It offered a great view of Heaven’s Peak and the surrounding valley.  Since we hustled on the hike, and the breeze of the day before disappeared, we stopped for one more quick dip in the lake before we left.  Feeling refreshed and somewhat clean, we hopped in Fannie and headed for Missoula.