Category Archives: Moderate Hikes

Granite Mountain Hike, June 2016

Posted on by
Reply

Granite Mountain
Date: June 3, 2016
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13.8 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to some packed snow
Hiking With: Matt Kerby, Rick Massie and my wonderdog Macho

Granite Mountain has always been an essential hike for me and I have always told my wife Linna that I wanted my ashes tossed from this summit. Granite Mountain goo.gl/LdJsWz offers everything from dense forest cover, waterfall, open meadow, wild flowers, look-out tower, boulder scramble, late snow, long avalanche shoots and views to die for. Plus…the first mile of this hike is moderate so allows your legs to warm-up before you split off from the Pratt Lake trail and start some serious elevation gain.

I had the pleasure to introduce Granite Mountain to a newbie hiker and good friend of mine, Matt Kerby. I think Granite became his new favorite hike and I am sure he will be back very soon. Another friend and co-worker Rick Massie joined us on this glorious sunny Friday. We all met up at the trailhead at 5:30 a.m. to get an early start on the day, surprising though there was already six cars in the parking lot.

The summer route still had a lot of snow so we scrambled up the boulder field to the look-out tower. After a putting on a dry shirt and sucking down a Gu Energy Shot we descended the summer route in the snow. We pretty much had the trail and look-out tower to ourselves today.

Colchuck Lake Hike, May 2016

Posted on by
Reply

Colchuck Lake
Date: May 22, 2016
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,300 feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near Leavenworth, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry To Some Muddy Spots
Hiking With: Emelie Espling, Sofia Hung, Max and my wife Linna Freeman

This was the second straight weekend we were in the Leavenworth, Washington area for another new hike, Colchuck Lake goo.gl/Tf1vg0. This hike was recommended by a friend and after hiking Colchuck Lake we are passing the recommendation onto other friends…it was absolute gorgeous.

I love the hikes this region offers, but it takes six hours from our house to the trailhead and back…throw in a hike and you are talking a long day. From Leavenworth you take Icicle Road onto Forest Road 7601 to Stuart Lake Trailhead, you will want to arrive early or you will find yourself parking way back on the road. I was totally flabbergasted by the lack of pot-holes on the forest road, I was expecting a rough ride with deep holes I would have to maneuver around. It was actually a very smooth ride, but I could tell on a hot dry summer day there would be a lot of dust stirred.

The Leavenworth area has numerous hikes, but Colchuck Lake hike is one of the two gateways to the famous Enchantments goo.gl/fodFj2. Finally hitting the lake, our group found the perfect lunch spot overlooking Dragontail Peak, Aasgard Pass and Colchuck Glacier/Peak. I definitely want to hike Colchuck Lake in the summer when the ice is finally gone and the lake has warmed up some….swimming looks refreshing.

Mount Ellinor Hike, April 2016

Posted on by
Reply

Mount Ellinor
Date: April 17, 2016
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 6.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near Hoodsport, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Snow-Pack
Hiking With: Jim Darmiento, Ione Darmiento, Linna Freeman & my wonder dog Macho

My Audi S6 was in the shop and I had a Q5 SUV loaner car so I thought I had better use this vehicle to the fullest…so I decided on hiking Mount Ellinor goo.gl/w0nY6Z in the beautiful Olympic Mountains. To get to this beautiful hike you need to travel on gravel forest roads with a shit load of deep pot-holes…perfect for a loaner SUV. I called my good friend Jim Darmiento and his wife Ione to join my wife Linna and me on this Olympic mountain hike. Linna and I drove over to Jim’s cabin the night before so the drive to the trailhead the next day was only 45 minutes from Jim’s cabin on Panther Lake, Washington.

Just what I had suspected…the forest road to the trailhead was filled with bottomless pot-holes, but my loaner Q5 Audi took them like a champ and I didn’t go around them either the suspension took each foot deep hole like it was nothing.

We had to start at the lower trailhead because the road to the upper trailhead was snow filled. The hike started steep and eventually got into snow. I love hiking in the snow because it’s actually easier to step straight up than hiking in loose gravel.

We didn’t make the summit, but decided on a lunch spot with a huge view of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Saint Helen’s and Puget Sound. We ended up back at Jim’s cabin for a swim and a cold beer.

Mason Lake Hike, November 2015

Posted on by
Reply

Mason Lake
Date: November 13, 2015
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 6.5 Miles / 10 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,550 Feet / 777 Meters
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Exit 45, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to Very Wet
Hiking with: Jim Darmiento, Rick Massie and my faithful dog Macho

During the summer you are lucky to find a parking spot at the Ira Spring trailhead, but we were the only brave souls to utilize our rain gear on this blistery rainy morning. This was my first time in 10 years to see only our car in the parking lot all day…it was just weird.

Wet and damn wet. That pretty much describes our saturated hike to Mason Lake www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/ira-spring-memorial. We started off determined to summit Bandera Mountain, but when we came to the split to Mason Lake or Bandera my good friends Jim Darmiento and Rick Massie voted for the less exposed and the more sheltered type route to the lake.

If it wasn’t for the new bridge across Mason Creek, this would have been a short roundtrip hike of 1.6 miles. The creek was raging and it was dangerously impossible to cross without the bridge. We finished this hike with a bowl of Jambalaya and a proper pint of Mac & Jacks www.macandjacks.com at the North Bend Bar & Grill www.northbendbarandgrill.com.

On the drive back to Seattle, Jim Darmiento and I decided to stop at Snoqualmie Falls, the falls were rampant and furious due to the substantial precipitation in the last few days.

Grand Lake Loop Hike, August 2015

Posted on by
Reply

Grand Lake Loop
Date: August 1, 2015
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 9.1 Miles / 14.6 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,600 feet / 792 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Hurricane Ridge in Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: National Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Linna Freeman, Maxime Tissier, Tao Song, Craig, Eric & Emelie Espling

This is an epic hike that should be done yearly.

Ozette Triangle Hike, July 2015

Posted on by
Reply

Ozette Triangle
Date: July 31, 2015
Difficulty: 3 out of 10
Distance: 9.4 Miles / 15 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 300 feet / 91 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Lake Ozette, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: National Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Linna Freeman, Tao Song, Craig, Andrew & TC Patterson, Maxime Tissier, Emelie & Eric Espling

The Ozette Triangle www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lake-ozette hike was my first Olympic coastal hike and it was awe-inspiring. I had the pleasure to share this hike with my wife Linna, Max Tessier, Tao Song, Craig, TC & Andrew Patterson and Emelie & Eric Espling.

This is actually a fairly easy hike, but when you combine all three legs to make it a loop/triangle you will definitely feel your legs spent some energy, especially hiking along the rocky sandy beach. The first 3.3 mile leg is trekking through thick forest on board walk over the tiny Ozette river, you can tell that there has been some trail work done recently…many of the cedar planked boards have been replaced with synthetic ones.

Once you hit the beautiful Cape Alava, you head south for 3.1 miles on a rough and rocky shoreline. You will notice tiny offshore islands and wildlife. We could hear the sea lions barking and one that probably quit barking a week or two ago…for it was laying on the beach bloated with no head. We purposely started in the afternoon to make sure we had low tide to enjoy our beach adventure.

At the end of the beach scramble you hit Sand Point at 6.3 miles, you then complete your triangle with another 3 mile boardwalk trek back to the car. This is a beautiful coastal hike at low tide, but it takes a good couple of hours of driving on twisting and winding roads to get to it.

Rachel Lake Hike, May 2015

Posted on by
Reply

Rachel Lake
Date: May 21, 2015
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 8.0 Miles / 12.8 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,600 feet / 487 Meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 62 of I-90 in Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry to the lake
Hiking With: Jim Darmiento, Rick Massie & my fearless dog Macho

My wife Linna is always complaining that I do the same Washington hikes through-out the year, well today I would have made her proud. It was my good friend Jim Darmiento that suggested we try Rachel Lake wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/rachel-lake hike for something new; exit 62 off of I-90 in the state of Washington. It turned out to be a worthy hike with abundance of waterfalls through-out day.

The elevation gain seemed much more than what is posted on the Washington Trails Association website…which was 1,600 feet, but for some reason it felt more like 2,500 feet or more. Once we hit the summit, Jim got out his Jetboil and heated some water up for our lunch at the lake. I came damn close to jumping in, but my body said no….pretty much ice water temperature right now.

We didn’t see too many people all day….just like it should be.

Granite Mountain Hike, April 2015

Posted on by
Reply

Granite Mountain
Date: April 9, 2015
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13.8 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Fresh Snow At Higher Elevation
Hiking With: Dr. Richard Stiles & my dog Macho

I knew we had a couple of sunny days approaching so I decided to take a day of vacation from work to hike Granite Mountain goo.gl/M4Xqcz just 47 miles East of Seattle. Even though the hike was in middle of the week, I was able to find an adventurous soul to appreciate this thigh pounding sunny hike; I picked up Dr. Richard Stiles mid-morning on Thursday and headed out to Exit 47 off Interstate 90.

The last time I hiked with Dr. Stiles was 10 years ago the summer of 2005 when I was training for Mt. Rainier. He hasn’t misplaced any speed with his pace either, the doctor led the way with a vigorous stride that totally impressed me.

Trail conditions were good until you broke-out in the high meadows and started hiking is semi-slushy snow. We decided to put on our traction devices on during our first break at the beginning of the basin where the snow was getting deeper. We started to ascend to the look-out tower via the basin and midway through traversed back up to the ridge and boulder field. The heavy snow in the basin definitely increased my heart rate, but my poor dog Macho had to deal with the deep snow and boulder field. There was a couple of times I actually had to pick him up to get him to the next boulder.

After a few pictures, warm tea and snacks at the summit we descended through the basin to finish off a perfect day.

Granite Mountain Hike, August 2014

Posted on by
Reply

Granite Mountain
Date: August 1, 2014
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13.8 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to the top
Hiking With: Rick Massie

The last time Rick Massie and I hiked up Granite was in extreme cold windy weather in November. This hike was just the opposite with plenty of sunshine and warm weather; on the descent you welcomed the shady areas because the sun was getting a little too warm.

We finished the hike with a cold pint of Mac & Jacks and a hot cup of Jambalaya soup at the North Bend Bar & Grill.

Denny Creek Hike, July 2014

Posted on by
Reply

Denny Creek Trail
Date: July 24, 2014
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,300 ft
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: I-90 exit 47
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Wet to the top
Hiking with: Jim Darmiento, Rick Massie and the wonder dog Macho.

Jim Darmiento, Rick Massie and I had this hiked planned for a couple of weeks and usually the full month of July is sunny and warm. Somehow we picked the only rain day in July; it was raining when we started and was still raining when we finished…we were truly soaked by the time we got back to Jim’s pick-up.

To remove the chill from our bones we headed to North Bend Bar & Grille for a warm bowl of Jambalaya.