Wandering about in the woods

[remnar]

My ankle is still tender but a wanderer must wander, so I laced my boots up tight and headed out to explore. The plan was to drive up one of the forest roads that I have not yet been on this year and make some stops along the way. I managed to get about 12 miles up the road before coming across a couple of older gentlemen that had high centered their truck on a deep snow bank that still remained on the road. They had been trying to dig the truck out but only one of them was in good enough physical shape to actually dig, and they weren't making any progress. I offered to try to pull them out of the snow with the little bit of rope that I had but the owner of the truck didn't think it would work. I ended up cutting my trip short to drive one of the men back down the mountain where he called a friend with wench on his truck to come help. It was an interesting trip and I feel like I've done my good deed for the day. Unfortunately I only managed to take a few photos and none of them feature knives.







I think that I earned a refreshment (and we need a knife pic).

[farnorthdan]

That has to be the nicest Mantra I've seen yet Remnar, I really love that color, same color as my bike. Also it sure is beautiful where you do your hikes, so green and lush looking.

[remnar]

That has to be the nicest Mantra I've seen yet Remnar, I really love that color, same color as my bike. Also it sure is beautiful where you do your hikes, so green and lush looking.

Thanks dan! The mountains of the Pacific Northwest are spectacular and I feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

What kind of bike do you have?

[murphjd25]

Great pictures rem! I'm going to try to get out again this weekend, if it isn't pissing rain!

[farnorthdan]

That has to be the nicest Mantra I've seen yet Remnar, I really love that color, same color as my bike. Also it sure is beautiful where you do your hikes, so green and lush looking.

Thanks dan! The mountains of the Pacific Northwest are spectacular and I feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

What kind of bike do you have?

2002 Harley Softail Deuce

[remnar]

That has to be the nicest Mantra I've seen yet Remnar, I really love that color, same color as my bike. Also it sure is beautiful where you do your hikes, so green and lush looking.

Thanks dan! The mountains of the Pacific Northwest are spectacular and I feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

What kind of bike do you have?

2002 Harley Softail Deuce

That's nice! I wasn't sure if you meant bicycle or motorcycle, but I immediately thought it might be a Kawasaki because of the green. I sold my Kawasaki Vulcan a couple of years ago but I'd like to get a dual sport to take up into the hills. Here's shot of my old bike:

[farnorthdan]

Very sharp looking ride, especially like those long shotgun pipes. I bet theres some sweet riding around there.

[remnar]

Another short hike today. The ankle is starting to feel good but I did tweak it a little while stepping over a large log. I think that I'll be ready for a longer, steeper hike by this weekend.

Wandering through the trees.


Wandering off-trail. Oops!


Wandering along the river.




A duo of Dyads. Would that be a quadrad?




Northwest wildlife.

[JT]

Nice!
And I like the bike too

[remnar]

I finally managed to get out and go on a decent hike yesterday. This was on a trail that I have never been on before. It starts in the river valley and climbs 2800 ft in about 3.5 miles to the location of an old fire lookout.

Before we get to the hike, here's a couple of photos taken from my dining room yesterday morning.




On to the hiking photos.



You cross Dry Creek right at the beginning of the trail and only see it one more time after that.





The trail was narrow and in poor shape in many areas but this section looked good.



This critter was sunning himself on the trail. I tried to get a shot with a knife in it but the spyder scared the snake away.



Here's the last shot of Dry Creek. The falls is barely visible through the trees.



I came across several grouse. This one scared the bejeebers out of me when I walked right up to it before it fluttered into the trees.



About half way up you get a decent view of Mt. Rainier but there aren't any other views until you get to the top.



Approaching the top you can see the location of the old lookout which has now been removed.



View from the top looking west down the Big Bottom Valley towards Randle.



View from the top looking east towards Packwood.



Ready for some knife pics?

I only took a couple along on this trek. The Tasman takes its usual place on my pack.



The Delica road along in my pocket.



A couple more shots.





I hope you enjoyed the photos.

[murphjd25]

Love it! I'm going to try to get out for a hike this weekend!

[jmh58]

Glad to see the ankle healed up and you are getting back!! Nice pics again!! Super views!!! John

[remnar]

Love it! I'm going to try to get out for a hike this weekend!

Josh, Did you get a chance to go? I'd love to see some pics.

-Chad

[remnar]

Glad to see the ankle healed up and you are getting back!! Nice pics again!! Super views!!! John

Hi John, Glad you liked the pics. I think the hikes are good for the ankle even though it is not 100%. It is getting stronger and more flexible the more I use it. I just need to be careful not to turn it again.

-Chad

[remnar]

I got up early this morning to go on my last hike which began at 4:30 am.

I don't know if hiking in the dark is recommended but I put a headlamp on and hit the trail. The funny thing is that my hike almost came to an end (after sun up) when I almost stepped on a porcupine that I didn't see. It was on the edge of the trail and I was looking up ahead. Good thing they're practically blind, otherwise it might have nailed me with its' tail. The camera was still in my pack so I didn't get any pics.

At the first pass I took a little break, got my camera out, and snapped a few shots.

Rising sun shining on Mt. Adams.


Mt. St. Helens and her reflection in log covered Spirit Lake.


Flowers, flowers and more flowers...And hummingbirds buzzing everywhere.






The Sage 2 is the only Spydie to make the trip.



Moving on to the next pass and the trail looks a little eroded.


Luckily(?) I didn't see the critter that this belongs to...


but I did see a few elk.

And then they were gone.


I made it to Bear Pass.


Mt. Rainier from Bear Pass.


Mt. Hood from Bear Pass.


Time to head back.


Mt. Adams with Meta Lake.


A distant waterfall.


I arrived back at my truck 5 hours after I started and then explored the road to Windy Ridge.

Looking across Meta Lake. (the lake in the previous Mt. Adams photo)


This is an interesting piece of history.




Sage on a bed of pumice.

Always remember, no matter how cool it is to bring pumice home and float it in your bathtub, we do not do that.


Why do I like hiking so much? Let's just say it gets me a little closer to...

[murphjd25]

Beautiful pictures again rem! I wasn't able to make it out this weekend, I forgot I had an appointment on Saturday to get new brakes on the car and then Sunday all bets were off. Hopefully I can get out very soon.

[Sharp Guy]

Wonderful pictures Remnar!! Thanks for sharing pics from your beautiful corner of the world. I found the pics and story about the Parkers fascinating.

[remnar]

Wonderful pictures Remnar!! Thanks for sharing pics from your beautiful corner of the world. I found the pics and story about the Parkers fascinating.

Thanks Sharp Guy. More St. Helens photos coming up.

[remnar]

Today I headed back to Mt. St. Helens for another hike. This time my goal was to hike across the pumice plain and reach Loowit Falls. From there I completed the loop trail below Windy Ridge.

I started from Windy Ridge at about 8:30. It was windy, cloudy and misty. A few miles later the clouds parted enough to get some shots of several mountain goats.




I took advantage of this small oasis to take my first knife pics. A couple of Sages.







A small falls running down the slide.



Loowit Falls (186 ft tall).



A closer shot.



Looking down the Loowit Canyon from the falls viewpoint.



Heading back down into the pumice plain I saw this lone crow.





As I got closer to Spirit Lake the clouds started to break.



Looking back toward the mountain.



Another knife shot.



Looking toward Spirit Lake. Last week I was on the ridge above all of the logs on the far side.



Windy Ridge, in the background and to the right of the sign, was my starting point.



I made it back to Windy Ridge 10+ miles later. You can make out Loowit falls just above the ridge in the circle.



Here's some more information about the eruption.

[remnar]

Today's hike took me over Goat Mountain to Deadman's Lake. It was a cloudy day so the views were not great but it was an awesome hike.

The trailhead starts near Ryan Lake in the trees with switchbacks that rise about 1700 ft in about 2 miles.

Looking down the trail.


Looking back down at Ryan Lake.


Once we broke out of the trees we hiked along the ridge for another couple of miles. This was my favorite part of the hike. There were rock outcroppings, wildflowers, small unnamed lakes below, and great views across the valleys on both sides of the ridge.








The dead snags are a result of the Mt. St. Helens eruption. We were right on the border of the blast area.


The trail nears the peak of Goat Mountain and then drops down the east side back into the trees.


Looking up at Goat Mt.


Once we were back in the trees, I decided to give the Tasman workout.






Of course I'm kidding. We passed about a dozen trees in one small stretch that had the bark freshly stripped by a bear.


Almost there. Does that sign say "Deadmam" Lake?


Made it!


GB1 Made the trip.




We took a detour on the way back and found this nice creek.


11.2 miles and just under 6 hours later we made it back to the trailhead.