[satyrium1975]

Two friends and I (well, three friends if you count my chihuahua) went up to Snoqualmie Pass Sunday, originally intending to try out snow-shoeing at Gold Creek. As our luck would have it, REI rented out all 300 pair of their snowshoes in two nights, so we were on to plan B. My fiance is from New York, not the upstate part where there's mountains and such, the Manhatten part where there are taxi cabs, so he was not up for a marathon hike. I had no idea which hikes in the Snoqualmie hiking guide book put out by Harving Manning and the Mountaineers would be open so we stuck to the ones at lower elevation. The Owl Hike Spot (that's Harvey's official name for the hike) looked like a good one, at four miles and not too insane an elevation gain. I have found, after using for several years now, guides written by Harvey Manning often times are not helpful when it comes to directions on how to locate a hike. I'm not sure if there's a conspiracy in there somewhere or not. This was one of those instances. The book indicates that from the Iron Horse Trailhead, you head up a path, (okay so far) get on a road (which way? doesn't say) and head to the start of the Iron Horse Trail where you will travel a few hundred feet further and find on your right a "well-gravelled" path. Just for those who might be interested in trying this one, the trail is on the left and is in no way well-gravelled. The only way we figured out to take that trail was that two nice older gentleman came off the hill just as we were standing there cursing Harvey and his directions and were able to confirm that this was the Owl Hike Spot trail. From there, it was a great trail. No snow for quite some way. If I had an altimeter I'd tell you just how far but my gear acquisition syndrome hasn't gotten me that far yet. It was quite slippery when the snow did hit though because it was compact and smoothed down. Footing was a little dicey. The view point was wide open that day thanks to the beautiful clear weather we've had lately. We could see all over the valley (which valley I'm sure Harvey says but I don't recall) and to Mt. Si. It was a great little hike. It was only the second hike for my little chihuahua pup and he was champ, making it all the way up before he allowed me to prop him up in a cush vantage point at the top of my pack, well-secured by the drawstring. It makes a great picture! I highly recommend this hike (with the modified or corrected directions) to anyone who wants a good hike without too much work.

[Kat]

Good for you persevering, and getting your little ch. up there. It will be better next time