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jhiker Member
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 286 | TRs | Pics Location: Mill Creek |
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jhiker
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Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:53 pm
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Went to Wallace Falls state park with the intention of doing a loop up the Greg Ball trail to Wallace Lake and then over to the upper falls and back via the main Wallace Falls trail. Did not succeed due to the lateness of my arrival at the trailhead and the depth of the snow at the top of the Greg Ball trail.
Did not have any snow on the trail at all until right after I got on the Greg Ball trail. The snow started maybe about five minutes from the start of the trail. Only an inch or two at first but a lot more further up. Still, it wasn't a problem to walk on the trail as the snow was packed down from all the people walking on it over the weekend. I did not need snow shoes at all as long as I stayed on the trail.
One thing that I did need was rain gear. The snow was melting off the trees and it was literally pouring underneath them. Fortunately I've learned never to go hiking in the winter withtout rain gear in the Pacific Northwest and did not get too wet.
I followed the Greg Ball trail all the way to the DNR road and then turned back. It was getting late and the snow was a lot deeper on the road. I think maybe 18 to 20 inches. I knew that it would be a long slog to the lake without snowshoes and didn't want to take a chance getting locked in overnight. Went back the same way I came up. Felt great to be back outside again.
Here are some pictures from the hike, one or two others at http://www.flickr.com/photos/48897736@N00/sets/72157603600024769/
Mt Stickney Zeke's Mountain Forest scene Greg Ball trail DNR road at the junction of the Greg Ball trail Moss jungle Rabbit Ridge view Mt Index from Goldbar Mt Persis from Goldbar Mt Stickney
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captain jack Serving suggestion
Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 3389 | TRs | Pics Location: Upper Fidalgo |
I'm surprised the snow has accumulated that low. When you hit the DNR road at the end of GBT, you are only at 1600'. I guess that means the road across to the falls is probably snow covered too, surprising this early in the season.
Thanks for the update.
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Flora Enjoying the Sun!
Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 1035 | TRs | Pics Location: Land of many waters |
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Flora
Enjoying the Sun!
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Tue Jan 01, 2008 4:21 pm
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Lovely alpenglow. Thanks for sharing.
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Bryan K Shameless Peakbagger
Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 5129 | TRs | Pics Location: Alaska |
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Bryan K
Shameless Peakbagger
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Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:04 pm
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Love the alpenglow and the bunny
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Sabahsboy Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 2484 | TRs | Pics Location: SW Sno County |
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Sabahsboy
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Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:03 pm
Greg Ball Tr at Wallace Falls State Park
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Wonderful photos. The amount of snow on the trees is sensational. Stickney looks as good as Everest, here! Well....it looks fantastic. The alpine glow photos are wonderful....thank you for sharing....and, thank goodness you stopped and got the shots! I don't recall seeing such saturated color on the high slopes....perhaps it was due to the clarity of the atmosphere plus some high altitude refracted sunlight...anyway, the effect is gorgeous. I esp. like Mount Index one...and, the Stickney one....I was up at the Falls park but it could not have been Dec. 13th....there was no clearing of sky and no heavy snow on peaks. Darn...I'd "kill" to catch shots like those displayed here.
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captain jack Serving suggestion
Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 3389 | TRs | Pics Location: Upper Fidalgo |
I just realized that the first two pictures could only have been taken in one place, on Pickens Knoll.
Did you follow footprints off the trail to that viewpoint ?
Did the snow fill in the bottomless crevasse yet ?
My pics of Zekes and Stickney from the same spot are puney, you must have a reasonably powerful zoom lens. The same four trees poking up from below in the forefront appear in my photos, that was the giveaway.
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:54 pm
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I'm also curious what kind of camera you're using to get those telephoto shots. flickr doesn't indicate the camera type.
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jhiker Member
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 286 | TRs | Pics Location: Mill Creek |
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jhiker
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Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:05 pm
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Captain Jack:
Pickens Koll, I didn't know that the place had a name. Any footprints leading up there on Monday were buried under the snow. The crevass was not, fortunately, or I probably would have fallen into it.
I hike the Ball trail a lot in the winter and often pop up on the knoll for a peak at Stickney and Zekes as it is the only place on the trail that you can really see the mountains. It's an easy place to zoom right past if you don't know where it is.
Sabahsboy:
Thanks for your kind comments. I usually wouldn't bother posting a TR for Wallace Falls but the light was pretty special on Monday and the pictures came out better than I would have thought that they would. The pictures of Stickney, Index and Persis were taken from below the state park where the new houses were built last year. I was somewhat frustrated in trying to get a picture of Gunn and Baring as these peaks were really 'lit up' on Monday.
Puzzlr:
My camera is an Olympus SP500-UZ. It is in the 'Super Zoom' genre of digital cameras. The zoom is a 10x. It is a pretty good trail camera though I am looking forward to upgrading to an SLR in the next couple of weeks.
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Sabahsboy Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 2484 | TRs | Pics Location: SW Sno County |
Thanks, Jhiker. Can't wait to see what you do with your new, upgraded cam! Yup...I know those darned houses...the cul de sac at the south side of the street leading to the State Park has had a fairly spectacular "over the top" Holiday lighting display. One house did not join in to the same level...but the lighting is so "bammm!" that you don't notice. I must try to find the view point discussed ....and do the Greg Ball Tr and find it. What is the "crevass"? Is it a geologic oddity?
Stickney never looked so good as it does in your two photos! Thanks again!
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Bad Dog Guest
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Bad Dog
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Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:45 pm
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I love the Bunny photo! Sweet.
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captain jack Serving suggestion
Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 3389 | TRs | Pics Location: Upper Fidalgo |
jhiker wrote: | Captain Jack:
Pickens Koll, I didn't know that the place had a name. Any footprints leading up there on Monday were buried under the snow. The crevass was not, fortunately, or I probably would have fallen into it.
I hike the Ball trail a lot in the winter and often pop up on the knoll for a peak at Stickney and Zekes as it is the only place on the trail that you can really see the mountains. It's an easy place to zoom right past if you don't know where it is. |
Pickens knoll is not an official name by any means.
I also hike that trail alot, and discovered the knoll while looking for a place up there with some prominence, where I might take a nice picture or two. I dont like to share these places in fear they will be overun and littered with garbage. Its not on the trail, but not far if you know where to look.
One winter day I came across a guy coming downthe trail, as I was going up. He warned me deepening snow at higher elevations. I explained to him I was was only going as far as my viewpoint. He was immediately familiar with the place I was talking about.
Sabahsboy wrote: | What is the "crevass"? Is it a geologic oddity? |
We discussed the crevasse, which is not really odd, just massive chunks of granite slowly calving off the hillside. It is deep, I have never been able to see anywhere near the bottom, just deepening blackness. Holding my camera directly over the top of the opening reveals only this much of it.
crevasse mod one crevasse mod two
The guy told me he had been to the lower opening of the fissure, by walking up the north fork of the Wallace to the base of the cliffs, about 100' below the top of the knoll. He speculated that the crack does run completly through the rock, from top to bottom, but couldnt get in far from the lower access. With ropes and lamps, who knows how far down you could get ?
It turns out, this guy, with far more knowledge of this area than me, was the Wallace Falls State park ranger, Ranger Pickens, his first name escapes me, and I named the knoll in his honor.
Pickens knoll is one of my favorite places to escape to. Even on a sunny summer saturday, with an endless procession of people and dogs parading up and down the falls trail, I know I can escape the world here for a few minutes, my feet dangling over the edge of the clifffs, with only the sound of the river, far below me, to keep me company.
Shoes floating above the wallace north fork
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ActionBetty Im a dirty hippie!
Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 4807 | TRs | Pics Location: kennewick, wa |
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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
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Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:23 am
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captain jack wrote: | I just realized that the first two pictures could only have been taken in one place, on Pickens Knoll.
Did you follow footprints off the trail to that viewpoint ?
Did the snow fill in the bottomless crevasse yet ?
My pics of Zekes and Stickney from the same spot are puney, you must have a reasonably powerful zoom lens. The same four trees poking up from below in the forefront appear in my photos, that was the giveaway. |
the secret knoll has been discovered
"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
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Sabahsboy Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 2484 | TRs | Pics Location: SW Sno County |
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Sabahsboy
Member
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Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:07 pm
Pickens Knoll
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Cap'n Jack...many thanks. If I find it...I will swear not to tell. The key is to sneak back there when no one is looking. I was "fair" at "hide and seek" as kid.
The matter of the crack in the earth is interesting. It is a geologic site of interest....whether due to creep from forces elesewhere or a possible extension of a fault. Little Si displays some of this and certainly exhibits a dramatic movement of the earth over time. These places may have interest for some similar to visiting Mt. St. Helens....evidence of Plate Tectonics at work. Fascinating, no matter what the cause is. We reside in a geologically active region...and, sometimes, it is so "in your face" that we accept it as "ordinary". Would be interesting to have a thread reviewing geologically active sites that hikers and climbers encounter.
When I was a kid, our family traveled from Ohio to Jackson Hole. I soon became fascinated by "The sleeping Indian" (Sheep Mountain) of the Gros Ventre Range across the valley and the huge scar on the north slope. When a young adult with my very own vehicle, I went back there....it was awesome. It may have been the largest slide in historic times in NA until Mt. St. Helens released the north thrust of the mount and blew its cork.
There was a huge slide that came down the White River in the 20th C.; and there were big slides off Mercer Island and along Lake Washington shores during a long ago quake (probably the 1700 quake that shifted things around at the coast).
Like I said, fascinating stuff!
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