[dawgTE]

Anyone that is ever in the Lake Quinalt area and is looking for a nice little hike this one is for you. Pete's Creek to Colonel Bob is a little over 4 miles with about 3300' elevation gain and has always been one of my favorites. Woke up early at my parents house in Aberdeen and headed out the door. I was a little disappointed with all the fog, but it was clear by the time I hit Humptulips. At this point I knew the summit was going to have awesome views. Hit the trail head and found I was the only one around, although right before I started up the trail another car pulled in, but I didn't see those guys again until I was on my way back down. The trail was in good shape up through the forest with a few creek crossings. They are nothing major and can be crossed without getting your feet wet if you are athletic enough. Right before you come out of the forest and hit the switch backs on the open face I stopped to take a few pictures of the creek near the obvious camping spots.

Another Creek Shot

Creek Near Camping Spots

I hit the first snow of the trip right as you come out of the forest. Again, nothing major here just some patches across the trail. I could easily see where the trails goes so it wasn't an issue. I continued to hit patches all the way up to moonshine flats. Here is where the snow got deeper. I haven't been up here since about 96' but if I remember right there are some pretty big boulders around moonshine flats and I couldn't see a single one. I would guess it may be 10 feet deep in some spots. Even with all of the snow it was easy to make it through the flats, there was previous tracks I followed for the most part. There was no need for snow shoes. Once I hit the base of the final pitch I just headed straight up. I guess that's the one good thing about the snow - Once on the top I had my favorite summit sandwich ( squished PB & J ) and started to take some pictures. It was a great day to be on top that's for sure.

View of Lake Quinalt

Valley Above Lake Quinalt

Looking North

Summit Pic

Looking Down on Moonshine Flats

Summit panorama

Mount Rainier

Near by Peak

Shoe shot towards Lake Quinalt

Everything was A OK on the way down except for the fact that I dropped my little camera I keep in my pocket somewhere in the last mile before I was back at the truck. All in all a great day for a hike.

[dawgTE]

[raising3hikers]

Thanks for the TR, I've wanted to climb that one for a while but it seems that it's usually winter when I'm in the Quinault area.

[captain jack]

Did you happen to notice if there was any summit registers up there ?

[dawgTE]

[BigDaneage]

I did this one in 2006 very nice trip. Although it was foggy and rainy when I got to the top, I could just sense the awesome views from atop of Mt. Col. Bob Thanks for the trip report! I shall be heading up there soon!