[Sculpin]

Noodling around in Rock Island Coulee:

Rock Island Cthulhu

Mystery Penstemon

Sphaeralcea munroana

Calochortus macrocarpus

Finally found the elusive C. macrocarpus, but had to throw away my socks afterwards because of the hundreds of embedded cheatgrass seeds. Feel free to weigh in on the penstemon if you have an ID. I'm still working on it.

[awilsondc]

Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier 6/4/21. This was supposed to be a 2 day trip with a group of 8 guys, but weather had other plans and had us move the trip up a day. Half of us were able to head up and camp Thursday night, but myself and 3 others had to work Thursday so we met up after work on Thursday and headed up to the trailhead for an all night no sleep mission. We started hiking at 10:30pm and hiked up and found the other four guys camping getting there around 1am. We laid down to rest for about an hour (not sure if I really got any "sleep") before everyone got up and ready for the summit. We started hiking a little after 3, geared up at the edge of the Easton Glacier around sunrise and hiked up. Going was slower than I'm used to. My group made the summit around 10am, despite relentless 30mph winds from 9000 ft until the summit. The second group reached the top of the Roman Wall 45 minutes later, but didn't head over to the true summit. Our two groups leapfrogged for a bit on descent before my team got quite a bit ahead of the other team. Once off the glacier, my friend and I headed for the car while the other two waited for the other team. We got back around 4:30 for an 18 hour day. The other 6 made it back around 8. I'm glad to have this one in the bag, and the experience of climbing on a rope team. Looking forward to more glacier travel in the years to come!

getting ready

starting out

roping up

sunrise

golden hour

sherman

team J

team J ascending past the crater

nearing the top of the Roman Wall

Shuksan

team J on their summit

descending

passing Sherman

slogging

lost

weather

[Tom]

[Nancyann]

Spent last week in the Tahoe area with my son who is stationed near Sacramento. We dayhiked in the Desolation Wilderness and also the Mokelumne Wilderness at Kit Carson Pass, both gorgeous areas! This was a real treat for me because I have only done a small amount of hiking in the Sierras, and it was quite a few years ago. The first hike was on the Tahoe Rim Trail from Echo Lake to Tamarack Lake. We wanted to go much further, but Washington’s bad weather apparently followed me to California. Temps were in the 30’s and gusty winds created a wind chill reminiscent of the dead of winter. We knew it was time to turn around when we arrived at Tamarack Lake and the dark gray skies began spitting snow. Welcome to the Sierras!

A beautiful start to our hike at Echo Lake.

Tahoe Rim Trail, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

Tamarack Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

Tamarack Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

Tamarack Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

On our way back, we spotted a skier carrying his skis from somewhere in the Desolation Wilderness to a water taxi at the end of Echo Lake. Reminded me of some of our NWHikers...

Skier on the PCT, Echo Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

As we hiked down Echo Lake to the trailhead, gale force winds blew stinging snow into our eyes. The ride in the water taxi must have been a bit gnarly.

Echo Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/9/21

The next day, the weather had settled down, so we decided to try a more challenging hike further into the Desolation backcountry, Upper Velma Lake. We began the hike at the Eagle Falls trailhead by Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe. I felt right at home, because the trailhead was just as crowded as Wallace Falls, only worse. We had to park along the highway and walk a quarter mile just to get started. Thankfully, most of the people there took a short loop trail to view the falls, so we soon left the insanity behind, and after a mile, came upon a very scenic Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Eagle Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Soon after, we began gaining some serious elevation and after another couple of miles reached a pass which afforded spectacular views into the Desolation backcountry. At this point, the elevation was around 8,000 feet and I began to notice the thin air. Thankfully, we were just about done with the 2,000 foot elevation gain, as the trail descended down to the lake nestled in a beautiful basin.

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

We rested and had lunch next to the lake outflow, so sublime!

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

Upper Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness 6/10/21

The walk back to the trailhead went quickly, although I had to watch my step carefully as it was steep and rocky, and I had already done a faceplant earlier in the day, still getting acclimated to the airy elevation of the Sierras! The next day was kind of a zero day to let our feet rest up, although we did go for a short walk up to Cascade Falls, another popular spot near Emerald Bay. I was barefoot in my Chacos and my son wore his flip flops, so we blended in well with the rest of the tourists.

Cascade Falls, South Lake Tahoe

Our last hike of the week turned out to be the most spectacular and fun trip of the week, even though it was a Saturday, and South Lake Tahoe was just like Leavenworth, only ten times worse. Knowing this would happen, we looked at the map and spotted a sweet loop trip at Kit Carson Pass, about 40 minutes from Tahoe. We arrived at the trailhead about 8:30 am and lo and behold, hardly anyone was there! I was excited that the PCT crossed here and we would be walking south on it for a mile before turning off to Winnemuca Lake, Round Top Mountain and Round Top Lake.

Kit Carson Pass 6/12/21

Kit Carson Pass 6/12/21

Kit Carson Pass 6/12/21

It was a warm, sunny morning and the scenery was spectacular! The trail started at about 9,000 feet elevation, but the thin air didn’t bother me as much as at Upper Velma Lake, two days prior.

Winemucca Lake 6/12/21

After a couple of miles, we arrived at lovely Winnemucca Lake and I was completely entranced.

Winemucca Lake 6/12/21

Winemucca Lake 6/12/21

Winemucca Lake 6/12/21

Winemucca Lake 6/12/21

A gentle breeze blew ripples across the lake and a variety of little birds that I wasn’t familiar with were warbling. After much picture-taking, we continued on to a pass below Round Top Mountain and were treated to a gorgeous view of Round Top Lake below. We descended to the lake to take pictures and then headed up a boot path to Round Top Mountain. As we ascended, a snow boarder rode past us!

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Lake 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

The climber’s path was easy to follow, but at almost 10,000 feet I had to be careful to not push myself too hard since I just got over Covid a month ago. I stopped at a nice flat spot to rest and my son continued on. While I snacked and enjoyed the views, a few other people passed by and I had a great time visiting with them. A couple were locals, others were from the Midwest and East Coast, and even two guys from Austria. The locals informed me that this was one of the prettiest loop trips in the Sierras. After resting a bit, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and continued up another several hundred feet to the base of the false summit to soak up the views and continue with my usual obsessive picture-taking. Here I was able to go around a cliff and look over the other side.

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

Shortly after I arrived, my son came back down from the false summit and was surprised to see how far I had come. His topo showed that we were slightly over 10,000 feet in elevation, the highest I have ever hiked! It was becoming quite windy, so we began working our way back down, stopping to chat with a group of very friendly Placerville girls who were lucky enough to get a permit for Glacier Camp on the Sahale Glacier in NCNP in August. We ran into another couple of nice guys from the Midwest who offered to take our pictures!

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

The climb down the mountain was made even more enjoyable by changing cloud shadows off in the distance.

Round Top Mountain 6/12/21

After lounging at gorgeous Red Top Lake for a while, we continued down the loop towards our car at Kit Carson Pass, finishing on another section of the PCT after walking on an old historical wagon road called the California Trail.

Kit Carson Pass 6/12/21

The next day, we packed up and got in line with everyone else on the long drive back to Sacramento, satisfied with a week well spent exploring the Sierras, and making plans to return for some more quality early season hiking next June!

[zephyr]

[Route Loser]

[Nancyann]

Thanks Zephyr and Route Loser and everyone who liked my TR. It seemed like a lazy trip, thanks to cushy accommodations at a cute cabin instead of hauling around my backpack for a week. My son takes good care of his mom!

[reststep]

Thanks for sharing Nancyann. Beautiful pictures. My daughter will be hiking through that area later this month and your pictures gave me a chance to see what a beautiful area that is.

[timberghost]

Thanks for letting us tag along Nancy Ann

[Roly Poly]

Now you know why I love the Sierras!

[HikingBex]

Hiked Mount Baldy near Easton today - great selection of wildflowers blooming. The ones I recognized were glacier lily, balsam root, and paintbrush, but there were many more along the way. Great views over Cle Elum Lake, and a nice look at Rainier. Not really a wilderness experience as we could hear/see 90 much of the time & some of the trail was pretty slick with little ball bearing-like pebbles, but also it was a reasonable drive from Seattle, we only saw around 25 people on the trail (on a sunny Saturday!) and the only snow was some flat patches on the ridgel near the top. I hadn't heard of this one before but was very happy to have checked it out!

[timberghost]

Only 25?

[rossb]

Went up Frog Mountain yesterday. The trail isn't done. There is a gap, although the gap isn't as big as last year. I would estimate around 200 feet of elevation gain off trail. I think it is best to try and follow the path as they've sketched it out, but we lost it. Going up you can just go straight up and eventually regain the trail. Going down you'll need to work your way over. GPS would help -- we brought one, but I ran out of battery power (oops). All the snow was towards the top (no snow on the bushwhacking part). Easy to follow the path through the snow.

[timberghost]

There was a white car parked at Jack's Pass when I went by yesterday luckily I didn't see any vandalism done to it.

[rossb]