Forum Index > Trip Reports > Tumwater Mountain and Bakery - 20 jan 2019
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kitya
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
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PostMon Jan 21, 2019 11:57 am 
Honestly, visit to Tumwater Mountain was mostly an excuse to visit the new Tumwater Bakery in Leavenworth, but I have also never been to Tumwater Mountain, so why not? Tumwater mountain is actually a ridge you see on the right of the much more famous Icicle Ridge when driving east on US2. There are no official trails nor there are any rules on Tumwater Mountain, but there is a messy system of logging roads and various parts of Tumwater mountain are locally used for dog walking, flower viewing, rock climbing, mountain biking, hunting, mushrooming, skiing and jogging. In fact going to the summit is probably least popular activity on the mountain, since it is pretty long and brushy walk to a wooded summit with no views. But hey, you need to work to get the bread, right? Anyway, the most amazing baker Shawn moved to Leavenworth and finally opened his new bakery this year. His new bakery is called ‘Tumwater bakery’, located in downtown Leavenworth and oh, it is amazing. I know, normally I would not recommend Leavenworth for food (or anything: Leavenworth is best known for spectacular mediocrity – if you ever drove through the deserts of western US, you know that oftentimes, when you drive for hours and there is literally nothing around, sometimes there is something called roadside attraction, like ‘world biggest corn’ or something and you would stop and pay any money to see it, not because it is stupid, but because you are infinitely bored of driving anyway – well, Leavenworth is basically roadside attraction elevated to a level of a whole town), but Shawn’s bakery is an exception. Open 7am to 3pm, I got there in the morning, ate the whole baguette on the way to the mountain and brought a giant sourdough boule home. I also bought an amazing ‘I love gluten’ t-shirt, because gluten is the best. You need to go to Tumwater bakery now. You will be happy if you do. As for Tumwater mountain lower part of the mountain was mostly an off-leash dog park and snowmobile playground with ski-tour people too, but nobody went anywhere close to the summit and so eventually it became very peaceful and surprisingly very-very snowy. Even with snowshoes I was often waist deep in snow and sometimes on the ridge the snow was making very scary weird ‘explosion’ sounds, from some deep crust breaking, I guess. No views from the true summit, but North Summit allowed great views all the way north to Entiat peaks, good views of Leavenworth too along the ridge and Badlands, Big Jim and the rest of eastern Chiwaukum are right there. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3317680982

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zephyr
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Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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Location: West Seattle
zephyr
aka friendly hiker
PostMon Jan 21, 2019 12:41 pm 
Great report and photos. That bakery sounds wonderful, kitya. I need to check that out. However this sounds scary indeed. eek.gif
kitya wrote:
Even with snowshoes I was often waist deep in snow and sometimes on the ridge the snow was making very scary weird ‘explosion’ sounds, from some deep crust breaking, I guess.
Yesterday's NW Avalanche report forecast Moderate Conditions for west of the Crest. I wasn't looking at the east side so I don't remember. But today the east side forecast is Considerable. Be careful out there. ~z

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kitya
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Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
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PostMon Jan 21, 2019 1:46 pm 
zephyr wrote:
Yesterday's NW Avalanche report forecast Moderate Conditions for west of the Crest. I wasn't looking at the east side so I don't remember. But today the east side forecast is Considerable. Be careful out there. ~z
Thank you! I'm a very cautious hiker. If I remember correctly yesterday was either high or considerable, with nwac recommending to stay out of avy terrain. Tumwater was a safe choice thought, because most of lower mountain is really icy and wooded with not much fresh snow too. Only the summit ridge was exceptionally deep with very unstable unconsolidated snow, but summit ridge is also very wide and broad, so I felt safe, but I would definitely turn around if I had to cross a chute or something like that. Sadly so far this year snow conditions don't look to great - west of the crest avy danger is lower, but also very little snow, east of the crest there is more snow, but also dangerous conditions frown.gif Bakery is really-really good though, you will not regret your visit!

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NorDub
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Joined: 17 Jul 2015
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Location: Redmond
NorDub
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PostMon Jan 21, 2019 4:05 pm 
Speaking of snowpack, I like checking this link out every once in awhile. It shows that currently, the central cascades are 66% of normal snowpack. https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf

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kitya
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
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PostMon Jan 21, 2019 4:38 pm 
NorDub wrote:
Speaking of snowpack, I like checking this link out every once in awhile. It shows that currently, the central cascades are 66% of normal snowpack. https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf
Yeah. 66% is low frown.gif Also these numbers come from just a handful of location (snotel sensors). And they seem to be all installed at relatively low (3000-4000 ft), but shaded locations. I don't know how really true these numbers are, there can be significant difference at higher elevations, but these are less important for water prediction, because there is not that much higher terrain anyway. On the other hand lower locations in basins and shaded areas can report more snow than than average, if a lot of snow is lost to melt.

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Sculpin
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PostTue Jan 22, 2019 8:20 am 
kitya wrote:
His new bakery is called ‘Tumwater bakery’, located in downtown Leavenworth and oh, it is amazing. I know, normally I would not recommend Leavenworth for food (or anything: Leavenworth is best known for spectacular mediocrity
Sounds like you never actually stop in town. The Bavarian Bakery, which has been in operation for many years at the corner of Hwy 2 and the Chumstick Hwy, produces authentic German bread - made by authentic Germans - using raw material imported from Germany. You will not find any finer products, anywhere. It seems to be trendy to bash Leavenworth lately at NWHikers. Apparently, not everyone agrees about the mediocrity, as real estate prices are through the roof. cool.gif Tumwater Mountain is a botanical hotspot, in addition to the spectacular scenery. I feel like I have covered every inch of it over the years, although I am still looking for Hackelia venusta, the plant found only on Tumwater Mountain. I did stumble upon the population of Ghost Orchid, which is extremely beautiful, rare and disjunct.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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NorDub
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Location: Redmond
NorDub
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PostTue Jan 22, 2019 9:07 am 
kitya - thanks for the really helpful notes about the pros/cons of using that resource.
Quote:
It seems to be trendy to bash Leavenworth lately at NWHikers. Apparently, not everyone agrees about the mediocrity, as real estate prices are through the roof. cool.gif
Per Leavenworth, I hadn't realized it was getting bashed on nwhikers (although I did note kitya's comment.) I really enjoy hanging out in Leavenworth for a few hours or a couple of days. Of course, on a busy summer day, it can be really annoying to navigate the crowds, but I try to go on weekdays or offseason when practical. Heck, even getting off the main street, crowds seem to dissipate quite a bit. But I frequent many restaurants/places in the area: Watershed, South, Blewett / Pizza Brewing Company, Icicle Creek Brewing, J5 Coffee Roasters, any brats place, the breakfast granola at the Obertal Inn, and the cool viewing deck / upstairs bar behind the Wok About Mongolian Grill... to name a few. I really enjoy how walkable the town is.

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Nancyann
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Nancyann
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PostTue Jan 22, 2019 12:07 pm 
Thanks for the TR and bakery report, Kitya! We also enjoy pizza in Leavenworth at the Blewett Brewery after hiking in the area, just as long as it’s midweek, never on the weekends!

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