[Roly Poly]

I had the pleasure of hiking with Backpacker Joe today. We started off by having to ford a fast flowing creek. The trail had a surprising amount of snow on it as well as a lot of running water, numerous creek crossings and some downed trees. Politics were verboten and he was pretty well behaved in that regard😂🤣😊. In other words, I survived the trip despite being from Seattle! I have not figured out the Flickr thing so the photos are not in chronological order and I have duplicates.

[Get Out and Go]

Awesome!

[ree]

Thank you. So glad to see an old friend having fun out there.

[Anne Elk]

BPJ and Roly-Poly - Bravo! Hope this outing encourages you to try more, Tom. Cle Elum was the first stop on my big XC driving trek to NY; met up with Roly-Poly and BPJ at his homestead outside of town for a Mexican take-out lunch. A beautiful, restful hideaway. Thanks again for the great food and Gemütlichkeit!

[Nancyann]

Well, this is absolutely fantastic! It looks like he gets around pretty darn good, especially on the water crossings. Glad you two got the politics thing worked out and had a fun day, hope to see more BPJ trip reports soon!

[zephyr]

Wow. Such a beautiful day out there. Looks like you all had a great time. ~z

[Backpacker Joe]

Thanks to Roly for chamfering me around. LOL. It sucks not being able to drive. It was so nice to get out again. It surprised me how many people that were at the trailhead. I think Covid may have changed things. While I look like a big fat guy, Ive actually been hiking 4 miles a day six days a week around my neighborhood, Peoh Point. Each day includes 1100' ele gain, so Im in pretty good shape. I did snow down a little as we neared the lake. I wasnt drinking enough water. All in all a wonderful day in the woods. Thanks again to Roly for her kindness. Oh, and we DID avoid politics. LOL.

[Bushwacker]

Outstanding!!!!!!!!!

[RichP]

[zephyr]

Well, I went up there yesterday afternoon on a late start hike. I met three parties finishing or coming down as I went up. Lots of creek crossings on that hike. Devil's Club was on hand for some of the critical crossing points. I did not have any GPS, etc. So I just consulted my map and did terrain association. Things seemed pretty straightforward until I neared the trail to the lake. At a certain point I was sure that I had passed it up and then kept going for awhile to be sure. The trail got steeper and then completely covered by the snow-pack. At that point, with the sun going down soon and being the last one on the trail I headed back down hoping to see the lake exit. I did encounter a square reflector on a tree along with a steel fence post sticking out of the snow. I tried following that direction, the woods were fairly open, but there was no trail leading down. Two other landmarks were a large open rock outcrop with views to east through the creek valley and there was a tree stump carved into a throne off the side at one point. BPJ, were there any signs marking the trail to the lake? Surely that trail to the lake would be pronounced and obvious. Perhaps I just didn't quite make it far enough. If I had started in the morning and had all day, I could have explored more. Thanks, ~z

[Backpacker Joe]

Zeph, yes there is. About 75 yards past where the snow covered the ground there is a sign on the left describing the direction of the lookout and the direction of the lake. Im sorry because you were about a tenth of a mile from the lake. You were five minutes from the lake. Here is that sign.

[zephyr]

[timberghost]

Way to get out there guys!! Good to hear Tom is still stretching his legs

[Randy]

Awesome to see BPJ getting out there.

[Joey]

Instead of the barefoot rock hop next time you could give stream defenders a try. https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7967824