Ancient Lakes (March 25-26, 2010)

For spring break this year, Nick and I decided to try a cool and new backpacking trip to get ourselves pumped for the start of backpacking/hiking season. Our destination was Ancient Lakes near Quincy, WA.
 The trail head begins at the beginning of an old jeep trail.  There are many side trails along the jeep trail, but Nick and I just stuck with the main jeep trail.  Eventually, however, the trail turns into a couple smaller trails.  We looked on the Washington Trails Association website before we left and a review said to head left when the road forks (pretty funny considering there are many forks in the road!).  So, we headed left and made that our motto for the trip to the lakes.  The trail was very flat and was about 2 miles to the lakes themselves.  Eventually we headed over a slight slope and saw the lakes as well as a beautiful gushing waterfall coming down the cliff (surprising for the desert landscape).  There were about three lakes that we could see and camping spots are all around them.  You won't see wildflowers in our pictures because we went so early in the year, but we hear that it gets quite beautiful a little later in the spring.

We stayed for 2 days and 1 night, but would've been fine with just a single day there.  The area was beautiful but there is only about one days worth of hiking and exploring to be done (which we took full advantage of, exploring the ridges around the lakes for hours) before we ran out of things to do.  Unfortunately since the lakes are so easy to get to there is a bit of pollution and graffiti scattered around the lakes.  Overall it was a great hike to do early in the year, but we think its going to be a one time hike for us.  Below is a picture of the waterfall we could see from our tent site.

Sheep Lake (August 23-25)

Last August we went with Nick's family on a two-day backpacking trip to Sheep Lake.  The trail head is located off of Chinook Pass and the trail itself is actually a part of the Pacific Crest Trail or PCT (super cool!).  We hiked for 2.5 miles surrounded by forests and occasional viewpoints.  The great thing about this hike is that its basically a high alpine lake but at the same time its so easy to get to.  After the 2.5 mile marker we reached Sheep Lake...

...and we headed out in search of a camping spot.  There are quite a few located on the Eastern, Western, and Southern sides.  The Northern side was a meadow and had quite a few streams running through it.

We found our spot on the Eastern side and set up camp.  Once there we decided to grab a snack and then head out to explore the area.  If you follow the PCT trail for 2 miles or so you'll find a fork in the road.  If you go the right (also downhill) you'll continue on the PCT and if you proceed straight you'll eventually reach a gap.  This is called Sourdough Gap.  Once we reached the gap Nick's parents heard of and a moderately easy scramble to the left that would provide a great view of Mt. Rainier.  We decided to go for it, even though it didn't look easy.

This is the view we got from the top of the scramble.  Was it worth it?  Oh yes :)

 

Neahkahnie Mountain (July 2009)

We would like to start off our blog by telling you about a few of our favorite hikes from the past year.  We aren't going to include Mt. Si and other very popular hikes, but more of the unique and not-so-popular hikes. 
Last summer (July 2009) we went to the Oregon coast and climbed a little mountain called Neahkahnie mountain.  Nick's band, Camaraderie, had been playing a song called "Neahkahnie Perspective" for many years so we figured we should at least see the view from the top.  

The trailhead was about half a mile off the main road and not too difficult to find.  It had rained the day before so the trail was a little muddy.  The hike held a consistently moderate climb for its full three miles.  The trail wound through a typical beautiful coastal NW forest with occasional views giving glimpses of what was to come at the top, as well as providing nice resting spots.  While our surroundings did not seem like typical snake country we were surprised by numerous small garter snakes that would pop out of the bushes in front of us and slither across the path.  It made the hike more interesting and exciting because we never knew when another snake was going to jump out!  The top of the hike provided a gorgeous view of the ocean and coastal area around the mountain.

Overall this was a fairly easy hike with a rewarding view.  Its a great afternoon activity for anyone happening to be exploring the Oregon Coast on a Sunny day.

We have two pictures for you guys, but unfortunately they were taken with a disposable camera so the quality isn't the best, but you still get the idea.