day hike

Ask nearly anyone in the northwest corner of Washington about Yellow Aster Butte and you’ll hear about how incredible, beautiful, and amazing the trail is. It seemed that everyone but me had visited this trail. With another day of amazing fall weather predicted, I decided to check off this trail and find out exactly what was so amazing about it. 

I’d hiked lots of trails in Mount Seymour Provincial Park but I’d never made it all the way to the summit of Mount Seymour itself. I decided to finally summit the highest peak in the park during some amazing October weather.

Most people here in the Pacific Northwest are in agreement about one important thing – our autumn weather has been fantastic! October was especially amazing and I took full advantage to check some hikes off of my list. First up – Frosty Mountain in Manning Provincial Park.

Glacier-carved valleys, soaring peaks, ancient volcanoes and ice fields. Just a taste of what I encountered following the Opal Cone trail beyond Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park.

A visit to Mount St Helens Volcanic Monument has been on my PNW bucket list for a while. I had the opportunity to visit and hike in the area on the 38th anniversary since the explosion.

On the second day of my visit to Mountain Loop Highway I hiked to Heather Lake. The 2.2 mile trail climbs about 1000 feet to reach an alpine lake nestled below the north flank of Mt Pilchuk.

A couple weekends ago I had an unexpected opportunity to run of to the mountains. I ended up on Mountain Loop highway a bit north-east of Seattle. My second hike was an easy trail to the basin below Big Four mountain.

This past weekend I suddenly had a couple unplanned days. I decided to visit a few trails on Mountain Loop Highway, a scenic byway through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. My first hike was to Lake Twenty-Two.

This time of year gets me in the mood to get hiking. I’m just waiting for the first sunny 50℉ day where I don’t have to bundle up. I’ve been going through my gear while waiting for that day to appear. I thought I’d share with you some of the gear I bring along on every day hike.