Had been stalking the White Pass/Shoe Lake area for windows of good weather the last month or two…read more(every weekend, it would conveniently be rainy/snowy up there!). Recently I saw the forecast open up for some sunny conditions---during the work week. I decided to make the trip---isn't that what vacation days are for?? I drove up to White Pass, from the east side, with clear blue skies the entire way. I parked on the highway (across from the Kracker Barrel at the base of the White Pass slopes). I slapped on my 35lb pack, grabbed my dogs, and we scrambled up the slopes. I like going this route (vs. starting at the Trailhead) because there are nice views and it cuts down on distance. It's a bear of a workout though! Once on the PCT, it's a nice, fairly flat, and scenic hike---y'know, the usual. Near the new ski run up on top, I heard/saw workers cutting/burning trees to clear way for the ski run (sometimes I wish I could make them turn the ski lift ON, so I could be taken all the way up to the Miriam Lake Basin....but what fun would that be?? I had seen evidence of recent snow every here and there (1-4" patches of snow). Once at the Miriam Lake Basin/Hogback Ridge, I made my way to Shoe Lake. There's one stretch of this big open piece of trail where there was quite a bit of hard icy snow. Camped above the beautiful Shoe Lake. I heard an elk bugling at around 7pm---it must have been south down the hill. Such a cool sound to hear! But it was also scary, because within seconds I also heard something very big plodding around nearby--definitely an elk. It was so close I could hear it breathing. A wee bit scary! (and cool) Oh, I did spy some huckleberries along the way, amazingly enough---but they weren't as good as the ones I picked 3weeks ago. Such a late season! The night yielded beautiful views of the Milky Way, constellations, Jupiter, satellites, and the like. The hike back was nice for most of the way. I saw a herd of mountain goats in the Miriam Lake Basin. The snow/ice mentioned earlier was pretty scary in the morning. The first clouds of the trip rolled in around 1pm...but I was pretty much done. While unloading at my car, an employee from the Kracker Barrel rode his bike to me. He was wondering where I was and if I was ok. Apparently, I forgot to roll my driver's side window up---so it was open for 24hrs!! Everything was fine, but I sure felt dumb. Anyway, probably my last backpacking trip of 2011. A great way to end the season!

Easy loop hike. A little bit of up then down then up kinda stuff. Its beautiful nature but really…read morenot much real view until the waterfall. Compared to skyline loop it isn't much. But its easy and quick.

Good hike through the woods. This provides "forest bathing" and good falls. Many huckleberry bushes…read morebut not too many fruit. Reverse hike! Uphill when you are hot and tired ...

Amazing backpacking weekend here. Lots of campsites, but the wildflowers were outstanding as…read morewell!! Gorgeous place and the weather was just perfect! Goat Lake was amazing to get to as well. This place has amazing views too. The mosquitos were definitely around, but manageable. Bring bug wipes though!! Highly recommend this place!

CGI can't create THIS. Poets are inspired by THIS…read more Painter's canvases are made for THIS. Singers muse about THIS. My legs gravitate to THIS. THIS.....is Snowgrass Flat in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. When it comes to hiking the Cascades, sadly, I'm a creature of habit. I have favorite hikes which I rinse and repeat annually. This is a bad thing when you have miles and miles of lands full of the most beautiful color, scenery, experiences to be had. Snowgrass Flat is now added to my repetoire of go-to places for Cascadian hikes. With a trailhead located south of Packwood, one must venture for about 45min along a dusty gravel road (it's about a 15-17mile trek; while in your car, you will feel like a sock in a washing machine due to the washboarded road). And I'm not kidding about the dust, it's a dustgasm. But it's all worth it. The trailhead was fairly filled with many a hiker's vehicle (but on the trail, we didn't see too many). The trail starts with a quickstep along the side of a pine-filled mountain---every once in a while you'll be afforded views of Mt. Adams to your right. There is water on this trail, and you may cover a bog or two, streams, and at mile 1-2 a torrent which is handled by a nicely-built bridge. Due to the water, there are some boggy-ness, and with this there can be some mosquitoes, but we didn't come across much on our way up (perhaps the bug spray helped...or maybe I just wasn't tasty enough). If you want a workout, you will have one. It doesn't slap you upside the head, but it's a nice, slow, long burn---so it's nice. After about 2-3hrs (around Mile 5-6 for us), the horizon starts to open up and you feel like you are reaching the top. This is the Flat That Is Snowgrass. You are in meadows galore. For some reason the sky is bluer, the waters are clearer, the craggy snow-covered peaks are breath-takers....it's everything a hike should be. There are many options for camping. Here you can see St. Helens in hazy distance, and Mt. Adams is there to taunt. Other sights are Goat Lake to the north---it's captured in what appears to be an eternal winter. The biggest feature would have to be Old Snowy and his mountain homies. If you have the time, my friends told me that Goat Lake and Old Snowy are excellent additional trips one can take from Snowgrass Flat. **mental note made** I can't wait to come here again. This is why I love Washington state. This is why I hike. THIS is brought to you by the YELP-1200.

I LOVED this trail. So much fun with so much to see along the way and gorgeous views of the gorge…read moreand Mt Hood. The Labyrinth links to a few trails including Coyote Wall. Although the Labyrinth alone is shown as a 3 1/2 mile out and back there is a link trail at Labyrinth Falls that shoots over the ridge and towards Little Maui Falls Trail and Coyote, as well as a signed junction pointing you towards each falls. These trails are clearly popular with bikers and hikers. Signage states that dogs have to be leashed December to July. Aside from the constant epic views, the landscape is unique with streams, falls, springtime flowers, and (I assume) ground squirrels popping up and down from their homes. We started at the trailhead at the junction of Old Hwy 8 and the 14 at Rowland Lake. There's a small parking area there with more parking along the 8. The trail actually starts by heading up the semi-creepy abandoned hwy 8 where you'll quickly encounter Lower Labyrinth Falls. Soon you'll encounter trail signage that'll lead you on your way. Just a stunning trail, other worldly. We only covered part of the trails available in the area and can't wait to return for more!

Without a doubt the best day trip this senior citizen has taken. We made a second trip to include 3…read moregrandsons. The walk up is easy and well Worth it. Make reservations AND memories!

A great little hike! Wonderful spot located just outside Naches. The trail is only about a mile…read morelong so it's perfect for kiddos and those of us in "less than ideal" shape!

Best time for this hike is end of April and May when the wildflowers are in bloom and cover the…read morehillsides with purple widow's grass, yellow balsam root, blue lupine and lavendar bachelor buttons. It's my favorite time to be in this area! Best place to park is right before the Mosier Creek Bridge as you leave the tiny two block downtown area. As you begin the hike you come to the cemetery of the founding father's of this charming town. Continue for another 10 minutes to the falls and the swimming hole below. The falls are small, not like the 7 popular falls you see along the Old Historic Highway by Multnomah Falls, but still lovely. Continue on and up where views of the Columbia River from this vantage point are breathtaking. The river widens In this area and slight turns as it makes it's way through Mosier and onto Rowena making for a beautiful vista to take in and photo ops. Unlike at Rowena Plateau and Tom McCall Preserve, dogs are allowed on these trails.

Pretty fun trail with a variety of sites!…read more There's a small parking area right in town just on the other side of the bridge from where the trail begins. You can make a very short hike of it and just go to the falls. Or you can continue on from there and complete the approximately 3 mile out and back with a small loop at the top...I recommend the latter. There's nice signage at the start explaining some trail details. You'll pass by a cool, tiny cemetery and venture on to the falls. Mosier Falls was a bit more substantial than I'd expected, set in a pretty canyon with an overlook for your viewing pleasure. Should you wish to continue on the trail...and you really should...you'll start up the side of the hill on switchbacks and stairs to the top. Tiny flowers popping up were blanketing the entire hillside, and I'm guessing it'll be quite a show in couple of weeks. After zigging and zagging multiple times you'll reach the top and come to an overview with spectacular views of the gorge. There's a bench there should you need a little rest or just wish to sit and take in the view for a bit. From the viewpoint you'll see the dirt trail continue on. It meanders further down to the end of the line...a short loop that offers even more gorge views. The trail is quite narrow and fairly unshaded most of the way and there are regular signs warning hikers of private property lines. We enjoyed it on a Saturday morning, along with quite a few other hikers. It's a decent workout, a pretty waterfall, and some beautiful gorge views...not too shabby!

The map was a little confusing at first. We did the hiking trails and we're surprised how the paths…read moreare mainly kept up. We loved going out the falls. We didn't see the upper falls but the middle and the bottom. Was a little ways to figure how to get inside the waterfall but was awesome when we made it over :) but there was alot of trash at the bottom that needs to be cleaned like beer bottles.

Really solid place to hike. Very clear trails with varying difficulty. We chose to go to the falls…read more The maps and markers were very clear which was great. The walk to the falls had good elevation and an amazing view.

I am in love the the Lake Ingalls hike! My friend and I arrived at the trailhead Sunday morning…read morejust before 8 a.m. and already counted 120 cars at the trailhead. We parked about 0.3 miles from the trailhead. Cars lined both sides of the narrow road, despite a sign indicating for folks to only park on one side. There were some very questionable parking jobs on edges and cliffs. There was a small line waiting for the one toilet, which was not stocked with toilet paper (don't forget to bring your own + hand sanitizer). There were a couple surprises I had after reading other trip reports. The first one was that the road up to the trailhead was not bad at all. Sure, it was a little bumpy and there were a few potholes to watch out for, but it was seriously nothing compared to other trailheads I've been on. A sedan can easily make it up to the top with no problem. The second thing I found different than the trip reports was the level of difficulty. WTA rates this hike as expert, and I thought it was nowhere near expert. It really was a nice gradual incline with some rock scrambling at the top. Plus, there's beautiful sights to see the entire way up, so it was very pleasant. The trail was packed, but once my friend and I started hiking, we slowly spaced out from the others. Everyone we encountered was super kind and courteous. The only downside we had from the people was that this is a trail that does not allow dogs, and there were several we encountered (including one off leash who ran up to my friend and was a little nippy). There was also fresh dog poop right on the trail an owner had left behind. The lake at the top wasn't too busy. There were plenty of spots to sit to grab a bite to eat and admire the view. After the initial descent from the lake where there's a lot of rock scrambling and questioning if you're still on the trail (there's multiple ways up through the rocks, so just keep going and look for cairns), it's a steady decline that's easy on the knees. I will definitely be back!

This is about a 10 mile total hike. I'm not a very experienced hiker, so it too me a while to get…read moreup there. My boyfriend and I camped up at the top too. Up to the top, it's quite easy as in the trail and the incline should be fine if you have hiked a lot. At some point up the trail, it gets a little narrow and steep way down if you're not careful. Bless my boyfriend for carrying my camping bag too. At the top, there's a camp ground. It's near a river if you want to get water. There's also a toilet! It's a wooden box and it's a great view to take a dump at. From the campsite, it's about 1 mile to the lake at the top. There are cairn stacks along the way to reach the lake. Without following it, I'm sure you can still find it, but with it, it shows you an easy route to climb. The lake itself is very clear and very cold! I went in August and there was still some snow! There are also mountain goats! I found the best time to see them is in the morning. They come near the camp site too! I heard a baby mountain goat crying for it's mom too. It was so cool seeing them so close! You can see where they have even around since their fur gets caught on the branches.

This lake has an amazing view of Mount Rainier if you are not looking to go directly to the…read moremountain. We came during the end of July (around 4PM) which is the best time to see all the beautiful wildflowers. It was really hot and there's so many bugs but this area is such a pretty place to take photos. We did leave with at least five mosquito bites so make sure to come prepared with bug spray and sunscreen! This is also right across from Naches Loop Trailhead and has parking as well; can only get down to the lake by staircase so this may be a struggle for those who are disabled. The view of the mountain is so pretty and totally worth it to stop by. The trail is also not hard so very kid friendly!

Tipsoo Lake is a beautiful location full of wildflowers, evergreens, various hiking trails, and a…read moregorgeous view of Mount Rainier on a clear day. The day we went it was really foggy outside early in the day and it was just starting to clear when we were ready to leave. But check out those Rainier photos from other hikers who were fortunate to have visited on a bright day. Spectacular! Tipsoo Lake is quite small and has a walking path around it that is flat and easy to walk for hikers of all abilities. Along that path you can find a variety of flowers (including those cool Lorax kind) as well as paths leading to other trails such as Naches Peak Loop. If you head up that trail a bit from the lake, you'll come to a bridge that goes over highway 410 and that can be a nice viewing point for kids. There are a small number of parking spaces (10 to 12) in a tiny lot right off of the freeway and you may be fortunate enough to snag a spot if you arrive early. Friendly reminder to mind the signs and stay on the trail to protect the surrounding land and flowers.