From the middle of November to the time when the ground freezes we face some rain, mud, and unsettled weather. Regular hiking routes turn muddy. Rain does not quickly evaporate so vegetation gets wet. Conditions get slippery. Hiking boots get soaked. The sun sets early. We get chilled when the winds arise. You have to love hiking to be out … Continue reading…
Umatiila Rock Trail is a giant fin-like monument in the middle of Grand Coulee below Dry Falls. The trailhead starts in the Park. It is possible to drive up the coulee on the road to Deep Lake, but we started right in the Dry Falls Campground, following a wetlands trail to the signed trailhead on the southwest corner of Umatilla … Continue reading…
Mt. Kerr is the highest peak in the Marble Range at 7480 feet. It is a challenging route since it is a 22 km out-and back hike. The trailhead is the same one we use for Mt. Bowman or Wild Horse Ridge (links at the bottom). The approach is on a high-clearance track which follows the power line and ends … Continue reading…
Mad Dog Mountain is one of several peak in the Marble Range which has a trail to the summit. These limestone peaks have barren rugged karst formations on the summits, offering wonderful hiking opportunities. We parked on the Jesmond Road at Foundation Creek and followed the trail up the creek between Mad Dog and Lime Ridge. This trail has … Continue reading…
In the Grand Coulee corridor in Central Washington State is a series of dry rocky coulees and pothole lakes. The channeled scablands were scoured by the released floodwaters of Lake Missoula during successive ice ages. This area is barren and rocky, but the State has funnelled water down this corridor from the Roosevelt Reservoir, supplying a chain of lakes, including … Continue reading…
While hiking in central Washington State we ventured out to mountain bike a section of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. This route is a rails-to-trails recreationalal corridor that follows the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railway bed for 430 km across Washington State from the western slopes of the Cascades to the Idaho border. We rode was the eastern … Continue reading…
In November we “tramped” in Tongariro National Park, completing the Northern Circuit in 3 days. From Whakapapa, we left the lower slopes of Mt. Ruapehu and backpacked for 8.5 km over to the Mangetopo Hut. The trail wound through the tussock slopes on a wet route, but we climbed to drier slopes in the saddle between the two volcanoes and … Continue reading…
Most hikers go up Mara Canyon on a trail knows as “The Hoodoos” or “Cinnamon Ridge.” This unique trail goes up the south-facing slopes then drops into the bottom of the canyon following the dry streambed for a fun route before it opens up below the summit. There is a loop route possible, coming down along the ridge on the … Continue reading…
There are a number of routes to the top of Mt. Mara. We have done 2 of them this year already and we will be doing 2 more of them this year. One of the more difficult ones is up the east slopes of the mountain. Access has become more difficult. The road that went behind the now-empty Agricultural … Continue reading…
At the end of winter we can start to hike on south-facing lower slopes. The best early season hikes are in the Batchelor Hills, the Barren Hills, on the flanks of Mount Mara and in the Dewdrop Range. We hiked all of these in February, leaving our footprints on some mud, on some snow with a bit of ice, but also on some dry tracks.
The south summit of Mount Mara has one of the best viewpoints in our whole area. The top of the cliffs offer wide vistas south, east, and west. The summit is a worthwhile destination for hikers, but some hard work is needed to get to the top. On this mid-February day, a route up from the west was chosen since … Continue reading…
When the winter weather starts to break in mid-Feburary, the first trails to clear are the south-facing open slopes of the lower Batchelor Hills, sometimes called The Barren Hills. We started at the first access point off of the Lac du Bois Road and we contoured through the hills as far west as we could on a route we knew … Continue reading…
Isthmus Peak stands between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea in the Otago Region of the South Island of New Zealand. When we drove past this area from Haast Pass on our way to Wanaka, we saw the trailhead sign by the highway and stopped to look up at the barren, open mountain above. We returned the next day to hike … Continue reading…
The Banks Peninsula’s distinctive shape is the result of two extinct shield volcanoes with one of the walls collapsed to create a long bay (Akaroa Harbour) into the interior of the crater. The town of Akaroa lies on the shoreline deep in the middle of the crater. The rim of the volcano stands above the town in a high, rugged … Continue reading…
While on the South Island of New Zealand. we had hoped to take on a good hike in the Mt. Cook National Park area, but we had only a short time in our itinerary and the forecast was not promising, but we kept to our schedule and headed over the pass from Queenstown to Aoraki – Mt. Cook passing through … Continue reading…
December 2015 Isthmus Peak, Wanaka Queenstown walks Ben Lomond, Queenstown Mueller Glacier, Mt. Cook Akaroa Trails, Banks Peninsula Kiakoura Peninsula Trails Kiakoura Peninsula kayaking Blenheim Valley walks Queen Charlotte Sound paddle Queen Charlotte Sound Track Bowentown headlands and beach walks Dec. 16 – Mt. Peter Dec. 18 – XC Ski at Stake Dec. 25 – Mesa Trail Dec. 26 – … Continue reading…
