Mt. Rainier 4 Day Summit Climb | RMI Guides. A deposit of $300 per person secures your reservation. Payments may be made via MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or check. Final payment is due 90 days prior to the start of your program, and we will send a payment reminder approximately three weeks before your payment is due. If your final payment is not received within 90 days of the program your reservation will be cancelled and all fees forfeited. Trips departing within 90 days from the reservation date must be paid in full at the time of reservation. Once we receive written notification (mail, e-mail, or fax) that you are canceling an individual participant or your entire reservation the following fees will apply. A fee of $300 per person will be charged for cancellations made more than 60 days before departure.
Cancellation Insurance: We strongly suggest that everyone purchase travel insurance. We also reserve the right to cancel any program due to inadequate signups, weather or route conditions. Heather - Maple Pass Loop. Featured In: Day Hiking: North Cascades, by Craig Romano. Buy the full book, including maps, elevation profiles, photos, and more: » REI » Amazon A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails.
Among the many supreme North Cascades Highway hikes, the Maple Pass loop is perhaps the most exalted. More than a few hikers have been caught humming Julie Andrews tunes while sauntering on this scenic sojourn. In just 7 nonrepeating miles you'll be treated to majestic old-growth forests, a sparkling alpine lake, resplendent alpine meadows, enticing open ridges, and stunning North Cascades vistas. On loops I normally prefer to ascend the steeper direction, giving my knees a respite from pain on the descent, but I deviate here. From the trailhead immediately leave the paved path that heads to Rainy Lake. Continuing through deep timber you'll pass several marshy areas. Driving Directions: Blue Lake. Gothic Basin - Monte Cristo. Featured In: Day Hiking: North Cascades, by Craig Romano. Buy the full book, including maps, elevation profiles, photos, and more: » REI » Amazon A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails.
Rugged and spectacular-yes. Gothic, perhaps, for this stark and mysterious basin harbors hidden tarns and disappearing waterways and is surrounded by spiraling peaks. A difficult hike on steep and rocky terrain, Gothic Basin with all its rich beauty can't keep hikers away; just as it couldn't keep miners away a century ago with its lure of riches. It was those hardy folk who built this path. Start by hiking the Monte Cristo Road. After 1 mile of easy road rambling, reach the trailhead for Gothic Basin (Weden Creek Trail No. 724) just before the Twin Bridges (elev. 2350 ft). Climbing steeply up a slope shrouded in scrappy forest, you gain elevation rapidly. With views opening up to the Monte Cristo melange of mountains, continue upward. Mount Pilchuck. Featured In: Day Hiking: North Cascades, by Craig Romano. Buy the full book, including maps, elevation profiles, photos, and more: » REI » Amazon A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails.
Rising 1 mile above the surrounding countryside and perched on the western edge of the Cascades, Pilchuck packs some of the best panoramic viewing to be found in these parts. From its historical and restored fire lookout, scan the horizon - from Rainier to Baker, Glacier Peak to the Olympics, Seattle to the San Juans - and every jagged, rugged, and snow-capped peak lining the Mountain Loop Highway. One of the most popular hikes in Washington, Pilchuck is a "social mountain.
" While not an overly difficult hike, scores of hikers each year end up injuring themselves or worse on this little mountain each season. The hike starts on what was once a service road to ski slopes on the mountain. Driving Directions: Black Canyon. Expand report text Hide report text Fabulous fall foliage -- who knew that Eastern Washington had quaking aspen trees? Best to approach... Fabulous fall foliage -- who knew that Eastern Washington had quaking aspen trees?
Best to approach from the Yakima end of Wenas Road since it is paved. We came from Ellensburg end, which is very scenic but includes about 13 miles of gravel road (good shape). There is absolutely no signage for the road off Wenas Road, so watch your speedometer: from where Wenas turns to pavement (by Audobon bird camp), it is 3.9 miles.
The road off Wenas Road is narrow and full of sharp rocks, not recommended for passenger cars. Outdoors | Too much snow on your favorite flower trail? Here are 5 hikes you can do now, with blooms aplenty. Originally published July 27, 2011 at 7:00 PM | Page modified July 30, 2011 at 12:27 PM Wildflowers worth watching for Glacier lilies (Erythronium grandiflorum) and Avalanche lilies (Erythronium montanum) are so eager to bloom they poke out of melting snow. How to remember which is which: think "G "(glacier) for gold lilies and "A" (avalanche) for white lilies. They prefer meadows and open slopes in subalpine zones (5,000-7,000 feet, June to August), growing in masses, blanketing the ground.
Where to see: Boulder-DeRoux trail, Mount Rainier, other trails where snow is melting. Indian paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) belongs to the figwort family, ranging from lower-elevation trails to mountain meadows, often blooming in proximity to lupine and valerian. Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) belongs to the evening primrose family, blooming below 10,000 feet June to September, growing from 2-8 feet tall. Shooting stars (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) belong to the primrose family. . — Karen Sykes Teanaway. Great Desert Hikes. The desert steppe country of Eastern Washington is the place to hike in May. In spring, the steppe is warmer, drier, brighter and under much less snow than the Cascades and Olympics. Balsamroot sunburst by Alan Bauer. First time hikers in this region will be surprised and delighted about what this country has to offer: abundant, diverse and colorful wildflowers; lakes, ponds and marshes full of birdsong; sweeping vistas of mountains and rolling hills; intimate canyons with steep basalt cliffs; and through it all the mighty Columbia River.
What's more, you can enjoy plenty of solitude. We've selected nine excellent hikes in Central and Eastern Washington. There are many more to choose from, and Mountaineers Books has provided WTA with the content to their guidebook, Best Desert Hikes Washington by Dan Nelson and Alan Bauer. We have the hiking details and driving directions for 100 mostly little-known desert hikes. A few special considerations about hiking in desert country: Black Canyon.