Rattlesnake Mountain

View from Stan's Overlook

Distance: 12 Miles Out and Back
Elevation Gain: 2520 Ft

Trail distance chart and rules

In a typical Pacific Northwest winter weekend with gloomy overcast sky, I decided that I could do with some useful exercise by hiking a nearby trail. I also wanted to do a new trail. I had already done Rattlesnake Ledge near the Rattlesnake Lake before, though I have not written on this blog about that trip. However, the ridge line of the Rattlesnake Mountain runs roughly parallel to the I-90 highway, and it is possible to traverse the whole mountain between Snoqualmie (I-90 Exit Number 27) and Rattlesnake Lake (I-90 Exit Number 32). So I got started at the Snoqualmie trail head and headed east.

The starting part of the trail is on a forest road

For a shorter hike, Stan's Overlook at 2.2 miles would be a perfect destination. There are a couple of picnic table and a gorgeous view of several mountains including Mt. Si and Mt Teneriffe with a panoramic view of the quiet townships of North Bend at the foot of Mt Si and Fall City closer to the West. I met a few other hikers at that point, some of whom really enjoyed a picnic there. However, I decided to press on forward.

Stan's Overlook

Windy's Landing is another point offering views but dense fog prevented me from enjoying those views what would be at its most appealing on a sunny day. Rest of the trail was uneventful except for encountering patches of snow on ground near the East Peak. Yet at the East Peak, I had the novel experience of watching Steller’s Jays eating out of hands of another couple of hikers.

Steller’s Jay bird eating out of hand

That is where I turned around for the return trip. This trail being gradient being comparatively gentle, I committed the mistake of moving too fast through most of my return trip, even running at times. With the heavy hiking boots on, it took a heavy toll on my leg muscles around knees. As a result, I was not in a position to run - my other fitness gig - for next several months. Another lesson learned, the hard way of course.

Area Map on the Trail Head Information Board

Mt Si in the Winter

Saturday, February 14, 2010
Cumulative Elevation gain 3700 ft

I am a bit wary of going off alone on any hiking trail during the winter season when the snowy reaches of the trails can sometimes be very treacherous. But I have found a dependable company in David who is a veteran of hiking: in pacific northwest and away, to peaks and lakes, during summer and winter. So off we go again - this time on another trip to Mt Si - in the winter. The trail description is not much different from the summer trips, except for the freezing temperature at the summit. And you really would not want to try to climb the Haystack scramble because the rocks get slippery in the icy conditions. In fact, someone fell and killed himself while climbing Haystack in adverse weather a couple of years ago. So we made it to the base of that scramble, had our snack lunch and returned. The new thing for me on this trip was watching the Camp Robber bird eating out of people's hand. Never the less, the trip was a nice workout helping us to stay in shape.

More Pictures

Wallace Falls

Date of Hiking: Sunday, January 31, 2010
Trail Length: 10 Miles out and back
Level of Difficulty: Medium

This was a typically overcast Pacific Northwest sky in the usually wet month of January. I was hoping to escape through a low hike dry and cozy. So I met up with David and headed to the Wallace Falls trails near Highway 2 that travels across the Stevens Pass to the Eastern Washington via Leavenworth. There are many a nice hiking opportunity in this area. This was going to be my first meaningful hiking venture outside of, as David would put it, my "Stomping Grounds" along the I-90 corridor. With the highest elevation being around 1800' we were basically aiming to stay below the snow line.

As our luck would have it, a steady drizzle began by the time we got started at the trail head near the town of Gold Bar. The trail runs by the Wallace River and splits near the confluence of the north and the south forks. We continued along the south fork. From here onward, the three falls appeared in view one after another as we kept going: the Lower Falls, the Middle Falls, and the Upper Falls. The views are spectacular from view platforms close to the water falls, specially the Upper Falls..

Most folks would return from the Middle Falls and some from the Upper Falls.We decided to carry on towards the Wallace Falls. All along, the rains too continued to fall. The first part of the trail beyond the Upper Falls actually runs on an old logging road. At the fork at about a mile and a half, we turned right and continued towards the Wallace Lake and came upon it about another mile further away. We did continue along the south bank of the lake to the North West end where a stream flows into the lake over the Pebble Beach.We had the option to continue further in the northwesterly direction to Jay Lake and Shaw Lake. However, the rain by now having turned into a downpour, we decided to stop right there and have our snack lunch sitting at the beach under umbrella before turning around and return.

On the return trip, we chose the alternate Greg Ball trail at the southeast edge of the lake. The Greg Ball trail ends at the DNR road that follows to the town called Start Up. But the Woody Trail, one and half mile long, starts off that same road immediately towards main trail connecting the trail head. By the time we were done, we traversed about 11 miles and had our full share of a hike in the rain,


More Pictures