Weather forecast went in the toilet for this weekend past- so decided we would risk some day hikes. Friday's forecast was for slight chance of showers- but also a hint at some sun breaks. We headed out to Chinook Pass (elev. 5440) to head south on the Pacific Crest Trail (runs from Mexico to Canada along the Sierras and Cascades). We didnt have much of an agenda other than to hopefully beat the rain and enjoy some time in the mountains. My best friend Sean and his wife Lorca were my companions on this trip. We wound up doing around 11 miles total without too much up and down. Its a nice remote part of the state once you get away from the highway. The wild blueberries were off the hook- we munched the whole time.
We hiked about 1.5 miles at this point to gain the view of the lake. We hiked south about 4 more miles past this to near those two roundish peaks you see in the right-hand skyline.
On the way back...you can just make out the road cut in the far hillside above the trees.
Best friend Sean and myself (repping HMF too)
So we got feeling lucky to have such a nice day. However the weather forecast was worsening as the weekend progressed. We got very heavy rains here at the house both Saturday and Sunday. But not wanting to sit around too much today- Sean and I decided to go on another day hike. This time in Mt. Rainier National Park at Sunrise. Forecasted snow levels were for 6000 foot. Sunrise is at 6400! So if it was going to precip on us it would be snow instead of rain. That held true for us! Just a easy 6-7 miles today...
Getting ready to head out in the morning...snow was mostly gone by the time we got back.
It was really nice 1st thing in the morning. The Mountain played a little peek-a-boo. It was really cool and really odd both at the same time to be in the snow.
But then the weather blew in a little tighter and it was freaking cold! This is at about 7000ft. It snowed on us the whole time we were up here.
Coming down later in the day- the snow had mostly melted below 6500- but it sure it starting to look like Fall up there.
