4 Miles Along Rimrock

Yesterday morning's hike along Rimrock Drive (now part of Palisades Park) overlooking the city of Spokane before it got slushy.

An Unexpectedly Hard Hike

I started at 7:50 am near Spokane's Fish Hatchery. Instead of going past St. George's School the trail began to climb way up and around. I never realized the hill went up so high but I was certainly glad for my Micro Spikes and my Goretex hiking boots. The ground is covered with 5" of snow that had warmed up yesterday and melted a bit on top. It made for slightly more work. I explored up a drive path instead of heading downhill per the trail marker and it took me to some high power lines. Then I turned around and got back on the trail proper and it was all down hill to the NW corner of the school property. You had to take a left at that point and the trail was fairly flat, goes past some nice rock formations and then comes out along Rutter Parkway near the Painted Rocks area along the Little Spokane River. All told it was about 7 miles with 800' elevation gain and loss. It had started to snow once I had turned around. I saw many whitetail deer and a pair of ravens in a tree top talking to me, as always.

Fletcher Canyon near Las Vegas, NV

I did this early morning hike last October when I accompanied my wife for her conference. While she was locked up in classes, I was hitting the road towards Mt. Charleston then hiking up this dry canyon that has obviously seen its share of water in the past. It becomes a slot canyon at the turn around point. I suppose that it is possible to scramble up and over the blocking rock formations but I thought better of that. Very nice hike and very cool in the canyon proper; the walls are too steep and close together to allow sunlight to penetrate here.

First Hike With Mallory

Today is December 13th, 2014. We have had one cold spell this fall and now it is so warm that I heard tree frogs last night! Mallory wants to do more hiking so we started with this easy one over at Palisades Park just a few miles from our house at the top of Sunset Hill.

I'm Training in the Rain, Training in the Rain

I woke up at 5am and hit the trail (Mt. Spokane State Park Trail # 110) in a light rain by 7am. I am very thankful for my Marmot light raincoat and my rain resistant pants from REI. My feet got wet near the top of the saddle between Mt. Spokane and Mt. Kit Carson because the trail was nearly covered by soaked bear grass and huckleberry bushes. At the top of Kit Carson there was a bit of a cold wind blowing the misty clouds over the top. These photos are from my brief stop at the crest. I turned back down and made the nine miles in about 3.25 hours. I scared up a fawn and later spotted a doe before she saw me. The wet, dripping woods were filled with the liquid sounds of veerys in the lower and middle sections. Near the trail junctions I heard what must have been the King of the Corvids; a raven with the deepest voice that I have ever heard..."GRONK ..... GRONK". It later switched to that fluid musical note that ravens make. I saw no insects or worms on the trail but I did pass through some strands of spider webs. I was certainly the only one on the trail until I passed a young couple starting out as I neared my car. At least on a day like today I had no chance of being run over by one of my mountain biking friends screaming around a bend in the woods.

Sunrise at Hog Lake

I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday and quickly headed west to start a short hike to watch the Sun rise over the basaltic cliffs at Hog Lake west of Spokane. It was a pleasant, if not a bit cool, pre-dawn stroll. I took some photos of the Aspens as the sun climbed higher in the mostly clear sky. A raven, of course, accompanied me for awhile grounding me as always. I was just leaving this favorite spot of mine as a few hunters began to arrive. I arrived home for a full day of chores and family activities by nine o'clock in the morning.

Gossamer Inspiration

Why the title? Well, I like to pack as much into a day as possible as my family well knows. Hiking in the early morning has many, many advantages the least of which is being the first on the trail! The first to get dew on the boots, the first to see wildlife and the first to see the exceptional morning light. The added bonus is clearing the spider webs from the trail with your face and hat! I came up with the idea last summer when hiking out early from the Goat Rocks Wilderness in the South Washington Cascades. I had just spent a fun weekend with my Portland area backpacking friends for the Perseid Meteor shower. This meetup has become an annual event for us. As I was hiking out I was thinking about how special it was to be hitting the trail at that early moment of the day. Moments that I want to record and remember. Pretty special.