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Alta Mountain was out of the question after reading the latest mountain snowpack reports so we hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Pass to the Kendall Katwalk. Well almost to it. We had to stop 100 feet short because it was covered in snow. The picture in the link is not the Katwalk. It is literally cut out of the ridge of a mountain where the trail goes from one side to another and then down the other side for a hundred feet or so.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/kendall-katwalk

The sky was clear and promised to be a sunny day once we got out of the mountains shadow in the early morning hours. You can see the sunshine in the background in the next two pictures. The first picture is of Evelyn getting sprayed as she hikes beside this small waterfall. A few feet more and there is deeper running water on the trail. We finally get into some sunshine as we get higher. But the higher we get the more snow we encounter. We crossed dozens of these snow patches. Most were in the shade. Sunshine, shade, snow patches and running water filled our mourning. Bummer but this is where my camera batteries died. I continued taking pictures with my cell phone but they aren't high resolution and I don't know how to download them.

But the climb continued higher and higher. At timberline the snow became much deeper and we were only able to climb to about 5,400 feet. Merely 20 feet of elevation shy in 100 feet of trail. We did not take ice axes and we turned back where the run-out was several hundred feet. Two young girls continued on without ice axes or crampons. Very foolish but in my younger day I've done the same thing.

It looks like you had a good climb. Lots of different terrain to encounter.

Gene, with the phone, I have had pretty good luck having them automatically go to Flickr. It is (for now) a much superior experience than photobucket.

That looks like quite a challenging hike, SH, but I'm glad that Evelyn and yourself had a good day out. It's probably the perfect therapy for both of you.

Nice shots Gene brings back memories of home for me. Not sure what computer you run but I have a mac and just send phone pics to email then save and upload. Al

Okay, first attempt at uploading from my iPhone.

This is the view from our high point. That is Chair Peak. Last year I climbed the chimney just to the left of the peak but only got to about the small snow patch (a white dot) before having to turn back. Evelyn taking a picture toward the Katwalk. Just around the corner was a huge steep snow patch which stopped us. The best pictures would have been from the Katwalk over the over side. The lighting just wasn't right in this picture as it doesn't show any contours. That is Snoqualmie Mountain off to the left not quite all in the picture, Lundin Peak to the left-center and Red Mountain to the right. Lundin is much higher but further back than Snoqualmie and looks lower in this picture.

Don't know which is more impressive: your climbing or that gorgeous country.

What kind of wildlife do you encounter? As a birder, I would love to explore that country, binoculars in hand.

North Country Gal wrote:Don't know which is more impressive: your climbing or that gorgeous country.

What kind of wildlife do you encounter? As a birder, I would love to explore that country, binoculars in hand.

I did a lot of Class 5 rock climbing when I wore a younger man's clothes. Now that I am older I'm limited to Class 4. These two pictures will give you a better idea of where we were at. As you can see on the map I was wrong about Lundin being higher than Snoqualmie. Looking back at I-90. You can see the freeway on the map above. Over the decades I've seen about every kind of animal you find in the mountains. Last year I saw a Northern Spotted Owl but the most common birds are Grey Jays which are known as camp robbers.

Beautiful shot. Heck, they're all beautiful shots. You are blessed to live in such country.

I love climbing and hiking. I want to climb Mt. Stuart this year and Mt. Rainier next year. It does take physical training and that is keeping me from shooting more. But it is something I feel I must do.

I like the middle of nowhere. It's my favorite place. Life is just better there I think. Great photos.

Thanks RR. We are going to take ice axe and try again on Monday.