Summer Hiking...

Before I move on to the next Australia post, I must take some time to blog about our recent hikes...in order, Alger Alp, Goat Mountain and Sauk Mountain. To skip the writing and go straight to the pictures, click here.



Alger Alp was a short and rather "boring" hike. It ascends to the top of a big hill in the town of Alger. Towards the top you do get a nice view of Baker and from the top you get a view West towards the islands; however, the hike is entirely on a logging road and once on top the Chukanuts partially block your view west. Perhaps we are "snobs" now but it's hard to do a hike like this when so many other, better hikes loom so close. Hikes like...



Goat Mountain: this is probably one of the toughest hikes we do as it is about 4 miles long and ascends about 3000 vertical feet (according to my handy altimeter). However, once on top the views are worth it as it offers about 250 degree panorama. The only downer to this hike is you do have about 2 1/2 miles of switchbacks through a forest before you get to the really good views. And once you read the next hike, you may not want to hike Goat Mtn...








Sauk Mtn. Julie and I did this hike with a couple of friends of ours, Dan and Bill. It takes a bit to get there (about 1 hour 20 minutes) but is worth the drive. This was our first hike off of highway 20 (North Cascades Hwy) and we were blown away. For those looking for "bang for your buck hikes" (read: short, but beautiful), this is your poster-child hike. The road to the trail-head is rather long (7.7 miles off of the hwy) but the reward is that the views start from the parking lot. The trail is only 2 miles long and ascends 1100' to the summit; very doable (although we wouldn't have felt comfortable without our trekking poles). The wildflowers and views begin from the parking lot and never let up. From the summit you have a 350 degree panorama (the only thing keeping it from being 360 degrees is the true summit of Sauk mtn, which requires some rock climbing skills to reach). This hike was a photographers dream; between the views of the mountains, wildflowers, marmots and then the sunset, I was in heaving...albeit longing for a wide-angle lens and a tripod (neither of which I packed).



At any rate, too many pictures to put them all here...so if you want to see the rest, CLICK HERE!