This section of the site is what prompted me to build the site to start with. I’m always surprised by the number of people who have no idea what backpacking is. You carry everything on your back? Where do you sleep at night? Why would you do that? Well, maybe I can answer some of those questions.
- North Fork Skykomish/PCT/Cady Ridge/Cady Creek/Pass Creekby gofastdanThe North Fork Skykomish Trailhead is great because it’s actually the trailhead for three separate trails, all of which can be put together to make loops of different lengths. Last week I did a three day loop that took me on the West Cady Ridge trail before intersecting the PCT… Read more: North Fork Skykomish/PCT/Cady Ridge/Cady Creek/Pass Creek
- West Cady Ridge/PCT/Bald Eagle/Quartz Creekby gofastdanThe North Fork Skykomish Trailhead is actually the trailhead for three trails, West Cady Ridge heads south, the North Fork Skykomish trail heads east and the Quartz Creek trail goes north. It’s a great trailhead because you can connect all of these trails with other trails and create loops of… Read more: West Cady Ridge/PCT/Bald Eagle/Quartz Creek
- Iron Cap Gapby gofastdanEarlier this summer I hiked up the East Fork of the Foss River into the Necklace Valley and then a couple of weeks ago did the same thing up the West Fork. What I’ve really been wanting to do though is the loop that connects them together. In order to… Read more: Iron Cap Gap
- Salmon La Sacby gofastdanThe vast majority of my hiking the past few years has been in the Highway 2/Stevens Pass corridor and/or off the Mountain Loop Highway. These are indisputably wonderful areas for hiking and backpacking but I’ve been wanting to branch out and explore other areas. Thus my trips to the Olympics… Read more: Salmon La Sac
- Spider Gap – Buck Creek Passby gofastdanMore than a trip report, this is a short non-fiction story so grab a cup of coffee and a comfy chair. I have, for several years, wanted to visit Stehekin. Stehekin is a town you can only access via hiking in or taking a passenger-only ferry from Chelan. If I’m… Read more: Spider Gap – Buck Creek Pass
- West Fork Foss Lakesby gofastdanI did a quick overnight hike up the West Fork Foss River and Lakes trail this past week. The trail follows the west fork of the Foss River until it gets to Trout Lake and then takes you to a string of lakes. After Trout Lake you’ll pass a short… Read more: West Fork Foss Lakes
- Rock Lakeby gofastdanThe title of this post should be, “Rock Lake, I hiked there so you don’t have too”. Rock Lake is one of the lakes in the north Alpine Lakes Wilderness and is one of a couple of lakes named “Rock Lake” in the region. WTA.org’s website shows a Rock Lake… Read more: Rock Lake
- Vesper Peakby gofastdanThe trail to Vesper Peak is a short but difficult hike off the Mountain Loop Highway. Technically the trail is actually called the Sunrise Mine Trail but if there is a mine in the area I don’t know where it might be. In any case, Vesper Peak is the reward… Read more: Vesper Peak
- Enchanted Valley/Anderson Moraineby gofastdanIn all my time living in Washington I’ve never spent any time exploring the Olympics. I may have done a day hike of a few miles back in the early 90’s but outside of that I think maybe we drove up the coast once or twice and that’s about it.… Read more: Enchanted Valley/Anderson Moraine
- White Pass/Pilot Ridge Loopby gofastdanIf last week’s hike was about alpine lakes, this week’s hike was all about high ridgelines and mountain views. I spent four days, three nights, hiking a wonderful loop in the North Cascades. This could easily be done in three days, with campsites perfectly positioned to have each day be… Read more: White Pass/Pilot Ridge Loop
- East Fork Foss River – Necklace Valleyby gofastdanA few weeks ago I hiked to Jade Lake with the intent to camp at the lake. You’ll recall that plan did not work out due to snow still lingering around the lake. At the time I came back down and camped by the river. That snow is long gone… Read more: East Fork Foss River – Necklace Valley
- Mount Dickermanby gofastdanMount Dickerman has been one of my favorite day hikes for years now and I try to make the hike at least once a year. It’s a hike with pretty much everything you could ask for, varied micro-climates, perfect mileage for a good workout and a great view from the… Read more: Mount Dickerman
- Fortune Pondsby gofastdanA few weeks ago I posted about the hike up Meadow Creek Trail. On that hike I only made it three or four miles due to running into snow. That really was the point of that hike, to see where the snow level was. Here’s the thing. I figured by… Read more: Fortune Ponds
- Deception Creekby gofastdanOn June 22nd and 23rd I did a quick backpacking trip up Deception Creek. It wasn’t terribly far, only 11 miles total, but it’s a nice hike along a beautiful little stream with plenty of interesting waterfalls and other water features and a nice campsite right before you have to… Read more: Deception Creek
- Johnson Ridgeby gofastdanJohnson Ridge is exactly the hike it sounds like it is, a hike up Johnson Ridge. There are no switchbacks or anything else to soften the blow. If the ridge goes up you hike up, if the ridge dips down then you hike down. If we’re being honest it’s almost… Read more: Johnson Ridge
- Blanca Lakeby gofastdanBlanca Lake is a great hike to a great destination with an unfortunate couple of streams crossing the forest service road leading to the trailhead that keeps washing the road out. You reach the trailhead by taking Highway 2 to Beckler River Road, just past Skykomish, and then stay on… Read more: Blanca Lake
- Jade Lakeby gofastdanI did my first overnight backpacking trip of the year on Thursday/Friday of this week…and ended up camping in the first rain in weeks. Go figure… If you search WTA.org for Jade Lake you won’t find a hike by that name. To reach Jade Lake you’ll hike the East Fork… Read more: Jade Lake
- Meadow Creekby gofastdanTuesday I hiked a portion of the Meadow Creek trail. I’ve done this a few times but the last time was almost a year ago, June 25th of last year to be exact. I was curious to see where the snow started because last year I ran into heavy snow… Read more: Meadow Creek
- Lake Isabelby gofastdanLake Isabel is one of those hikes that you tell people about and then tell them not to try it. I’ll say the same thing. It’s not that it’s particularly dangerous but there is no maintained trail and if you don’t know where you’re going then you could wander around… Read more: Lake Isabel
- Greider Lakesby gofastdanThe trailhead for the Greider Lakes is in the Spada Basin Watershed, which is managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. This means there are some special rules and the area is closed at times, mainly during the winter. Really the only thing to know though is that… Read more: Greider Lakes
- Iron Goat Trailby gofastdanThe Iron Goat Trail is a completely different hike than is normal for me. This is more of a long walk through an area with historical significance than it is a real hike. That said, it’s an odd interpretive walk in that most of these types of family walks are… Read more: Iron Goat Trail
- Heather Lakeby gofastdanHeather Lake is right next door to Lake 22 and if you were to go up and over the ridge, a very steep ridge requiring the proper gear and expertise, you could potentially hike directly from one lake to the other. As the crow flies they probably are only about… Read more: Heather Lake
- Beckler Peakby gofastdanBeckler Peak is a hike just outside of the town of Skykomish, Wa, in the Highway 2 corridor. Take Highway 2 east a couple of miles past Skykomish, take a left onto Forest Service road 6066 and drive a dirt road littered with potholes ~6 miles to the trailhead. There… Read more: Beckler Peak
- Lake 22, May 9th, 2023by gofastdanLake 22 is an extremely popular hike just past the Verlot Ranger Station on the Mountain Loop Highway that runs from Granite Falls to Darrington. It’s easy to see why it’s so popular. The trailhead is right off the highway, it’s a decent distance (but not too far) at ~5… Read more: Lake 22, May 9th, 2023
- Index Town Wall, Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023by gofastdanWednesday morning I hiked to the Heybrook Lookout as a little warm up hike and then drove back down the highway a couple of miles to Index and hiked to the top of the Index Town Wall. What is the Index Town Wall? Well, visible from various points across the… Read more: Index Town Wall, Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023
- Bridal Veil Falls, Heybrook Lookout, April 28th, 2023by gofastdanOn Thursday I hiked to Lake Serene and talked about the branch trail that leads to Bridal Veil Falls. Friday I decided to just do the hike to Bridal Veil. I won’t go into much detail about the overall hike since you can read more here. What I can confirm… Read more: Bridal Veil Falls, Heybrook Lookout, April 28th, 2023
- Lake Sereneby gofastdanLake Serene is another of the hikes I do often as a sort of training hike. Yesterday was the first time this year I’ve hiked all the way to the lake though so I thought I’d briefly mention it. The Lake Serene trailhead is about five miles east of Gold… Read more: Lake Serene
- Wallace Falls State Parkby gofastdanI bought my first hiking GPS in the fall of 2016 and since that time have documented every day hike and backpacking trip I have done. Don’t ask why, I just like statistics and the information gives me perspective on my fitness level and readiness for other activities. That said,… Read more: Wallace Falls State Park
- Oh, Canadaby gofastdanThis was originally posted September 2, 2019. So, I’m in Toronto over the Labor Day weekend, or at least Vaughan, which is a suburb of Toronto. I’m staying at a hotel right next to the Vaughan Mills shopping mall and the mall was crazy today. If you pay attention to… Read more: Oh, Canada
- Wonderland Trail 2019by gofastdanThis was originally posted August 18, 2019. Some of you may be aware that I love being outdoors, specifically hiking outdoors. I’ve been consistently doing day hikes for a number of years now but up until last year it had been a long time since I did any serious backpacking. Last… Read more: Wonderland Trail 2019