Hiking Mt Townsend

Danny and I are planning to hike to the summit of Mt St Helens later this month and decided to use a hike up Mt Townsend as preparation. I recently bought a new pack and wanted to try it out before heading up. It was a pretty nice day and we were on the road before 8 to top off our tanks at a local restaurant. There are literally hundreds of day hikes within about 2 hours of our house, so an early start isn't always necessary.

The trailhead is at the end of about 15 miles of single lane forest service roads - some paved and some not paved. It was a little nerve racking and made me miss my truck a little bit as I felt my car bouncing through dips and over bumps. We made it to the smallish parking area at around 10 and headed up.

The trail starts out very steep as it winds through forested land in the Buckhorn Wilderness area. I imagine many less prepared people turn back because of the somewhat daunting start to the trail. It is well maintained and easy to follow but somewhat steep. After rising about 1000 feet in the first mile the trail becomes more manageable and settles in to a series of about 24 switchbacks as it works its way up the remaining 2000 vertical feet over about 3 miles. The views into the Quilcene valley are pretty amazing as you wind higher and higher - even Danny gave it a serious compliment when he said "this doesn't suck." Wildflowers were in full bloom along the trail for the first couple miles. The last half mile is brutal as you seem to climb straight up to the summit at 6280 feet.

We spent some time at the top taking pictures, eating a snack and trying to decide if we wanted to hike the additional mile to the lesser summit on the north side of the mountain. We elected to not go out there and instead began our descent. The hike up took us about 2 hours and the hike back down took about 1.5 hours. For me, the hike down is always more painful on my knees. I recently bought some trekking poles and that was a big help. Also brought some ibuprofen with me, and that was a bigger help.

All in all, a very good day. Mt Townsend is about 8.2 miles round-trip (4.1 out and 4.1 back) with a roughly 2900 foot elevation gain. Mt St Helens will be a 10 mile round-trip with a 4500 foot gain. I am expecting some awesome pictures from the summit, and we are taking some good company with us to Mt St Helens - our friends Mike and Ken.

Looking back down the trail into the Quilcene Valley.

Wildflowers were in full bloom along the trail.

Another look into the Quilcene Valley from higher up the trail (we were at about 5200 feet here).

On the summit, looking back at the approach trail with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

On the summit looking north towards Canada.

On the summit, looking towards the Olympic Mountains and Olympic National Park.

More Reasons To Love the PNW!

One of the things I like most about Washington is the ability to visit multiple national parks and national forest areas in a day trip. Mt Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Mt St Helens National Monument and several very good state parks are all within a couple of hours of our house. We have been successful convincing the other 49 states that it rains 364 days a year, so the parks are typically not too crowded unless you go to the obvious tourist stops on the obvious visiting days.

Olympic National Park is a gem. The way the park is situated on the Olympic Peninsula creates several distinctly different smaller parks. Rain forests, mountains, river valleys - you want it, you got it. I have not spent enough time up there in the past and plan to change it this year. I only have a couple more years with my hiking buddy in the house so I have to make the best of it.

I visited two of the parks this past weekend. On Friday I went hiking in Olympic NP with Melissa and Danny in the Staircase area. On Sunday I went for a ride through North Cascades NP on my bike. Both days were fantastic, although Sunday verged on being too hot. I have found that I can comfortably ride in temps up to 90F with all my gear on as long as I stay moving. Anything above that and I get too hot. I saw temps at 100F on Sunday - thankfully not the entire ride!

Looking upstream of Enloe Dam in north central Washington.

Washington Pass in North Cascades National Park. The weather was warm verging on hot!

Looking out on North Cascades National Park from near Washington Pass on US 20.

A photo op in North Cascades National Park.

Our hike on Friday was great! It is pretty easy to get to the trailhead at Staircase. A nice drive that includes about 10 miles of well maintained gravel ends at a ranger station with ample parking. We went a little over a mile out and then turned around. A nice picnic lunch wrapped up the day.

Skokomish River tumbles down rapids near Staircase in Olympic National Park.

And I thought I had moss problems on the roof of our last house!

Skokomish River inside Olympic National Park.

Lake Cushman near where the Skokomish River enters.