6-22-19
Louise
was free for a hike and suggested a trip I had not done but had heard
about. We headed out of town at 6:45 am. The trailhead is at the end of
the Hanson Creek Road on the south side of I-90 west of Annette Lake.
We were the first car in the lot at 7:55 am. By 8:07 we were on our
way. The Hanson Ridge Trail makes a loop. The side trail to the summit
is
marked by a cairn. Most of the route is on an old road turning into a
trail. The last 1.6 miles was on a wide gravel road that goes into the
Seattle Watershed. The gate promises bad things to those who enter. The
best part of this trip was all the beargrass. We had some good patches
on the way up. There was a bunch more near the top. The loop down on
the other part of the Hanson Ridge Trail had the most.
This is largely a mountain bike trail. In time there will be a lot more of them as the full route over to Mt. Washington and then down to the Iron Horse Trail is completed. I have seen some photos of the view of Mt. Rainier to the south. There are also views in the other directions. I will come back before too long on a clear day to see them. We were mostly in thick clouds.
For the most part we saw a lot of beargrass and lupine. In addition there were a few patches of yellow monkey flower near the end of the road down. We also saw a tiger lily and a marsh marigold. Valerian showed up in several places as did rosy spirea. As nice as those were it as the beargrass that dominated the landscape. One of the best displays I have seen. Our loop was about 8 miles long with 1300' of elevation gain. It is never steep. A gentle grade uphill and down. It is not wilderness. Much of the landscape has been logged. The route is old road and existing road. Even with the negatives I found it to be a really fun hike.
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Trips - 2019
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This is largely a mountain bike trail. In time there will be a lot more of them as the full route over to Mt. Washington and then down to the Iron Horse Trail is completed. I have seen some photos of the view of Mt. Rainier to the south. There are also views in the other directions. I will come back before too long on a clear day to see them. We were mostly in thick clouds.
For the most part we saw a lot of beargrass and lupine. In addition there were a few patches of yellow monkey flower near the end of the road down. We also saw a tiger lily and a marsh marigold. Valerian showed up in several places as did rosy spirea. As nice as those were it as the beargrass that dominated the landscape. One of the best displays I have seen. Our loop was about 8 miles long with 1300' of elevation gain. It is never steep. A gentle grade uphill and down. It is not wilderness. Much of the landscape has been logged. The route is old road and existing road. Even with the negatives I found it to be a really fun hike.
 Louise At The Start |
 First Beargrass |
 Beargrass Family? |
 Side View |
 Nice Colors |
 Hillside Beargrass |
 Penstemon & Beargrass |
 Penstemon |
 View & Clouds |
 Rosy Spirea |
 New Trail |
 Trail Sign |
 Multiple Wildflowers |
 Rabbit On Trail |
 Lone Lupine |
 Big Bunch Of Beargrass |
 Lupine Patch |
 Mt. Rainier View? |
 Line Of Misty Trees |
 Little St. Helens Summit |
 Louise On Summit |
 Lupine Droplets |
 Close Up Shot |
 Sunlit Beargrass |
 Twisted |
 Bunny #2 |
 Very Misty |
 Big Beargrass |
 Louse At Work |
 More Mist |
 Miles Of Beargrass |
 More Droplets |
 Lots Of Lupine |
 Watershed Boundary |
 The Road Down |
 Yellow Monkey Flower |
 Tiger Lily |
Trips - 2019
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