10-21-25
The
good weather was about to end and I wanted to get in a longer trip
while it was still sunny. Gary and John were free and I liked Gary's
idea of another one way hike over Rattlesnake Mountain with our own
twist. It was a Tuesday so I arranged to be free for the day. After a
little business, Gary picked me up at 6:55 am and we headed east to
meet John at the Snoqualmie Point Trailhead for the Rattlesnake
Mountain Trail (RMT). John joined us for the drive to the east
trailhead at Rattlesnake Lake. We arrived at 7:55 am. There was only
one car in the small lot just off the road. We were on our way at 8:00
am. First we hiked around the lake and then head uphill on the trail.
This trail is crazy busy almost every weekend of the year. There would
be many people over the course of this day but our early start made it
not very crowded. We hoped that the one car's passengers would be the
only people we saw heading up. That was not the case. We soon saw a
group coming down and then a few more. There were some good sections of
yellow leaves in the first mile. The trail is very gently graded. It is
twice as long as the original trail that went right up the slope.
We made good time and reached the lower ledge at 8:54 am, having traveled 2.2 miles. Several groups were leaving as we arrived. That left just one other group at the viewpoint. We had clear views over to Mt. Si, Mt. Teneriffe, and Chester Morse Lake. Below us was Rattlesnake Lake. Our view made it clear the lake was very low. About half the lake bed was dirt. We had a short break and then headed on. At the upper viewpoint we stopped for another view. Now, we had views down to the lower ledge. One person was there. The trail continued uphill as we ascended to East Rattlesnake Mountain. We started seeing more mushrooms the upper mountain was full of fresh mushrooms. They were the main thing we were photographing along here. We arrived at the top of East Peak at 10:22 am. We had traveled 4.6 miles and were at the highest point of our trip.
We were mostly in shade and decided to continue on for a longer break. The trail drops down in forest. Before long, we broke out into the recent clearcut. This did provide some sunshine. The wind was light and it was comfortably warn in the sunshine. The bare clearcut of the first year is now very green. There is brush and trees are now 5 to 8 feet tall. Son the views will begin to disappear once again. The road/trail meets the dirt trail and we took it. It was more shaded but softer under foot. We wound around and at the next junction we went back to the road. The trail would have taken us over to Grand Prospect. I wanted to add some more mileage and some better views by going over the top of West Rattlesnake Mountain. There are some ups and downs on the ridge ending with the road switchbacking up to the top of West Peak. Gary was back from three weeks in Europe and John was recovered from a bad bout with Covid. I have been doing lots of 3000' gain hikes and I reached the top first. The guys did pretty well under the circumstances. We reached the top at 11:24 am. We were now 6.6 miles into our day. We had gained over 2800' so far.
It was mostly clear overhead though cloudy in some directions. Mt. Rainier was in the clear as well as all the Cascade peaks to the east. Most of the Olympic Mountain peaks were in clouds. To the north, Mt. Baker was not seen. I could make out one of the Three Fingers peaks. There was a light cool breeze and windshirts or jackets went on. Bellevue is in sight but Tiger Mountain hides Seattle south of the Space Needle. After about half an hour we started moving. First, I went across to the other side of the summit for a view of Mt. Rainier. I have been able to step up on a stump and get a clear view. Now the small trees are high enough to get into the photo. In just a few more years I may not be able to see Mt. Rainier. We started down just before noon. The short way back is to drop to Grand Prospect. I prefer to follow the road down the west side of the peak. The recent clearcut provides views and warm sunshine. There are usually mountain bikes along here as the bike trails come up this side of the peak. There was nobody to be seen. After the lower ledge we saw very few people until the last few miles. We left the road and dropped to the RMT once again. On our last trip we headed up to Grand Prospect. This day we just headed for the end of the trail.
While we had all day for the trip, we hoped to finish early enough to get home before rush hours traffic picked up. The RMT is a well graded trail that is easy to descend. I had heard that the bridge had been replaced. This is at least the third version I have seen. The last one did not last twenty years as it had a hole in it. The new one is much wider and looks like it will last a long time. Our next junction was near Stan's Overlook. From just above that there are half a dozen arches over the trail. They were covered with colorful leaves. They looked really good. As mentioned we did see some groups near the west end of the trail. We reached the Snoqualmie Point Trailhead at 1:46 pm. That was earlier than I expected. For the day, we covered 11.2 miles with 3000' of elevation gain. It is always fun to do a one way trip. Now we had to drive back to Rattlesnake Lake to pick up Gary's car.
We were early enough to get back to town before traffic started backing up. We took the tunnel under Seattle and I was home just after 3:00 pm. It was near 60 degrees in Seattle. This turned out to be a great hike. We did a rare one way trip with mostly blue sky. It as cool in the morning but warmed to a comfortable temperature for most of the hike. It was a bit chilly on the top of West Peak. We saw a few people on the way to lower Rattlesnake Ledge. We saw more in the last couple miles. We saw almost nobody for the seven miles of trail. The views were mostly good and the mushrooms were impressive. We even had a little fall leaf color. With rain in the forecast for most of the rest of the month, it was a good time to take a day off work and head for the trail.
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Trips - 2025
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We made good time and reached the lower ledge at 8:54 am, having traveled 2.2 miles. Several groups were leaving as we arrived. That left just one other group at the viewpoint. We had clear views over to Mt. Si, Mt. Teneriffe, and Chester Morse Lake. Below us was Rattlesnake Lake. Our view made it clear the lake was very low. About half the lake bed was dirt. We had a short break and then headed on. At the upper viewpoint we stopped for another view. Now, we had views down to the lower ledge. One person was there. The trail continued uphill as we ascended to East Rattlesnake Mountain. We started seeing more mushrooms the upper mountain was full of fresh mushrooms. They were the main thing we were photographing along here. We arrived at the top of East Peak at 10:22 am. We had traveled 4.6 miles and were at the highest point of our trip.
We were mostly in shade and decided to continue on for a longer break. The trail drops down in forest. Before long, we broke out into the recent clearcut. This did provide some sunshine. The wind was light and it was comfortably warn in the sunshine. The bare clearcut of the first year is now very green. There is brush and trees are now 5 to 8 feet tall. Son the views will begin to disappear once again. The road/trail meets the dirt trail and we took it. It was more shaded but softer under foot. We wound around and at the next junction we went back to the road. The trail would have taken us over to Grand Prospect. I wanted to add some more mileage and some better views by going over the top of West Rattlesnake Mountain. There are some ups and downs on the ridge ending with the road switchbacking up to the top of West Peak. Gary was back from three weeks in Europe and John was recovered from a bad bout with Covid. I have been doing lots of 3000' gain hikes and I reached the top first. The guys did pretty well under the circumstances. We reached the top at 11:24 am. We were now 6.6 miles into our day. We had gained over 2800' so far.
It was mostly clear overhead though cloudy in some directions. Mt. Rainier was in the clear as well as all the Cascade peaks to the east. Most of the Olympic Mountain peaks were in clouds. To the north, Mt. Baker was not seen. I could make out one of the Three Fingers peaks. There was a light cool breeze and windshirts or jackets went on. Bellevue is in sight but Tiger Mountain hides Seattle south of the Space Needle. After about half an hour we started moving. First, I went across to the other side of the summit for a view of Mt. Rainier. I have been able to step up on a stump and get a clear view. Now the small trees are high enough to get into the photo. In just a few more years I may not be able to see Mt. Rainier. We started down just before noon. The short way back is to drop to Grand Prospect. I prefer to follow the road down the west side of the peak. The recent clearcut provides views and warm sunshine. There are usually mountain bikes along here as the bike trails come up this side of the peak. There was nobody to be seen. After the lower ledge we saw very few people until the last few miles. We left the road and dropped to the RMT once again. On our last trip we headed up to Grand Prospect. This day we just headed for the end of the trail.
While we had all day for the trip, we hoped to finish early enough to get home before rush hours traffic picked up. The RMT is a well graded trail that is easy to descend. I had heard that the bridge had been replaced. This is at least the third version I have seen. The last one did not last twenty years as it had a hole in it. The new one is much wider and looks like it will last a long time. Our next junction was near Stan's Overlook. From just above that there are half a dozen arches over the trail. They were covered with colorful leaves. They looked really good. As mentioned we did see some groups near the west end of the trail. We reached the Snoqualmie Point Trailhead at 1:46 pm. That was earlier than I expected. For the day, we covered 11.2 miles with 3000' of elevation gain. It is always fun to do a one way trip. Now we had to drive back to Rattlesnake Lake to pick up Gary's car.
We were early enough to get back to town before traffic started backing up. We took the tunnel under Seattle and I was home just after 3:00 pm. It was near 60 degrees in Seattle. This turned out to be a great hike. We did a rare one way trip with mostly blue sky. It as cool in the morning but warmed to a comfortable temperature for most of the hike. It was a bit chilly on the top of West Peak. We saw a few people on the way to lower Rattlesnake Ledge. We saw more in the last couple miles. We saw almost nobody for the seven miles of trail. The views were mostly good and the mushrooms were impressive. We even had a little fall leaf color. With rain in the forecast for most of the rest of the month, it was a good time to take a day off work and head for the trail.
 Some Color Early On |
 Nice Morning Lighting |
 Good Leaf Color |
 Rattlesnake Lake |
 Valley Fog |
 Mt. Si Above |
 Misty Chester Morse Lake |
 Fuller Mt. & Little Si |
 Lower Ledge |
 White Mushrooms |
 Brown Mushrooms |
 More Shrooms |
 White & Green |
 Small Mushrooms |
 A Piece Missing |
 Amanita |
 Pale Yellow |
 East Peak Tower |
 Si & Teneriffe |
 Bright Yellow Mushrooms |
 Open Forest |
 Out In The Open |
 Witches' Butter |
 Distant West Peak |
 Turkey Tail Fungus |
 Small Red Berries |
 Gary Near West Peak |
 John Near West Peak |
 View East From Peak |
 Mt. Si Haystack |
 Distant Three Fingers Mt. |
 East Tiger Mountain |
 Lunchtime On West Peak |
 Tiger 1 & Olympics |
 Bellevue 3200' Below |
 Closer Three Fingers |
 Mt. Rainier |
 Rainier & Fall Color |
 Heading Down |
 Road Turned Trail |
 Big White Mushroom |
 New Bridge |
 More White Mushrooms |
 First Leafy Arch |
 Another Arch |
 Almost Last Arch |
 Green Trail |
 Final Arch |
Trips - 2025
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