Rattlesnake Ledge and Rattlesnake Mountain Trail

Our Hiking Time: 4h 30m
Total Ascent: 2600ft
Highest Point: 3500ft
Total Distance: 10 miles
Location: N 47° 27.5000, W 121° 48.3667
Difficulty: Moderate



This week we had some unfinished business to attend to with the Rattlesnake Mountain Trail. Months ago, Rattlesnake Ledge was a good warm up during our Rainier training, but as the weather heated up, the amount of traffic increased exponentially. This created the difficulty of navigating between folks with large packs, which prompted us to forgo this hike in favor of the Cable Line. On one of our last climbs up to the Ledge we pushed past the crowds and further down the Rattlesnake Mountain Trail, quickly encountering icy snowpack that we were fairly unprepared to navigate. After meandering through trails and logging roads, we were forced to turn around before reaching the next waypoint on the trail and assumed that we had somehow lost the trail.

We returned this week interested in finishing what we had started earlier in the year and shaking up our routine by doing a through-hike instead of a peak. We parked a car on the Snoqualmie Point end of the trail, and then carpooled up to the Rattlesnake Recreation Area to get started.

On the whole the trail is well maintained and friendly. The short two mile jaunt up to the Ledge makes it an attractive and easily accessible hike for families and large groups, which can quickly clog the sometimes narrow trail. The signed Ledge provides a fairly impressive panorama over Rattlesnake Lake, with Mt. Si, Mailbox Peak, and Mt. Washington dominating the view to the north. From here you can see two more outcroppings perched higher on the mountain which can be easily accessed by continuing up the trail. The final ledge gives the greatest vantage point and most western view, with tiny trails carved into the scrub for the more adventurous scramblers to clamber around on.

The trail continues up through increasingly dense forest; at times sunlight is largely blocked out and footsteps lost in browned pine needless and the smell of humus. At about three miles, the trail begins to open up and intersect with a series of logging roads in various states of use and abandon. The trail is well signed and we had no trouble making our way to East Peak and its resident tower and vistas. The forest is young here, still not fully recovered from the timber harvest decades earlier. A mix of Noble firs and pines gives way to cedars and eventually alders, all no more than 30 years old. Trees continue to get younger as the trail progresses until you finally reach very recent cuts. Roughly the last two miles of the trail winds through recent select cut patches, with only a few trees left standing to foster an eventual rebirth.

East Peak marks the end of the elevation gain at 3500’, and the rest of the trek was mostly a gentle downhill. Several other viewpoints await the hiker from here; Windy’s Point, Grand Prospect, and Stan’s Overlook are signed stopping points along the route to Snoqualmie Point, all offering expansive views to the north, eventually including views of Mr. Baker, Russian Butte and Mt. Teneriffe. Moderate in difficulty only because of the initial short bouts of steep grade going up to the ledge, this route is a great casual hike through the woods if you’re short on time but want to get some miles in.

From the number of hikers we passed coming from the opposite direction, Snoqualmie Point seems to be the more popular starting point of this trail; however, we’re recommending you start early at Rattlesnake Lake and avoid the crowds and the longer incline. Snoqualmie Point is easily accessed via Exit 27 off I-90 coming from the city. Take a right and follow the road for a ¼ mile until you hit the trailhead. Unfortunately there’s no onramp from Exit 27, so you’ll have to traverse North Bend to get back on I-90. To reach the Rattlesnake Recreation Area take Exit 32 off I-90 and a right on 436th Ave. SE. Follow the main road for a little over three miles before reaching the parking area. The trailhead begins on the opposite side of the lake, accessed via a service road opposite the lot. Park it and get going! - Nathan

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Dirty Harry's Peak/Balcony

Our Hiking Time: 4h 30m
Total Ascent: 3400ft
Highest Point: 4680ft
Total Distance: 8 miles
Location: N 47° 27.0498, W 121° 37.2336
Difficulty: Hard



On the heels of our Mt. Washington hike, we decided to return to the Exit 38 area and try to get a view of our previous summit from the other side of I-90 by tackling Dirty Harry’s Peak, the unofficial name for the eastern end of a ridge that begins with Mailbox Peak. Evidently, back in the late 1970’s Harvey Manning began referring to this end of the ridge as “Dirty Harry’s” in honor of Harry Gault, the now somewhat infamous independent logger, renowned both for his baffling ability to access remote stands of timber as well as his relentlessness in procuring timber, often carving large swaths in piecemeal out of the I-90 corridor.

The trailhead can be accessed via Exit 38. When coming in from the west, you’ll need to follow the signs to the State Fire Training Center, past Olallie State Park and back under I-90. Shortly thereafter, you’ll encounter a gate that says it will be closed at 4pm. Continue following the road over a bridge, for roughly half a mile. At a bend in the road you’ll see a large gravel road to the left. A few hundred feet beyond on the right is the trail, marked by two large concrete road blocks. While we found a couple of cars hugging the almost non-existent shoulder here, we chose to turn around and park in the gravel lot just outside the gates, rather than risk of getting caught behind them.

The old forest road that serves as a trail is mostly rocky, rain and weather having stripped away much of the soil, exposing the small boulders just beneath the surface. Water was again the prevalent theme, either cutting across our path or turning down it, transforming the trail into a streambed. Logging discards is the other theme; buckets and cable are often found languishing at the trailside. The first mile and a half to the Balcony is very moderate; most hikers will have no problem getting to the junction at 2,500’, where an old oil drum serves as a marker. Follow it to the right for roughly a quarter of a mile to a rocky outcropping that overlooks I-90. McClellan Butte looms large dead ahead, while Mt. Defiance and Bandera Mountain crouch to the east. Although one can supposedly bushwhack through the young trees for better westward views, we headed back and continued on to the summit.

From the Balcony the trail is wetter, rockier, and steeper. It is also unabashedly uphill. It rarely gives more than a few dozen yards of level ground before ratcheting upwards again. At 3,000’ the trail meets Museum Creek, so named for “Harry’s Museum,” a fabled collection of rusted logging equipment secreted away somewhere nearby. Enough post-hike research was done to determine that at least one logging truck is up there somewhere, but we were unable to find it despite twenty minutes of rooting around the immediate area. Continuing on we found occasional windows had been cut through the alders, yielding more views of McClellan Butte and Mt. Washington.

We hit fresh snow at 3800’ and slogged out the rest of the increasingly steep trail. The Douglas fir is young here, evidencing the clear-cutting done by Harry a few decades earlier while opening up the trail overhead. The sun played off the snow covered trees as we reached the top. Scramble up some boulders to find yourself on something of a precipice with a sheer drop of a couple hundred feet to the Granite Lakes below. That's Baker to the far north, past Bessemer and Russian Butte. To the east you should be able to make out Glacier Peak. While the view is impressive, one can only imagine the panorama that Harry’s chainsaw may have briefly created. Most of the views in other directions have been reclaimed by the recovering forest, though the shadow of Mt. Rainier skulks unobscured to the south.

Overall, the roughness of the former logging road -- large rocks, often made slippery by water -- and uncompromising inclines after the Balcony worked to push this trail into the hard category. Definitely attainable by most prepared hikers, just make sure to bring the hiking poles to steady you over water hazards and rock. On the way back down we found another surprise: just under the bridge spanning the South Fork Snoqualmie River the water is placid and deep and some helpful folks have tied up a rope swing to take advantage of the swimming hole. Definitely a stop for next summer! - Nathan

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Mt. Washington Trail

Our Hiking Time: 4h 15m
Total Ascent: 3400ft
Highest Point: 4420ft
Total Distance: 8.5 miles
Location: N 47° 25.5667, W 121° 42.0167
Difficulty: Moderate



Standing watch over I-90, Mt. Washington and Mailbox Peak are the gateway to Snoqualmie Pass. Here, the Issaquah Alps end and the Cascades begin. A hike to the top of Mt. Washington through a maze of forest roads can be a little disorienting, but the views are more than worth it.

Originally named Profile Mountain, Mt. Washington was renamed for a likeness of George Washington on one of the mountain’s many exposed rock walls. Extensively logged decades ago, the main route to the top is almost entirely logging roads in various states of decay. Over the years, multiple routes have been blazed to the summit which can make the hike a little confusing. Occasionally an unofficial-looking sign will point you in the right direction, though none of the trails on Mt. Washington are really considered “official.” This is probably because Mt. Washington is managed piecemeal by the Forest Service and Washington Parks and Recreation. Half the mountain is part of Iron Horse State Park and the other half is in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. To further complicate matters, there is at least one large privately owned plot on Mt. Washington. In the end, this means that trail maintenance is left to independent trailblazers and trail stewards like the Washington Trails Association.

Finding the trail can be trickiest part of this hike, as it is unsigned. From the Upper Twin Falls Trailhead, take the spur up to Iron Horse Trail and head right. Keep an eye out for a small trail to your left, not more than a few hundred feet after you get on the Iron Horse. Depending on the time of year it can be a little overgrown. Once you find the trail and start up, the route becomes increasingly rocky, as it wanders through alder and maple, past streams and waterfalls. Before long you’ll encounter the first of many rock walls that attract the bouldering and climbing crowd. On summer days you’ll see climbers roped in and clambering up rock walls just off the trail.

The first couple of miles of trail are the most difficult. Expect long and steady inclines. At two miles or so you’ll hit the Owl Hike Spot, a small viewpoint carved out of the trees opposite a sheer rock wall. Years ago, the Mountaineers had a number of Owl Hikes - short hikes close to the city that could be done after work and into the evening - though today this turnaround point seems to be the only lingering legacy of the Owl Hikes. The spot offers some good views of Rattlesnake Ledge, Cedar Butte and Rattlesnake Lake, and wall serves as a makeshift bench for taking it all in. From here on out the trail is pretty friendly, mild inclines intermingled with lengthy distances of level ground.

Eventually you’ll break out of the trees and into meadows revealing a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier presiding over the Cedar River Watershed. From the summit you can easily pick out Little Si, Mt. Si, Mt. Teneriffe and Green Mountain. Mailbox Peak to the immediate northeast, peeking out from behind another ridge of Mt. Washington. Soak up the view and enjoy.

The is an engaging route. The trail regularly transforms itself from friendly ex-logging road - spacious, flat, and graveled - to intermittent streambed, complete with water-carved contours and exposed rock. It’s not a particularly easy hike, but the views are excellent. As an added bonus this trail is a little under the radar, so it makes a great alternative to Mailbox or Mt. Si on a summer weekend.

To get there, take I-90 to Exit 38 and head right. Almost immediately, take a right onto a gravel road to the Upper Twin Falls Trailhead. -Nathan


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Squak Mountain - Central Peak & Bullitt Chimney Trails

Our Hiking Time: 1h 45m
Total Ascent: 1300ft
Highest Point: 2000ft
Total Distance: 4.6 miles
Location: N 47° 28.908, W 122° 03.248
Difficulty: Easy



We were short on time last Sunday, with a number of familial factors limiting the duration of our hike, so we took the opportunity to visit something closer to home. We’d often bypassed Squak in the past, preferring to push further out the I-90 corridor to places a bit more remote and potentially rugged. But, considering the number of times we’d been up and down Tiger, we thought a visit to Squak was long overdue.

Squak Mountain is tucked between Tiger and Cougar Mountains, somehow dodging the feline-themed naming craze that struck the area back in the day. Back in 1972 the Bullitt family donated their one-time summer retreat of roughly 600 acres near the top of Squak to the State of Washington which has since managed to expand the boundaries of the park to encompass some 1,545 acres. There are several entrances to the park; we took one of the lesser known. I-90 to exit 17. Take Front Street N to W Sunset Way. Take a right and head straight, heading up Mt Park Blvd SW until taking a left on Mountainside Dr SW. Follow Mountainside around a curve or two before seeing a spur and some park signs just as Mountainside Dr continues a major switchback up Squak. Go ahead and park and pile out.

Arriving mid-drizzle we geared up and started off to conquer the nominal peak. We were, perhaps, over-prepared for the well maintained and gentle trail that greeted us. The primarily deciduous forest had already dropped the majority of their leaves and carpeted the trail in gold big leaf maple and brown alder. While the network of trails is fairly extensive, nearly every fork in the trail is well signed, making it unlikely that one could get too twisted around. The detailed map on at the trail head is worth a perusal before setting out, just to get a rough idea of where you’re going.

Our trek up to Central Peak followed the Bullitt Access trail, still fairly wide and graveled despite it being decades since a vehicle clunked its way up to the Bullitt summer cabin near the summit. After a few junctions we took the Central Peak fork, where the trail became a little steeper and the vegetation shifted to a more familiar mix of ferns and Douglas fir. At about 1,700 feet, we were in the clouds, giving the trail an otherworldly feel that allowed us to pretend that we might be more than just a few miles outside of town, and that perhaps the occasional rumble was something other than rocks tumbling down the nearby quarry. Almost before we knew it arrived at the microwave towers that currently reside at the summit, along with the obligatory beige shacks, dreary chain link fencing and borderline hysterical over-signage. There’s no real view to speak of, though we supposed that on a clear day one could see Tiger and parts of Issaquah. We didn’t linger.

We took a slightly different route back to swing out and take a peek at the Bullitt Chimney, all that remains of the summer home that once stood here. The Chimney and cement foundation sit in a clearing along with a forlorn picnic table. We assume that when a cabin stood here the residents hacked out some sort of view from the surrounding forest, felling trees to take in what could be a nice vista of Renton, Seattle, and the south end of the Sound. As it stands, the rejuvenated forest suffices.

The autumnal smell of damp rotting leaves returned as we descended – there were several opportunities to explore more branches of the trail network, however, we felt that we’d already captured the essence of the park. Squak is great for walking the dog or getting in some trail running close to home, and we would highly recommend bringing the family out for a stroll – nice, well maintained trails, lots of room, not too crowded, but easily accessible. It was not intense enough for our hiking needs, however, so save this one for the kids and look elsewhere if you're yearning for something of a challenge. -Nathan

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Cable Line - West Tiger #3 Trail Loop

Our Hiking Time: 2h 15m
Total Ascent: 2042ft
Highest Point: 2522ft
Total Distance: 4.75 miles
Location: N 47° 31.766, W 121° 59.783
Difficulty: Hard



Back when we were training to summit Mt. Rainier, Jer and I went up and down the Tiger Mountain Cable Line more times than we can remember. Those familiar with West Tiger Mountain #3 off I-90’s Exit 20 will recognize the view from the top, as the Cable Line culminates at the same summit, but arrives there via what is essentially a straight shot up the back of #3. This is not a hike for those that prefer the easy path. This hike should be reserved for training or trail running, as there is little difference to the flora and fauna between it and West Tiger #3, other than the possibility of spending so much time trying to catch your breath on the Cable Line that you might not notice the forest surrounding you.

The trail can be accessed a number of ways; our preferred method was off the paved road on the way to the West Tiger Mountain #3 parking lot. There’s something of a cul-de-sac just before the gated gravel road here. If you’re lucky - and by lucky I mean arriving either early in the morning or on a weekday – you’ll be able to park here. A more likely scenario will find you parking on the shoulder nearby. A short way east of the cul-de-sac you’ll find some fairly large boulders marking the trail up. This is where the fun begins. Looking up the trail things seems fairly benign, but the trail climbs up a bit to momentarily flatten in a power line meadow before really kicking into gear.

The trail is best thought of as a series of three hills with some short plateaus between them.

The first hill is at once the least intense and arguably most treacherous. At this lower level, there tends to be more water and more soil; meaning, more mud. The incline is such that, depending on the time of year, you could find things extremely slick. It is also your first challenge and your body has yet to figure out that you’re going to be asking it to work a bit harder than a normal hike. After scrambling up the first half of this hill you’ll be presented with a sign letting you know that no one officially maintains the Cable Line. You may have deluded yourself into thinking things are not going to be that bad, but as you continue past the sign the sheer ridiculousness of the grade will be made readily apparent.

The first hill ends with a nice flat plateau that you will see the end of. If you’re a little winded, take a few minutes. The second hill is much longer and is the real hump of the hike. Getting to the second leveling off after that monstrosity really puts the bulk of the work behind you. While not as slick as the first leg, the second hill can seem unending. Unlike other portions of the hike, this hill is much more open, and feels like you’re walking up some sort of washed out gully. Your reward after this point is a significantly longer plateau before hitting the rocky home stretch. Again, if you’re winded, take a minute or two. There’s still one leg left.

The last push is close up again, the underbrush crowding up to the edges of the trail. Things are rockier here with a lot of loose stone, might want to pull that hiking pole out to keep you from sliding backwards. You’ll know when you’re near the top when you reach the next iteration of Cable Line signs, this one marking where the West Tiger Mountain #3 trail cuts across the Cable Line. #3 veterans will likely remember this signpost as the indicator they used to note that they were less than a ½ mile to the top.

Sweating past that last portion will deliver you to the 2522’ summit, which looks roughly to the southwest. On a good day Mt. Rainier peers out from around a bluff to the south and the end of Lake Washington can be seen with I-90 stretching across it.

So you made it up, now to get down. We recommend you try going from the summit back down to the regular trail on the Cable Line - it gives you a good sense of what you're in for and how steep it was on the way up. Once you get back to the regular trail, decide whether you want to brave the Cable Line down or if you'd like to take the easy road. As you can see from the map above, we took the easy road this time.

Over the course of 3 months or so we made the brutal slog to the top many times, methodically increasing the weight on our backs. Not surprisingly, during our early attempts we came up with a baseline time for ascending up the 2042’ to the summit. Everything thing we did after that was an attempt to push ourselves to shave a minute or two off our time. This became increasingly difficult as we started hauling up more and more weight, eliciting more and more cramping and cursing. We promised ourselves that after we beat Rainier we’d come back and see how fast we could do it without all that weight on our backs. Our current record to the top? 47 minutes. -Nathan

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