Hiking Solo

One of the days that we were in Leavenworth, I went on a solo hike. I woke up that morning, ate breakfast and took off for the trail.

After kissing my girls good bye...

I drove about 15 minutes up this dirt road to get as remote as I possibly could.

Once I arrived at the trail head, I began my 14 mile trek. At the beginning the old growth forest was so thick that I could not see more than about 20 yards off the trail. As far as altitude I started at about 2200 ft and planned to reach as high as 6800 ft.

On the way up I ran across this creek that was pleasantly babbling. I took a few minutes to enjoy it, take some pictures and continue on my way.

As I gained in altitude, the forest started to thin out and it was easier to see more of my surroundings.

After about 2 hours of hiking I crossed the 5000 ft mark

Not long after the 5000 ft mark I ran into an interesting situation as the trail laid beneath all these fallen logs. As a result, this is were many of the few travelers that had used this trail seemed to turn around. Up to this point the trail was fairly defined. After this point the trail was much thinner and much harder to follow.

While the logs in the trail slowed me down I eventually made it to this overlook that I stopped and ate an apple. I didn't stay too long because it was colder at the higher elevation. If you look close in this picture you can even see snow on the rocks that I am sitting by.

At about the 6 mile mark on the way in I came across this designated camp site and thought it fitting to take a picture of the snow covered toilet. I was going to take a picture of me using it but unfortunately(but fortunately for you) there was no place for me to set the camera down and get a good shot.

After about 3 1/2 hours of hiking I made it to my destination. This was my photoshop attempt to put pictures together. I am not very good with photoshop but at least you get an idea of what it looked like at the end of this trail.

This was me at the end. I spent about 20 minutes enjoying the scenery and head back down and home... I look forward to more of these hikes and someday I hope to be able to get to do them with my girls.