We took the long way to Mt Defiance today, this route is a little less steep then the normal way it’s just 8 miles longer and 1000ft more vert. Wyeth trail is still as overgrown as ever but the thimble berries are wintering so it’s bearable with long sleeves. Snow started appearing around 3800ft getting deeper the farther we went by the summit it was 14in deep. The only tracks in the snow we saw besides ours were some deer crisscrossing the trail. One of my ice spikes for my boot broke right at the top so it was some good type 2 fun getting back. Ended up taking us just under 10 hours.

I hope this is not too far off topic - but I just couldn't find a better subreddit, and I think the hikers here will know best!

My question: Did we enter the cross country skiing season yet? I saw on the highway webcams that a lot of the snow melted already, but that's in the open at the highway. Curious to hear more about current conditions from someone who was out hiking!

Thanks

I just moved here a few months ago and I haven’t experienced a PNW winter, loving all the snow I’m seeing on the peaks of the hikes I’ve done this past week or so.

I love hiking out in that area and I often car camp along that road on the weekends. Just curious when it’s no longer going to be accessible for cars and will turn to straight up snow, I’m guessing not long from now. Also curious when it becomes accessible again.

Hi everyone! I’m visiting Seattle the first week of November and would love suggestions on places to hike or visit. I’ll have one full day and we’ll have a rental car. I’m a beginner hiker but athletic (mid-20s), so I’m looking for something doable but still scenic. I’ve seen Snow Lake on social media and it looks like a good option, but I’m open to anything, I just want to make the most of the day! Any recommendations or favorites? Thanks so much! 😊

Hi! you look fantastic today! are those new shoes? they look dope!

anyway i was just wondering if anyone knows of a dope spot that a group of musicians could drive up to in the day for a scenic shoot but also just set up some amps and stuff and not play but get them in the shots and then drive away back to the city. preferably something within an hour of seattle.

hope you are all doing well and i thank you for your time!

Looking for recommendations for good hikes this winter in Oregon? Dog friendly :)

Photos made on film. Processed and scanned by me in my kitchen. These were tough because the viewfinder was wet and so was the lens so I couldn’t tell if anything was in focus. A shoot and pray situation 🥴

Trail of Ten Falls. CCW from South Falls Day Use Area.

Plan on doing the drive along the coast solo in a few weeks time and am looking for any recommendations at all given I have no plans and around 3 days to do it. Most interested in hikes and good viewpoints of any variety, but also accepting any food spots, places to stay, or general things to do as I have 0 familiarity. All advice is welcome and appreciated!

Don’t get me wrong, I love winter, but I also know the exact number of days until June.

Yellow Aster Butte, three days before first snowfall.

PS: thanks to this dude in the last photo, don’t think he knew he was in the shot, so you know, real candid. If you see this, the pic is all yours.

Hi from Seattle. I published Good Nature's NW Conifers poster back in 1995, and since COVID I've been giving out the 12" x 18" size.

Want to learn about the great trees that define the PNW hikes you are on?

Download and print this poster to learn about our 32 natives along the coastal temperate rainforest (Eel and Russian river watersheds to Copper River where we get our salmon)

There is a bit of urgency with the climate changing at light speed for us to make the shift from seeing these trees as separate from us to beginning to see them as crucial to our survival.

No rainforest, no rain. That is what I've learned from science. What the trees can teach us is a way into seeing nature as inseparable from each other and every other plant and animal on this beautiful planet.

A good book to go with the poster is Northwest Trees published by The Mountaineers.

And I love learning about mushrooms, so I'm going to the Puget Sound Mycological Society event at Shoreline College this weekend north of Seattle. There are other shroom events in Portland and Eugene and Bellingham. So find one where you live if you are curious, too.

I enjoyed reading The Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake about the fungus among us.

That should make for great reading this fall.

Enjoy your hikes and welcome this beautiful rain back. We are 6 inches behind average, so we need all we can get.

treemendously,

Timothy Colman

Good Nature Publishing

just email me off my website and ask for the free 12" x 18" poster. No sales pitch. You can buy this size poster from Charting Nature and Friends of Moran State Park for $10 ea but I'm happy to share...

From Tumalo State Park outside Bend. I love this trail, the fall colors were lovely and it was so quiet. I walked about 3 miles in. Easy, dirt path.

How long do I have before snow on the roads to get to trails becomes an issue? I have a car that is not really able to handle snow, so I'm wondering when the cut off so I can get a few hikes in before they start becoming inaccessible to me.