Icicle Ridge, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

Icicle Ridge trail, near Leavenworth

 

The Icicle Ridge trail is located near the town of Leavenworth in Eastern Washington.  We have cross-country skied at Icicle Creek but had never tried hiking the nearby Icicle Ridge.  The turn off road to the parking area is a little hard to find.  There is a sign but it is at ground level on the road not at eye level and it is relatively small.  The parking area is on a dirt road loop, with one section closer to the sign shown in the picture above and at the entrance to the actual trail.  No pass is required.  Next to this area is also a port-a-potty.  The lower parking area is a short walk down the hill from the upper lot. 

 

Most of the trail surface looks like this

 

The trail is locally popular and in good to excellent condition.  The surface is smooth packed dirt with practically no rocks or roots.  There are 21 switchbacks up to the top and the grade gets steeper the higher you go.  This early in the season our legs and stamina are not at peak condition yet, so we knew we would not go all the way up and ended up turning around at the 11^th switchback.  As far as we went this trail did not have staircases or steps.  

 

Icicle Ridge looking out from the trail

 

Icicle Ridge looking down and toward the Wenatchee River

 

 

 Even though we did not go all the way up, there were several places on the way up that offered wonderful views of the valley and the Wenatchee River.  The forest is mainly Pine trees that are for the most part widely spread apart and offer viewing opportunities along the way.  There have been fires in the area in the past and lots of the trees have blackened trunks.  Unlike the west side forests where there are lots of downed trees from the November bomb cyclone, we did not notice many downed trees. 

 

This shows the steep hillside

 

In the Spring this area is full of gorgeous arrow leaf balsam root flowers.  In places the entire hillside was covered in these grand, large yellow flowers.  There were lots of other flowers as well, such as Ballhead Waterleaf, Fairy Bells, Mertensia, Service Berry, Blue-Eyed-Mary, Sandwort, Vetch, Oregon Anemone, Spring Beauty, and Death Camas.  The Oregon Anemone was a surprise.  It is not common and we had not seen it before. 

 

Balsam root flowers were all over the hillside on one section of the trail

 

 Ballhead Waterleaf

 

Fairy Bells

 

 Mertensia

 

Vetch

 

 Service Berry aka Saskatoon

 

 Oregon Anemone

 

 

Death Camas

 

 Prairie Star

 

 Spring Beauty

 

 

Count for the day:

37 hikers, plus one baby being carried in a front pack

3 dogs

3 miles RT

650 ft elevation gain

 

 

Note:  Something to be aware of, there are rattlesnakes in many places in Eastern Washington; however, we have not seen any on our hikes. 

 

If this is Thursday this must be postcards, 688

 

 

 

 

 

Laie Hawaii Temple

[photo by Loye Guthrie]

 

This unused postcard features a color photograph of the Laie Hawaii Temple by Loye Guthrie.  It is a Mirro-Krome Card by H.S. Crocker Co., Inc. of San Bruno, California and published by Hawaiian Service, Inc. of Honolulu, Hawaii.  There is a blurb at the lower left corner on the reverse:  “The beautiful Hawaii Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is at Laie on the windward side of the island of Oahu near the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University.  Construction of the temple was undertaken in 1916 and completed three years later.  The temple is one of the earliest examples of architectural concrete in America.”

 

The temple is located about 35 miles or 56 km from Honolulu and sits on a small hill ½ miles from the Pacific Ocean in the town of Laie.  As the blurb mentioned it is near the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University.  The Visitor center attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.  Groundbreaking for the temple occurred in 1915 with the temple completed by 1919 and dedicated by Heber J. Grant.  Since then the temple was expanded in 1978 and rededicated by Spencer W. Kimball, and then after seismic upgrades and remodeling it was rededicated again in 2010.  This temple is the oldest temple to operate outside of Utah and is the 5^th oldest temple still in operation. 

 

 

Laie Hawaiian Temple, 2008

 

 

George Q. Cannon, BoPa (aka FarFar)’s great-grandfather, was among the first 10 missionaries to arrive in Hawaii in 1850.  There is a statue with a commemorative plaque of him and Jonathan Napela on the grounds of the cultural center.  When were there in 2008 we visited the cultural center and took a picture.  

 

 

 

George Q. Cannon and Jonathan Napela

 

Commemorative plaque

 

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laie_Hawaii_Temple

 

Troublesome Creek Trail, Index, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

Troublesome Creek

 

 The day we hiked the Erinwood trail we also hiked the Troublesome Creek trail.  There are several tributaries that feed into the North Fork Skykomish River and Troublesome Creek is one of them.  The campground is about 15 miles from Index on the Index-Galena Road that has been closed for about 7 or 8 years due to river washout.  Open now, the new road is paved, up higher on the hill, with crews installing erosion control terraces and plantings going in on the day we visited.  

 

 

One of the other tributaries to the North Fork Skykomish River, Trout Creek 

 

Named Troublesome Creek for the difficulty the railroad had in getting around it, the camp ground is closed for the season but the trail can still be accessed.  We passed one small outhouse that was part of the camping area but it looked like it was locked, hence prepare for no facilities if you want to hike here in late fall or early winter. 

 

 

Most of the trail looks like this

 

 

With just a few stairs

 

 

The trail we took is a loop with a lower path following along the creek and an upper mini loop that joins the lower loop again before returning to the campground proper.  We chose to do the lower loop since it was right along the creek which is really a small mountain river with a torrent of fast, powerful water running down the day we were there.  We followed the upper loop for a short distance to see where it went, but preferred being along the water so turned around and kept to the lower trail.  It is a short loop even adding the extra part of the upper loop.  Bob estimated that it ended up being about the same as the Erinwood trail, .8 miles for the loop. 

 

 

Metal bridge

 

 

 Wooden bridge

 

There are two sturdy foot bridges crossing the creek that offer opportunities to take pictures of the rapids, falls, and rushing water in the creek. 

 

 Pools

 

 and rapids

 

with water that is incredibly clear and a blue-green color.  There are pools, rapids, waterfalls and wonderful water music all along the lower loop trail.

 

 

 

 Our only animal sighting for the day was this busy, busy, woolly bear caterpillar hurrying to somewhere ...

 

 Little yellowish mushrooms

 

Medium sized flat topped brown mushrooms

 

Larger pink-purple cup shaped top mushroom

 

Cream colored concave mushrooms

 

There were mushrooms growing in this forest too, but perhaps not quite as many as we encountered in Erinwood.  

 

 

 

 

Only one place with an almost obstacle--Watch your head

 

 

 North Fork Skykomish

 

On the return trip toward Index, we pulled over and took a picture into bright sun over the North Fork Skykomish River.

 

 

Looking over the roof tops of Index was this view of the peaks in the Wild Sky Wilderness.

 

All in all, a wonderful day of solitude and peace, cool but not too cold, sunny and bright, no traffic noise, and beautiful nature surrounding us.

 

 

Count for the day:

No people, no dogs

.8 mile loop, a couple of small hills, no perceptible elevation gain

65 miles from home

 

 

 

 

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 685

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapel by the Lake, Auke Bay, Alaska, ca 1960

[photo by Howard C. Robinson]

 

The unused postcard shared this week features a photo by Howard C. Robinson of the Chapel by the Lake.  At the bottom left on the reverse there is C8716 and credit to Robinson.  At the upper left on the reverse is a short blurb:  “World famous Chapel by the Lake, Auke Bay, Alaska, with Mendenhall Glacier in the background.”  The card was published by C.P. Johnston Company of Seattle, Washington using color by Mike Roberts.  This card was one of several found in a jumble box at a local antique mall. 

 

Architects Howard Foss and Linn A. Forrest designed this Presbyterian church located in Auke Bay, Alaska.  Construction began in 1954 and was completed in 1958.  There is no date or postmark on the card but the date of the card can be estimated based on the new-like appearance of the interior shown on the card.  The style is an example of Rustic architecture.  There are large windows behind the altar that look out across Auke Lake to the famous Mendenhall Glacier.  The scenic, suburban location makes this chapel a popular venue for weddings. 

 

Auke Lake is found in Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska.  In addition to Dolly Varden, cutthroat, and steelhead there are four other varieties of salmon live in the lake.  The views from the Glacier Hwy side of Auke Lake are often photographed. 

 

Mendenhall Glacier has been significantly receding.  When my parents visited in the early 1960s the glacier was close to the visitor center and the lake was much smaller with almost no beach.  When Bob and I were there in 2019, Mendenhall Lake had increased and the visitor center was at the beginning of a trail down to the large lake beach.

 

 

 Mendenhall Glacier, 2019

 

As can be seen in these photos from 2019, Mendenhall Lake has grown in size between the edge of the glacier and the pathway down from the visitor center.  The glacier is still massive but is continuing to shrink. 

 

Mendenhall Glacier and beach with people standing by the lake, 2019 

 

Mendenhall Glacier is about 13.6 miles or 21.9 km long and is located about 12 miles or 19 km from downtown Juneau.  The glacier and the surrounding areas are protected as the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area within the Tongass National Forest.  Since 1942 the Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored the outlet glaciers.  Since 1929 when the lake was created, the glacier has receded 1.75 miles or 2.82 km.  It has receded a total of 2.5 miles or 4 km since 1500.  A statement from the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Mendenhall Glacier, says: “because glaciers are a product of climate, they respond to climate change.”  The glacier is expected to continue receding in the foreseeable future due to a generally warming climate in Southeast Alaska. 

 

Nugget falls, the beach, lake, and Mendenhall Glacier, 2019 

 

Nugget Falls

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, 2019

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_by_the_Lake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Glacier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auke_Bay,_Juneau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auke_Lake

 

 

Denny Creek Trail, Snoqualmie Pass, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

Sign at the Denny Creek trailhead

 

Our most recent hike was a short one to the water slide on Denny Creek.  It was a cold, drizzly day but the best weather day for the week.  Puffy jackets and long johns, gloves and hats helped keep us warm and dry.  The newer main parking area serves three trails, Denny Creek, Franklin Falls, and Wagon Road.  There are newer outhouses at the main upper parking area and also at the handicapped parking area below the main lot.  The old Denny Creek parking trailhead is closed to cars.  The small outhouse there was closed for the season.  The Wagon Road is another way to get to Franklin Falls.  Since it is only 55 miles from Seattle, it is a very heavily visited hiking area.  However, on a cold, rainy day there were not many people.

 

 

 

Roots, slippery when wet

Stairs

more stairs

 

and still more stairs

Part way up to the slide is this newer bridge over the creek

We have hiked this trail before but this time we found it full of rocks, roots, and stairs.  Lots of stairs.  Trail crews sometimes think that stairs are an improvement on trails but uneven stairs are very hard on older legs, both going up and coming down.  We will take a walk-around slope in lieu of stairs, if there is one available, almost every time.   

 

 

 

 

Stairs down to the water slide and the log bridge crossing the creek

 

There was mud and standing water on the trail in a few places and one small creek we walked through.  Our boots are waterproof, so no problem.  There has been some erosion since we were last here also, but we are now a little older too and that makes a difference.  For instance, we did not attempt to use the log bridge, that does not have a railing, over the rushing water in the creek.  We might have considered doing that a few years ago but not now.  Also, our turn around destination this time was just getting to the slide.  Continuing up across the creek about another ¾ mile are the spectacular Keekwulee Falls. Denny Creek lower falls are a view through trees, while the upper Denny Creek falls are at the top of the water slide.

 

Denny Creek lower falls

Denny Creek upper falls

 

It is too late in the season now for flowers but fall colors are still out and there are various shapes, sizes, and colors of mushrooms all along the trail.   I do not know mushrooms, but used a field guide to guess the common names. 

 

Shrimp mushroom

Brown coral fungus

Yellow coral fungus

Tiny witch's butter

 

 

Tiny tan mushrooms growing on log

 

Angel Wings

Clump of white mushrooms

Someone had turned part of the clump over and I thought the underside was pretty

Violet Cort

Most of the trail is quiet and woodsy.  However, one section goes directly under the I-90 freeway and there is audible traffic noise.   

 

 Denny Creek

More pleasant are the burbling sounds of the water in Denny Creek and peek-a-boo views of rushing water here and there. 

 

 

Count for the day:

13 hikers, 2 dogs

540 ft elevation gain

3 miles RT

55 miles from home