Leavenworth
The Faux-Bavarian town of Leavenworth
After doing some great hiking in the North Cascades in early August, we were anxious to do more. For the past ten years, smoke from forest fires has shut down hiking by mid August. For some reason this year, the smoke wasn't bad yet. I had a long trip to Tempe, Arizona later in the month for Consimworld Expo, as well as a few days with Mickey since the Brewers were in town. By shaving a few days off the front end of that trip, we were able to fit in another trip to the Washington Cascades. We would have four nights so we decided to split them. We would spend two nights in Leavenworth, near the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. We visited there many years ago and did a great hike to Lake Stuart. There were several more hikes there that looked really cool so we wanted to go back. After that we would spend two nights in Packwood, near Mt. Rainier and the Goat Rocks Wilderness. We've been there many times but I am always willing to go back to Mt. Rainier.
Evening view from our hotel room - Icicle Ridge on the right
Getting to Leavenworth was easy. I've been that way so many times on various trips that I could drive all the way there without even looking at a map. It only took us seven hours so we arrived midafternoon. We checked in at the hotel but our rooms weren't ready yet.
Leavenworth is along US 2, one of only two routes over the Cascades north of Interstate 90. It's just into the mountains on the east side. It's a major tourist town, providing a base to access the Glacier Peak Wilderness to the north of US 2, and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to the south of the highway. In the 1960's the town did a major renovation to try to attract more tourists. It took on the appearance of a Bavarian village and a number of Bavarian-themed festivals were created. Personally I think the Bavarian theme is kind of silly but it's still a good place to stay while exploring the nearby mountains. The location is great and there are a lot of hotels, restaurants and shops for the time when you aren't out hiking.
A beautiful morning on the Icicle Ridge Trail
Since we had some time to kill before our room was ready, we walked down to the main street. It's closed off as a pedestrian-only area and there are a lot of shops and restaurants there. It's a fun place to wander around. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, there were LOTS of people, a lot of them probably up from Seattle for the weekend or even just the day. After checking out the pedestrian area we headed over to the main highway. It's only a block away but sort of on the edge of town. It's lined with less touristy businesses like banks, gas stations and grocery stores, although we did find the Leavenworth Pizza Company there and stopped for linner (linner = lunch + dinner). We had a good pizza and then headed back to the hotel to get into our room. It was really hot and we were ready to get out of the heat for the day. We spent the evening watching the replay of the Brewers beating the Cubs 5-2.
We also spent time that evening researching where we would go hiking the next day. On our one previous trip to Leavenworth, we had done the hike to Lake Stuart. It was spectacular, but I remember that the bugs were really bad when we got to the lake. Since that was over ten years ago, the fact that I remember it means that the bugs were pretty bad. Still, doing it again or doing the longer hike to Lake Colchuck from the same trailhead, were my top choices.
Leavenworth from the viewpoint on Icicle Ridge
But then we looked at the Washington Trails Association website, which is an excellent resource for current trail conditions. There were a lot of posts from people who had done those hikes very recently and they weren't encouraging. People said the bugs were horrible, and there was a bear in the area that didn't show any aversion to hikers (that's not good). That was enough to dissuade Sandy.
We looked at several other possibilities. Lake Valhalla looked like a good hike, but there was a fire burning not very far to the north in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. It would be about a forty five minute drive to the trailhead and it might be a no go if there was too much smoke. We nixed that one. We settled on the Icicle Ridge Trail. It was very close to Leavenworth, at most a ten minute drive from our hotel, so there was a low risk of us needing to cancel out when we got there. It was relatively short but gained a quite a bit of elevation, which meant it was steep. It would be a good workout for us.
Sandy is happy that we finally made it to the top of the ridge
We got an early start because it was going to be another hot day. The drive to the trailhead was short, but where to park and where the trail started was confusing. It took us a while but we finally figurted it out and were on our way. The trail headed into the woods which was nice. With a lot of elevation gain, being out in the sun on a hot day would be unpleasant. After a gradual start mostly on the level, the trail started serious climbing. Fortunately it stayed in the woods most of the way. But as advertised, it was pretty much straight up all the way. There were no level stretches, just switchback after switchback. It was still cool in the morning and in the shade it wasn't too bad. We took it slowly and made steady progress. We only saw one other person, a runner who passed us on the way up. Other than that we had the trail to ourselves. It took us a little over two hours but we finally topped out at a saddle on the ridge. There was a guy sitting there enjoying the view. I guess we weren't the first ones on the trail that day. Almost but not quite.
Boundary Butte from the Icicle Ridge Trail
The trail split at the saddle. The main trail went to the left, continuing up the ridge. According to the guidebook, it went to a viewpoint of the Enchantment Lakes area, but that was many miles away. Instead we went right. The side trail climbed out of the saddle and in maybe a quarter of a mile reached a high point that overlooked the town of Leavenworth. It had been a hard climb so we took a break to catch our breath while we took in the view. Then it was time to start down.
The trail down was steep enough that it was hard work but at least going down was a lot faster than going up. As is typical on our hikes, we passed lots of people that were going up. It was warming up fast so we were glad we had an early start. We made it down before 11 am. It took us three hours and ten minutes for 5.25 miles and 1600 feet of elevation gain. Not bad for a couple of old folks. It was a good hike with pretty scenery, although it wasn't exceptional. I was glad that we did it but wouldn't make an effort to come back to do it again.
After cleaning up at the hotel we had brunch at Sandy's Waffle and Dinner Haus. They closed at three so we didn't know if we would be back from our hike in time to go there. Since Sandy is a big fan of breakfast foods, I think it was a major motivator for her on our hike. As it was, we finished our hike in plenty of time to get there before they closed. The food was good and it was pleasant to sit and rest and enjoy the coolness in the restaurant.
Heading back down to the valley
After eating Sandy was pretty tired so she stayed at the hotel and took a nap. I went back to the shops along Main Street. I could take my time in all the tshirt shops because I didn't have to worry about Sandy waiting for me. I still only bought one tshirt but I did get a number of things as gifts to add to my stash for birthdays and Christmas.
When I went back to the hotel Sandy was awake. She said she wasn't feeling that well but we went out for a walk. I took her to a shop I had found near the hotel that had fudge and truffles, two of Sandy's favorites. When she didn't want to get anything I knew that she really wasn't feeling good. We just went back to our room and stayed in that evening.
I had a tentative plan for the next day, doing a hike on the way from Leavenworth to Packwood. When we got up the next morning though, Sandy still wasn't feeling well so we decided to bag it. We just drove home. Fortunately when Sandy called enroute the hotel in Packwood was kind enough to refund our deposit, so we didn't lose out. Although we were a little disappointed that we had to cut our trip short, Abby was glad to see us when we got home early. I also had two extra days to get ready before I had to,so it was leave for Consimworld. And Sandy felt better in a day or so after we got home, so it wasn't anything serious.
It was a short trip but it was still fun to get out into the mountains again.
