Nice views over Wenatchee Heights and Columbia River Valley. Nice wildflowers in spring and early summer. It’s much cooler up here during the heat of summer. There’s also a large elk herd up in this area. Maps: USGS 7.5-minute series...Read More...
Attractions. A walk, mountain bike ride, cross-bike ride, or even a trail run on good dirt roads to a summit with a commanding view of the hills and dales around Blewett Pass. The road climbs relentlessly and sometimes quite steeply. It’s...Read More...
Photo: This connector trail between Ski Hill and Freund is much more than a few miles of new trail. A few trails do not a system make. A system needs trails of various lengths and difficulties. Trail systems provide loops...Read More...
Freund Canyon is Leavenworth’s backyard mountain biking hill. In under two hours you can leave Leavenworth on a bike, grind uphill, scream downhill on fast trails, and be back in town. If you’re a Leavenworth visitor with a family in...Read More...
Photo: Icicle Ridge delivers big-screen view from Icicle Ridge of Stuart (right) and Colchuck (left). After a brutal 4,800-foot climb up Fourth of July Creek, you reach Icicle Ridge with its big-screen views of the nearby Stuart Range and it’s...Read More...
Attractions. This route is a non-nonsense ascent and descent of one of the higher peaks flanking Highway 2. The access is easy and if you don’t want to waste time touring flat terrain to reach skiable slopes, this is a...Read More...
For about a month each winter when a low snow level has settled in over the foothills of the Wenatchee Valley, the road up Twin Peaks makes for an accessible and surprisingly enjoyable winter outing. A 4.2-mile drive up Number...Read More...
Plain-old Nordic Skiing by Andy Dappen As late as 2010 if you had asked the residents of Plain, Washington to develop a Nordic skiing culture they’d have said, ‘Forget about it.’ If you wanted to ski groomed Nordic trails, they’d...Read More...
See a PDF version of this story with more photos. Stuart Range Traverse (September 10-11, 2011) by Mike Rolfs On a warm weekend in early September, Aaron Simmons and I set out from Ingalls Lake to traverse the...Read More...
The Paleozoics and Cenozoic of Silver Star by Andy Dappen We’re mainly a gray brigade of ski tourers who have assembled to ski Silver Star Mountain. At age 70, Chester Marler is our senior advisor, but to prove we’re...Read More...
