Winter hikes?

[Becky]

My boyfriend and I started going on hikes every weekend since the 2013 new year, I browsed through this board but I'm interested in finding out what some of everyone's favorite WINTER hikes are? Please post pics! I'm not talking about snowshoeing, although hopefully soon we'll have our gear for that as well -excited-

[timberghost72]

Boulder River is a great winter hike. Its out towards Darrington. Low elevation and the gain is not much. It shouldnt have any snow right now. Wallace Falls out of Gold Bar is good too. I can put some pics up when I get home.


Here are some pics. First 3 Boulder River, last 3 of Wallace Falls. Not the greatest but gives you an idea.

Another good hike is Fragrance Lake up north and Sauk River out of Darrington.

[Becky]

Boulder River is a great winter hike. Its out towards Darrington. Low elevation and the gain is not much. It shouldnt have any snow right now. Wallace Falls out of Gold Bar is good too. I can put some pics up when I get home.

Thanks for the suggestions, I keep running across the boulder river hike in my searches and pegged it as a "maybe" for this weekend! yes please post pics when you can!

[yote]

http://www.wta.org/

The site pasted above is a great tool I use year round, whether it's the top trails for the season or finding a good hike near you using the terrain map, it's a great tool. 

[Becky]

http://www.wta.org/

The site pasted above is a great tool I use year round, whether it's the top trails for the season or finding a good hike near you using the terrain map, it's a great tool. 

Yep yep I live on that site! thankies though.

I guess I should explain - the idea behind THIS post was to get input from hunters and their favorite hikes. It's dual purpose, I want awesome amazing photography opportunities (the work out is nice too) and to catch some wild life, my boyfriend wants good experience for hunting. I figured getting your guys' opinion on the matter would be good for both!

[Holg3107]

This time of year without snowshoes you are confined to the lowlands a bit. I would recommend Poo-Poo-Point in Issaquah (park at Issaquah High School). That's where the paragliders take off and if you are up there on a clear day you can watch them. Central Peak near Issaquah is pretty nice 9 mile hike with 3500 feet of elevation gain. Not much wildlife but good exercise. Both Cougar and Tiger mountain have some great hikes for this time of year with minimal snow. As snow levels rise I would check out Annette Lake, Granite Mountain, and for a real butt kicker hike Mailbox Peak (not for the faint of heart). As far as wildlife its a little tough this side of the mountains but the islands are a ton of fun and are full of deer ect... and most have great hiking opportunities. No pics here at work, will try and get some up tomorrow of the hikes that I mentioned.

[Smossy]

This time of year without snowshoes you are confined to the lowlands a bit. I would recommend Poo-Poo-Point in Issaquah (park at Issaquah High School). That's where the paragliders take off and if you are up there on a clear day you can watch them. Central Peak near Issaquah is pretty nice 9 mile hike with 3500 feet of elevation gain. Not much wildlife but good exercise. Both Cougar and Tiger mountain have some great hikes for this time of year with minimal snow. As snow levels rise I would check out Annette Lake, Granite Mountain, and for a real butt kicker hike Mailbox Peak (not for the faint of heart). As far as wildlife its a little tough this side of the mountains but the islands are a ton of fun and are full of deer ect... and most have great hiking opportunities. No pics here at work, will try and get some up tomorrow of the hikes that I mentioned.

Yeah we were actually talking about picking up some snow shoes today but man are they expensive...

[fillthefreezer]

Yeah we were actually talking about picking up some snow shoes today but man are they expensive...

check out geartrade.com
they have lots of snowshoe returns from backcountry.com for like 50% 

[fillthefreezer]

you can also rent from some of the sporting goods shops, if i remember it was only like $10 for the weekend

[Becky]

you can also rent from some of the sporting goods shops, if i remember it was only like $10 for the weekend

Oh really? Might have to do that instead  for a bit, I thought it'd be like $50 or something for rentals. Thanks for the website tip as well!

[Becky]

Boulder River is a great winter hike. Its out towards Darrington. Low elevation and the gain is not much. It shouldnt have any snow right now. Wallace Falls out of Gold Bar is good too. I can put some pics up when I get home.


Here are some pics. First 3 Boulder River, last 3 of Wallace Falls. Not the greatest but gives you an idea.

Another good hike is Fragrance Lake up north and Sauk River out of Darrington.

AWESOME, thanks for sharing pics

[Becky]

This time of year without snowshoes you are confined to the lowlands a bit. I would recommend Poo-Poo-Point in Issaquah (park at Issaquah High School). That's where the paragliders take off and if you are up there on a clear day you can watch them. Central Peak near Issaquah is pretty nice 9 mile hike with 3500 feet of elevation gain. Not much wildlife but good exercise. Both Cougar and Tiger mountain have some great hikes for this time of year with minimal snow. As snow levels rise I would check out Annette Lake, Granite Mountain, and for a real butt kicker hike Mailbox Peak (not for the faint of heart). As far as wildlife its a little tough this side of the mountains but the islands are a ton of fun and are full of deer ect... and most have great hiking opportunities. No pics here at work, will try and get some up tomorrow of the hikes that I mentioned.

I was just told about Poo-Poo Point yesterday so that might be a must soon, is that off Tiger mountain? I WAS one of those paragliders then a couple years ago but never hiked up around in there. I remember it being absolutely gorgeous so I'm sure the hike would be as well. Thanks for the awesome suggestions, writing them all down on my "to-do" list

[jackelope]

Marmot mountain works in Bellevue will rent you whatever gear you'd ever need.  It's all pretty reasonable. You could outfit yourself completely there for whatever you might need.

[wildmanoutdoors]

 
And REI rents gear as well!

[Stizz]

If you're up for an adventure try mailbox peak east of north bend. The hike is a real a-hole but as far as good training for hunting season and awesome views go it's a tough one to beat. Even this time of year on a sunny clear afternoon the snow up top is pretty easy to handle in just hiking boots.