NWBackpacking.com is all about my adventures backpacking—& hiking—in the Pacific Northwest.
Tweedy's Lewisia
Taken on the Fourth of July Creek trail near Leavenworth in the early evening on the 24th of May.
Summer is here
The bugs have been bad this year! I put it down to the hot spell we had at the end of July. Hot temperatures led to thunderstorms in the mountains, and those thunderstorms led to lots of nice wet areas for the bugs to breed and hatch.
The bugs may have been bad, but I'm amazed at the lack of fires; I was sure that hot spell (and those thunderstorms again) were going to make perfect fire conditions. So far it hasn't been bad at all. I've been way busier this summer than I should have been, but so far I've been to:
- Tronsen Ridge by Blewett Pass
- Fourth of July Creek near Leavenworth
- Navaho Pass in the Teanaway
- The Chewak river area in the Pasayten
- The North Fork Skykomish & West Cady Ridge
There's a couple of month's of fairly good hiking weather yet left (I hope) so my plan is to try to do:
- Little Giant, Napeequa Valley, High Pass, Buck Creek Loop
- Yellow Aster Butte
- Ptarmigan Ridge
- The Cradle
- Another Pasayten Hike
The Enchantment Lakes area also opens up to non-permit use in mid October, so maybe a trip up there. We'll see how far I get in my plans.
I also have work to do on this site, add a whole load more hike descriptions, and flesh out the rest of the site; tips, news, gear reviews and so forth. We'll see what time allows.
