Bare Mountain Hike

3 Oct 2012

Fall colors below Bare Mountain ridge

C.J. and I have done most of the day hikes near North Bend so this one, located out along the North Fork of the Snoqualmie, sounded like a winner. The guidebook indicated that it was seldom hiked due to the long rough county and USFS roads leading to the trailhead. Indeed, we met no one at all on the trail and the last party had been there three days before.

Not making a really early start we reached the trailhead around 1030 and secured our Alpine Lakes Wilderness registration tag to my pack. The trail was rocky as it climbed through the forest and more like a streambed than a trail. Not far along the way we were surprised to see an owl swoop in silently and land on a low branch directly above the trail. C.J. managed to get several pictures before the bird flew off into the woods. The first half mile or so was in forest with some very large cedars and hemlock. Then we broke into the open and remained in the sun with only occasional tree shade.

G with Paradise and Bench Lakes

The trail continued up the Bear Creek valley across a long stretch of sidehill with head-high ferns and  brush heading toward an obvious headwall. Before reaching it, the trail forked with the main trail starting to climb switchbacks to the left and a fainter trail leading right to mining ruins. When we reached the lower end of a large talus slope, we stopped for lunch. The trail made about 40 switchbacks before we topped out on the ridge at around 5000 ft. The summit of Bare Mountain, sporting a dark triangular flag, was visible above while the Paradise and Bench Lakes were directly below to the north. After a brief rest and some trail mix we started back down, having reached our turn-back time being 1430.

Back down the switchbacks and across the brushy slope, we returned to following the creek which had several pretty, rocky spills and pools. A rustic bridge marked one of the crossings of the stream and the boundary of the Wilderness Area. The same owl greeted us once again near the same spot, doubly surprising us. By 1630 we were back at the car and readying for the drive  down the North Fork to North Bend.