• What start innocently enough as a day hike to Alpine Lookout morphed into a multi-day through-hike along the Nason Ridge Trail. Since we don't have two cars we managed the through-hike part by stashing a bicycle at the end of our trek and driving to the start; then, at the end of the trip my intrepid husband bicycled back to pick up the car and pick me up at the terminus.

The bicycle was stashed at the Round Mountain trailhead; thus my husband had 4.5 miles of intermittently rough dirt/gravel road to contend with followed by a ride along Highway 2 climbing 1,000 feet back to the start at Rock Mountain trailhead.

We timed the trip to coincide with cooler conditions following the 90+ degree days that Seattle experienced so that we weren't climbing up the south-facing slope of Rock Mountain trail in crippling heat. The previous night was spent camping near the trailhead to ensure an early start.

Day 1: Highway 2 to Rock Lake. It goes up over 3400 feet in about 3.6 miles. The trail is rough with many downed trees in all sorts of configurations although nothing impossible to clamber over, under, or around. It's steep. It's brushy. Yes, there are views of the Chiwaukums but you earn it. Rock Lake is lovely with some nice camping areas. Some snow fields are still around Rock Lake easily traversed especially when the snow is a little soft. Rock Mountain (another 800 feet and 0.8 miles) is spectacular with 360 degree views. On a clear day it does not disappoint.

Day 2: Rock Lake to Merritt Lake. Approximately 5.3 miles. Leaving Rock Lake heading east to Crescent Lake there is some serious side-hilling involving a very narrow, eroded trail overgrown in parts that paralleled ever-present Highway 2 way down below. Scared of heights? Got vertigo? When I was lying awake that night I thought of how easily that part of the trail could have been impassible because of a landslide. But I digress; the trail is passible. Soon we arrived at lovely Crescent Lake with many hungry mosquitos. My husband decided he hadn't exerted himself enough and scrambled up and down Mt. Howard while I trekked on to Merritt Lake. The trail continued to be very overgrown in places to the point where one couldn't see where to place one's foot safely. I had navigation difficulties when the trail seemed to dead-end after a creek crossing. The trail was hiding under a very marshy area that had to be crossed before entering a wooded area where the trail showed up again. The brush and downed trees continued in a monotonous fashion until reaching the Merritt Lake junction where the tread improved. Great big camping area at Merritt Lake with a privy(!).

Day 3: Merritt Lake to Alpine Lookout to Round Mountain TH: Oh well, the weather deteriorated to low clouds, some mist that made the brush wet and obliterated the views from Alpine. The trail to the Alpine LO junction continued with downed trees and wet brush. The 0.3 mile track to the lookout was, however, very nicely graded. The trail from that point on turned from a narrow, overgrown path into a boulevard all the way to the Round Mountain trailhead. The view was spectacular at times as the mist blew by driven by a strong wind. Once, I saw Lake Wenatchee and even the mountains off to the north. On a clear day this would be a view well worth the effort. This day, not so much. Even so, today we saw the most number of people--6--on their way to the lookout from the Round Mountain trail. Days 1 and 2 we saw 1 person each day.

Concluding notes: It was windy the entire time but the temperature was fine the first two days, cool by the end. I saw grouse, a deer, a marmot, other rodents. The wildflowers were fairly blasted in the lower elevations; above there were some western anemones, lupine, phlox. Bugs were annoying but with a permethrin-treated bug suit and a stiff wind I only contributed a little to the next generation.

Started this hike at first light to beat the heat on one of the hottest days of the year. Trail is a bit overgrown for the first 1.5 miles. A couple of blow downs mixed in but other wise manageable. Route is really steep and is not for the faint of heart. Bugs were present and tenacious but, deet and treated clothing made for a pest free hike. Trail is dry until you get to rock lake so bring plenty of water. There were a few snow patches left up towards the summit, I navigated around them to avoid slipping or post holing.
Mileage for this hike might need to be evaluated. I clocked just over 5 miles to the rock mtn. summit from the trailhead at Hwy 2 making it a 10 mile round trip. Even though I got an early start, the return trip is completely exposed to direct Sun. Again, pack enough water to get you there and back. Spectacular Views at the top make the trek worthy.

This was on Doug's to do list and I'm always game so we were off. This trail is notorious for nasty brush on the road to the trailhead, but it's been brushed out and the road is in great shape. In fact, better shape than the Smithbrook road before the turn off. So far, so good. The trail is in mostly good shape except for some brushy areas in the first couple of miles where it's a good idea to slow down and check your footing through all the Thimbleberry and occasional Devil's Club. It get's buggy in here as well as hot as heck. At around three miles you leave most of the brush behind into open forest, thankfully shady, but still hot and the trail turns steep. Bugs are hungry here but Deet kept them at bay. There are some flies joining the fun, but they don't seem to bitey yet.  I was dreading the blasting sun once we'd entered the open meadow nearing the top of the ridge, but we got lucky and there was a nice breeze there as well. I'll admit though that it was a taxing trip in 80 plus degree temps and I was dragging. I heard a report on KUOW on the drive in that noted folks needed to keep our elderly safe and out of the sun or we might perish in the heat. Yeah, well, if you mean me....watch my dust!  Enough about that. The flower show on the upper slopes weren't quite as spectacular as I've seen there in the past, but not too shabby. The views from the summit were great. The sky is very clear to the north and east and a bit hazy to the south. There were butterflies and lots of buzzing things at the summit, but nothing biting. We had it all to ourselves. We saw only one other party today who we met in the forest as they were hiking out after getting an early start (smart!). They reported seeing a bear near the upper switchbacks, but try as we might, we didn't see him but he probably saw us. 

The very short dirt road to the trailhead is getting pretty rough but if you are careful, most cars can get there.  

There are a few blowdowns on the trail - none are too difficult.  The trail is brushy in places and the tread is starting to slide in a few spots.

Snow starts at about 5200' and becomes continuous between 5400 and 6400'.  I used microspikes.  I also used an ice axe in a few places where an uncontrolled slide would have been dangerous.  There is a line of intimidating snow cornice along the ridge between south summit and the true summit, however, once you are near the south summit most of the trail is actually snow free to the true summit.

Wildflowers are blooming in the meadows below the snow line.  Rock Lake is still frozen over and buried in snow.

Every once in awhile it pays to sleep in. I arrived at the trailhead at 9 and there was one other car there. The couple ahead of me blazed a path all the way up. Without their footsteps and final encouragement at the end I wouldn't have summited. 

This seemed like 2 totally different hikes. Down lower the trail is good save for one difficult blowdown. There's brush encroaching at times but all in all it's in good shape. Lots of Paintbrush in bloom and some Lupine. Snow starts around 4800'.

At about 5200' the footsteps left the trail and stayed high on the ridge. Some of the ridge is snow free. There's a large snowfield to climb up to 6200' where you gain the ridge and turn west. You climb this ridge up to ~6600'. The upper part of this is very steep and this is where the ice axe came out. This section had to be downclimbed on the decent. This is where my day would have ended if not for running into the couple ahead of me. At this point everything was fogged in with off and on rain. From here you turn north and climb another ridge to the top. This was easy enough but a cornice runs basically the length of it. Because of the terrain there were a couple times where I felt a little closer than I would have liked but it all worked out. The summit was melted out. I stayed there for quite awhile hoping the fog would lift but it never really did.

There are glissading opportunities coming down which was fun. The hike didn't even quite measure 8 miles but it felt a lot longer. Ended up being out there about 7 hours. Great day even with the fog. Thanks to the couple for breaking trail and putting in some great downclimbing steps!