With more than 600 miles of trails and more than 700 lakes and ponds, the Alpine Lakes Wilderness is an embarrassment of riches for Northwest hikers. Writing a guide for the area is no small task. But ...

Rising above Mason Lake and Lake Kulla Kulla in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness is Mount Defiance (5,584 feet) and its long, bony ridge, with other tempting summits for off-trail hikers -- some with ...

As I traversed a steep trail, five long hours after I started, I began to feel a bit lonely. I hadn’t seen anyone for several miles, and the heat of the day was making my brain foggy. Then, around the ...

A major bonus when hiking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Snoqualmie Pass is there are so many variations starting from a single trailhead. An excellent example is the Ira Spring Trail that leads ...

Sixty years ago, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, establishing a National Wilderness Preservation System and defining wilderness as a place where “man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” ...

Editor’s Note: The CT Series is a special series of hiking articles about the Colorado Trail (CT) that runs from May through October. The CT is a unique and well maintained continuous trail, spanning ...

All other hikes will be measured against The Enchantments, guidebook writers promised. We were tempted. The worshipful tones of all hikers before us into the Alpine Lake Wilderness lured us to the ...

THE Traveler: Tom Singsank of Minnetonka. The scene: Mirror-like lakes and tall peaks make a stunning vista along the Yellow Aster Butte Trail in the Mount Baker Wilderness. "This photo was taken from ...