Hiking Silver Star Mountain in Washington

It was late June, and friends invited us to hike with them up to Silver Star Mountain in Washington. They said the views would be great from the top! We were in for a treat. Well, the views didn’t pan out, but the views from the trail were fantastic. We started hiking later in the afternoon after a bumpy ride to the trailhead. The trail started with wide open views with few trees, just hillsides of lush green and wildflowers of every imaginable color grew. Some flowers even grew upside down! We saw purple lupine, wild irises, orange Indian paintbrush, funky white pom-pom flowers, and others I don’t know the names of, that I could make up funny names for but I won’t. I was the caboose, which suited me fine so I could stop and take pictures as often as I wanted (it was often). I found myself having to hoof-it to keep up with the crew. Eventually, we made our way over a ridge of rock and the fog descended on us in a picturesque, typical Cascade image. The wind whipped around us and until we arrived in a quiet fairytale landscape of tall spruce trees and green moss. We took the last spur of the trail up to the top, greeted with thick fog and cold wind. So, the big views didn’t transpire, I guess it means we have to come back. We took the wider trail to loop back down and were treated to the fog breaking up and soaring above our heads. Sun dappled the forested hills below. All in all, a wonderful 5-6 mile adventure and spectacular foggy scenes! Here is a slideshow of photographs from the hike, click on thumbnails to view entire image. Enjoy!