Windfall and Dog Hair

I plotted out a route to a steep slope at the headwaters of a creek in the Northwest Cascades. While approaching the site I noted windfall trees on the edge of a clearcut.

While walking the road and a section of trail took about 2 hours to cover 6 miles with a fair bit of elevation gain and hiking out took about 1.5 hours as it was downhill, the last quarter mile to the steep slopes I wanted to reach took nearly an hour each way. 

Windfall trees and dog hair young trees

Dog hair western hemlock obscuring downed trees

It is a slow process navigating over fallen logs and brancheds that tend to break. It did not help that portions of the area were also steep. 

I did reach my goal of getting to the steep headwater slope - that presented its own challenge as there were cliffs in the forest.

Very steep forested slope

Made for a bit of a long day and light got a bit dim before getting back to my starting point, but I did get some nice views as the clouds broke up. 

Whitechuck and Glacier Peak

Whitehorse and Three Fingers