Greenway Mountain and Points 4304 and 4320 via Hall's Point Trail

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Today was another late start due to work getting canceled at the last minute. I have been thinking about visiting Greenway Mountain near Mt Washington and Change Peak for months, waiting for snow to make the off-trail sections less painful for the dogs and humans involved. Several other factors made this an ideal day for the trip, including a relatively low avalanche danger forecast and a short drive to the trailhead (45 minutes from Seattle) to compensate for the late start.
With and roads covering most of the routes and a complete lack of necessary travel on South facing slopes, this would even make a good destination during moderate avy danger, though I would not recommend approaching from the Hall Point trail during such conditions. I also would not take a dog above Hall Point under any conditions as it would require significant added road-walking mileage, elevation loss, and/or bushwhacking in order to avoid loose, rough 30-degree-plus terrain with some exposure. The Great Wall Trail is a much more dog friendly route and adds less than 2 miles to the trip.


From exit 38 I parked at the gated road east of Hall Creek, crossed under an old railroad bridge and followed the Zig Zag Trail up to the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, where the unofficial Hall's Point trail has two obvious starting points. The one further to the West next to Change Creek starts with a short scramble assisted by some fixed webbing. The dog-friendly entrance is behind a short section of railing to the East.

We made great time up the windy gully despite the trail being mostly covered in ice and compacted snow. About a mile from the John Wayne Pioneer Trail a boot path branches off towards what I thought was Halls Point. Automahn had a bit of trouble crossing a sharp and narrow section of ridge on the way out. Views were unobstructed from McClellan Butte to Mount Si, but continuing past the turnoff and up the ridge I found a sign pointing to Hall Point, still ahead. The snow at this point (about 2500') was about 2 feet deep and mostly firm below a few inches of powder in open areas, and about 6" of cascade concrete under canopy.

I strapped on my snowshoes before crossing the first apparent road around 3500'. Auto had some difficulty with the steepness of the ridge above, which looked like it only got worse, so we dropped back and followed the road toward the south. After losing about 200' of elevation we started through thinly spaced trees directly up the slope to the West. Across the next road up, the slope became steeper and trees gave way to massive stumps, mostly buried in the snow. With increased exposure the snow became harder and my snowshoes seemed to barely penetrate the surface. At this point I regretted leaving my ice axe behind, and decided it would have been much smarter to have continued further south into the protection of the forest before beginning the ascent. Either way, up was the safest option from where we sat so up we went to the road at the top of the ridge at 4100'.

The road brought us nearly to the summit of Greenway Mountain. The sky was mostly overcast around 10,000', covering the top of Tahoma but leaving the rest of the Cascades in clear view. Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan sat in the saddle between Mount Teneriffe and Green Mountain. Chester Morse Lake and the start of the Cedar River were in full view. I had a great vantage point on the two small peaks on the ridge to Mount Washington, each with about 200' of prominence.

Other than the short bushwhacks to the two small summits, the rest of our descent was on roads or trails. We could have saved a mile or two on the way out by dropping down towards Change Creek and exiting via the Hall's Point Trail, but being unfamiliar with the route and with the sun setting soon, we made our way out via the Great Wall and Mount Washington Trails. I somehow managed to make a wrong turn following mostly buried tracks along the road, but luckily realized my mistake before having to backtrack too far.

Compact snow and ice covered most of the trails below 3000'. We passed 3 hikers on their way in on the Mount Washington Trail, the only souls I had seen all day. I planned on taking the John Wayne all the way back to the Zig Zag Trail above my car, but frigid winds at the start of the bridge over Change Creek sent us down early on the Change Creek Trail. Compact snow and ice covered most of the trails below 3000'

~12 miles round trip
~5000' elevation gain
4 hours up to Greenway Mountain
3 hours down

Keechelus Ridge Snowshoe

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Work was canceled at the last minute so rather than waste the day I took the dog up to Keechelus Ridge for a romp in the snow. From the price Creek snow park off exit 62 I followed the road half way up then a series of snowshoe trenches straight uphill to the radio towers. There were snowmobiles everywhere. Their tracks made my still shoes unnecessary, a nice trade off for the noise and smell.


The view from a small point NW of the towers was astounding from Tacoma to Mount Daniels. I put on snowshoes where the snowmobile tracks ended on the ridge up to the true summit. Through an opening to the East I could see from Cabin Mountain over the I 90 corridor all the way to Mount Stuart. I relaxed and dried off in the sun while Auto played in the snow.


The weather and views were about perfect so we stayed until the sun disappeared behind the tree line.The top 3-4 inches of snow pack under tall canopy was crusted over making it tough at times to get a solid bite into with my snowshoes. I sought out openings with fresh powder to plunge step down wherever possible. We traversed about a quarter mile to the West and then made a direct descent East of Noble Creek to Forest Road 4832 just East of Road 124.


 Snow Park Pass required at Trailhead
~2800 ft Elevation Gain
High Point: 5151ft
~7 miles round trip

Mount Si to Blowdown Mountain and Dixie Peak

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We arrived at the new Mount Si trailhead at 6:30 as a group of Boeing Mountaineering Course students were signing in for their evaluation hike. I used my headlamp for the first mile or so until the rising sun began to poke though the trees. Snow began on the trail at 2 miles and was steady after 3. As we gained 3500' of elevation the temperature rapidly rose as a result of an extreme temperature inversion in the region. After a short break for pictures and a snack by the rocks near the top, we headed around the back of the haystack.


The haystack was mostly melted off besides the standard scramble route up the NE col, which was filled near to the top with a mix of ice and slushy snow. Due our experience with this ~60' scramble we hatched a plan to alternate up to the summit to keep Automahn from danger on the slippery descent. Unfortunately I started up with the leash in my pack like a dummy. Auto ignored Joel's attempts to constrain him and had climbed half the way up before I could get to him, then refused to follow me down, apparently intent on making the summit himself. We completed our half-hatched plan and then spent the next hour slowly coaxing a stubborn mule-of-a-dog back down.


We regrouped and donned snowshoes while discussing route options for the remainder of the trip. We followed an established trench to Blowdown Mountain along old logging roads, with the occasional bushwhack between them. The road stops only a few feet from the summit, which has limited between thick sub-alpine hemlock. We followed the West side of the ridge to the Northern sub-peak named for Crater lake below it to the East. This provided a great vantage point on Dixie Peak, our next destination, as well as Mount Teneriffe, the Haystack, and the cascades to the North and West.


Under canopy the snow surface was crusty and tough to bite into so we accepted some elevation loss and stayed mostly to the ridge tops en route to Dixie Peak to save our ankles from the slope. The high point of the day provided near panoramic views. Rattlesnake Mountain, Issaquah Alps, and the distant Olympics looked like islands in an ocean of low clouds that extended as far as the eye could see to the West of  the Cascade foothills. The cascades to the East and South were crisp and clear. We spent nearly an hour lounging in the sun, trying to fully appreciate spring-like weather at 4600' in mid January. My keychain thermometer read 55 degrees in the shade. Hard to believe.


On the way back we stopped at the viewpoint below the haystack to enjoy the first half of the sunset. Tiger Mountain and Squak Mountain cast impressive shadows on orange clouds over the Snoqualmie River Valley. Tahoma dominated the skyline even as it faded into the sky surrounding it. The day ended as it started in the dark, a sure sign of a satisfying day in the mountains, if you ask me.