2013-11-29 Bearscout Peak

Colin and I tried to make the best of the weather the day after Thanksgiving by climbing a few obscure I-90 peaks. We parked less than a mile below the gate at the Hansen Creek Trailhead and set off up the snowy road before 7 a.m. There was a single truck at the borrow pit when we passed by. About a foot of snow was mostly firm on the road, and very thin or non-existent under canopy besides a few places above 4500 feet.



On top of the ridge we followed the remnants of the old Mount Gardner Trail along the watershed boundary. Hopping on and off several roads brought us to Scout Patrol Peak, which we quickly left for Bearscout Peak. Visibility was under 50 feet most of the day, and never more than 200 feet. On our return the snow was noticeably softer but mostly downhill so we never used the snowshoes that we carried all day. Back at the gate we found dozens of cars worth of people harvesting Christmas trees, and then got caught in a very unexpected traffic jam on Tinkham Road.




10.5 miles round trip 3900' elevation gain


View 2013-11-29 Bearscout in a larger map

Rock Mountain (Stevens Pass) 11-23-2013

We left Renton at 4:30 a.m. and left the truck under the power lines East of the Rock Mountain Trailhead at 7. We scrambled quickly up to the trail and started up the endless switchbacks. As we climbed, a red glow moved into the foggy valley to the East and Icicle Ridge slowly rose from behind the Chiwaukum Mountains. Snow began to appear on the trail by 3500 feet. We carefully worked through few short sections of exposed switchbacks that were covered in thick ice before.



Where snow covered the trail it was fairly well packed, but as we gained elevation and the untouched areas remained soft powder it became increasingly clear that we should have brought snowshoes. We followed the sole pair of boot tracks on the mostly packed trail until they turned around, and continued on the trail for a few hundred feet more until reaching an exposed rocky peak. We crossed below the cliffs and then climbed to the top of the ridge where the false summit of Rock Mountain first came into view.

Dog Mountain (Lennox Creek/North Fork Snoqualmie) 11-20-2013

I got an early start to make the most of the sunshine that was forecast for Wednesday. We were delayed for about 10 minutes on the long drive down the North Fork County Road by a truck that was being loaded with recently logged timber. Fresh asphalt now continues a few hundred feet past the "Spur 10" gate, it looks like new homes may be soon to come. Lights from more logging could be seen a few thousand feet up on the West end of Phelps Ridge.

We hit the trail at 7 a.m. with just enough light to leave the headlamp in the bag. Bits of snow appeared on the roadside before the barrier, less than 1/4 mile past the Bare Mountain Trailhead. The road/trail beyond the barrier was only slightly overgrown, but would have been much worse before fall. A few inches covered the ground by the time we reached the two consecutive bridges about a mile in. Shortly after that was a fork in the road, where we continued on the obvious trail to the right. Bare Mountain and the West ridge of Dog Mountain faded in and out of view along the way. The trail began at the roads end another 1/4 mile later.

A Bald Spot of Sunshine - Baldy Mountain 11-16-2013

My family used to camp on the Entiat River and lately I've been looking for an excuse to make the long drive for some hiking in the area. With clouds and precipitation in the forecast for most of the Cascades and Olympics on Saturday the best chance to climb a mountain in the sunshine was near Lake Chelan and that was good enough for me. I started over Snoqualmie Pass at 4 am in an attempt to make the most of the morning sun. Thanks to the WSDOT website I chose to drive the long way (through Vantage) to avoid several inches of compact snow and ice on Blewett Pass. Mud Creek Road 5300 was covered in ice on the drive up, and snow appeared before the turn onto road 8410. I parked around 3200' below a shady stretch of steep icy road.



I headed up the road with the dogs in tow before 9 am, passing a hunting camp in the first mile. There were 2-3 inches of snow on the road which had been broken through by a few vehicles, a few of which we encountered along the way. Early on I could see the stormy weather to the West blocking views into the Enchantments. I noticed what I though to be Baldy Mountain when I started up 8410, but the summit was over the hill until I crested a small peak about halfway up. Lake Chelan became visible as we entered the site of a wildfire filled with silver snags, many of them blown down by the high winds that frequent the area. That wind steadily increased as we gained elevation. We avoided it at times when it was possible to drop slightly below the ridge on the NW side.

From Fall to Winter on Mount Forgotten 11-13-2013

A few recent trip reports for Perry Creek and Mount Forgotten reminded me that I wanted to return to the Mountain Loop Highway before access to it becomes complicated by winter. I parked behind the only other vehicle at the barricaded access road just east of the bridge over Perry Creek. Snow began to appear on the trail after the second creek crossing, and was covered the ground by halfway up the switchbacks up to the meadows. At the top of the ridge there was a solid boot trench across the meadows through at least a foot of snow, and a set of tracks (at least a day old) continued down to the traverse. From there, two to four feet of soft snow covered the ground up to the summit, the tip of which was bare rock.


 

Jolly Mountain Snowshoe 11-9-2013

With the snow-line around 4000 feet, I though this would be the perfect time for an attempt at Jolly Mountain near Salmon La Sac. On the drive in along Lake Cle Elum, the morning sun lit up the snow that blanketed the French Cabin Peaks and Red Mountain. The NOAA predicted more snow by 11am so I was stoked get in some mountain views before then. To cut off some elevation and ease route-finding on the lower slopes I opted to take road 4315 rather than the Jolly Mountain Trail from Cayuse Horse Camp. Snow appeared on the road around 2500' and was solid by 3500', where I parked by a roadside campsite.

Three Peaks of Tonga Ridge 10-27-2013

Road 68 is in decent shape besides about 2 dozen gnarly potholes along the way. Road 6830 had even fewer potholes and just a few sections of wash boarded road. The lower slopes of Sobieski Mountain were visible across the Foss Creek valley on the drive up until I entered a thick fog around 3000 feet. Light snow began to fall before Road 310, and was a thin layer was already sticking in a few places. Trail 1058 was well kept to the Fisher Lake/Deception Creek Junction. I encountered several patches of firm snow above 5000 feet, mostly on the North side of Tonga Ridge. Mount Sawyer has a nice trail leading to the summit, but I found only game trails between lots of bushwhacking to the peaks to the West and East.

The first time I attempted to reach these summits there was a large blowdown blocking Road 68 less than a mile up. We turned back about 4.5 miles up the snow-covered road when my partners waterproof boots failed him. This trip was also a backup plan, as I had intended to hit Mastiff Mountain and Mount Howard until I read about 20-30 mph winds in the NOAA forecast for the Lake Wenatchee area.