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.