Sasse Mountain and Point 5159, but not Not so Sasse

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Having not been out since Sunday, I needed to find a fairly mellow hike to keep things moving in preparation for my plans to summit Mount Saint Helens tomorrow. The forecast was for clear skies so I settled on Sasse Mountain near Salmon la Sac since I missed out on the views on my recent trip to nearby Hex  Mountain. 



At 730 I left the car and followed a solid trench up the old road just south of the Henderson Creek Trail. We stayed left when one path split off toward Hex Mountain then left the road just before Howson Creek, heading directly towards point 5159. Around 3000 feet the snow surface rapidly changed from solid cascade concrete to  deep fluffy powder. 



I believed 5159 to be the only sub peak of Sasse Mountain with more than 200 feet of prominence. More on that later. From the endpoint of a knife,edge ridge just below the summit I had a clear view from Mount Daniels to Thompson Mountain. 



We gained and lost a few 100 feet while avoiding several sketchy looking cornices along the ridge to Sasse. Tahoma and Mount Stuart each appeared several times along the ridge walk but thick forest blacks any view from the main summit. 



Frigid wind from the NW continued to blow and the sun was free of clouds all day. A small front of darkish clouds lingered along the Cascade Crest into late afternoon. We exited along the north face of the west ridge (it turns out that the first peak along this ridge and the only on in my path that I choose not to summit, known as Not so Sasse, has at least 208ft of prominence. Oh well, I'll be back with reinforcements!) and joined the Henderson Creek Trail just after crossing the creek of the same name. 

Roaring Ridge Snowshoe + 4902 bonus points

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When I saw the low avalanche danger forecast for super bowl Sunday I made plans to summit Scout Peak, hoping to avoid most of the target practice crowd. I knew I would be walking a few miles of the access road on the way in, but i was disappointed to find Tinkham Road rutted out from the start beyond the capabilities of my sedan. Now for the backup plan: Roaring Ridge.
I parked North of road 9070 at the winter "trailhead-ish" next to the sewage plant. Road 9070 or the Cold Creek X-Country ski trail was freshly groomed with manufactured ski tracks on both sides, makes me wish I had a ski setup. I turned left off the groomed road before crossing Cold Creek and donned snowshoes for the direct ascent before the next major drainage.

Orange paint around most of the large trees above the road suggest a timber harvest soon to come. The paint stopped sharply as we crossed the sharp boundary line of the last logging here. Above the tree line Keechelus Ridge and the frozen lake below it sat under a low cloud ceiling, the only significant view I would get all day.

I could see the wide open gully NW of the summit from below, but chose a more direct route up lee slopes to the South.  What little time this saved was wasted when I continued up to the false summit before I realized where I was. There were a few sets of snomobile tracks at the lookout site that came and went from the East. The foundation blocks were completely buried under snow.

The ridge walk to Point 4902 was pretty straightforward. I'm glad that Auto is smart enough to stay in my snowshoe tracks in the powder, as this made it easy to keep him safely away from the countless heavy cornices along the way. The topo map accurately portrays the north face as incredibly steep. I surveyed several potential descent routes, and I think I chose the safest one on the way out. A light snow began as we rested at the top.


Point 4902 probably has a decent view through the trees, but I saw nothing but white. the clouds cleared above Cottonwood Lake enough for a hazy picture as I passed by on the decent. The only part of my descent route that I would have changed would be to have stayed to the East of a steep avalanche chute that was solid thanks to recent movement, but made the dog pretty nervous.  I saw a tiny patch of blue sky as we crossed the bridge over Cold Creek. It promptly closed up and began to rain, which continued until we reached the car.

I saw nobody between leaving and returning to road 9070, which was busy with X-Country skiers. Snow conditions ranged from 6" of soft powder to a solid icy crust.


~10 miles round trip
~3200' elevation gain
3 hours to lookout site
3 hours back to car via Pt. 4902

The Oyster Dome and Blanchard Hill aka Chuckanut Mountain

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The wife and I drove up North today for a training hike and some views, and a new summit for me. I've noted the Chuckanut Mountains several times while reading trip reports and researching hikes. Located South of Bellingham right along the sound, there are many miles of trail between several different parks in the area open to varying combinations of hikers, horses and mountain bikes.

The route we chose starts from Highway 11 where it intersects with the Pacific Northwest Trail, which travels from the far NW corner of the Olympic Penninsula to the Rocky Mountains in Montana, between roads, trails and ferries. After a 1 1/2 hour drive from Renton we were more than ready to get moving. There is not much parking available on the side of the highway, enough room for 10-20 vehicles max. The first section of trail switchbacks up steep slopes toward Samish Overlook where Para-gliders and Hang-gliders launch off the cliffs. One could cut at least 2 miles and 1000' of climbing by parking in the lot at the Overlook. Discovery Pass required.

We passed the turnoff for Samish Overlook, planning on looping through it from Max's Shortcut Trail after visiting Lily Lake giving the dense clouds and fog time to clear. The trail to the Bat Caves was closed recently to prevent disturbing the nature. Bummer, but fair enough. The trail to the Oyster Dome is not marked, and it is kind of hard to see it at the start.  We found a campsite complete with a fire pit at the summit. The rock at the viewpoint was insanely slick, even where it was clearly dry from the sun. Views were incredible of the Olympics, dozens of islands in the Sound, and even some distant Canadian peaks. I dropped down below for a look at the big wall and could see huge cracks below (maybe part of the caves).

We encountered some snow on the trail en route to Lily Lake, which was frozen over and covered in powder. It would have been very peaceful if not for a couple folks who seemed to find it necessary to yell back and forth around the camping area.  The sun caught the Northern edge of the lake, creating a creepy fog that lingered while we snacked, and until I returned from the short bushwhack to the main summit of what the locals call Blanchard Hill. We did not see a sign for Max's Shortcut, but found the trail itself rather easily. We were passed by a few mountain bikers on their way down, as well as a few hikers on their way up.

The trail was clear of trees to the Oyster dome. We climbed over several blowdowns, and encountered about a mile of patchy snow on the trail from there to Lily Lake and on Max's Shortcut. It seems like we never covered more than a quarter mile without a creek crossing, except for the switchbacks below Samish Overlook.


~10 miles round trip
~3200 ft elevation gain
2 hours to Oyster Dome
45 minutes to main Summit
2 hours down