Elbow Peak and Yellow Hill 3-2-2013

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Elbow Peak is situated close to the center mass of a small grouping of mountains between the Cle Elum and Teanaway River Valleys. In winter the Middle Fork Teanaway River Road is plowed to about 2.5 miles from the spur road that leads to the start of Trail 1222 at the southern base of Yellow Hill.


I left the car and started out on the snowmobile-groomed road at 7 a.m. with Maverick the Mountaineering Mastiff. This was his first hike since he ripped off a toenail over a month ago, and he was clearly very excited to finally be back out in the wild. We crossed what looked like cougar tracks several times on the road, and twice more on the way up Yellow Hill.


The spur road that begins the first mile or so of the trail was also groomed but I strapped on snowshoes to cut the switchbacks. The wind was calm enough that even before 9 a.m. I could feel it's heat from behind a thin layer of overcast. Shortly after the road ended I began to notice the larch and lichen that give Yellow Hill its name. The summit has limited views of Mount Stuart and the Enchantments through surrounding trees. I quickly left for Elbow Peak, hoping to make it back to the road before the predicted rain which I could see forming in dark clouds over Snoqualmie Pass.



The ridge between these two peaks is mostly exposed. I stayed to the top of the ridge, gaining and losing a few hundred feet along the way rather than sliding with each step in the softening snow while traversing. There were a few heavily corniced sections with some exposed rock surrounded by moats and softened snow due to the thermal mass within. This section could be hazardous for dogs, so I was sure to keep Maverick close in my trail.



When we reached the Southern point of Elbow Peak, marked as 5673' on the Green Trails Map for Easton (No. 240), the Northern point looked higher so we ventured over just in case. Upon reviewing my GPS track, it looks too close to call, with both high points registering at 5722'. We took a nice long break at the summit and watched the storm clouds slowly approaching from the West. Views were clear from Sasse Mountain all the way around to the Hills near Yakima. Above Yellow Hill I could see a windmill farm near Thorp.




While we rested on the summit the sun burned through the overcast layer and I stripped to just a t-shirt and stayed plenty warm for the rest of the descent. I followed my tracks most of the way back to avoid sinking in the softening snow. Back on the Middle Fork Road we were passed by a friendly group of a dozen snowmobiles. I strapped my snowshoes and poles to my pack at the bridge, but the poles proved to be very useful for the 2 miles of slushy road ahead. I almost stopped to put the snowshoes back on in a few seriously soft sections exposed to the sun.
Looking through my pictures from the last year I stumbled on this one, sent to me by another NWHiker who took it when we crossed paths below the summit of Hex Mountain. In the background, perfecty framed, are Elbow Peak and Yellow Hill:
There is an excellent vantage point to The Enchantments and The Wenatchee Mountains few hundred feet down the West Fork Teanaway River Road. On the way in I took a panoramic and when I returned in the evening clouds had filled the Ingalls Creek Valley and shrouded The Enchantments, leaving only The Wenatchee Mountains visible in front. Below is a time lapse of the two scenes.

Scattered Showers on Taylor Mountain

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Taylor Mountain is a great hiking/snowshoeing destination when avalanche danger its high, or for cloudy days when there are no views to be had elsewhere. I've done several smaller hikes around Taylor Mountain, but have been saving the long road walk to the summit for just such an occasion.



I parked at the Tiger Mountain Trailhead, crossed Highway 18 and headed north to the gated road. At a junction about a mile in I took the lower road to the left, losing about 200' of elevation along the way to the top. Light rain came and went and the cloud ceiling hung steady at around 2000', providing hazy views over rattlesnake knob and into the North Fork Snoqualmie Valley.


Snow appeared on the sides of the road around 1500' get and was covered by 2000'. Snowshoes would have been nice for traction, but I rarely sunk more than a few inches. The summit was socked in with clouds so after a quick breather we continued on, exiting to the West via the "Boundary Trail" along the watershed border.


The roads on top of the ridge were far more melted out than those on the North face, but were littered with blowdowns making travel time a push. The skies cleared slightly when I passed a viewpoint with a bench about a mile West of the summit. Below the cloud ceiling I could see from McDonald Mountain to Squak, Snoqualmie Ridge to Rattlesnake Knob. Lake Youngs and several other small lakes were visible as well as part of Lake Washington in the distance.

Lost Horse Mountain and Ryan Mountain - Joshua Tree National Park

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With one day of the family vacation to Disneyland set aside for peak bagging I explored several options, including San Jacinto and San Gorgiono. I settled on a few small mountains within Joshua Tree National Park, mainly because of the weather forecast and winter conditions at higher elevations in the area.


We left Anaheim at 5:45am and reached the guard post on Monument Road at 8. My wife and I have always enjoyed a nice road trip, and the alien landscape within Joshua Tree is filled with awesome sights. As we made our way through the park we could see several different stages of erosion laid out in the hills and mountains surrounding us.


Lost Horse Mountain was our first destination for the day. We started out under clear blue skies but the wind was fierce. About 2 miles in we were surprised by a few small patches of snow. Shortly afterward we left the road and followed the Southwest Ridge to the first of 3 false summits.


The wind speed continued to increase and nearly blew me over as I took pictures from the summit. The snow-capped San Jacinto and San Gorgiano mountains stood out to the West. I signed the summit log and headed down to the old mine, eyeballing or next destination, Ryan Mountain.



The old mine site is surrounded by interesting artifacts and traces of old structures.We traded pictures with another couple and then returned to the trailhead, passing several small groups on their way in.






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On the drive between trailheads we stopped to take pictures at an interesting rock stack with a huge boulder teetering on-edge near the top, and passed a parking area with a sign that read simply "Hall of Horrors". Obviously we made a stopped on our way out to see what the fuss was about. A few hundred feet from the Ryan Mountain Trailhead I spotted an excellent photo opportunity on top of a massive rock pile.


A lot of time and energy has gone into the Ryan Mountain Trail, with set-in rock steps for the first mile or so. As we rounded the West face I noticed a few people scrambling around on a huge rock formation that seemed to burst out of the mountainside. We passed several tiny caves in the rock alongside the trail that provided some shelter from the intense wind for a quick breather.


Steffy had enough and chose to hang back just past the halfway point while I continued to the summit. I arrived at the top behind another solo hiker and we traded summit shots on top of a big rock pile. I could not find a summit log, though I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the wind blew it right of the mountain. On the way back I ran ahead for a super fun scramble up the aforementioned rock pile so that Steffy could take my picture from the parking lot below.



We stopped at the Hall of Horrors on the way to Inspiration Point, the last planned summit of the day. There were several groups exploring trails surrounding a huge oblong rock pile, obviously looking for the namesake. When I had almost given up, Steffy called me over to a crack in the rock just big enough for a person to squeeze through on their hands and knees. A few feet in the crack expanded enough to fit a dozen people standing up. Continuing on I climbed through another small gap towards the sunlight and ended up in a large channel running the length of the massive rock formation I was inside. I thoroughly enjoyed scrambling out to the far end and then ran back around to do it all once more. Here is a video of the trip through the Hall of Horrors


When we reached Keys View I found signs near the bootpath to Inspiration Point indicating the area was closed for restoration. Through the haze we could see Pam Springs, San Jacinto and San Gorgiono, the Salton Sea to the East, and hundreds of windmills. We again traded pictures with a couple at the lookout and headed back to the hotel, stopping in Cabazon for pictures with the giant dinosaurs.

Mount Saint Helens (Attempt)

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I've been watching the weather and avalanche forecasts like a hawk for the last few weeks, hoping for a decent window for an attempt at the summit of Mount Saint Helens. This would be my first volcano and the highest mountain I have climbed to date. Saint Helens makes for a great place to gain experience on an ultra prominent peak without the need for technical climbing  or glacier travel experience, and the extra gear that comes with both.

The mostly sunny forecast for Saturday turned mostly cloudy by Friday night, but at least the avy danger decreased to moderate above 3000' and considerable above 7000'. Not daunted by the potential lack of views, Joel and I left Renton at 3:00am for the 3 hour drive. 12 people in 5 separate groups had signed in before us at the register at the Lone Fir Resort. Snow appeared on the road about 3 miles from Marble Mountain Snow Park.

We hit the trail under dense fog at 6:45 and made good time to Chocolate Falls where the trench split in two. After consulting with a few other groups we all decided to follow the path over Swift Creek, as the map shows the winter route crossing the creek at about that elevation(3800'). We passed several groups who had stopped to put on snowshoes and skis, trying to make the most out of the broken trail ahead of us.

Sunshine and patches of blue sky began to appear around 4500', as well as what looked like the silhouette of the summit through the clouds. A few hundred feet further up we emerged from the clouds to see the mountain above us engulfed in a blanket of clouds and flying powder. This was a bizarre sight, which I could only relate to the "halo" of clouds that sometimes adorns the top of Tahoma. Is this what  that looks like up close?

We continued up into the most extreme weather either of us had experienced on a climb. Heavy wind from the North blasted down on us, often carrying with it loose powder and ice from the slopes above. We took full advantage of any breaks in the wind to cover as much ground as we could before having to duck our heads and hug the mountain when the wind returned with full force. We exchanged the occasional "can you believe this?" look, but continued slow and steady towards the summit.

At about 6200' we met a group of two on their descent, who informed us of white-out conditions above us. The two explained that they had waited around above 7000' for about a half hour before deciding to head back, and that one person on skis was still ascending in front of us. We thanked them for the help and discussed our options, choosing to continue.

About 20 minutes later the weather had only gotten worse and we stopped again to re-assess the situation. Joel had nothing to shield his face from flying snow, and my baklava wasn't helping much anyway. We Decided to check our location, and that we would continue only if we had less than one thousand feet to go. The GPS app for my phone showed that we were at 7100', almost exactly 1000' below the summit, so on we went. We had taken only a few steps though before what little terrain we could see, either side of the ridge we were on, completely disappeared into the white.
I have been in blizzard-like conditions several times which I would have in the past called a "white-out", but I am now confident that this was my first time in a true white-out. At this point the only safe move was to call it a day. Without a reliable GPS, we would essentially be on our own to navigate the route to the summit rim and back between 3 glaciers. Summit fever can be a dangerous thing and I'm glad we both were able to use our better judgement to suppress the urge to continue. We relayed our experience to several groups as they climbed past on our descent, most of whom seemed as disappointed as we were to tell them. A few though, seemed determined to reach the top regardless of the conditions. I hope someone made it to the top, and that everyone gets down safely!

We stopped for a brief snack before dropping back under the clouds, and would have hung out for a few hours here if the weather weren't so dismal. Mount Hood poked above to the south and at one point Mount Adams appeared, but not long enough for a photo. I will not lie, I am disappointed to have failed to reach the top, but still very glad for the experience. We will be back the moment our schedules and the weather allows.



Here is a video I took shortly before we turned back