5-11-2013 Goldmyer Hotsprings

View 5-11-2013 Goldmyer Hotsprings in a larger map


Last weekend Steffy and I backpacked in to Goldmyer Hotsprings with Ben, Tiffany, and Scott. None of us had been in over six months, and this was Scott's first visit to the Springs themselves so needless to say we were all pumped from the start. On the hike in the weather was ideal and the mountain views were spectacular.


Dingford Creek and Burnt Boot Creek were raging from the recent warm weather, and the Middlefork was easily a foot higher than I have ever seen it . We met the new caretakers and their dog, who left us a nice present at our campsite upon arrival.





Plenty of soaking was had, as usual with no shortage of dong. We were lucky to get the hotsprings to ourselves for a few hours although reservations for the day were maxed out. All slept well and ate well, and we were even able to avoid the wet forecast for the hike out. What a great trip!

2013-5-5 Rattlesnake Ledge with Candy and the boys

Candy and the boys joined me yesterday for a hike. I had high hopes of visiting the Snoqualmie Tunnel, as it usually opens shortly after May 1st each year, but apparently it will be at least another week or two. Julian and Jaxon were excited that they could see Little Si from I-90 so that's where we started, but after 8 am on the hottest Sunday of the year I should have known the parking lot as well as the road would be out of room. With the day getting away from us I decided it would be worth braving the crowds on the way up Rattlesnake Ledge.



The trail was predictably packed, and at the top you could hardly see rock through all of the people gathered on the ledge. We found a good spot on the edge and after a snack I took the boys, one at a time, into the big crack for some exploring. Both did better than I expected with the climbing.



Julian said he was interested in checking out the cave so I grabbed my headlamp and he dove right in the tiny entrance at the bottom of the big crack. We did some exploring and found several passages I had not seen before. I even got him to crawl out through a tiny hole leading to the surface and surprise his mom! On the way out we stopped so the boys could cool off in Rattlesnake Lake.

Mount Ellinor 2013-5-4

View 2013-5-4 Mount Ellinor in a larger map

As of Saturday, Mount Ellinor was in ideal condition for a safe snowy ascent with plenty of glissading on the way down. The road was snow free to the lower trailhead. Snow started about a mile up on the North side of the ridge that the trail follows (about 3400ft).

The huge glissade chute in the gully below the summit saddle was an exciting site as I left the tree line. Ascending that gully was probably the crux of the climb. Near the top the slope extended well past 45 degrees and large moats were forming against the rock on both sides. Luckily the snow pack was well consolidated, otherwise there would be substantial avalanche danger along this route.

 

When I exited the gully i turned to see what the pair in front of me was looking at, it was a large mountain goat lounging in the sun on a ledge in front of Tahoma. In the other direction the summit was visible,a few people nearing the top and a few coming down. There were two short hills from there to the summit, both complete with deep glissade chutes. By 10 am the snow was starting to soften in the sun. I watched a few folks glissade past, a long line of slush following them like a lahar.

The view from the top was spectacular. the heart of the Olympics are still covered in snow. Mount Washington's summit block and a few southern rock's on Ellinor had melted out. To the left of Mount Washington, Mount Baker was poking over the East shoulder of what i believe to be Mount Jupiter. There were far to many distant peaks in view to count, I couldn't even decide if Mount Olympus was one of them. Auto and I sat on the rocks and soaked up the sun at the summit for at least an hour. Occasionally cool winds from the North crested the ridge right into our faces, making me forget momentarily about the 80 degree temperatures below.

I had high hopes of continuing on to Mount Rose and Copper, but the ridge that separated us looked a bit more treacherous than the map contours suggest. I considered losing some extra elevation to the south to traverse below the treeline and the steeper terrain, but gave up after post-holing into at least a dozen fallen tree voids before even beginning the traverse. We stopped at a ledge just below the main gully for lunch and solar bowls where Automahn made friends with more people with food (big surprise). The three big volcanoes had begun to emerge from the haze that covered everything to the South and West, and while surveying the landscape I noticed Seattle in the distance.



I could feel the growing heat as we neared the parking area, which had accumulated another 10 cars or so. I think we were lucky to have missed the enormous crowds that I have read about. On the way home I made a quick stop in Shelton for a skydive at Kapowsin Air Sports, which more than made up for missing my 2nd and 3rd planned summits for the day.

~7 miles round trip

~3300' gain