Bare Mountain (North Fork Snoquamie) 6-9-2013

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I was ahead of schedule heading down the North Fork Snoqualmie River Rd in the new 4x4, stoked on a beautiful day in the mountains when I ran over some kind of metal trash in the road and blew out a tire. Four hours later I finally arrived at the trailhead for Bare Mountain Trail #1037 in surprisingly good spirit.


The trail is in decent shape after recent maintenance, but encroaching vegetation will soon make for at least a mile of serious bushwhacking. There are a few blowdowns and some water on the trail, and one serious creek crossing over slick logs. Snow appeared sporadically around 4000' and the trail mostly disappeared beneath it just above the saddle to the Eastern sub-summit. There was one 50 foot section of steep exposed snow, which I easily bypassed with a short scramble along the ridge. Automahn needed a boost or two. Views were great sunshine began to poke through the overcast shortly after reaching the summit. I found no summit register, but plenty of weathered broken glass and rusted nails, remains from the fire lookout tower that once stood here.






Canoe Peak and Lennox Mountain loomed nearby, taunting me as surveyed the route from above the Paradise Lakes. I'm not sure if it was the late start or the long stretch of sun-baking snowfields that lay between us, but it was an easy choice to leave these two for another day.



I chose instead to take the Bear Creek junction on the way down to explore some mining remnants that could be seen from the trail above. I found more than I expected, including rusted out mine carts, massive machine wheels.



~10 miles Round Trip 3600' elevation gain 2:45 to summit, 7 hours car to car

5-25-2013 Dirtyface Peak

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I climbed Dirtyface Peak today with my pup Automahn. I bailed on this one a few Weeks ago sure to poopy conditions on Stevens pass, and I was reminded last night when I read the recent report from nwhiker ree.





Weather was so cooperative it was almost eerie . It started with beautiful blue skies and patches of overcast that made way for sun breaks that ran like clockwork. When we reached the former lookout site at 11am I could see light rain approaching from behind Mount Mastiff and Howard. I hurried along, hoping to get as much distance and elevation behind me as possible before the rain could show up and slow me down. To my surprise, as the front left Nason ridge it parted around Lake Wenatchee and left us untouched, continuing NW over Napeequa Valley. For the remainder of the day I watched rain clouds engulf the surrounding mountains and ridges, and we found ourselves under only one five minute sprinkle and an even shorter lived snow flurry.




After dropping into the basin to the North we lost another hundred feet or so to avoid some cliffs,we crossed two short snow fields then re-ascended earlier than planned and continued along the top of the last half of the ridge to the base of Pt. 6223 without issue.  From the next saddle over we also hugged the top of the steep ridge to the true summit. Auto needed help with two small moves along the way, and the scramble up the last 200 feet of the summit is way out of his league so he paced around and cried to anyone who might listen while I ducked out of view to sign the register and snap some pics.





We scrambled up Pt 6223 on the return, which is pretty dog friendly except for the last 5 feet. There is a survey marker here, although I didn't see one on the true summit which is just under 20 feet higher.




Nearly everything North face is covered in 2-4 feet of well consolidated snow. Under thick canopy the surface is too firm to get a solid bite with microspikes, and we found ourselves in several steep exposed traverses that made an ice axe indispensable. On the way out I noticed footprints from at least 2 others on the trail below the lookout, and met a group of 4 at the TH on their way up for an overnight.



~14 miles round trip
~6000 feet elevation gain
10 hours car to car with plenty of time for pictures and sunbathing.

pictures soon to come

Scout Patrol Peak and Point 4582' (Little St. Helens)

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I have had my eye on Scout Patrol Peak and the few that surround it since visting Gardner , Humpback and Abiel Peaks. The current point in the melt cycle is the ideal time to tackle this and other nearby summits, when the roads are clear enough to allow a decent approach by vehicle but there is still enough snow to ease the bush whacking.

Snow began on Road 5510 at about 3200 feet. Someone powered up to Hanson Creek Trailhead with a 4x4 before about 3 feet of snow melted leaving firm ridges where their tires compacted the snow. I used these ridges to avoid the slush as Auto and I followed the tracks from a few hikers and a dog that has also parked where the snow began.

We left the road just after crossing over to the West Side of the long Northern ridge leading to Scout Peak. Low clouds filled most of the I-90 corridor and light rain came and went all day, which made for some wet bushwacking. We ascended a steep talus field with intermittent snow up to an old logging road, where we returned the East side of the ridge and continued the climb.  Staying close to the top of the ridge, we moved through thick forest filled with smaller trees before reaching a shoulder and getting the first glimpse of the summit.

We quickly made it up and were greeted by a short, but welcome break in the clouds. There was little to see through the clouds so I wasted no time before starting out towards Point 4582' to the NW, sometimes called "Little Saint Helens". I dropped down towards the road a little early, when I should have stayed to the top of the ridge to the West. As I began traversing and regaining a bit of elevation I could hear a dog on the road below, probably with the hikers who I parked by. 

When we reached the 4-way junction I chose to follow the road marked with a new sign for Hansen Ridge Trail 1020.1. I quickly tired of the slow ascent rate, and Automahn begrudgingly followed me up the steep East face. At the summit we got a few more minutes of sunshine, and some brief views across I-90 of Granite Mountain. 

We descended to the East and followed the third road down past Hansen Creek Trailhead, near a large borrow pit that was busy with people engaging in target practice last year when I climbed Mount Gardner. When we reached the road I noticed snowshoe tracks and a set of dog prints that had come from where we parked. These must have belonged to the group I heard earlier. I'm sure they would have been interested to know that a bear was following behind them. The bear tracks I found couldn't have been more than an hour or two old.

~7 miles Round Trip ~3000' Elevation Gain Snowshoes not necessary, but maybe helpful