Mount Washington 4420' 400'P

I had three takers for a day out despite the gloomy forecast. I had hoped for some snow settlement after the recent dumps. I tried to think of something close and in the cover of trees. I had missed last week which has become a very rare event. I was pretty certain that the conditions would be trying but I wanted to push myself after taking a week off. I managed to get up 15 minutes early and I spent the time trying to get out of the house without alerting the dog. He is my usual partner but he just had a large tumor removed from his neck and he is sporting a nice 4 inch incision and a neck that is mostly shaved. I didn't think it prudent to bring him even though his healing has been much better than expected. I managed to get out without him causing too much of a stir. He did go into the kids bedroom and woke them with some soulful groans. I made  a pit stop and once under way I noticed a distinct burning smell coming from the driver side rear tire. I had some sort of squealing from a trip down the Middle Fork Road and it seemed to be getting better. I didn't think it wise to continue so I pulled over and called the rest of the gang letting them know I was out. After the wheel cooled down I turned around and went home. Thankfully I didn't have the tire burst into flames before making into the driveway. I took the tire off and couldn't find the problem so I switched out cars with my wife. I was able to reach the gang and they had changed goals from The Pulpit which I had hoped to do to Mount Washington. I hurried to get repacked and catch up to the rest of the crew.

   I parked at the trailhead and it started to snow, which I was pleased because it was preferable to the heavy rain of drive to the trailhead. The trail was very heavily packed and I entertained the idea of leaving the snowshoes. Thankfully I didn't succumb to that temptation. I was able to make good time and the precipitation stopped. It had warmed considerably so the trees where doing their best to soak me. I started to get bored of the meandering boot track and gave some thought of just going home. I decided to keep pushing and after what seemed an eternity I reached the end of heavily packed trail. The trail ends and the pitch greatly increases. I could see by the party of 3 ahead of me that whomever broke trail certainly had their work cut out for them. Since it was so steep I just booted it following in the Rob's boot prints. Some of the areas it was very difficult to find anything solid to push off. Soon I reached what I had hoped was the summit but instead was another road. Thankfully the summit was only a couple hundred feet more gain. I reached the summit to find the group huddled in a tree well. I tagged the summit and by the time I returned they were more than ready for the descent. We merely retraced our steps back to the car. I kept snowshoes on until the creek crossing where I took them off. The descent went on forever, the rain made the snow just slick enough that I was able to slide a couple inches with each step. Thankfully it wasn't slippery enough to make it hard to control my mini slides. I was thankful to catch up to the group and I enjoyed listening their conversation on the way down. It was very apparent to me that I didn't have enough sleep because I wouldn't have been able to articulate anything meaningful had I even tried. In the end the day worked out and the route was more difficult that what I had expected.

Approx 9 miles 3200' of climb 5 hours car to car

Squak Mt 2.21.11

With the family away the dog has been cooped up entirely too much so I thought it was only fair to give an extra day this week to stretch his legs. I wanted to stay close since I have plans for the rest of the day, so Squak Mt. always fits a constircted time frame. Since it is President's Day there was many cars parked in the South Lot so I made sure to keep Tanner on the leash for the entire day. This is something we are both not used to but I felt it prudent. I started out a little too fast and when I stopped to take a phone call, I nearly puked. After calming my systm down I throttled back the pace. I was able to make the summit in 50 minutes and I didn't linger too long. I had hoped to run the descent but the combination of the wrong footwear and having Tanner on the leash nixed that idea. It was give the legs some extra stretching this week. Hopefully tomorrow I will have another chance.

Approx 3miles 1700' of climb 1:35 car to car

Fool's Day 5203' 428'P

Fool's Day is the unofficial name of the highpoint that can be accessed by French Cabin Creek Road. While it is high enough to be ranked on the Home Court 100 it lacks less than 75' feet of prominence to meet the 500' prominence rule. I had hoped to do something again this week off the Middle Fork  of the Snoqualmie but I was concerned with the snow conditions. While the amount of snow wasn't too concerning  I was more worried about some of the high ridge top winds that had been observed recently. I wasn't crazy on trying to surmount some wind laden slopes. I figured Fool's Day would be perfect because the actual climb was on  low angled ridge bolstered by the cover of trees. After many emails back in forth I was left with only one taker. Evidently I didn't scare away Nvoit on our foray up Lennox 2 weeks ago. I picked him up in Preston and with a very squeaky wheel we were off. The Middle Fork did a number last week on the trusty Subaru and I think I may have wedged a rock between the caliper and rotor causing every deceleration to have a very loud squeak. Thankfully it goes away when accelerating or at high speeds so it was soon forgotten. We parked at the end of the plowed French Cabin Creek Road and I took way too long suiting up with some new gear that needed adjustments. The road was well packed which letting us make quick work of the 3 miles to our jump off point. We took a right at the major intersection and went a couple hundred yards before leaving the road. I wasn't quite sure what to expect off the packed road but I was pleasantly surprised that the snow held my weight allowing me to leave the snowhoes initially stowed on my pack. The ridge itself is open and we were able weave our way through the second growth without much hindrance. The snow on the lower slopes was very icy and was hard to get much bite on the rock hard snow.                                                                                                                                                                  

 Since there wasn't much in the way and the snow conditions made for a quick ascent we were making very good time. Once around 4500' I took over trailbreaking and I added snowshoes to aid in the 12' of powder. As the ridge rises the grade lessens making the parts in the open more of a chore with the deeper settled snow. Once back in the trees the pace quickened and the last push to the summit was somewhat steeper but still nothing compared to some of the climbs that I have done recently. Soon the windswept ridge came into view which was the extent of the views for this day. I had guessed that it would take around 4 hours to make this summit but with the great conditions we were able to make it in less than 3. It did help that I had good legs today and all the hard work and weight loss is paying off.

We didn't linger too long on the summit because it was breezy and cold. I really enjoyed the descent because there was very little to think about the route was simple the conditions were great and gravity lent just enough help. I kept the snowshoes on for the entire descent making the icy portions much more manageable. We were able to drop the 2000' back to the road in 45 minutes which was about what I expected. The road walk seemed longer than the way in but it was sure nice to finish this week with an easy walk in the building snow showers. I had hoped for an easier day today but I almost feel guilty because it was too easy. Another great day out with some fun company.

Approx 10 Miles 3100' of climb 4:45 car to car

Quartz 4641' Bessequartz 4487' 2.7.11

With the better weather expected I was hoping to get some work done on the Homecourt 100. I had read a recent report of using Bessequartz's South Ridge to access Quartz Lake making it possible to Summit both Quartz and Bessequartz in the same outing. I had eyed this route for years but never got around to seeing if it would go. When I saw the report and read the lack of brush and easier than expected climb I knew I had to try myself. It was actually funny last week when at least 3 groups did the same climb and again this week with our group. I joked that I should put a Starbucks on the summit with as much traffic it has seem of late. I talked Fletcher and Like2Thruhike to indulge me on this pursuit. Late last night we had some more additions with Bryan, Gimpilator and BellowFellow signing on as well. We met at Preston and the second group followed me to the jump off point which is 5 miles from the Middle Fork Bridge and about .5 miles past the CCC trailhead. I did have a little issue finding the right spur road but if you are looking for it, it isn't too hard to see. We suited and up and were off.

   We walked the good spur road until meeting up with the CCC trail and we headed right. I wanted to walk across the trail and head up. But I found the going less than pleasant so we regrouped on the road. We had a brief discussion and decided to head further along the road before heading up. I went straight to the back of the line and I was struggling mightily to keep the group in sight. Thankfully Like2Thruhike stayed with me. I couldn't get my legs loose and my hamstrings were tighter than a bow. I hoped that I would loosen up before I decided to pull the plug. We kept churning up the hill and the grade finally lessened as we hit a small flat area and soon after we hit some new snow. Once the snow was deep enough to see tracks I finally was able to hit my stride. It was funny when I didn't have to do any route finding my legs returned. It was such a quick transition, it was like someone flipped a switch. The ridge finally has some definition around 3000' and at 3400' we went around to the Right of a outcropping. We had to drop some elevation and once back on the ridge I was surprised that I caught up with the group. We stuck with the ridge until 3700' we started to traverse to the Saddle between our objective peaks. We had again to drop some elevation before the last push to Quartz Lake. Once at the lake we had a quick snack before we easily made our way to Quartz. Although the forecast was for sun we couldn't see more than a few feet from the summit which was a big disappointment for me because I was hopeful for some great views. I decided for the descent to put on crampons for insurance on the icy layer beneath the new snow. We ended up back at Quartz Lake an hour after we left. Before we even decided whether or not to continue up Bessequartz I was off before I could get cold. I had dropped my pack so the pace was much faster without the extra weight of my pack.  By the time I reached the false summit I was certain that it was the true summit, but Bryan was insistent and quite right that the true summit was still further along the ridge.  In short order we were on the treeless summit and treated with a total lack of view.

   I had a fun descent back to my gear and had a short lunch. I was somewhat anxious for the descent so I left the crampons on until the worst of it was over. Last week I had ruined my snowpants so I had to use my rainpants which would have been fine except one of my gaitors failed and I had to take that off. This allowed my crampon to catch my new rain pants and shredding them just 20 feet short of where I had planned on taking my crampons off. At this rate I won't have any gear left by the end of the month. For the descent we split into 3 groups of two with myself being in the middle group. I was able to keep us directly on our ascent route all the way back to the CCC road. The last 800' of descent was steep and slippery but I managed to say upright until I had less than 20 yards until reaching the trail. In that 20 yards I was able to fall twice very awkwardly both times. Back on the trail we just had the short jaunt back to the cars. I was surprised to see no one waiting at the cars since their was one group ahead of us. I changed into dry clothes and we waited and waited and waited some more. Finally after 45 minutes the last group made it out which worried all of us very much. By now it was getting dark. The last group offered to head back up to make contact.  Finally the the first group straggled back to car after having some route issues. I can't say how thankful to have everyone make it out in one piece, it was a very unnerving hour waiting.  Overall it was a fantastic day spent with some great company.


Sorry no pictures today.
Approx 8 miles 4500' of climb 9 hours car to car