Mason Lake, Mt Defiance 11.26.02

Ryan and I got our usual late start, we hit the Mason Lake trailhead at 11:30. The weather was unseasonably warm and couldn't have been more ideal. The Mason Lake trail is fairly steep in places and you need some route finding skills to find your way through the rockslide. We passed 3 guys who were overnighting at Mason Lake. The lake had very little ice on it, amazing for this late in the season. We sunned ourselves for 15 minutes and then hit the Mt. Defiance trail which we stayed on until the long traverse over I-90. There is a good climber's trail that summits in 400ft. The views are 360 degrees, and since there wasn't a cloud in the sky you could see many of the major area peaks. There was no wind on top and the temp. was near 70 in the sun. With daylight ending sooner and sooner we hastily retreated to the car. What a simply amazing day for the end of Nov. Only small patches of snow on the backside of Defiance.

Total climb 3600ft 1:45 to Mason Lake 1:00 to summit 1:35 to car

Rainbow Lake 11/12/02

I set out to climb Pratt Mt., with the weather very balmy I left the parking lot at about 12:30. The trail was snow free until the saddle where the trail splits. I stayed on the trail that heads towards Rainbow lake. At approx 4400 ft I left the trail and climbed to the boulders fields that comprise the western side of Pratt. In the summer this would be a simple ascent but with about 6 inches of snow covering the rocks it was a bit more tricky. I climbed to 4700 feet and stopped (only 400ft to go). The weather was changing it was very windy on the exposed parts of the summit and the rain became torrential. I resentfully returned to the trail. Since I had a little extra time I dropped to Rainbow lake. Great views of Talapus lake and Ollalie lakes as well as Island lake. All are ice free. I only saw one other person and returned to the car at 4:30. Total climb 3300ft Total time 4:00

South Bessemer 11.05.02

Ryan and I set out for a somewhat mindless climb, the majority of it stays on logging roads. The climb starts about 7 miles in on the Middle Fork Rd. where there is a big gate with plenty of parking in front of it. Staying on the logging road it will split with one way crossing the creek and the other heading right. Follow the right branch and start climbing. The road is easy travel and there are plenty of stunning views of Russian Butte the Pratt river valley and as you rise farther Garfield, Preacher, Roosevelt, Thomphson, Chikamin and the Dutch Miller group. I reached the summit of South Bessemer (5028) to enjoy the arrival of rain. The climb down went way to slow and we made it out in the dark. Only some small patches of snow and the weather was very mild.

Approx miles 14 and Total climb 4100ft 2:40 up and 2:00 down

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