Mailbox Peak 3.30.04

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's record temps degraded into some wet and unsettled weather today. I was a little jaded about doing anything in the pouring rain because I haven't been feeling 100. I thought I at least should give it a shot. It was pouring in North Bend so I wasn't too optimistic. However when I reached the Mailbox trailhead it was dry. Despite my sickness I had good legs today as I made my way up Mailbox unrelenting steepness. The trail was just wet enough to soften the tread to provide good traction. There are a few blowdowns and it can become confusing to which trail to follow. I made great time to the big rockslide just below the summit. It now began to snow, and to snow very hard. I chose to use the melted out rockslide instead of using the hard to follow trail. The snow sticking on the rocks made for cautious travel, but was manageable for me. Too bad it wasn't as easy for the Beagle, he became a bit scared and refused to continue. Baxter is usually game for anything so I decided that he probably was trying to tell me something. I descended through the mounting snow with caution, but when I reached to snowless slopes I opened it up. I love dropping on this trail with just a bit of reckless abandon. I am sure my quads will be screaming at me in the morning.

Sasse Mt Logging Road 3.23.04

I was hoping today to make it to the Forturne Creek Rd. but unlucky for me the Salmon La Sac road is still closed at the campground. I scrambled to find a second choice. I had used the Sasse Mt Logging road last year and decided to do a litte more exploring in this area. There was just enough room to park on the west side of the road near the Red Mt Campground. There was quite a bit more snow than I would have expected. I climbed lazily on this sunny and warm day until I reached a junction at around 3400ft. Last year I had continued on the mainline that takes you toward Sasse Mt Trail, this time I opted for the trail less traveled. Taking a left on this spur instead I climbed to a point near 3600ft where there was a perfectly placed snow free stump to eat lunch on. I soaked up the quite warm rays ate my lunch and enjoyed the comfy seat. Despite the rather modest elevation there were some nices views of the snow capped Daniel-Hinman group as well as Davis and Goat Mts. in the forefront.

Dirty Harry's Road 3.16.04

Another nice spring day for me to get out and stretch my legs. I needed something real close today, so I picked Dirty Harry's Rd since it involves very little travel time for me. I climbed Dirty Harry's Peak last year so I stayed on the road unitl only around 3300ft where the road passes a big rockslide. This rock slide provides easy access to the saddle between points 4272 and 4353. As a general rule I try to avoid rockslides in the spring when there is great potential to fall through into unseen holes underneath the melting snow. Lucky for me this rockslides has alot of sun exposure so there wasn't any snow to contend with. I climbed quite easily to near 3800ft where I reached my turnaround time for reaching the gate which closes at 4 PM. This route seems to me would provide easy access to the Upper Granite Lk pond as well as to Point 5335 which I believe is Putrid Pete's Pk.

Ollalie Lake 3.3.04

I just had a small window of time today so I picked something just to get out. I was suprised to find it snowing and sticking on Tiger Summit as I crested the pass. The parking lot for Ollalie Lake trail was just plowed and the snow seemed to be mounting. I made good time up the gentle grade and soon I passed the turn-off for Granite Mt. I stayed on the Ollalie trail until around 3600ft when my time window closed. I hustled back enjoying the nice cushion of new snow under my feet.