Dingford Creek, Horseshoe Lake 6.26.06

I had grand plans for the day, but with such warm temps I decided to pare back my day. I was hoping for a summit of Sorcery Mt.(Pt. 5273) which lies just East of Horseshoe and Goat Lakes. I managed to get an early enough start to have some cooler temps on the way up. There is a good fisherman's trail that starts between the 4th and 5th branches of Goat Creek. The trail starts between two large rocks and soon crosses the 5th branch of Goat Creek. The trail stays on the East side of the creeks for the balance to the climb to the Horseshoe Lake. I made my way around the Eastern shore until I found a great campsite on the NE shore. I dropped pack in the cooler shaded side of the lake and thankfully was cooled even further my a nice breeze coming off the lake. The campsite has a huge stone firepit and even some well constructed stone seats. It was already in the Mid 80's and climbing steadily even though it was well before noon. I climbed on my general line toward Sorcery Mt. until I reached a very sunny brushy portion. I was not in any sort of mood for a sweatfest so I headed pack to my pack. I was only looking for a half day today anyway. I lounged for an hour watching an Osprey floating on thermals above me. The trip out was not as hot as I had feared but was hot enough to sap alot of my energy.

North Chiwaukum 6.19.06

I managed to get out of bed by 6:30 which isn't always easy for me. I had a big day planned and I wanted to get home by a reasonable hour. I don't particularly like Hy 2 and it always seems to take longer than I would like to get to my destination. I still managed to be walking by 10:30. The plan was to hike the Whitepine trail for about .25 mile and then leave the trail just past the old clearcut. I wanted to access the long spur ridge that tends SE towards Pt. 7132. I was hoping a summit of this peak. It is not on the Back Court 100 list because it lack of prominence but it is still a worthy summit boasting a 4400ft gain. I had hoped to follow the ridgeline to Chiwaukum 3(Pt. 7423) which ranks a healthy #23 on the Back Court list. I was plagued from the outset with a weak minded day. All I could think of on the Whitehorse trail was that the climb was a bit more than what I was looking for on this day. I started to think a easy trail walk would be a better fit on this day. I managed to talk myself into a least leaving the trail and just see ""how it goes"". The ridge goes fairly well there were alot of blow downs the first 500ft of climb. I was able to see bits and pieces of a climber's trail and was able to follow for long streches. The grade is a grunt for the first 3000ft but relents a bit until you reach around 6200ft where the grade thankfully eases. Snow started around 5200ft and was patchy until 6000ft where is becomes solid. The snow was great and I made better time on the more open ridgeline. The snow stops around 6800ft and the final push to the summit is snowless and not technical in the least. I was quite shocked to see bootprints in the snow, at least I am not the only crazy out there. The views from the summit were lessened with the somewhat heavy cloud cover. The wind picked up greatly on the summit I am guessing at least 35-40 mph. I am sure the route to Chiwaukum 3 is quite straight forward but I wasn't thrilled with the idea of running the ridge with such strong winds. I decided to descend as quick as possible to my pack I had stowed below me. I enjoyed some well earned nourishment in the shelter of a tree well. The portion of the descent on snow went very quickly but once I was off snow I erred a bit and descended in a more westernly direction. The grade was steep enough to be very vigilant, I was thankfull to have an ice ax. I was very pleased to rejoin the Whitepine trail about a half mile from where I had left it. I was quite pleased that I had beaten my poor mindset to add another summit. I was however quite bummed to have lost my favorite sunglasses on the way down. I am sure the chances of someone ever finding my glasses are much less than me winning the lottery.








4400ft of climb 3:50 up and 3:00 down.

Icicle Ridge High Point 6.9.06

I was looking for a long elevation gain where snow wasn't a huge factor. I had read some reports for this trail so I knew snow wouldn't be an issue. The lower portions of the trail need brushing and since it had rained recently I became quite wet. The cloud ceiling was around 6500ft so views were mostly stunted. The grade is quite pleasing but it is still a substantial 4700ft of climb to the lookout which comes in at 7029ft ranking it #36 on the Back Court list. Snow becomes consistent around 6800ft and is pretty solid on the North Side below the lookout. I was glad that I brought plenty of clothes because of the cool windy weather. I didn't have any problems finding a straight forward route to the remnants of the lookout. The lookout itself is on an immense flat rock that requires you to use some handholds that are provided for you. I merely touched the summit and quickly made my way back to my pack that I had stowed in a more sheltered location below me. I quickly ate my lunch and then I was off for the long descent to the truck. I was quite pleased with the 5.5 hour car to car time. I, however, was a bit disappointed with the lack of views from the summit. I am sure that the lookout is a wonderful vantage point. Even though I was quite wet by the time I returned to the truck I am sure that it was much better than trying this climb on a warm sunny day. I was simply amazed with the volume of water in both Icicle Creek and the Wenatchee River.

Lost Dog Peak 6.8.06

Lost Dog Peak is an entirely unofficial for the unamed Peak that lies just East of Pt. 6260 above De Roux Creek. I felt this name was appropriate due to my wandering Beagles escapades in view of this peak. The goal for the day was for a summit of High Esmerelda Pt. 6765 which is the highest point of the many peaks of the Esmerelda Group. I was pleasantly suprised to find no snow at the De Roux Campground. However consistent snow started right out of the gate making route finding much slower. I made my way to about 4900ft where I erred a bit and ended up above the trail on a subtle spur that tended SW. I was not looking forward to a ford of De Roux Creek due to the very high volume of water and I didn't really want to turn back so soon. The spur provided an easy grade towards Pt 6260 so I decided to press on. The spur was mostly snowfree until 5600ft and the grade became much steeper at around 5700ft. I was forced to unleash the beagle in order to use both hands to help drag myself to the 6000ft ridgeline. I made my way to a small saddle and dropped pack. When I looked down there was no Beagle anywhere, Because the last 300ft took all my attention I didn't really know if he was above or below me. Since the summit of what I thought was Pt. 6260 was easily within my sight I pressed on. My thought my sight lines would be much improved the higher I went. I was greeted with very strong winds and no visibility to the South. I had a feeling I wasn't on the true summit so I took a GPS reading that put me on Pt 6110. Since I was still missing my dog I decided to backtrack to my pack. It certainly a uneasy feeling to think about returning without my beloved pet. I wasn't sure what course of action to take, I didn't see any of his tracks around my pack so I surmised that he must be below me. I made my was to my ridge jump of point and was happy to find my wandering pet. Now my attention turned to how best to get down the steeper portions of the ridge. I decided it prudent to make my way down kick stepping facing the hill. I managed to make it back to the spur with only mildly raising my heart rate. I had no problems refinding the trail below me and I was soon back at the truck. On a curious side note I had passed a older couple on the way in, which suprised me since I didn't see any fresh bootprints on the way in. On the way out I didn't see any signs of their return either. Perplexing

Sasse Mt. 6.1.06

I was hoping for a summit bid for Humerus Hill which lies between Jolly Mt and Elbow Peak. My hope was that at least the first gate would be open on logging road #4315 which starts just after the Cooper Lake Turnoff. The road intersects the Sasse Mt trail close to the Jolly Mt trail. I was at least 3 hours late getting started due to obligations on the home front so I wasn't overly optimistic about my chances. The first gate was shut snugly so I was assured of not making my day's objective. I was only able to walk the road until I intersected with the Sasse Mt Trail. Without any more time before I had other obligations at home I was forced to turn back. The snow was constant and consolidated above 4300ft. I thankfully returned to the truck before the rain became serious. Just before crossing Snoqualmie Pass the rain became so intense I was nearly forced to pull over.