Scenic Creek, Hamada Lake, Lower Murphy Lake 4.30.07

Todays goal was a summit of K9 by the seldom used Scenic Creek Route. I was pleased to again be joined by Coasty for the day's adventure. We arrived at our jump off point a little later than I had planned. I had hoped to use the road that leads to the Surprise Lake trail as a jump-off point. The crux of the day for me was getting us started on the right foot. I took the left fork of the road instead of going right towards the Surprise Lake Trailhead. We drove a few hundred yards in and parked. The first portion climbed somewhat steeply in mostly open forest until we reached a field of Devil's Club. I wanted to reach the access road that runs under the power lines. The field of Devil's Club was passable and we popped out on the road just before it is crossed by Scenic Creek. I found a flagged start to a fisherman's trail I was hoping would be there. The trail is not very defined but it is of little consequence because the going is open and easy.I was a little surprised that we did not hit snow until 3100ft we continued on with boots trying my best to lead us through the minefield of rotten snow. There are many feeder creek crossings along the way that must be crossed on snow bridges. Although none of the feeders are very big I always feel uneasy crossing these during the Spring melt. Although the snow was great I switched to snowshoes once we hit consolidated snow at around 3600ft. Once on consolidated snow I found it a very pleasurable route coupled with the warm bright sunshine it was quite stunning. Most of the grade is less than moderate but it does increase before Hamada Lake. We stopped at Hamada and had a long lunch break. I felt we would not have enough time to make to K9's summit and be back in time for our evening's obligations. I was quite content to soak up the warm sun. I did have some anxious moments when Tanner fell into the lake while trying to drink some water. He couldn't make it up the steep snow bank to get back onto dry land. I ran around to the other end of the lake where I thought it would be easier for him. I had to laugh when I realized that he was able to stand in the very shallow water. Finally Tanner found his way and we all had a good laugh. After we packed up we decided to make our way to Murphy Lakes that were only a short distance away. I led us up to a fairly open steep slope which was soft enough to kick some good steps into. Soon we topped out and made the short balance of the way to the lower of the Murphy Lakes. We didn't stay long and soon we turned our attention to making our way down the steep slope. I half wanted to glissade down it but the runout was not very good. I just carefully and slowly side kicked my way down. The snow held me well enough to keep my heartbeat to a dull roar. The rest of the way out went quite quickly and we made it back to the access road. The drop to the car from there was a little unpleasant but we made without being scratched too badly. This is a wonderful route that I am sure I will repeat in the future. I think however I may try a different start to it. I think there maybe another road that directly accesses the power lines and then backtrack to the fisherman's trail.




Approx 7miles 2500ft of climb 5:30 car to car

Paperboy Peak 4.22.07

Paperboy Peak ranks a lowly 95th on the HC/100 and thus needed to be climbed. Paperboy is located in the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie drainage nearly due North of the imposing Bessemer Mt. I parked at the end of the Taylor River Road amongst the hoards of people. I almost couldn't find a place to park. I wasn't in the least bothered because I knew it was unlikely I would see anyone the rest of the day. As I started out it was raining lightly, not a good sign because I knew my approach is very brushy. Thankfully the rain abated and wasn't seen for the rest of the day. I turned onto the Quartz Creek Road with a little bit of dread. The Quartz Creek Road has it's defenses alot of brush and 3 sketchy feeder creek crossings. I wasn't looking forward to having to make these three crossings going in and coming out. As it turns out they weren't nearly as bad as I remembered. The first is just past the turnoff for the Sunday Creek Road and I chose the middle of three logs spanning the 20ft drop to the creek. The log was well worn so it thankfully wasn't slippery it did have plenty of annoying rebar to circumnavigate. I was pleased the dogs crossed without hesitation. The next crossing I found a little more arduous because the logs were much more slippery. The last crossing involves using a hand line to span a waterway that spills over some very smooth rock. I was much thankful to make this crossing without a fall. I continued on with the road becoming ever increasingly brushy. Thankully none to the brush had leaved out yet making it a little less tedious. At around 2900ft the road splits and I decided to bag the road walk any further. I left the road climbing mostly straight up without too much resistance. Suprisingly the snow only had been patchy to this point I had expected much more snow. My goal was to do a rising traverse to the NW to access until I could access Paperboy's East Ridge. There are some beautiful basins that must be crossed along the way. It was quite a sight looking back at my tracks going through these basins. I could have made the East Ridge but the West Ridge looked more promising. I pushed on upwards until I crested the West Ridge at 4800ft. I was very thankful to see open and easy slopes for the final push to the summit. I had hoped to continue on NW to reach Boomerang Mt.(Pt. 5185) however I had started later than what I had hoped and it also took me longer than anticipated to reach Paperboy. I knew I only had enough time to make it pack just before dark as it was. There was no way I would even try to make any of the crossings in the dark. I dropped very quickly back to the road and had no problems with each of the crossings and before I knew it I was back to the car.








Aprox 11 miles 3900ft of climb and 8:15 car to car

The Barrier 4.16.07

The Barrier is located just to the SW of Stevens Pass. I wasn't looking for an overly long day today so this fit the bill for a half day. I parked at the uppermost Stevens Ski Area parking lot and booted up the access road. I decided after the road steepened to break out the ice axe. The road was very icy I could probably used crampons. I managed to kick step enough toe holds to make some fairly quick elevation gain. When I reached the terminus of the lift I switched to snowshoes. I passed the uppermost of the Grace Lakes and started a climbing traverse to attain The Barrier's North Ridge. The snow was mixed with mostly firm crust that made for easy walking but there were some areas of very soft snow in the steeper more open areas. I reached the summit with little trouble and contemplated continuing on the ridge ESE to Cowboy Mt. I decided to try just to see how it would go. For some inexplicable reason I descended Barrier's SW ridge. I began to wonder why I had dropped 500ft + of elevation with out reaching the saddle. I realized my mistake and retraced my way back to the summit. I still can't understand how I could have made such an obvious mistake. I guess no harm no foul. I found following back in my footprints on the lower portion required vigilance because of the very heavy snowfall. There were stretches where my prints were completely covered with the new snow. I chose to descend on the terrain park that was not open because the snow conditions were better than the hard packed access road. Although it is a somewhat short hike and it is so close to the ski area it really has a nice backcountry feel.








approx 6miles 1800ft of climb with detours 3:45 car to car

Cleveland Mt 4.9.07

Since I missed last week I was very eagerly anticipating today's climb. I had planned on climbing Cleveland Mt. and Easter Peak (Pt. 5326) via Easter Peak's East Ridge. The plan was to park at the West Fork Miller River Road and walk approximately .25 miles and leave the road. I have read a report that states the going is fairly straightforward. I wanted to reach the Easter/Cleveland saddle and then turn north to summit Cleveland and then retrace my steps to the saddle and then continue South to Easter Peak. When I reached Monroe I knew my day would be in jeopardy. The cloud cover was the nice dark gray shade that denotes some very heavy rain/snow showers. I reached my parking area and was treated to some heavy rainshowers. I continued on the Miller river road just to see how far I could drive. It is possible to drive about two miles past the bridge over the West Fork Miller River. There is a small blowdown that needs to be cut out and there is solid snow beyond it. I returned to my parking spot and waited 20 minutes to see if maybe I would be lucky and only having a passing shower. When the rain only increased I made my way back to Hy 2 hoping to get some cell reception so I could call in for a change of plans. I gave some thought just to return to home but I really needed to stretch my legs. The weather seemed to lighten up so I decided to try for Cleveland the more traditional logging road route. I have been up this road several times and it always seems to be an unpleasant walk. The road has many streams running on the roadbed making for some tricky snow. I found myself having to wind my way up the road doing my best to miss any of the voids in the snow. The joys of spring climbing! I was able to drive about .75 miles on the road and probably could have made it to the end of the first switch back had I pressed the issue. The weather was vastly improved as I made my way up. I didn't switch to snowshoes until around 3000ft. I followed the road until it's end. Here I left the road and climbed steeply trying to reach the Saddle between the closed contour at 4400ft and the ridgeline I hoped to use. After reaching a level bench at around 4100ft I reached my turnaround time. At this point the snow started coming down with some purpose and coupled with some gusty winds made for some fun conditions. I butt glissaded my way back to the road making sure to miss the small trees dotting the slope. I slogged my way back to the car making it back faster than expected allowing me a drive up the Money Creek Road. I was able to circumvent a road closed sign and was stopped by snow at around 1700ft.








Approx 11 miles 3000ft of climb and 6:30 Car to Car