Mary's Peak, Judy's Peak 5.13.08

My original intent was to do something off of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie but when there was a steady rain on Sunday I knew a change of plans was in order. I always to head to Teanway when the weather is iffy and this was the perfect choice for this day. I picked up Nick and David at 0600 in Issaquah with a slight drizzle. By the time we crested Snoqualmie Pass there wasn't a cloud to be seen. I was able to drive further on the road than I was expecting. I pushed through a few small snow patches and pushed my luck through some larger ones before deciding that was enough tempting fate. I backtracked and parked near a bridge crossing the North Fork of the Teanaway. I eagerly applied sunscreen liberally. When I let the dogs out of the car they were off before I had a chance to leash them. The beagle crossed the river on the bridge and was off. I finished packing up and followed across the bridge yelling for him. With the rushing water I could not hear him and I was sure he couldn't hear me. I waited a while before deciding to get moving. I expected he would return to the car and wait for our return.




The goal was for a summit of Iron and Genes Peak via the Beverly Creek trail. The snow was rock hard so the long road walk to the summer traihead went quickly. Once we over the summer trail it traverses along the creek for .25 mile. I found this traverse to very unpleasant. It was very icy with a substantial drop to the rushing creek below. I broke out the ice axe and went very slowly. We crossed the creek and I decided that a change in plans were in order. I really didn't want to keep along the creek so we recrossed the creek near the Earl Peak trail. Instead of ascending the basin via the trail I had us climb the defined ridge heading North. The snow coverage was patchy but mostly consistent but was firm and very stable. We crested the ridge and lounged soaking up the warm sun and enjoying a bite to eat. Now on the ridge our route was plainly in front of us. Judy's Peak looked a little imposing but we had no problems topping out. Once on top of Judy's I wanted Mary's further along the ridge. Again we had no problems except for an occaional full body posthole. Since I had already climbed Bean Peak I had no desire to continue on the ridge so we contemplated our descent route. I really didn't want to retrace our steep ascent route and the basin below was begging for some bootprints. We all had a wonderful short but steep glissade to the basin below. I really enjoyed meandering through the basin.

Soon we were back for the most unpleasant traverse. The conditons had softened making it even more tedious. I was very thankful to all have passed without incident. The snow on the road had softened considerably making it little slower than our ascent. Soon we were back at the Subaru. The Beagle however was not.





I spent some time calling and searching to no avail. Not wanting to keep my partners and made the long drive home. When I told my wife about the lost dog I had half expected her to be happy. Beagles are not the easiest dog to own and with 2 small children can make for some tense moment. She wanted to go back and see if we could find him. We packed up the kids and were off for a "family adventure". I expected to see Baxter running down I-90 on the way. After nearly an hour of searching we had no luck. I think someone probably picked him up. Since he is microchipped I am still hopeful for a reuniting of my most annoying pet. I passed all my info to every agency I could think of so now we wait. For those of you that follow my escapades I am sure knew losing the Beagle was inevitable. If it wasn't for the loss of my pet it was one of my most enjoyable days in the mountains ever.



Approx 11 miles 4100' of climb 7:15 car to car