Devil Slide 6 3.31.09

With the heavy snows in the mountains I knew getting over the passes would be dicey and with the heightened avy conditions I thought it best to stay low. I parked at the last yellow gate before the Wagner Bridge. The weather was frightful. It was blowing 30+mph with horizontal hail. I gave some thought about bagging the day. I waited 15 minutes and the weather calmed. I layered up and was off. I was hoping to walk the road until the 4 way intersection at around 1300'. The intent was to use the network of logging roads to reach the old Cascade Lookout. I had read a great report from Beave warning against heading North at the intersection. Apparently there is a major landslide on the Deep Creek Road that makes it impassable. I instead headed right and began climbing. There wasn't much snow so it went quickly. Just before 1800' I took the right junction and hit substantial snow. I also noticed that I could see the car in the distance. With the recent clearcut I banked the idea for the descent cutting off some serious mileage. The snow increased quickly so I put on snowshoes. The snow was deep and heavy greatly slowing progress. Since the going was so slow I decided to enter the forest where the snow was much more manageable. This worked great with the exception of realizing that I had forgotten my phone at home. This was a problem because I load my maps into the phone. So now I was flying with limited vision. After a few hundred feet of climb I reached another road. I followed to the right until I was dismayed to find a dead end. I retraced my steps to another junction where I headed North. The weather now had redoubled it's effort to make my day miserable. I could see high above me what appeared to be another road which I surmised could be helpful. I was confident that I could scale the steep clearcut but with the weather strengthening I decided that it wasn't prudent to continue. In retrospect I should just have waited another 15 minutes because the weather again improved. Since I could see Devil's Slide 6 to the West I decided to forgo my up route and just follow my new road to the Deep Creek Road. This went quickly and I soon found myself back at original 4-way intersection. Here I went West and soon crossed Deep Creek. Just after crossing Deep Creek there was a spur road heading North. At this intersection I jumped off road and made my way up the clearcut. The going was great for a clearcut making a quick ascent to the road above me. I followed the road and descended the saddle beneath DS 6. I was surprised to see a set of footprints in the deeper snow. From the saddle I again left the road for the clearcut and easily made it to the summit 2000' 560'P. The views were limited to the area bumps which I documented for future trips. For the descent I decided to follow the main road back to the valley below. The initial portion headed my direction but further down it switchbacked North which I had hoped to avoid. I left the road intending on using the clearcut to access the road that I was sure that was below me. Too bad for me that the road passed on the West side of Black Lake not the East Side that I thought I had remebered from an earlier trip. I soon realized that I was stymied so back up the clearcut I went. Thankfully I reached the road above me again. I reached another junction where I headed South. The road passes directly next to the lake where I spied some areas that would allow some fishing. The road deadends at the outlet stream. Thankfully I could see the continuation of the road on the other side so I forded the creek and was back on track. After climbing the road crests and heads back to the original 4 way intersection. I had to laugh to myself when I realized that during the day I had used all four branches of the intersection. I picked up the pace for the remainder and just beat the rain back to the car.




Approx 12 miles 2200' of climb 5:30 car to car

Tronsen Meadows 3.24.09

I had a tough time deciding this week what I wanted to do. I wasn't too enthused with the crappy West side snow so I decided to head East with the bonus of better weather. I am having a tough time to find climbs that I haven't done that afford reasonable Winter access. Earlier this year when I was on Mt. Lillian I could plainly see Bentrim Hill. So there it was, the goal for the day. I decided to forgo an early start to instead help with the kids and come home after dark. I wasn't able to sleep much last night which made me very sleepy. In fact I was so tired after passing Easton that I was forced to pull over and sleep for a half hour. Feeling much better I pressed on. The plan was to use the Tronsen Meadow's trail to access the Old Ellensburgh trail which I hoped would be somewhat easy to follow in nearly direct line to Bentrim Hill. This is one of those wonderful Backcourt peaks that can nearly be driven up during other times of the year. I always try to resist those urges and at least put some effort into making the summit. The road to the Tronsen Meadow's trail was well packed and the snowshoes stayed stowed on the pack. Once on the trail it was a nice trench until the trail and ski track diverge. Too bad for me I was on the trail less traveled. I was able to follow a faint track without too much trouble. Since I had been up the trail twice in the last 4 months I wasn't to concerned with the actual route. The snow was heavy enough to make the climb harder than previous attempts. My pace slowed to a snail's pace. I gave some thought to just bagging it before reaching at least the meadow's. My nap and slowed pace made the summit out of reach with the remaining daylight. I dropped pack and had lunch which boosted my energy level enough to make it to the flats above me. I was able to make it to the groomed snowmobile track and easily followed it to the Ellensburgh Trail. The trail itself is probably seldom travelled so it didn't look obvious under the snow. There was a packed snowmobile track leading in the general direction I was intending on going so I followed. The track led me to the meadows where there were some snowmobilers doing their thing. Not wanting to tangle the dogs with the sleds I retreated. I gave some thought of trying for some type of loop but my desire to have dinner with my family won out. I cut some distance on the way down by taking a more direct line. I happily made it home just as dinner was done!




Approx 10 miles 2000' of climb 4:30 car to car

Horse Lake Mt 3.17.09

Horse lake Mt is just West of Wenatchee and only holds interest because it ranks 99th on the backcourt 100. I had been sick last week but felt much better. I am still holding on quite a cough that I can't seem to shake. I felt with all the new snow and increased avy danger something less taxing was in order. I had some trouble finding Canyon 2 Road but my phone rescued me, you just have to love technology! The gravel road ends around 2300' where I parked. The road continues without snow but is very sloppy with mud. As I suited up I was pelted with a nice graupel shower that quickly passed, leaving bright sunshine. Just as I started I was wracked with a coughing fit. Frequently this makes me throw up which today was no diiferent. After collecting myself I was off. The road continued to be muddy for the first .75 miles until it switched to solid snow. There is a nice packed track so the goingbwas quick and easy. The bright sunshine felt good and spurred me on. Around the 1.5 mile mark I had another coughing episode with the same result. At approximately 3800' I left the road for a more direct line. Mostly it was easy going with the exception one short area that I forced to swim in the deep powder. Picking out the right highpoint was the hardest part of the finish. Soon I was on the true summit to christen it with another coughing fit. I quickly retraced my steps back to the car for the long drive home. It was another memorable day in the hills only marred by a serious head ache from my brain rattling in my head.




Approx 7 miles 2400' of climb 3:30 car to car

Loch Katrine 3.4.09

I have looking to do more on the North Fork of the Snoqualmie because mainly I see the peaks every day I work. I had an idea to try Twin Peaks via a route that I had no data on. I had emailed out to some Nwhikers about some trips that no reports were submitted. They gave me what is probably the easiest route via Lake Phillipa. Many thanks for the great trip report and pictures, I am sure to put them to use in the future. This was not the day for an attempt of Twin Peak. I had a morning appointment and and evening one as well. I had just enought time in between to scout my idea in person. I was able to drive to just past the Wagoner Bridge before I was blocked by a truck and a grader. They didn't seem to want to let me by so I backtracked a short ways and parked. The washout that had the road closed has been fixed and they were almost finished with the second blockage. I chit chatted with the workers for a short time. The idea was to use the ridge just East of Loch Katrine which looks farily benign on the map. I hoped to follow the ridge to access the upper lake and then the easier slopes to Twin Peaks summit. I made good time for the two miles to the gate guarding Lake Phillipa Road. I jumped the gate and followed the road until it split, I took the left fork and started climbing. There was patchy snow but not enough to warrant snowshoes. The road is fairly steep so I wouldn't reccommend a mountain bike for this route. I chose to switch to snowshoes to soon and had to take them off again. I wouldn't bother putting them on until the 3 mile mark approx 2800'. Soon the grade flattened out and I made it to the big bend in the road. I left the road here and it is only a short ways to the campsite near the shore. The lake is frozen but seems to be thawing some out about 20' from shore. It appears that one could walk to far end of the lake it you stayed near shore. I did try to walk a short ways without issue. Tanner tried to go out further and it sounded quite sloppy. My intended route look doable until the near the end where the ridge ends abrubtly. Since I had to be back I didn't linger long. The route out was quick and I had enough time to walk to the Lake Phillipa Road a little further. The road is mess of mud further along. A torrent of muck overrode the road. The muck was frozen solid so it made for surprisingly great walking. After another half mile I decided that I needed to get back, soon I was back to the car.




Approx 12 miles 1800' of climb 5:30 car to car.