Moolock Mt. 1.21.04

Today's goal was for Moolock Mt.( pt. 4965) which is located between Green Mt and South Bessemer Mt. I used the logging roads that leave the Middle Fork Rd. I managed to escape the house using the great milk-bone ruse. One dog is still on the mend but should be ready by next week. I managed to leave the house at the unheard of hour (for me) of 0800. The Middle Fork Rd. still has quite a bit of snow on it just before the bridge crossing the river and quite a ways past the bridge. The morning fog burned off quickly leaving a beautiful sunny and quite warm day. I felt quite sluggish at first, but when I cut through the open forest instead of staying on the road my legs loosened up. I made great time to the saddle between S. Bessemer and Moolock (2:10). I stopped to have a bite to eat and enjoy some of the finest views of the Pratt river valley and Russian Butte. I now continued on the logging road that takes you directly to Moolock. When you reach the large open pit area angle to the right where the road continues on towards Moolock. I followed this road to the base of the mountain. The slopes are somewhat steep here and I was a little leery to try these without an ice-ax. I was happy to eat my lunch and enjoy the warm sun and beautiful views. I will be sure to return to bag this peak when properly outfitted. I dropped mostly straight down and returned to the car in 1:45.

Happy 3 years TJ!

Mount Tenneriffe 1.14.04

With one of the dogs nursing a reinjured knee and not wanting to be unfair and bring his little brother, I snuck out of the house. I had to laugh at having to be so stealthy, but the dogs would have gone nuts if they even sensed that I was going with out them. I decided that Mt Teneriffe would be today's objective. I used the logging road at the end of Mt. Si Rd. The area seems to have received quite a bit of snow in last week's snowstorm. It seems like the cold was trapped near the ground leaving a inversion of snow. As I climbed the snow grew more and more sparse. I donned snowshoes near the 3000ft level. Despite leaving with a purposeful drizzle the day warmed with some filtered sunlight and grew quite warm. The road has a well worn snowshoe track that I followed to the saddle that overlooks Ranchor Lake at the 4100ft level. I stopped to eat lunch and enjoyed the views. I then followed the snowshoe track that continues to Teneriffe's summit. After about climbing 100ft of elevation on the easy to follow trail my will left me. I didn't really want to finish in the dark and I was running low on time due to my somewhat slow pace on the climb. I decided that since I had already climbed Teneriffe on two previous trips there wasn't really enough to motivate me further. I was a little crest fallen that I had not achieved today's goal, but that melted quickly as I enjoyed the balmy weather and nice views on the way down.

Squak Mt. 1.1.04

With just a little time to dedicate for a hike I chose something as close to home as possible. I left the Squak Mt. parking lot with a light snow just starting. The snow grew in intensity as the hike wore on. There was around six inches at the top which I am sure has doubled by now. I stayed on the access road and made the top in just less than an hour. I ran the the upper portion on the way down, the snow making a perfect cushion on my feet. I saw 4 other hikers on today's trip, and saw signs of a few more. I was glad to see the area gets some use.

Grantie Lakes Road 12.15.03

With decent weather today I thought some good leg stretching was in order. I parked just off the Middle Fork Rd. at the second logging Rd in ( about a half mile from where the pavement ends). I knew because of the low elevation start that I would have to carry my snowshoes for at least the first hour. There is consistent snow just past where the road crosses Granite Lakes Creek. There is a well broken snowshoe trail that continues on until the road splits and continues on towards Mailbox Pk.. The portion of the trail that crosses the many forks of the creek is rather unpleasant. There are at least 12 forks and you must drop 3-6 feet and reclimb that on the other side of each of these forks. The trail ends after crossing most of the creeks, I continued on, the unbroken trail was even more unpleasant. I had to stop when the beagle couldn't cope with the very deep snow of the unbroken trail. The jog out went much quicker than expected and I was soon at the truck. There was some storm damage but most had been chainsawed out and was quite passable. This route will probably be even more unpleasant when the snow deepens. I think it would be much more enjoyable to continue on the road that moves towards Granite Lks and beyond.