Yellow Hill 5.18.04

Today's goal was for a summit of Yellow Hill as well as Elbow Peak. The weather was rather pleasant as I left but there was a forecast for thundershowers in the foothills. As I neared the trailhead it became apparent that I was going to be stuck in some very unsettled weather. I parked near 3400ft where there is a posted ""trail"" sign. It is possible to drive all the way to 3800ft and join the trail there. There was much lightning activity as well as some pretty substantial pea sized hail showers. I am not quite sure what the chances are of being hit by lightning, but it seemed quite a bit higher in the open areas of the climb. I spent the majority of time hunkered down waiting for another hail shower to pass. There was probably 50-60 thunder claps in the less than two hours that it took me to summit Yellow Hill. Some of these claps were so close and so loud that it would really make you jump each time. I have never climbed in any condition quite like this, I was amazed at the length that each thunderclap could be heard. I am quite sure that some were over a minute in length. I gave up on doing the ridge traverse to Elbow Peak, I really had no desire to be out in the open for that length of time. I retreated to the truck as the weather improved. There was only patchy snow until 5300ft where the trail was completely covered. I mearly left the trail at this point climbing the less than 300ft to Yellow Hill's summit. I was treated with some nice views of Mt Stuart with a thunders shower perched at it's summit, making it look like it was wearing a cloud hat. The return home was no less eventful as I lost a bolt on the alternator causing me to loose the fan belt stranding me in Easton with no parts stores open. Kudos for my parents on coming to get my sorry ass.

Mt. Baldy 5.11.04

Today's goal was for Mt Baldy via the Easton Ridge trail. The weather was cool and cloudy and very windy on the exposed ridges. I made great time up this sometimes very steep trail. The Domerie Ridge trail is snow free until the Junction at Pt. 4952. Since I had been to the Thomas Mt summit last year I followed the eastern fork that takes you towards Mt Baldy. The trail is still covered with quite a bit of snow but only strays from the ridgeline once to pass the south side of a rock outcropping. Mt Baldy is mearly a easy walk-up summit and am quite sure the view is stunning. However today visibility was quite low and the wind was quite strong, 30-35 mph sustained with higher gusts. I almost always stay quite warm with minimal clothing, but today I was forced to use many layers to stave off the biting wind. I backtracked my way by mearly following in my footsteps until I reached the junction with the Easton Ridge Trail. Since I had plenty of time I followed this also very steep trail to Pt 4291 which is a third of the way to the Easton Ridge terminus. Again any views were stunted by the low cloud cover. I quickly downclimbed and rejoined the trail and was off to the truck.

Putrid Pete's Peak 5.4.04

Today's goal was for Putrid Pete's Pk via the Mason Lk Trailhead. This was my third attempt at this obscure Pk., that lies between Mt. Defiance and Dirty Harry's Pk.. My attempt last month was halted due to lack of motivation, so today's mindset was a bit more deadset. The weather was cool and windy making the upper portions a bit slippery. I was able to follow the climbers trail to approx 4200ft and then just scrambled the path of least resistance to the summit at 5335. The last bit was a little tedious due to the shattered rock and slippery surface due to the earlier rain. I just tagged the summit and retraced my steps back down without even a moments hesitation. I had a bit of trouble locating the point of the trail where it re-enters the forest. I dropped straight down until I reached the creek at around 3600ft I then angled more easterly and with much relief reaquired the trail around 3300ft. The descent provided some tense moments due to the steepness and lack of good footing. I was suprised that my time up was (1:50) was the same as my descent time. It shows the care that must be taken in descending in these types of condition.

Bandera Mt 4.20.04

My goal today was for a return attempt of Putrid Pete's Pk.. The regional snow level had dropped to under 4000ft overnight resulting in some accumulations. The weather was also very unsettled with very large storm cells blowing through in regular intervals. I decided that staying on trail today might be a better option. I had not been up the new Mason Lk. trail so I thought I would give that a go. Bandara Mt still provides over a 3000ft climb. The reworked trail is much more pleasant that either of the other lake routes. The trail does force some extra elevation on you but you hardly notice due to the pleasing grade. I made great time to Bandera's western summit and picked my way carefully to Bandera's eastern summit. The views were stunted today due to some low lying cloudcover. Mason Lk. is still frozen solid and there seems to be quite a bit of snow in it's basin. Upon returning to the Mason Lk. trail I followed it until the descent to the lake. Having been to Mason Lk on many previous trips I had no motivation to drop to the lake. I returned to the truck with a brisk pace and was there before I knew it.