Kachess Ridge 5.9.06

I was really feeling poorly so I thought it best to sweat it out. I was hopeful that the I could make it quite a ways up the Kachess Ridge Trail before it became snowbound. The trail starts a bit more steeply than I was expecting. The first 1000ft of climb went quickly on the good trail. The trail above 3400ft is completely under snow making route finding much more difficult. I was able to follow the trail easily until where I am guessing it crosses Silver Creek. The crossing looked nearly impossible with the deep snow and the high water. There are some bigger logs that would make for a dry crossing but they were still snow covered. I followed the faint tread of those who had gone before me. With the low overnight temps the snow was rock hard and a bit tricky. I was a bit concerned about my downclimb because I didn't have an ice ax with me. It isn't that it overly steep it is more the many trees that would have halted a ten foot slide. I pressed on to around 4200ft and called it a day. I backtracked to around 3300ft where I had seen some tread heading more Westerly. I followed this up to around 3600ft which led me to a nice open area that was sunsoaked. I quite contentedly ate my lunch. I was left with some extra time so on the way out I drove the road that parallels Lake Kachess's eastern shore. I took the branch road 4824 until I was halted with a small snow berm that I am quite sure will be gone within a few days. The road was snowless beyond that point as far as I could see.

Dirty Harry's Peak 5.1.06

With an unusual gap between trips I was eager to get out a give my legs a bit of a stretch. I was hoping for something a bit more exotic than the logging road approach to Dirty Harry's summit. I felt a bit disconnected with the current conditions in the mountains so I felt something safe and familiar would be better. I also wanted something shortish is both time and location from home. I parked near the start of the logging road that summits this peak. I was happy that the snow started higher up than I expected and when I hit consolidated snow it was the best climbing snow I have ever seen. It was hard but super grippy making the slog much less tedious. The weather was a bit unstable with long periods of very heavy hail showers. I only stayed for a moment I am always nervous with the steep drop off to the north which I am sure is heavily corniced. I made good time back to the truck and was treated to some sunny weather for my drive home.




Thanks Mom!

Maloney Ridge Lookout 4.9.06

I hadn't done a hike on a Sunday for many years and with it my only available day I thought I would give it a go. My intent was to summit Maloney Knoll and if conditions were favorable the highpoint of Maloney Ridge. I had hoped to be able to drive at least partways up the road but I was stymied at 1500ft just after the bridge crossing the Foss River. I parked just before the bridge and realized that I had left my snowpants at home. I expected some cool wet weather so I was a bit displeased with myself since I was only wearing shorts. I decided to amend my plans and stay with a road only walk to Maloney Ridge Lookout. I had been there once before on the return from Sobieski Mt. It took me about 2:30 to cover the 5 miles to the lookout. I was only able to glimpse a small portion of the valley 2000ft below. I could make out a train and could here it struggling up to Stevens Pass. I only stayed long enough to have my lunch and quickly retraced my steps back to the truck.

Teanaway Butte 3.31 .06

I was on my usual tight schedule so I picked something I had done before. The day was started out with a overflowing toilet and was followed with the dogs eating my sandwich when I stopped for gas. To make it a trifecta of bad luck Highway 18 had a 20 minute backup just after Tiger Summit. I knew I would have to really hustle if I wanted to make it back for my 5pm appointment. I was hoping to ski the road approach to Teanaway Butte due to the 7+ mile approach. I was suprised to see bare road at the bus turnaround on the Middle Fork Road. There was a snow berm to block any further driving so I parked the truck and decided to keep the skiis in the truck. Trying to make up some time I ran for periods on the well packed road. I switched to snowshoes around 3800ft and soon found myself at the end of the road with only a few hundred feet of elevation to go. The snow was untracked and somewhat deep as I made my way to the summit. I very thankfully reached the summit and only stayed long enough to see a nice squall coming my way. As I made my way back to the road it began to snow quite hard progressing to some fun stinging hail. I again ran portions of the descent making it home at 5pm on the money.




14+ miles 4:45 car to car