Hard Knox 5.14.07

Hard Knox or South Thorp Mt. as it is sometimes referred to is #45 on the HC/100 list and as such needed to be climbed. I was blessed with near perfect weather unbroken sun but not too warm. I was pleased that the major overhaul of my boots had been completed and they looked great. I had a feeling they might need to be rebroken because of the extensive repairs so I chose this because the majority of the climb was on logging roads. The Thorp Mt group can be accessed in a variety of ways I chose to use the East Lake Kachess Road( Kachess Dam Road) for the days adventure. I was pleased to be able to drive up to around 3000ft where the road abrubtly ends in an impassable tangle of fallen logs. I doubt that this will be fixed anytime soon. As I suspected my boots gave me trouble from the onset. I think it took me nearly 10 minutes to get them relaced and on to my feet. I was off. The bare road that quickly changes to consolidtated snow. I followed the logging roads until a junction at 4700ft where I left the road climbing in a more direct route to my summit. I rejoined a upper road for a short while before again leaving for the hard snow in the shade of the trees. I now switched to snowshoes which I felt gave me some more stable footing. I followed the basin that a creek flows through until 5200ft where I crossed to the North side and began climbing steeply Northward. I had reached by turnaround time but I was only 600ft from the summit so I pressed on. I broke out the ice axe because it was steep enough to give me pause and paired with the variable snow conditions I thought it prudent. The pitch lessens near the summit and I was confused on which of points was highest. The Peak Baggers's Asylum identifies the Eastern point (5841) as the highest. I didn't have a good line of sight to determine for sure which was the highest. My topo program definitely shows the West as the highest point. I was content that my summit was highest. I wish I had more time to find out for sure. I snapped some pictures and then I was off. I had some time to make up so I did my best to shave some time on the way out. I ended up making it home in time for the rest of the evenings plans.




Approx 9miles 2800ft of climb 4:30 car to car

Mailbox Peak 5.7.07

Since my boots were in for a long overdue and much needed overhaul I was forced to pick something with no snow. I was short on time as well so that narrowed my possibilities to just a few climbs. I was hoping for a try for West Defiance (Pt. 4926) which is just SE of Mailbox Peak. I have been up Mailbox many times so knew the route well and I wasn't overly optimistic of success. I knew the traverse from the Mailbox Trail would be made much more challenging by my lack of proper footwear. I started the long grind up with some much warmer than expected temps. I always have a hard time acclimating to the warmer weather early in the season. I wasn't trying to set any land speed records as I made my way of the mostly clear trail. I have been walking on snow for so long now I had forgotten how much faster the elevation ticks off when you are on dry ground. I reached 4500ft and left the trail making a rising traverse towards my goal. I had some problems getting any purchase with my trail running shoes making me wish I had my boots. I reached the saddle between Mailbox and West Defiance and was forced off the ridge. My options were to drop steeply or backtrack. I decided that maybe this summit was best left for another day. I made my way back on the North side and popped out on Mailbox's summit. The weather was ideal and the views were 360 degrees. I am intrigued with the basin towards the SE. I could have easily dropped to the consolidated snow in the basin and made a snow ascent of West Defiance. This route would force more elevation gain but I am sure It would be much more enjoyable. I lounged for a while enjoying the nice sunshine. I was a little concerned with the descent because of the muddy conditions between 3000-4000ft but I managed to stay upright. Once I reached drier ground I picked up the pace running long stretches. I was very pleased that I would have made Mailbox in just under two hour if I had went straight instead of detouring. I managed to drop in less then 1:15. Mailbox if nothing else can be a good judge of one's fitness level. Just to put the icing on the day I again (this is occurring at a freaky rate ) won $50 on a scratch lottery ticket. Just to sweeten the day further I was able to make it back for the evening bite and had a wonderful evening on the lake.




Approx 6 miles 4100ft of climb 4 hours car to car

Scenic Creek, Hamada Lake, Lower Murphy Lake 4.30.07

Todays goal was a summit of K9 by the seldom used Scenic Creek Route. I was pleased to again be joined by Coasty for the day's adventure. We arrived at our jump off point a little later than I had planned. I had hoped to use the road that leads to the Surprise Lake trail as a jump-off point. The crux of the day for me was getting us started on the right foot. I took the left fork of the road instead of going right towards the Surprise Lake Trailhead. We drove a few hundred yards in and parked. The first portion climbed somewhat steeply in mostly open forest until we reached a field of Devil's Club. I wanted to reach the access road that runs under the power lines. The field of Devil's Club was passable and we popped out on the road just before it is crossed by Scenic Creek. I found a flagged start to a fisherman's trail I was hoping would be there. The trail is not very defined but it is of little consequence because the going is open and easy.I was a little surprised that we did not hit snow until 3100ft we continued on with boots trying my best to lead us through the minefield of rotten snow. There are many feeder creek crossings along the way that must be crossed on snow bridges. Although none of the feeders are very big I always feel uneasy crossing these during the Spring melt. Although the snow was great I switched to snowshoes once we hit consolidated snow at around 3600ft. Once on consolidated snow I found it a very pleasurable route coupled with the warm bright sunshine it was quite stunning. Most of the grade is less than moderate but it does increase before Hamada Lake. We stopped at Hamada and had a long lunch break. I felt we would not have enough time to make to K9's summit and be back in time for our evening's obligations. I was quite content to soak up the warm sun. I did have some anxious moments when Tanner fell into the lake while trying to drink some water. He couldn't make it up the steep snow bank to get back onto dry land. I ran around to the other end of the lake where I thought it would be easier for him. I had to laugh when I realized that he was able to stand in the very shallow water. Finally Tanner found his way and we all had a good laugh. After we packed up we decided to make our way to Murphy Lakes that were only a short distance away. I led us up to a fairly open steep slope which was soft enough to kick some good steps into. Soon we topped out and made the short balance of the way to the lower of the Murphy Lakes. We didn't stay long and soon we turned our attention to making our way down the steep slope. I half wanted to glissade down it but the runout was not very good. I just carefully and slowly side kicked my way down. The snow held me well enough to keep my heartbeat to a dull roar. The rest of the way out went quite quickly and we made it back to the access road. The drop to the car from there was a little unpleasant but we made without being scratched too badly. This is a wonderful route that I am sure I will repeat in the future. I think however I may try a different start to it. I think there maybe another road that directly accesses the power lines and then backtrack to the fisherman's trail.




Approx 7miles 2500ft of climb 5:30 car to car

Paperboy Peak 4.22.07

Paperboy Peak ranks a lowly 95th on the HC/100 and thus needed to be climbed. Paperboy is located in the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie drainage nearly due North of the imposing Bessemer Mt. I parked at the end of the Taylor River Road amongst the hoards of people. I almost couldn't find a place to park. I wasn't in the least bothered because I knew it was unlikely I would see anyone the rest of the day. As I started out it was raining lightly, not a good sign because I knew my approach is very brushy. Thankfully the rain abated and wasn't seen for the rest of the day. I turned onto the Quartz Creek Road with a little bit of dread. The Quartz Creek Road has it's defenses alot of brush and 3 sketchy feeder creek crossings. I wasn't looking forward to having to make these three crossings going in and coming out. As it turns out they weren't nearly as bad as I remembered. The first is just past the turnoff for the Sunday Creek Road and I chose the middle of three logs spanning the 20ft drop to the creek. The log was well worn so it thankfully wasn't slippery it did have plenty of annoying rebar to circumnavigate. I was pleased the dogs crossed without hesitation. The next crossing I found a little more arduous because the logs were much more slippery. The last crossing involves using a hand line to span a waterway that spills over some very smooth rock. I was much thankful to make this crossing without a fall. I continued on with the road becoming ever increasingly brushy. Thankully none to the brush had leaved out yet making it a little less tedious. At around 2900ft the road splits and I decided to bag the road walk any further. I left the road climbing mostly straight up without too much resistance. Suprisingly the snow only had been patchy to this point I had expected much more snow. My goal was to do a rising traverse to the NW to access until I could access Paperboy's East Ridge. There are some beautiful basins that must be crossed along the way. It was quite a sight looking back at my tracks going through these basins. I could have made the East Ridge but the West Ridge looked more promising. I pushed on upwards until I crested the West Ridge at 4800ft. I was very thankful to see open and easy slopes for the final push to the summit. I had hoped to continue on NW to reach Boomerang Mt.(Pt. 5185) however I had started later than what I had hoped and it also took me longer than anticipated to reach Paperboy. I knew I only had enough time to make it pack just before dark as it was. There was no way I would even try to make any of the crossings in the dark. I dropped very quickly back to the road and had no problems with each of the crossings and before I knew it I was back to the car.








Aprox 11 miles 3900ft of climb and 8:15 car to car