Howson Creek 1.19.10

After my recent escapades on skis I was eager to trade my skis in for my climbing boots. I wasn't enthused with the weather forecast so I thought it best to head East. I managed to miss getting wet by any rain. The lack of rain was accompanied by warm weather which turned to the snow flocked trees into my personal sprinkler system. The plan was to use the very seldom used Howson Creek Trail which is just past the Cle Elum River Campground. There is a nice area to park on the West side of the road. There is a small marker which would be very easy to miss. I was shocked to find a car already parked and the trail looks to be well travelled. I doubt that this trail see much action during the height of the season so I was very surprised to see a well worn path. I stayed on the trail to just before the trail crosses Howson Creek where I left the packed trail to make my own way. The snow was variable with some healthy crust which was not stout enough to hold my heft. The going was mostly open and only steep for short periods of time. The deeper snow was a little grueling but I just kept plugging away. Finally the ridge narrowed and I was nearing the top. The last 30' feet was very steep with very low snow coverage. I had to probe a few time for each step to make sure my ice axe had solid purchase. The top was an interesting formation that was narrow enough to cheval. I continued East since the drop was much shorter. I had hoped to continue on to Howson Peak just to the NE, but both my gas tank and time were running low. I instead traversed around the steeper portions and regained my ascent route. The descent went well and soon I found myself once again on the packed trail.




Approx 5 miles 2800' of climb 5:30 car to car

Not So Sasse Peak 1.19.10

I won't take credit for the name of this peak but I ran across a reference to this name so I will go with it. I had expected a rainy and windy morning but when I awoke I saw plenty of blue sky. Not trusting my good fortune I decided to head East just to be safe. Last week I had used the Howson Creek trail for a short ways and was quite surprised to find it well broken. I decided that today would be a good day to see how far this continued. I managed an earlier than expected start and the drive over was bare and wet making for good time. As I pulled near the parking area I was shocked to see someone just starting out. I had forgotten it was a holiday for most. I geared up and was off. I chose to stay in boots since the going was pretty packed. I passed my turnoff from my last week's trip and crossed the creek. I was now on ground that I had never been on. I don't often get to spend time on a trail that I haven't been on in the ALWA especially one that has drive up access. The going was straight forward and the trail remained packed as I switchbacked up the steepish slope. Once I transitioned from the West facing slope of the ascent to the South side the wind had scoured most of the trail for a short ways so I switched to snowshoes. Here the trail looked only to be broken by the person I had seen at the trailhead. I continued following in his footprints making a rising traverse towards the saddle between Sasse Mt and the point I wanted to the West. I had already climbed Sasse many years ago and remembered that the views were mostly non existent. I surmised the point to the West while lower would provide a nice seat to see the area peaks mantled with fresh snow. The track continued towards the saddle but I grew weary of the traverse so I instead headed straight up to the ridgeline above me. I was able to kick good stable steps and soon I was on the ridge. There was a sinlge track descending from the point I intended to climb so that helped speed things considerably. In short order I was on top to soak up the sun and views. The wind was a bit brisk so I didn't linger. For the descent I toyed with the idea of heading north and dropping to the logging roads below. If it wasn't for the fact that the road was untracked I surely would have. I followed the ridge past my uptrack and followed the single track. I decided to descend earlier than the track and soon I was back to my own footprints. Once I was out of the wind I couldn't believe how warm it was. It surely felt like Spring, I even heard some birds chirping as I snaked my way back to the car. As I rounded back to the West I saw where the climber ahead of me had rejoined the trail. I was quite impressed with his pace. I could tell by his stride length that he must be considerably more fit than myself. I felt like I had made good time making the trip in less than 5:30 and I didn't see him again. Another great day to be out.




Approx 8 miles 3400' of climb 5:30 car to car

Easton Ridge 1.8.10

After a massive work week I was in the mood for something on the shorter side. I wasn't in the mood for plodding uphill in deep snow so I thought I would give the skis another try. I thought another trip to Easton would be perfect. I was surprised to awaken to a downpour in the morning, I hadn't seen that in the forecast I had read before going to bed. I was actually happy because I was optimistic that the rain would be snow in Easton. True to my hopes I had snow and a lot of it. I had hoped to ski the road that climbs to the East Side of Easton Ridge. I had some issues finding the road I wanted to use and when I finally did it was gated and wouldn't go. I backtracked and somehow had lost my phone in the car. I stopped to look for it just as a work truck pulled up beside me. Since I was fully in the way I hastily got back in the car and had to drive a mile before I could find a suitable parking spot. After turning the car upside down and not finding my phone I surmised that it had somehow fallen out of the car when I had stopped. How could I have not noticed this, surely this couldn't be the case. After backtracking and this time finding a parking place out of the way I started my search. Right in the middle of the road was my phone just laying in the snow. Surely it had been run over or wouldn't work. I picked it up and it was intact and fully functioning. This wasn't the start I was hoping for. As I went to get back on the free way I hit an ice patch and promptly slammed into the guardrail


Fully expecting the car to be smashed I got out to survey the damage. Other than a foglight that was already half broken and the bumper slightly askew you couldn't tell anything had happened. I popped the bumper back into place and continued on my way. I went all the way back to Sparks and headed East from there and was able to find Easton Ridge Road. There is considerable logging activity on this road so be wary. It plays peak a boo with the powerlines for about 4 miles. I found a spur road that branched off and parked.



I skinned a short ways up the road until I reached a junction where only snowmobiles had gone. The way was narrow so it looks like it could be a trail but I was unsure. I found the going easier in ski than it would have been in snowshoes because of the new deep snow. The snow was only growing in intensity and it was sure nice to see. I followed the path a short ways after it started to descend. Now for the interesting part the descent back to the car. I decided it best to leave the skins on and try to get a feel for what I needed to do at slower speeds. I was able to slide at a manageable speed and managed to make some small turns. Much like a baby taking it's first steps I was learning. Since I hadn't gone too far I was back to the car quickly. I was able to make my way home without running into any immovable objects. When I got home I took my other car to get my tire leaky tire fixed. True to form for the day the tire was not repairable and I was forced to get 4 new tires. I am comforted that tomorrow will have to go better.

Kachess Dam Road

The last couple years I have had a growing interest in trying something new. I tried some cross country ski trips but wasn't sold on being able to master the telemark turn. Last year I decided that I would look into a Randonee setup and started my search for something that would work on the cheap. I never quite pulled the trigger on anything but when I recently saw a complete setup with boots in my size I thought I would make an offer. It was obvious to me that the seller just wanted to get rid of the skis so I offered much less than the asking price. To my surprise he accepted and I went to pick them up before work on Sunday. I put off going until Tuesday with the hope of some new snow that I was sure would be helpful. I am not a skier so I thought it best that I try something where I didn't have to dodge any pesky trees. I still wanted to try and climb something that I hadn't been on top of before. I also wanted something that was less travelled because I knew I would have my hands full and didn't want any added distractions. My initial plan was to try for Easton Ridge from the East where I could use logging roads to get high on the ridge and boot the remainder. I was a little unsure about the area and when I got off in Easton I thought it might be better to see how far I could drive the Kachess Dam Road. The road was packed from heavy snowmobile traffic making it more difficult than my previous trip 2 weeks ago. I passed the tree that nearly hit my car which thankfully had a portion cut out. Where the car tracks had stopped last week now continued so I thought I would give it a go. I drove nearly to the Kachess Large Party Camp and parked. I could have gone further but I didn't want to push the issue.




I had skied this road a few years back and did Spring trips to some of the area peaks in the past so I knew the way. What I didn't know was how to use my new gear. After a couple of tries I was able to get the skins on and my boots locked up. The bindings took me a little longer to figure out but soon I was eating up some miles. Once I reached road 4824 I started to climb. I was quite happy with my progress and I climbed steadily on the hard packed road. Once I had climbed 1500' I thought I had better see how I was going to respond to the descent. I have a very low tolerance for speed coupled with my total lack of skiing ablilty I knew I might have ISSUES. As soon as I took off the skins I knew I was in trouble. The skis were more frictionless than I thought possible. I vainly tried to snowplow to decrease my exponential increase in speed. My first run ended in a jumble of gear. I decided to boot lower to a more benign spot, granted my first choice wasn't steep at all. Finding a grade that was more to my liking I gave it another go. I promptly lost one pole and distinclty remember thinking " Oh sh## now what". This run ended in another fall much less graceful than my first. I tweaked my leg pretty good and decided that proceeding in this fashion was not prudent in the least. Not overjoyed with the thought of booting 4 miles in my ski boots, I reapplied my skins hoping that they would slow me down enough to make is safe. Too bad for me they slowed me down to the point of not sliding hardly at all. It was faster to proceed this way than booting it, so I continued. Soon after I started having foot issues so I had to stop and remove my socks and just use my liner socks which thankfully solved that issue. I thankfully made it back to the car without any further issues. I really didn't expect it to go well and I was right..... anyone want a cheap randonee set up?





Approx 10 miles 1500' of climb 5.5 hours car to car