Squak Mt. 6.1.10

with the combination of work, my wife's work and the inlaws in town getting out hasn't been an option. For me not to get out tends to make me more than a bit edgy. Since the rain finally let up for a day I thought it would be a good time to get the kids back into the swing of things. Since I am putting up the baby backpack on the auction block I thought it time to wean the littlest one. I didn't have much expectations for much of a walk but I thought you have to start somewhere. Much to my surprise the little one far out did my hopes. While she has been to the summit with her older sister, I had carried her. I was so proud of my little two year old when a single hiker passed us and was shocked that she had walked so far. To add to her proud papa's glow she walked another half mile before deciding she had enough. As is the family tradition we planted a stick that we had found on the ascent. This both marks our highpoint and provides inspiration for the next jaunt. Hopefully the stick will soon be planted firmly on the summit. On the descent we were treated to two beautifully fit horses running up the road. I marvelled at the sheer size of both of them. It was interesting to see the veins pumped full of blood just sticking out, certainly a memorable sight. It was nice to finally getting my legs stretched some even if it was just for a short time.




Approx 3 miles 800' of climb 1:30 car to car

Teanaway Road 5.4.10

With the elevated avy forecast I wasn't too enthused with climbing anything. I still wanted to at least get out and check out the conditions. I thought I might have a shot at some sun in Teanaway and with the roads opening up I thought I might give the Beverly Creek Trail a go. I also had hope that the Eastern Crest would have been spared the brunt of the previous day's heavy snow making the conditions markedly safer. I stopped at my usual tanking up spot and once again won $50 on a scratch ticket. With the day off to a good start I made my way over snowy Snoqulamie Pass. True to form the weather was partly sunny East of the crest. The fresh snow started just before the 29 Pines campground and covered the road shortly thereafter. The snow was rutted from previous traffic so there were not issues. When I reached the road that branches off to the Beverly Creek Trail it hadn't been driven on and looked as I was going by that it wasn't passable. My next thought was to see how far I could drive. After another mile I was stopped by snow too deep to proceed. I found a nice spot to park and suited up. Even though the sky was mostly cloudy the sun was unbroken on me for the entire trip. The road appears some time away from being drivable. There are three trees over the road, the first is very large and may be able to be winched out but more than likely it will have to be cut by a very large saw. I plodded on hoping to reach the trail that climbs to the saddle between Gene's Peak( Teanaway Peak ) and Iron Peak. It appears that I misjudged the distance I had to walk to reach this trail sapping my desire to continue on. I could see the ridge above me heavily corniced in full sunlight. Truthfully this time of year it doesn't take much to convince me to come home early. I always have in the back of my mind that the fish could be biting at home. I start to think of how much fun it would be to be tooling around the lake with the family in the boat. I retraced my steps marvelling how much of the road was reclaimed by the warm sun. As I past the Beverly Creek turnoff I was dismayed to see the road completely melted out as far as I could see, making me wish I would have given it a go.






Approx 5 miles 400' of climb 2 hours car to car

Anderson Lake 4.26.10

Late last week the forecast for Monday looked to be stellar so I had planned for a longer outing. After a wonderful annual fishing derby event on Saturday and a day to recoup I was excited to head out. The weather was warm when I woke up so I decided to stick with my original plan. I had hoped to add a partner to share the day with but I was without any luck. I was happy to see the Middle Fork Road had recently been graded to help to keep my teeth rattling out of my head while I made my way to the Taylor River Parking area. I was hoping to see the gate open for the rest of the MFR but no such luck. The weather was much cooler than when I left my house so my aspirations didn't feel as rosy. I have many fond memories of the Taylor River Road in my youth and it has been several years since I have been on it. I was surprised at the condition it was like a super highway much better than the last time I was there. I named the bridge of Marten creek the 45 minute bridge since it always seemed to take me 45 minutes to get there. I was dismayed that I arrived after 51 minutes giving me for the first time proof I am slowing in my old age. Not to let that fact dismay me I walked 150 or so feet, just past the pair of jeans hanging in the tree and headed up. There was at one time a miner's trail that made it's way to Anderson Lake. The initial portion was full of blowdowns but since it wasn't steep they didn't really impede my progress. I was happy because my legs felt better than they have felt in a long time as I blazed the 2400' of climb to Anderson Lake. I was able to follow the old trail for long periods of time and the brush was very minimal. I hit snow around 3600' and shortly thereafter started a rising traverse to the lake. I resisted putting on the snowshoes, although I am not sure why. Once at the lake I could hear the wind howling above me and the leading edge of the rain was coming. I had hoped to climb to the East and run the ridge to Morpheous. I figured I had 3 hours up and back which would have put me home before my expected time. However I knew I wouldn't be able to outrun the rain. I had some qualms of making the long descent back to the Taylor River Road. With everything wet it would have changed the complexion of the descent. I had this intense feeling I was a long ways away from anything. I reluctantly decided to put on the snowshoes and head down. If I had some company I surely would have been comfortable continuing but it wasn't the case solo. The route down went very quickly thankfully without a tense moment. I stopped for a short lunch at the new bridge over Marten Creek and enjoyed the nice walk back to the car.




Approx 8 miles 3100' of climb 6 hours car to car

Bing Peak 4.15.10

With all the unconsolidated snow in the hills I wasn't looking to climb anything this week. I did hold out hope that someone would summit something this weekend giving some broken trail to follow. When I saw Martin S. trip report for Bing Peak I knew that was the ticket. Using Martin's great directions I easily found my logging spur on the Money Creek Road and parked. The road was overgrown but passable. When Martin was there was snow from the onset and I hoped that that wouldn't have changed making route finding a breeze. But there was very little snow from the onset so when I reached a road junction I headed right instead of left that I should have gone. After leaving the road and pushing through some wet brush for a short ways I started to feel like this wasn't the right way. I retraced my steps and took the proper branch. I was able to see some signs of recent passage so I felt like I was on route. The going weaves through some wonderful old growth and the brush is manageable. I saw some flagging bolstering my confidence that I was still on route. Finally the snow appeared and was deep enough that I could find the previous parties trench. Initially the trench was obscure enough that I made the dogs walk behind me so that it would be easier to see. As I climbed the way became obvious and I just put my head down and plugged away. Around 3700' the route starts a flat traverse to some open slopes and I switced to snowshoes. These open slopes had a foot of new snow covering the trench slowing me some. I was very thankful that someone had punched in the route because there is no way I could have made it solo otherwise. Soon I reentered the trees and the trench was scoured undoubtedly by the previous groups glissade. I dropped pack and took off the snowshoes that I only had on for around 400' of climb. Since the route now was steep and the snow firm I broke out the ice axe. I finally broke out on the ridge and the going slowed to a crawl. Even with the previous track I had a couple portions where I had to scrape the top layer of snow and pack it into a step so I could continue. One particulally bad portion was too much for the Beagle and he remained behind. After going over a few bumps I finally topped out. Even though I had an easy route finding day and the peak is not well known it provided a very good challenge and some sweet satisfaction. Thanks Martin for doing the grunt work allowing my success




Approx 4 miles 3100' of climb 5:45 car to car