Snoiwshed Butte 3798' 11.30.10

   With a strong front moving in ONELUV1 and I had a healthy debate about what to do today. We ended up just meeting up and winging it. The original plan was to do something around Easton but the Avy danger seemed too high for that.  My second choice was off the Middle Fork and then we tossed around the idea of some dumpster diving on the North Fork. When we reached North Bend the rain was driving and it seemed unlikely we would reach the snowline without walking a long ways in the windy rain. I decided that I would rather chance it on making it over Snoqualmie Pass and avoiding being in the rain altogether. As we made our way up to the pass it changed to heavy snow. Just as we reached the pass it turned over to freezing rain. It certainly made trying to see out the windows problematic. I have saved Snowshed Butte for a day like this. While it isn't blessed with a lot of prominence it would do for this day. You can see this easily when travelling West bound and it is directly over the Snowshed (short covered area on I-90) and that is where it derives it's name.

Kachess Beacon 4615' 11.23.10

   With a great day playing in the lowland snow yesterday I was eager to get out again today. I did have concern over the very cold weather so I layered up with more layers than I have ever put on BEFORE even leaving the house. I was concerned about the roads after watching all the horror stories from last night's newscast. But I had no issues whatsoever. I was hoping to meet ONELUV1 but the roads near his house wouldn't allow for it. I left later than usual but the roads required care but they only slowed things slightly. I was hoping to climb Little Kachess Peak via Silver Creek. I new this was going to be tough with out any extra horsepower to break trail. The Kachess Dam Road is only plowed for a very short ways. The remainder had been driven on and gave me some concern because it was deeply rutted. I was able to make the new spur that leads to the Silver Creek Trailhead. This road was also recently travelled so I pushed on. The road soon became too deep for me to continue so I found a small area to back into keeping me off the road. Shortly after parking the rig that had broken trail passed me and was the only person I saw on this day.  Since I was already dressed I just added boots and gaiters and I was off.

November Snow Storm 2010!!!!

Well the weather man certainly didn't get this one right. I did expect some snow but certainly not nearly this much. For once I had sleds BEFORE the snow arrived. We bundled up the the kids and headed to the neighbor's pasture. There was just enough snow coverage to make it fun but no enough to smooth out the bumps. I had an immense amount of fun acting like a kid with my oldest on the sled with me. I did manage the little one for one ride but that was the extent of her participation.

Mount Phelps 5535' (Attempt)

With the recent balmy wet weather turning more winter like, I wanted to try to squeeze one more worthwhile summit in. I felt like the new system moving in is going to dump a lot of snow making any peak with prominence a real chore. It looked all week like Tuesday was going to be the best chance at a reprieve from the wet windy weather. I was hopeful that we could make it to the snow line before being caught in any major downpour. While most people opt for the Blackhawk Mine approach I figured that would be a soaker going through the clear cut so I opted for a more obscure route. I had read a previous report of walking to the end of the spur road instead of  heading towards the mine. The route winds through old growth and sparse brush and rejoins the standard route near the saddle between Phelps and McClain Peaks. It is good to know that most maps have these two peaks swapped on maps. While Phelps is the bigger brother to McClain it a far more easy ascent.