Daily Double, Poo Poo and Cabin Mt. 4980'

With the fine forecasted weather I thought I would head out and knock off a few more peaks. I was surprised when my wife asked if I would like to accompany her up Poo Poo. I was excited to spend some extra time with my wife so we met at the trailhead so that I could leave for another peak upon our return. I had a very enjoyable time sharing one of my passions with my wife. It was good to have some uninterrupted time with her. The weather was very unseasonably warm and the views were well worth the effort. In order for my wife to make it on time to her next objective we had to hightail it to the car. Feeling very thankful we said our goodbyes.



The next goal was for a summit of Cabin Mt, just SW of Easton. Last week I explored some upper logging roads that would put me in the vicinity, but I was not enthused with the wet weather so decided to forego the cross country portion. This week I decided to instead drive further and drop all the way to the valley floor to access some logging roads on the Southern slopes. It seemed funny to me to drop the elevation in the car to only reclimb it on foot. But for me the most important part is to get some exercise. I could have driven the road further but I instead parked at the bottom. I couldn't believe how warm it was, although it was much cooler than my climb of Poo Poo earlier in the day. The road was in mostly good shape as I easily swtichbacked my way up the slope. There was an interesting rocky sub summit that I had been on the north side of on the previous week. Very quickly I found myself near the end of the logging road. I decided on leaving the road before it's end. The crux of this trip was getting from the road to the slopes above both on the ascent and descent. Once this annoyance was passed the going was somewhat steep but straightforward. It was only around 200' of climb to reach the ridgeline. There is a rocky knob and a great viewpoint looking back towards Snoqualmie Pass. The ridge continues East with a slightly higher point that was annoying to get to. The ridge proper is choked by small stunted trees so I stayed more on the Northern side to find easier going. All in All, unless you are intent on tagging the very highest point I wouldn't continue from the viewpoint. I easily made it back to portion where I had to rejoin the road. I cautiously picked the short drop to the road without any issues. The return to the car went exceedingly quick.


Just a really great day to be out!


Approx 10.5 miles total 4 hours 3800' of climb

Cabin Mt. Wanderings

 With the predicted unsettled weather I wanted something low key and stretch the legs a bit. I accessed my route via Stampede pass before heading south on #41. The road had stretches of potholes but mostly it was clear sailing through the sputtering rain. Just before the road heads down to Cabin Creek there is an intersection, I headed left and then took the right branch. Even though the road was in great shape I turned around and parked on a wide spot in the road. I was surprised that there were more than a few rigs driving around the area. I wasn't expecting to see anyone. I suited off and headed up the road. The road has many ups and downs as it makes it way towards Cabin Mountain. After around 3 miles the road ends and there is an overgrown spur road that continues. I tried to reach the ridge by heading uphill, which was steep and slippery. I wasn't enthused with the idea of brush bashing in the rain so I decided instead to head back. I explored some of the spur roads to add to mileage. After returning to the car I headed drove further checking out some future trips. Although not much was accomplished on this day, it was very nice to get out again.

Goat Mt gate Thwart and Cole Butte West 5502'

I had hoped to climb Goat Mt. via some logging roads branching off Road #41 just West of Easton. I found my spur road at around 3.6 miles from the end of the pavement. The weather was much better than expected so I left some layers in the pack. While I could have driven the road I chose instead to walk to make the most of the day. I soon arrived at the second junction where I was stonewalled by a stout gate with many no trespassing signs, making the situation worse was the barbed wire fence making going around the gate tedious. I certainly felt like this was someone serious about not wanting people on their land.


I backtracked and followed the road to the nice little pond and I spent some time exploring the area. I returned to the car but not wanting to go home empty handed I decided to drive further up #41 to see how the conditions were higher up. In the past I had climbed Cole Butte West 5502' via a spur road off of #41. I instead stayed on the main line heading steeply up. I was surprised with the quality of the road, since there is an active logging operation using this road it is great shape.  I crested and the road started down hill so I parked. I decided to explore the road further on foot. I grew weary of walking the road and I decided to head in a more direct line to the roads above. The area is an old burn so the going is open and easy and the grade is pleasing. I popped back out on the road and could see a multitude of points within easy reach. I was very tough to determine which was the highest and since I didn't have a map I decided to keep climbing on the road hoping it would become obvious which was my new objective. Soon I reached the ridgeline and I followed a road heading West which looped around one of the highpoints. Guessing this was the proper bump I headed up along the ridge and found mostly easy going. A few blowdowns needed to be circumvented but I reached a point that seemed to be the highest but being unsure I continued on until I was satisfied that I reached the summit.


I returned via my ascent route when I reached the road I continued heading east and was dismayed to find the road ended and didn't reconnect with the road I needed. Undaunted I picked my way through the slash to reach the trees remaining on the ridge and followed that back to the proper road. For the descent I was tempted to head directly back to the car I could see directly below me but instead I decided to stay on the road the entire way. There is  a gate blocking access to the upper portions of the road. Soon I found my way back to the car thankful for making something out of the day.

Silver Peak 10.18.16

Headed up Silver Via the PCT. The road from Hyak was in good shape and snow free. The road is a bit rough right before the PCT junction.  The rain was pounding as I layered up but thankfully abated as I made my way along the soggy PCT , many small creek crossings along the way . At about 1.8 miles there is a cairned climbers trail junction . The trail reaches the ridge in short order . I encountered snow at 4200' but the trail was mostly melted out. Soon I reached the rocky slopes where the grade steepens . There was enough snow to make it easier than without snow. The weather was calm until I reached the more open slopes were I was greeted with a stiff 25 mph wind with stinging sleet. The wind blown snow was much more annoying to walk on. thankfully the route returns to the wind sheltered side with much better footing . The last 300' was open and the wind was really howling. Since I had been atop Silver on a few previous visits I decided not to hang out in the howling wind for another 30 minutes. Some care was needed for the decent but I soon found myself back to the car.

6.5 miles 3:15 car to car 2000' of climb