White Pine Creek 6.9.04

I was hoping for a summit try of Jim Hill Mt.. I had never used the Whitepine trail so I wasn't sure if there was a bridge over the creek. There is only remnants of a bridge and the water was quite high and it would have involved carrying at least one of the dogs over. Since I had a beautiful day and plenty of time, I decided to do some exploring. I backtracked to the Wildhorse junction and followed the trail to just past the Deadhorse Pass basin. From this vantage point I could see some of the route I would have used to climb Jim Hill Mt. According to Beckey the South route is a ""pleasant Hike"", I am not quite so sure. I did find a climber's trail that climbs to Deadhorse Pass, and I am quite sure there is one to Grace Lakes as well. I am sure in time I will be back to explore both those trails.

Navaho Peak 6.1.04

Today's goal was for a summit of Navaho Peak via the Stafford Creek trail. The weather was pleasant and the trail was in good shape, with only a few minor stream crossings. The snow is retreating at a rapid rate and most can be avoided all together. This route has a substantial 4100ft of climb but is spread out over 6+ miles making the grade quite easy. Navaho's summit has a climber's trail that takes you all the way to the top. This route is non-technical and rewards you with some up front and stunning views of the Stuart Range. The weather changed as I summitted the warm weather gave way to some snow and windy weather. After quickly adding a few more layers and signing the summit register I retreated to Navaho Pass to have lunch. At a more than modest elevation of 7223ft this summit is the highest I have climbed in Washington. This was a great time of year to do this climb, I am sure this becomes quite hot and dusty in the summertime. With a 6 hour car to car time, give your self plenty of time.

Iron Peak 5.25.04

After last week's truck breakdown in Easton, I coerced a ride back to fix it. Much to my dismay I noticed halfway up Snoqualmie Pass that I had brought the wrong key chain and I didn't have the keys to the truck. I quickly ( not happily I might add ) turned around and headed home. Like most things in life that don't go your way, it ended up being a blessing. It was nice spending some extra time with my parents it was after all my mother's birthday! I managed to get the truck up and running with a minimal amount of swearing. I said my goodbyes and was on to the next goal for the day. I wanted a summit of Iron Peak via trail #1399. The North Fork Teanaway road is in great shape and parking at the trail head was no problem. The trail is not very steep as it meanders it's way to the pass between Iron Peak and Pt. 6779 which I have seen referred to as both Teanaway Pk and also Genes Peak. There was enough snow on the trail to make it easier to just climb straight up instead of trying to follow the trail. The grade in this area is not steep and it is open and attractive for cross country travel. I left the trail aroung 5600ft and headed SE doing a rising traverse until I reached the ridge line at around 6100ft and found a distinct climber's trail to goes on to the true summit at 6510ft. I followed this trail until 6300ft where I reached a small false summit with some great views of the surrounding peaks. The trail continued on, but with the ridge very heavily corniced I was a bit concerned for the well being of my dogs. I could have easily circumvented this problem, but I wasn't sure I would be able to keep the dogs from walking near these cornices. I decided to return by heading due north directly to the pass and then heading straight down cutting all the swichbacks. The snow was consistent and deep enough to make some great time. The weather was a bit windy but was perfect climbing weather, some filtered sun but not too warm. With a 3 hour car to car time it gave me some extra time to get home and get some much needed relaxation.

Yellow Hill 5.18.04

Today's goal was for a summit of Yellow Hill as well as Elbow Peak. The weather was rather pleasant as I left but there was a forecast for thundershowers in the foothills. As I neared the trailhead it became apparent that I was going to be stuck in some very unsettled weather. I parked near 3400ft where there is a posted ""trail"" sign. It is possible to drive all the way to 3800ft and join the trail there. There was much lightning activity as well as some pretty substantial pea sized hail showers. I am not quite sure what the chances are of being hit by lightning, but it seemed quite a bit higher in the open areas of the climb. I spent the majority of time hunkered down waiting for another hail shower to pass. There was probably 50-60 thunder claps in the less than two hours that it took me to summit Yellow Hill. Some of these claps were so close and so loud that it would really make you jump each time. I have never climbed in any condition quite like this, I was amazed at the length that each thunderclap could be heard. I am quite sure that some were over a minute in length. I gave up on doing the ridge traverse to Elbow Peak, I really had no desire to be out in the open for that length of time. I retreated to the truck as the weather improved. There was only patchy snow until 5300ft where the trail was completely covered. I mearly left the trail at this point climbing the less than 300ft to Yellow Hill's summit. I was treated with some nice views of Mt Stuart with a thunders shower perched at it's summit, making it look like it was wearing a cloud hat. The return home was no less eventful as I lost a bolt on the alternator causing me to loose the fan belt stranding me in Easton with no parts stores open. Kudos for my parents on coming to get my sorry ass.