Dingford Creek, Horseshoe Lake 3.12.09

With the elevated avy conditions I wanted something I was familiar with and was in the cover of trees. I was unsure about the conditions of the Middle Fork Road past the Taylor turn-off. I half expected to be stymied by snow or other road issues. I had a back up plan if I wasn't able to reach the Dingford Creek Trailhead. As it turns out my fears were unfounded and the road was in passable shape. For those of you wondering the gate at Dingford is currently open. I expected the trail to be under snow so I would have to just wing the approach. I was really suprised to find not much snow until where the trail crosses the outflow of Pumpkinseed Lake. There has been quite abit of foot traffic so I was happy that I wouldn't have to break trail. Knowing that I was going to have to cross all 5 branches of Goat Creek I resisted the urge to snowshoe up. I frequently postholed making the going much slower than I had anticipated. Soon I reached the first crossing of Goat Creek which didn't provide any special challenges. Each subsequent crossing grew more difficult. I had to spend much extra time to find areas that were the drop to the creek wasn't too much. I perfected a new skill (Beagle tossing). Because the Beagle couldn't make it up the other side I had to shotput him up the other side. Initially I felt bad for him, but it seemed to me by his reaction that he rather enjoyed his short flights. The summer route to Horseshoe Lake leaves the trail between the 4th and 5th branches and crosses the fifth branch after climbing a short ways. I chose to cross the fifth branch and then start my ascent. The snow had a very heavy sloppy 8 inch top layer with a mostly solid layer underneath. I just picked my way to avoid the very little brush present. The grade is only moderate but with the heavy snow it was taking a toll on me. I managed the lake in 3:45 from the car. This was almost double the time for a summer ascent. I had hoped to continue on to Sorcery Mt. (Just to the East Pt 5273). I decided just to have a quick lunch and then make my return. The way back to the Dingford Creek Trail went very quickly and soon I was back for another round of Beagle tossing. I kept my snowshoes on all the way to Pumpkinseed Creek which kept me from postholing. The balance went easily and soon I was back to the car. For those who need an MFR update the road is great shape until about 4 miles past the Middle Fork bridge. There were some crews working but It didn't impede my progress. The rest of the way to Dingford Creek is the usual MFR bouncefest. The Dingford Parking area is also very muddy which was somewhat aggravating.







Approx 8 miles 2500ft+ of climb 6:30 car to car

Old Pass Hill, Cairn Hill 3.12.07

I have felt like I have fallen short lately by not fully summitting. I wanted to assure myself success. I picked these easy summits to help make up some ground on my quest to climb The Home/Back Court 100. Most of the week I was concerned about the the poor weather and avy conditions. As the week progressed it steadily improved. I managed another early start and I parked at the snow park at the crest of Blewett Pass at just past 0800. I didn't realize it was a snow park area and I didn't have a pass. I decided to chance it. I walked in about .25 mile before noticing that Tanner was once again bleeding. This time it was bleeding quite heavily. Tanner had tore open a scab on one of his front legs. This was something I had to address. I dropped pack and returned to the car. I know that duct tape has at least 1000 uses so I added one to the mix. After wrapping his paw we were off. I had noticed that there was an outbuilding just a short ways in so I reparked the car carefully not to block anything. My thinking was that I was sure to get a ticket if I left my car where it was. I thought by moving it I wouldn't get a ticket but I might get it towed. Finally we were off. The road was mostly packed and soon I made it to my intersection( I went left ). The logging road passes directly under both my summits. This road had very strange snow. The snow had a mostly firm crust but when I would break through I would sink in some very low density snow. It made for some uncomfortable travel. I decided to make my was to Old Pass Hill first (pt 4885 #92 BC100). I took lefts at both intersections and then left the road to climb the last few hundred feet. The weather had improved greatly to this point and now was full on sun. I have to say it felt pretty good to soak up some good rays. The wind on the summit was howling so I retreated to a more sheltered area to enjoy a well deserved lunch. I had given some thought to continuing on the ridge to try for Roughhouse Mt. but with the strong winds and soft snow I wasn't really into the long ridge walk. I retraced my steps back to the road and made my way to my next objective. Soon I was at my jump-off point and was making my way up. I was happy to top out on a more sheltered summit of Cairn Hill(Pt 4745 #97 BC/100) There was 3 large cairns marking the summit with a summit register which I eagerly signed. On the downclimb I angled more to the North to try to cut off a little distance. The road seemed endless and after what seemed an eternity I reached the junction to the main road where the snow was thankfully much quicker. I had to laugh when I checked my watch to find that I had only done 1400ft of climb. It certainly was efficient use of my elevation gain. I thankully found my car without a ticket and hadn't been towed!








Approx 10 miles 1400ft of climb 5:30 car to car

Green Mt. 2.26.07

I had planned this trip earlier this week and in retrospect I probably should have changed to another destination. With the heavy snows this week I knew I would be in for a grind. The plan was to park at the gate on the Middle Fork Road that is a few miles past the crossing of the Middle Fork. This road is often used to access South Bessemer Mt. I have been on this road many times but I had never turned down valley(left). The road is washed out and you must ford the creek. There are two more major washouts within a mile. Both are most impressive, I sure wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near it when it occurred. The plan was to use Green Mt.'s East ridge to reach the summit. I left the CCC Road just after the last creek crossing and made my way up . The ridge is not very defined early but gains definition as you make your way up. The going was mostly open and you can circumnavigate most of the brush. There are many huge cedar stumps along the way. I can only guess that they were helicoptered out decades ago when they were cut down. Most of the stumps have notches chopped into them for the use of springboards. The snow started at around 2200ft and increased markedly as I climbed. At 3000ft I reached a old logging road that I just crossed. I was initially excited to see a nice snowcovered talus field just above the road. I was very limited on time and I figured this would expedite things greatly. The talus turned out to be more of a boulder field. I think this had mostly melted out prior to this weeks snow. The heavy snow made for a mine field of suckerholes. The pitch also increased aggravating the situation. I floundered my way another 200ft of climb before I decided that I had enough. The beagle had some trouble as well but as usual he found his way. I was expecting some inclement weather but I was treated to some calm dry weather. I snapped some pictures and than butt glissaded back to the old road. After reentering the forest Tanner was off. I am used to the Beagle's escapades but Tanner usually stays close. I had quite the quandary on what to do. I decided to continue the descent calling for the dog at every opportunity. After nearly making it back to the CCC road (45 minutes) I was rejoined by my wayward pet. The rest of the way back was uneventful. I think this route would be rather quick under different conditions. There were some work crews working on the MFR and it is in much better shape than just two weeks ago. I stopped at the new school and was able to see Green Mt.'s East ridge and was clearly able to see the boulder field where I stopped.




Approx 7 miles 2300ft of climb and 5:30 car to car

Pratt Mt 2.19.07

Since it was a holiday Monday I put out a couple of feelers for some companions for another day of climbing. At one point over the weekend I think I was up to around 7 others to join me. I had hoped for an attempt of West Granite Mt but with the higher avalanche conditions I opted for something a little safer. Because of the poor weather I ended up with two takers for an attempt of Pratt Mt. We were off before 0800 in the heavy rain. I was quite sure before too long it would be snowing quite heavily. From the onset I was very weary and some trouble keeping up with my partners. They were good enough to politlely stop before dropping me completely. When we reached the crossing of the creek that flows out of Ollalie Lake I took over the trailbreaking. I chose to stay on the East side of the Creek to alleviate an unpleasant crossing. Before too long we were at the frozen lake and switched to snowshoes. I led us steeply up West until we attained the ridge at around 4400ft. Once on the ridge the snow improved and the grade lessened. We were able to make it quite easily until 4750 where we were stymied by a short section of rockwork that was coated with a thick layer of ice covered in 4 inches of new snow. We debated on whether or not to continue. It most certainly required ice axes and since we only had two for the three of us we opted out. The descent was the high point of the day for me. I butt glissaded long portions while making sure I didn't plow into any trees. Soon we were back at the lake to enjoy some lunch. The whole day the the snow only intensified. I am sure there was some some substantial accumulations. The way out was wet and somewhat slippery but we all made it back remaining upright. We all had a good laugh when we passed two ladies on there way in one of which was carrying a purse.








Approx 8 miles 2900ft of climb 5:45 car to car