Index Creek interrrupted 3.13.12

  I had hoped earlier in the week that I could make a summit attempt of Melted Mt. 4257' which is just SW of Baring off of HY 2.  I had some things to do in the early afternoon that would preclude me any chance of reaching Melted Summit. Since I didn't know the area I thought I would at least do some exploring. Complicating things was that I was forced to drive my everyday car which is not suited to be hauling a dog and smelly gear. Undaunted I did the best I could do mitigate having the dog in the car. As usual I didn't reread  a previous trip report and I spent my usual too much time finding my jump off point.  I left HY 2 on the East end of Baring and soon reached the one lane bridge over the Skykomish. I wondered if my low clearance car would not high center on the twin raised support beams in the middle of the bridge. I very gingerly started onto the bridge and just hoped that the beams would not be any higher along the span of the bridge. I had visions of high centering in the middle of the bridge, seems like only something that I could accomplish. Thankfully across the bridge I parked at the first spot I could not wanting to push my luck any further.

    I suited up and made my way West on the road. There are plenty of houses and it seems that there isn't a shortage of No Trespassing Signs.  The road was plowed it was spitting some slushy snow. Soon I reached a road closed sign with a good road continuing. Barring me from the road that I wanted were two smaller dogs intent on taking a piece out of my dog. With one hand I held the collar of Bosco and with my other hand I had to ward off the marauding dogs with my hiking pole. I was very thankful for remembering to pack it. To make things even more fun a homeowner stormed in my direction asking if I could read? In my haste of trying to ward off the dogs I neglected to see the large no trespassing sign barring further travel.  Part of me wanted to reply to the homeowner is a similar tone to the way he was talking to me. In the end I decided a warm fuzzy response was probably a safer bet.  After the dogs where shooed away and the man was satisfied with my hasty retreat I did indeed retreat. The walk was too short back to the car. I did some exploring further up HY 2. I am not sure I was on the correct road to access the route that I had read about in a trip report of Melted Mt. Either access has changed or the  report I had read had conveniently left out the part about access issues.

Haystack 2715' 3.7.12

 

    Bruce and I had hoped to head out on Tuesday since I had the whole day and didn't have to work. When I woke up in the morning there was snow on the ground and as I was getting ready it started dumping. I couldn't imagine trying to make my way through rush hour traffic with the added displeasure of having it snowing. Thankfully Bruce was ok with waiting a day, this provided an extra bonus of having Fletcher and Rob available as well. With the new snow I was hoping for some extra horsepower and younger legs to help with the planned summit of both Haystack and 10-4 Mountains. I couldn't make the time frame for Rob and Fletcher to coincide with mine so I only met Bruce at the Sultan Park and Ride. I had to be back early in  order to make it work on time. Thankfully there wasn't much snow to contend with as we made our way to Forest Road 62 a few miles East of Gold Bar. It was crisp but the sun was quickly warming things up. We drove about 4 miles until we reached the concrete bridge crossing Proctor Creek. Shortly thereafter there is a gated spur road where we parked as far off the road as possible.

    The sun was glorious!

   The road had been plowed so we made good time or the first 1.5 miles. At the end of the plowed line we switched to snowshoes and plodded our way to the saddle. The snow was deep and unconsolidated in the shade and heavy and wet in the sun. This made for some tiring walking. Just before the saddle we reached a slightly overgrown spur road heading North. We took this road dodging the multiple of small trees which thankfully hadn't leaved out as of yet. Finally we reached more open road which we stayed on until we reached older trees. We left the road and I immediately had a branch stab me in the cheek. I had to laugh to myself after reaching the safety of larger trees I then get a branch that attacks me.  Undaunted I led us up the mostly open slopes trying to find the path of least resistance.  The snow in the trees was much better consolidated making for easier walking. Soon we found ourselves at the open summit basking in the very warm sun.

The views were somewhat stunned but it sure was nice to enjoy an extended stay in the warm sunshine. With the snow conditions the way they were I didn't have much hope in reaching 10-4 Mountain which has 2000' of prominence making for a desirable peak to summit. I was hoping for using the NE ridge to reach the E ridge. The reports I read relayed an enjoyable snowshoe of a non technical nature. The North ridge route didn't sound fun and the Western approach won't work with low lying snow. We decided to head toward Duffy lakes since we still had some time. Once regaining the mainline road the snow seemed to double in weight and I struggled to keep the legs moving. Once we reached the brand new concrete bridge I decided that I had enough.

   I think Bosco wanted to continue!


  The way out went much quicker and we reached the car with plenty of time for me to reach work on time.


Approx 8 miles 1500' of climb
   

Proctor Creek Wanderings 2.27.12

   Not having much time this week I wanted something short and close to home. I haven't spent any time in the Proctor Creek drainage so I thought some exploring was in order. Looking at my maps it looked like I could use logging roads to access Haystack Mountain leaving just outside of Gold Bar. After spending too much time looking for my road only to find that it doesn't seem to exist I was forced to use some resources on the go. Thankfully I was able to find a good trip report on my phone and I headed up Forest Road 62. I was off my map and I stopped too soon and made my way a mile or so down a logging road only to have it abruptly end. I quickly retraced my steps and drove further up #62 until I crossed Proctor Creek on a large concrete bridge. I parked at the gated spur road on the right side just after the bridge. The road was plowed making for easy walking. After a mile and a half the road was no longer plowed and I resisted putting on snowshoes. I walked another half mile before my time ran out. I quickly made it back to the car and made my way home.

Approx 6 miles

A washout of a day 2.21.12

With the rapidly deteriorating conditions in the mountains I still wanted to get out. It was very apparent that climbing was out of the question with the extreme avalanche conditions. I certainly didn't want to tempt fate especially since there were two separate fatality incidents in the past few days. I thought a low elevation road walk would be a fit for this day. I did have to contend with the warm monsoon like rains but I can deal with that. I was not overly surprised that I-90 was closed due to the hazardous conditions. I waited nearly an hour for the road to open. I attended to some pressing issues that thankfully I could take care of using my phone.

  Back underway the weather was as advertised warm wet and windy, not the three W's that I was looking for. I was happy to see the rain turn to sleet at the pass. I surmise the weather was a bit cooler than expected keeping the snow level from raising as high as I had feared. Since the rain was not showing any sign of slowing I did some exploring in the Easton area. While not a thing other than burning a half tank of gas was accomplished , it was good to get some perspective on the other aspects of my life. Hopefully things will settle soon . I did see many slides on both sides of I-90 many of which were substantial.

Good day to stay in the car.