Island Peak - 219 Days to Departure - Lake Serene

Winter brings a whole new level of peacefulness to the mountains. It keeps the crowds away and those who are prepared to venture into the outdoors and break through a deep layer of fresh powder can enjoy solitude even along otherwise popular and overcrowded routes.

Lake Serene is one of the destinations where in the summer one has to arrive early, before the parking lot fills up, and then fight his way up among hundreds of others just to be met by barking dogs and screaming kids. Nothing serene about it.



In the winter it is a different experience. We arrived at the trailhead around 9-ish and we were the first ones to lay tracks in the fresh snow. Later another group caught up to us and they were the only people we encountered the whole way up.

The fresh snow under our boots reminded me of my childhood. It was almost always snowing hard in Czech Republic from November all the way to February or March and the sweet sound of snow crunching under our feet brought back so many happy memories.



It wasn't until we reached the more open areas higher along the trail when we decided to put snowshoes on. They made the remaining part of the trip much easier as we found a significant amount of snow there. The lake was hidden under a white blanket and the serenity of the area was disturbed only by occasional avalanche sliding of the cliffy face of Mt. Index.

What a great day at Lake Serene!



Sunday February 26, 2012
RT: 7.9 miles
Elevation gain: 2600 ft
Time: 8 hours

Island Peak - 236 Days to Departure - The Trip of Changes

With the weekend approaching a discussion sparked as of where to go play in the snow this time. Several destinations competed for out vote, and in the end Middle Chiwaukum with good elevation gain and superb views won unanimously. But the closer to the weekend we got, the more obvious it became that the nature wouldn't treat us with clear blue sky, afterall we are in Washington State, and 2 weekends with good weather during winter is usually only wishful thinking.

We still could climb Chiwaukum but everybody agreed it would make more sense to postpone it for a sunny day when the long journey to the top will be rewarded with views. And there came the first change. The new destination was chosen - Sparkplug Mountain via Surprise Lake, where majority of the trail leads through a snowy forest that is fun to navigate through no matter whether it's sunny or not.



Then, on Saturday morning as we drove to the trailhead, the rain picked up and grew stronger, and it was raining rather heavily at Scenic where we were supposed to start our adventure. It did not take us long to agree on another change, and off we were headed over Steven's Pass to check what is the weather doing there. What a surprise it was to be welcomed by sunshine and mostly blue sky.

The clouds came later as we made our way up Smithbrook Road towards Lake Valhalla and mount McCausland, bringing snow showers, and when we arrived to the lake there was not much more than a hazy view of Lichtenberg, a mountain rising above the lake, available to us. McCausland was completely engulfed in clouds, and for a brief moment we considered another change - climb Lichtenberg instead - but then we proceeded in Mccausland's direction.... and just when we arrived to the summit, the sun broke through the clouds, and even opened some views down in the valley. Perfect timing.



Our lunchbreak with sun and nearly no wind was most enjoyable. We sipped on tea and shared chocolate, and then another change was suggested.... since we are already here, why wouldn't we attempt Lichtenberg also? It was a mere though at first but less then an hour after it originated we found ourselves in the uphill direction again, plowing through deep snow, making slow but steady progress towards the summit.



It was hopeful that we could actually bag two peaks during the trip, but then, less than 100 feet from the summit, a narrow corniced ridge banished our hopes. Still it was a good climb, finished by a fun glissade from the top, and leaving us with a reason to come back in the future.

Date: Saturday 2/11/2012
RT: 10.7 miles
Elevation gain: 3953 feet
Time: 9 hours

Island Peak - 251 Days to Departure - Silver Peak

There is a first for everything, and the first scramble in Washington State for me was Silver Peak off I-90. It was on a windy October day in 2006 when we dashed to Annette Lake and after a short break of its shore, where most hikers find their final destination, our group of five adventurers continued up on a steep talus field, hopping from rock to rock towards the blue sky of the beautiful day.

The lake below us seemed to shrink as we gained elevation and I remember thinking that the great view was an adequate reward for the burning legs and sweat dripping down our foreheads.



Then we made the final step and gained the ridge. Rainier greeted us from the South and the rest of the views were pretty cool too. Only a short distance stood between us and out destination, and as we run the ridge towards the peak, I knew deep in my heart I was hooked on scrambling.



Few years later Silver Peak came back to my mind. This time it was the winter route promising and interesting ridge run and good photo opportunities that caught my eye.



On Saturday morning on 1/28/2012 we were headed to give it a try. We were able to drive only as far as the first intersection after leaving I-90. From there we made the half mile or so to the trailhead on foot. The snow was packed letting us maintain a swift pace, and the conditions remained good on the actual trail too where a narrow path was broken in, hard enough that we could proceed without need for our snowshoes all the way to the last switchback where according to our decision to avoid potential avalanche danger further along the route we said good bye to the trail, and accepted the challenge of the steep forested slope and deeper snow.

Once we emerged from the forest several hundred feet higher, the ridge stood in front of us, long, proud, and full of obstacles we were yet to overcome.



It was an interesting run indeed. Not the easiest one to navigate - corniced, cliffy, ice mixed with sections of deep powder.... but despite the challenges and no view of Rainier, it was just as rewarding as I remembered from my first visit up there few years ago.

RT: 7.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 3840 ft
Time: 8 hrs 35 minutes

Island Peak - 264 Days to Departure - Mt. Teneriffe

In the summertime when you climb nearly 4000 ft and you find yourself atop a mountain with all the views hiding in clouds, it can be a little disappointing. In the winter it is a different game altogether. The light snowflakes gently falling from the overcast sky, blanketing everything with fresh powder that then transforms the trail into a winter wonderland and crunches under one's feet, that can be a fully satisfying experience on its own.

There was a light dusting of snow on the trail when we arrived to Mt. Teneriffe trailhead around 9:00 a.m. Strapping snowshoes on our backpacks, we headed up. With the first part being an easy walk up the road, nearly flat and with good traction, we arrived to the intersection with Kamikaze Route in no time. As planned we took the more challenging (= more rewarding) route and continued on yet another old logging road.



With the distance we covered already, we started to wonder about the nearly 4000 feet of elevation gain this train promised. And the further we walked on the beautifully snow dusted yet only very gently rising road, the more obvious it was that there is a real challenge awaiting us ahead.

We arrived at our second intersection. A sign posted here directed us to Kamikaze Falls. Finally we left the road and started gaining elevation. Just as expected the gain was rather serious and it continued all the way to the summit.

About a mile after leaving the road we passed semi frozen Kamikaze Falls and while taking photographs, we witnessed a large piece of the ice tearing from its base, and with a crushing thump plummeting down the face of the waterfall. From a safe distance it was a impressive thing to watch.



The trail got more snow cover with elevation we gained and in around 3000 feet the conditions were good. The trail was covered with a layer of fresh gripping powder, as we proceeded up the ridge towards the summit... and then, all of a sudden, our ice axes slipped through the fresh layer to an abrupt stop. It was about 800 feet below the summit where an icy crust hiding below the layer of fresh snow provided us with an extra challenge.

It was slow going from there. Parts of the trail were OK, part, even with microspikes rather slippery. Exercising extreme caution, and taking few slips, we safely made it to the very cold summit with no views where we spent whopping 5 minutes, and headed back down.



After the initial 800 feet of descend, things went pretty well. There was about 3 inches of very fresh snow on the trail making it look completely different that when we were huffing and puffing our way up earlier that day, and the amount of new snow kept consistent all the way back to the trailhead with plenty more coming down.

Seems like the winter is finally here this year!

RT: 6.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,860 feet

Wintertime at Mt. Pilchuck 2/28/2010

Heading to Mt. Pilchuck in February? Unheard of unless you are an experienced winter scrambler willing to take the 11 mile route from Pinnacle Lake.

Most of the years snowshoeing Pilchuck means starting from the bottom and heading up the snowed in road to the summer trailhead. Not this year. This year is so much different from all the previous 5 seasons I've actively hiked/snowhoed in Washington State.

As incredible as it sounds, we were able to drive hubby's 2WD Toyota all the way to the summer trailhead, and hike nearly 1000 ft from there to reach the snow. And so were many others.

Mt. Pilchuck is one of the most visited trails in western WA. Gaining about 2500 ft in 3 miles, it is a pretty decent hike, yet hundreds of people attempt to reach the lookout at it's summit every weekend, no matter what the weather.



It was the very first mountain I climbed in WA state and I returned several more times, sometimes the views were spectacular, sometimes we could not see a stretched arm distance, yet every time the trailhead was packed and we met many people along the trail. It's simply one of the places you can't expect solitude, and every time you hike it, you meet somebody you know.

Today turned out great. It was only me and hubs, and we had a later start since I did 3800 ft hike yesterday and wanted to enjoy sleeping in (if alarm buzzing at 7:30 a.m. counts as sleeping in anyway).

It was somewhat foggy in the morning hours but soon after we broke from the forest, the sun got out and created amazing window for us to enjoy all the views, the summits, and even get a tiny bit of vitamin D.

The trail was well defined but rather slippery and we opted to use crampons for added traction. Yak Traks would be just fine but since I let them rest in the trunk of our vehicle, the crampons did the trick.... and we were jealously looked at by many of other visitors who did not bring any traction device whatsoever.

We enjoyed about 30 minutes at the summit before heading down.



I always wanted to get up there in the wintertime and the scenery did not disappoint. I will definitely do another winter ascent of Pilchuck in the future.

Granite Mountain Winter Scramble 2/27/2010

Let's admit it. When you sit in your car and the rain pounds on your windshield, the idea of spending next 7 hours outdoors climbing a mountain is not quite appealing. But knowing you REALLY need to get in shape after a lazy month, you drive to the trailhead anyway.... thinking "I really wish I wasn't hiking today".

Then as the miles go, the clouds become scarce and suddenly even some blu sky appears... and after few more miles you are driving in a beautiful sunny winter day thinking "This can't be true!" and suddenly you're shivering with excitement to hit the trail. This is exactly what happened today and I must say it was the best treat the nature had in store for us in a very long time.

Our today's outing took us to Granite Mountain. 3800 ft elevaton gain in about 4.5 miles makes it a very decent winter scramble. I've been on this mountain numerous times now and every time, there seems to be a great adventure awaiting for us along the trail. Today was no different.



We covered the first snow-free portion of the trail in very good time. Once we hit the snow, we decided to leave the official trail and scouted for a possible route until we found very straight forward, incredibly steep slope to climb. This shortcut made us gain hundreds of feet of elevation incredibly fast. This shortcut also made us sweat incredibly lot. As I said, I've been on this mountain few times before, including an August berry picking trip but today was by far the hottest day I've ever experienced here. Here we were in Pacific NW in February, hiking stripped down to the very last layers we had.

The weather window we hit was absolutely spectacular. Perfectly blue sky in front of us, and some worse weather coming from behind which provided some incredibly dramatic clouds and made the views 100 times more enjoyable.

After breaking some serious sweat, the lookout came to view. The terrain got little milder and with most of the elevation done, we enjoyed the last few hundred vertical feet of this winter wonderland.



Just as we approached the lookout, the weather caught to us. Most of the views dissapeared... but it remained very warm and windless with just a few drops of rain which considering the forecast was pretty remarkable.

Yet the nature had one more surprise in store for us. We descended using the very same route we took up, and just as we were passing few rocks sticking from the snow, well away from the edge of the ridge, there was this sudden dull noise of breaking snow, and in the next second, two members of our expedition were being swept down the hill on a mini avalanche created by a triggered cornice.

Fortunately the runoff was very short and there were no hazardous obstacles in the path that could cause serious injuried. Even more fortunatelly they managed to stay atop the flowing snow (purely by luck) so once the movement stopped and they shook off their initial shock, they walked out of there unharmed, with a very valuable lesson learned - no matter how far from the edge you are, if there's more space away from it, use it.

Mailbox Peak Conquered 2/17/2010

Tad bit of sunshine in February is always much appreciated here in Pacific Northwest so when the nature decided to cut us a little break from its usual rainfest, I knew I had to hit the trail.

But which one? So many great choices around here for a sunny day that it can make ones head spinning. Do I want to drive further North for the grand views of Mt. Baker's Artist Point or perhaps visit the ultimate winter playground of Mt. Rainier's Paradise?

Even though both options presented great temptation, Mailbox Peak, a mountain much closer to home, came to my mind.

First time I climbed the steep trail climbing 4000 ft of elevation in 2.5 miles, the mountain was not too keen on us. The sky was gray, no sign of views anywhere, and as soon as we reached the top and sit down for few minutes of well deserved rest, it started hailing.

Second time was not much different. It was not hailing, fortunatelly, yet this time the mountain had a freezing cold winds blasting all around us at the top, and once more, no views.

Third time a charm! I e-mail my friend Martha, who mentioned a desire to give Mailbox a try, and 10 minutes later we had a plan.

The day started quite usually, with lots of heavy fog lingering in the valleys but before we reached the trailhead, we were on our way to one of the most beautiful winter days one can ever wish for.

The sky was completely blue, sunshine filtered through the crowns of aged trees accompanied our way. The absence of snow in lower elevation and unusual warmth of the rising sun made it feel more like spring, or even summer, and soon we were hiking up just in out T-shirts.

I love the challenge the trail offers. It's steep, unmaintained with roots and rock in the way. The trees closely surrounding some of the steepest areas are barkless and polished smooth as hundreds of hand used them for support.



It's honestly the longest 2.5 miles I can think of. Many times along the way, one thinks "Why am I doing this?" And then the trail emerges from the forest, and the view of Mt. Rainier welcomes all the sweaty adventurers who did not give up... and the views get even better higher up when Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak and tons of other peaks close and far appear in the view.

Huffing and puffing we gained the last slope and stood atop of the peak enjoying the beauty around us. I can now say with certainty that there are views on mailbox Peak indeed.



I felt really proud of Martha. It's been by far the hardest, most chalenging hike she's ever been on. I think at times I had more faith in her ability to complete the trip than she had in herself. The look on her face once she reached the top was priceless.

Windy Pass - Mt. Catherine Attempt 01/10/2010

Despite the fact the forecast called for gray cloudy day and showers later in the afternoon I was really excited about heading to the mountains. I still have few Christmas pounds to loose after all.



  The trip to Windy Pass turned out to be a good one. Not many views but the winter had many nice surprises in a form of beautiful frozen formations waiting for us along the trail. And the weather held up - not a single drop of precip during the whole trip.

  Unfortunatelly once we left the groomed trail and started heading up the ridge towards the summit of Mt. Catherine, we found ourselves dealing with thick layer of ice covering the slope. I don't think I ever saw a crust so icy.



Snowshoes would break through so we gave it a go, but soon the slope gained on steepness and was not safe to navigate through without ice axe and crampons so.

  We had to say good bye for this time but will come back to conquer the mountain better prepared in the future.  

 

Mazama Ridge/Reflection Lake Loop 4/19/2009

The South side of Mt. Rainier offers such a great winter playground and despite the longer drive it’s a very worthwhile destination. Once again the forecast lured us down there with a promise of a sunny day and spectacular views.



Driving into Paradise was completely different experience from the previous weekend when during our Camp Muir ascend the area swallowed us in a thick never-ending fog completely blocking any possible views in all directions. The weather today was delivered just as promised and except for few very cool looking lenticular clouds, the sky was blue and all mountains were out in their full beauty.



This time we headed towards Mazama Ridge. The trail started nearly flat letting us enjoy the views of Mt. Rainier but the easy part did not last long. Soon we found ourselves climbing our first hill…. and even small hills took some sweat on this hot day. Our effort got rewarded with really good views of Tatoosh Range and other major peaks sitting in distance.



Another hill - steeper and longer – took us atop Mazama Ridge. We followed the ridge for a while; soaking the views and enjoying the nice day; then dropped to Reflection Lake for a lunch break before completing the loop following Paradise Valley Road.

Camp Muir 4/11/2009

The plan for the weekend was to head to Camp Muir. As the weekend approached, the forecast did not look all that good with “mostly cloudy” prediction and winds of up to 35 mph at Muir. We decided to still give it a shot with an option we can always turn if we find the conditions too dangerous.



Ready to brave the winter weather, we drove to the south side of Mt. Rainier.
Road to Paradise was clear all the way up. We found the parking lot not overly crowded but still there were quite a few people there.



Soon afterwards we started our trip heading towards Panorama Point. This part was easy and to our surprise we found the area except for few breezy spots rather windless. Once atop we took a short break (no views to enjoy here today) and proceeded further. With not much snow, following the rocky route was reasonably easy and we did not encounter any major route finding issues on the way up but we marked few spots that could be tricky in foul weather on the way down with flags Aaron brought for this purpose.



Our ascend was surprisingly calm. There was nearly no sign of the winds that were supposed to rage in the area and the occasional breezy spots felt actually pretty good on this relatively warm day.



We could not see any of the glorious mountains around. The grand views remained hidden for most of our ascend but on the other hand the conditions made everything close to us even more beautiful making us admire little things like frosted shrubs or ice literary growing from the rocks we passed.



The conditions improved greatly once we approached Muir Snowfield. We walked out of the clouds to a glory of blue sky and perfectly clear summit of Rainier in front of us. It was magical to walk the last 500 vertical feet, but for me also the most difficult part of the trip. The altitude of above 9000 ft once again kicked my butt. I made the last stretch way faster than last time but still nowhere near my desired performance level. With Mt. Adams climb in couple months I have some serious VO2 training to do.



The wind picked up in the camp and we found a refuge inside the climbers building where we met a group from East Coast planning summit climb sometime in next few days if the weather allows.



After a nice lunch break it was time to head down. It felt so good to be here and enjoy the views from above the clouds including Mt. Adams but our watch said firmly we needed to head down. Soon we walked back in the clouds leaving the beauty of gorgeous winter day at Muir behind. The conditions worsened on our descend. The wind arrived, blasting at us at full force. When we walked to the first flag we planted just few hours ago, we found about an inch of rim ice growing on it.



Navigated down was little more difficult than on the way up. We proceeded slowly from one flag to another. Aaron did a magnificent job leading the way. The really tricky part came when we reached Panorama Point and tried to find our way down. We spend a little bit of time here and eventually find the sign pointing towards lower Pam Point and from there the descend was easy and uneventful. Until....

.... we got close to our car and the watch showed little after 8:30 p.m. We quickly realized that the gate at Longmire closes at 9:00 p.m. We rushed the last stretch, threw our gear in the car and down the hill we went. Fortunately the road was clear and mostly dry too so that we could maintain steady speed. At 8:58 p.m. we arrived at the gate… and found it closed and chained up.



We were lucky and after just about a minute of trying to figure out what we can do, a ranger drove by and let us out. It appeared he closed the gate about 15 minutes earlier and made his last round to make sure he did not lock anybody in.

After a long and interesting day in the mountains, we were finally heading home.

High Hut 4/4/2009

Sunny day on a weekend is something we didn’t see for a while so when the forecast pointed out it will be really friendly to us this time; I started thinking trails with views. High Hut immediately came to mind.



It was on my list for a while. We also needed something little bit easier since my husband was coming, and last but not least after 3 times snowshoeing in Mt. Rainier area in conditions ranging from just cloudy to white outs, we kind of needed little reassurance that the mountain is still there. This trail simply fit the bill.



We arrived to the end of plowed road at the lowest sno-park (C) around 10:15 a.m. and shortly afterwards started heading up the nicely groomed “highway” keeping to the side not to destroy the middle for the skiers. Tell me about lazy outing. No trail breaking. No crazy steep hills. Leisurely (slowpoke) pace.



The spring is here. It announced itself by melting snow of trees, sending snow bombs down at us and around us very frequently. I was very, very happy that we did not choose to go somewhere where travel directly through forest would be required.



When we arrived to the top, High Hut welcomed us with a magnificent view of Mt. Rainier and along the way we also saw Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams, and many more smaller mountains, hills, and peaks.



Definitely a great day to get up there!

RT: 8 miles
El. Gain: 2500 ft

Excelsior Pass 3/28/2009

Even though the forecast made it obvious there will be no spectacular views awaiting hikers and snowshoers in the mountains this weekend, we decided to give Excelsior Pass a go. If nothing else, we knew we'll get a nice workout out of it.



We found the road clear all the way to the trailhead and just a little bit of snow covering the beginning part of the trail. We followed relatively recent snowshoe track for a while, which made the first part very easy and quite fast going.



With elevation gained the snow started to cumulate. It appears the people who left the tracks turned way before they reached the pass and even though we still could see evidence of previous visitors, now we followed way older tracks partially covered by fresh snow and started to dip deeper and deeper. Postholing to our knees was not much fun and snowshoes went on after gaining approximately 2000 feet of elevation.



Soon afterwards we left the original summer trail and continued straight up the hill. For most of the way we were in deep fresh powder and even with snowshoes on we still kept sinking pretty deep. Fortunately short parts of the route were little bit crusty giving our legs some relief but this usually did not last long. There were few steeper parts where we really had to fight with snowdrifts, it was more like snowcrawling than snowshoeing at that point but in a way it was actually really fun and for sure it kept us warm.



With combined effort (Aaron broke probably over half of the trail, the rest of us split the other half) we reached the little view point next to the pass at 3:00 p.m. As expected we did not see far but the winter conditions made the forest around us looked pretty cool and the lack of views did not bothered us
much.