Island Peak - 88 Days to Departure - The Brothers

Gorgeous weekend to head out for a more challenging trip. We left Seattle early Saturday morning, and after a short detour (oops, how many times were we in the area before?) got to the Lena Lake trailhead and started hiking around 11:30 ish. 

The first part of the trip took us to Lena Lake, the trail was well maintained, not as busy as I expected it to be, but then we were starting at a time many locals were already enjoying the lake where we arrived around 14:00 p.m. and found many campsites occupied and people enjoying the hot sunny day.  

After the lake, the trail took us up the Valley of the Silent Man towards the climbers base camp.We found it full, and still having energy left, we proceeded higher up first on a well defined path, later navigating our way through a long blown down area, until we found a great camping spot higher up. We moved in and spent the evening by a fire, enjoying some good chocolate wine.

The morning came quickly. Soon after our departure from camp we reached the snow which at first was firm and not too steep; however we had to cross several snow bridges here, most of which did not look in a good shape, and we made a note to be extra careful on our way down.

The route soon got steeper; the snow was still firm, and with crampons easy going. We had to cross a stream and little bit of rock scrambling followed. We turned left little too soon and things got steep fast, so we retracted and followed a lower path that got us around the cliffs to another snow covered slope. 

This one was long and steep, and led us to the last rocky area where we scrambled to what we thought was the summit; however soon we found out we were mistaken. The summit was further on and between it and us lay a 30 foot drop. It was possible to downclimb the section and connect to the summit path but not being much of a rock scrambler, and being tired already, false summit did just fine for me for this trip.

The way down, with snow still firm and slippery at the steep part, was nearly as challenging as the way up but we made it down in one piece, exhausted but glad we had a great trip.

Island Peak - 123 Days to Departure - Mt.Ellinor

With so many choices here in Washington State, there are mountains we climb and take off the list once and for all, and then there are those which makes us return year after year.  For me, Mt. Ellinor is one of the latter kind.

Located on the Kitsup Peninsula about 15 miles past small town of Hoodsport, this mountain has a reputation of being a short but grueling climb making one’s knees squeak. That might be true in the summer, when a narrow trail zigzags up the steep slopes to the prime views of the Olympics; however for many climbers the spring – after avalanche danger subsides but there is still enough snow pack left for the chute route -  is the preferred time to go.

There are 3 possible starting points for this climb, some might not accessible earlier in the season. The longest one starts from the lower trailhead and gains 3400 ft in about 2.5 miles. On the contrary the shortest one, starting from the upper trailhead, will gain about 2400 feet in approximately mile and half. And then there is a nice scenic ridge run in between those two.

The day was supposed to be partly sunny but the closer we got to the mountain, the faster our hopes to see any sunshine faded. The area was engulfed in a thick layer of clouds with an occasional sucker patch letting our eyes feast on a view that vanished as quickly as it appeared. The breeze, touched by the sporadic remnants of the snow pack, carried the chilliness of the cloudy morning.

Usually, we start at the lower trailhead but this time we drove higher up, and parked together with 4 other vehicles at the intersection with Jefferson Pass, where in a shady corner a mile from the upper trailhead sizeable snow patch blocked the road.

The forest was peacefully quiet, for the first half mile we had it all to ourselves.  We made several brief stops here to admire the softness of the pine needles, baby bear grass getting ready to bloom, and the most interesting piece of bark peeling of a tree in layers.

Most of the uphill was covered on dirt. The snow started just below the area where the trail flattens a little and starts heading for the chute where we arrived just at a time a patch of blue sky let us snap a quick picture, then the whole route once again hid in clouds.

There were others who likely just like us arrived hoping for a nice weather, and were now making their way up the chute, step by step slowly disappearing in the fog. We followed shortly after a quick gear up break. The staircase of frozen steps kicked by fellow climbers earlier was in a great shape. Crampons were not necessary; however I found them helpful, especially when a step off path was required, where the snow was solid and still rather slippery.

Passing several members of the group ahead of us, encountering one goat at the first false summit, and enjoying about 3 moments of sunshine, each lasting for no more that 10 seconds, we made a good time to the top. The view into the Olympics, even though roofed by dark cumulous clouds, was open, and a tiny sucker patch above the summit rocks allowed a peak into the Lake Cushman area. It was kind of like looking through a window, very cool experience actually.

The summit stay was windless and rather enjoyable. Looking towards the neighboring Mt. Washington, we discussed the possible traverse route with one of the locals who has done it several times, and just before our departure, a group of girls shared some of the wine they brought to the top with us.

And then…. of course there was the glissade. More solid at the top, not dangerously icy but hard enough to make bumps hurt, with some tricky spots trying to avoid a tree, dropping adventurers into a deep corridor, and spitting them at the flat area of the false summit. The bottom part was much smoother ride, long, curvy, most enjoyable with the snow softening with elevation lost, leaving us looking forward for next year!

Chad's First Scramble 5/23/2009

A while ago Chad mentioned he would like to summit Mt. Ellinor. Not that he would suddenly develop desire to climb steep slopes but the photos of mountain goats from my first trip up there a year ago were lingering on his mind and he obviously liked the idea of having similar experience. The thought of being able to glissade down the chute was also tempting.



With the 3 day weekend approaching and most of our group heading to the Enchantments I figured it would be a great opportunity for me to take him out for some glissade and self arrest practise. The bottom part of Ellinor's chute is a great place to do so and that's where we headed.

It was a gorgeous sunny day. We parked at the lower trailhead. We saw some vehices heading further and with the truck we likely could have made it all the way to the upper trailhead but to me it would kind of feel like cheating. The walk through the forest was very pleasurable today. Rays of the bright sun shined through the trees, casting shades on the forest floor, making the forest look nearly magical.

I was surprised how much snow melted in the three weeks since my last visit to the area. The trail was snow free nearly all the way through the forest which made for a reasonably fast progress.



We did not spend as much time practising as I originally planned. The snow was softened by the streak of warm days and the conditions provided for a slow and very controllable glissage so instead of few hours of practise we soon started to head up the chute.

Our pace slowed down considerably. Last time Chad was on a slope of this steepness was likely during his ski years and then it was a lift taking him to the top. Now that he had to do all the hard work himself, he found out what breaking sweat is really about. He huffed and puffed his way up the chute and surely did not like all the false summits along the way.




For a little while I was really concerned that we might not be able to reach the top. During one of our breaks I found a GU gel in my pack - leftover from previous week. It did its work well and shortly after eating on it, Chad regained energy for the summit push.

Once atop the mountain we soaked up the views. We had the summit to ourselves for about 15 minutes before more hikers emerged from the slopes below. There was no goat show off here this time. We only saw one goat along the way but still it was so worthwhile to make our way up here... and the funnest part was still ahead of us.



After about 30 minutes on the summit we decided it was time to head back. On our butts we went and off we were down the hill. It took us 3 hours to climb the chute, it took us about 10 minutes to glissage it down. It was a very fun 10 minutes though.

We'll be back next year.

Mt. Ellinor 5/2/2009

The forecast went from - it'll be quite nice, through it probably won't be so nice to it will for sure be soaking wet - as the week progressed but it did not stop our plan to scramble Mt. Ellinor and enjoy some glissading on the way down.



We started in a rain that did not leave us for most of the approach. Occasionally it would mellow to a drizzle but usually not for too long. Our raingear was put to a great test. We made a reasonably fast progress and soon found ourselves climbing up the best part of the route - the chute, gaining elevation fast.

The summit gave us a little bit of a break. It was windy and rather cold so additional layers went on followed by more additional layers and clouds surrounding us swallowed all the views but at least we could enjoy fast lunch without being poured on.



The conditions made for a very fast glissade down. Bumpy on occasion but lots of fun. Our friend rain returned as soon as we descended into the forest and followed us - gaining on intensity - all the way to the car. I have to say, this must've been fastest packing job we ever done. It was a matter of just few short minutes to throw everything in the trunk, find refuge inside the car, and get the hell out of there.

Despite the weather it was good to be outside though and the glissage definitely made up for the lack of views.

Goats of Mt. Ellinor

The weather forecast did not look greatest for the weekend. We had Mt. Ellinor planned with a back up of staying along I-90 if we determine the visibility is bad enough and the long drive would not be rewarded with the gorgeous views this area has to offer. As the week progressed the forecast slowly changed to our advantage and we were excited to stick with our original plan and headed to Ellinor.

Even though it never completely clear, the clouds were high letting us enjoy variety of views from different points along the trail. It was my first time up there and despite the fact I’ve seen many pictures, being surrounded by this amazing scenery in person was truly breathtaking.

We decided to take a little break after we conquered the first part of the chute and while scanning the area I noticed this white spot on the rock wall behind us. Mountain Goat! And it had a baby… our short break suddenly turned into about 15 minute photo shoot of those two goats. It was so cool, we thought, and continued our way towards the summit. As soon as we reached the second false summit, there were another two goats (again it was mommy goat and her baby) walking down the trail in our directions. They were way closer that the goats we saw earlier and were not bothered by our presence at all. It was very obvious they will walk just past us… so we got our cameras ready, and snapped tons more pictures. At one point the goats were as close as about 5 feet from us, and even posed for us on rocks close by.

So cool, we though again and now with the true summit in our sight we braved the last part of the trail… just to notice more goats peeking at us from the top. There was a nice family of about 4 of them there, running around, kind of checking us up together with several chipmunks that entertained us by crawling up people’s legs and jumping on people’s shoulders in their attempts to steal our food.

The views were wonderful. We did not see Rainier or the other major peaks very clearly as they were hiding in a mist but there was so much more to look at and with all the wildlife around, we spend good 2 hours up there before we decided it was time to have some fun glissading down the chute.