mountainsloth Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Trip: Big Snow Mountain - North Slope Date: 7/2/2011 Trip Report: Continuing my love of the Middle Fork and the Alpine Lakes, I planned a brother's backpacking trip around this often hidden and overlooked peak. I did not want to walk the road out to Hardscrabble Creek and so thought Dingford Creek to Myrtle Lake would suffice. The trail was a bit rough at times but we made the best of it. We camped at Myrtle Lake and found it frozen and covered in at least 5 feet of snow. Our pitiful attempt at keeping warm We did not bring crampons or ice axes so awoke leisurely to give the snow a chance to soften. Big Snow from camp. The yellow is the route I figured we would follow but ended up taking the red around Snowflake Lake. We started in steep woods, found a drainage and followed that. This brought us up to Big Snow Lake and Snowflake Lakes To my surprise I found lots of great looking granite all around. From here we traversed over to Snowflake Lake and followed a mini couloir to the upper slopes. upper slopes traversing the upper slope hitting the NW ridge and turning towards the summit. We reached the summit in around 4 hours and soaked in the perfect views of the grand Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Glacier Peak in the distance Lemah Summit Chiefs Summit Summit After hanging out we filled out the summit register. We were the first this year to do so and seems like only a small handful ascend this peak every year. The descent went extremely quickly. I introduced my youngest brother to glissading with trekking poles and we were back down to camp within an hour. We moved camp down out of the snow and enjoyed another night of solitude. The hike out was a joy amidst the often uber-green forest backdrop. This trip could easily be done in a day but stretching it out over 3 really allowed us to be lazy, enjoy the mountains, and goof off as only brothers can. Gear Notes: New boots make a world of difference in wet snow. Approach Notes: Dingford Creek Trail to Myrtle Lake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Looks like a good off-the-radar trip! Bet that snow is history now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.