plaigar Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) Trip: Mastiff and Howard - Date: 6/22/2008 Trip Report: TR: Mt Mastiff and Mt Howard Peter & I scrambled a loop trip to Mt Mastiff and Mt Howard. Total distance of 15 miles, 6900 ft elevation gain and about 10 hours. It was raining when we drove on Hwy 2 but once beyond Stevens pass, it was dry and we could see blue sky. We left our bikes at the Rock Mtn trailhead (turnoff currently unmarked, immediately east of Milepost 73). then drove up to Merritt trailhead by Milepost 76. The trail was dry and in good condition, just two down logs to hop pass. Lupine, Indian Paintbrush and other flowers are in bloom. Mosquitos are starting but not too bad. There was some snow after the ~4000 ft elevation. We took a left at the trail junction and gained the ridge northwest toward Mt Mastiff. Ridge hike for the rest of the way to the top, and from Mastiff to Howard. From Howard we went directly south to Crescent Lake, and then traversed over to Rock Lake. On the traverse we dropped a bit too far, and had to regain a few hundred feet of elevation (up to 6000 ft level) to avoid some cliff bands. Hoped to be able to cross Rock lake by the outlet, but it looked difficult, so hiked around the lake instead. Then followed the Rock Mtn trail back to the bikes, and biked back along highway 2 to the car. Counted 48 switchbacks on the way the rock mtn trail. Gear Notes: Ice Axe, Bike, bug juice Approach Notes: Leave bike at Rock Mtn Trailhead before driving to Merritt Trailhead Edited June 24, 2008 by plaigar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC_O Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Skied that same line this April (?) with a buddy, except we descended the east side of Mastiff down to Lost Lake, then skinned back up to Nason Ridge and blasted a few miles east till we could drop a line straight down to his porch for beers. Guessing it was more enjoyable on skis than all that bushwhacking you musta faced on the descent? Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadmade Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 No bushwhacking involved that day, most of the way is on a ridge and we got the trail before we get down to the tree/bush line. The trail down is in good shape. It has many switchbacks and pretty dense bush on each side. We posted photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/leadmade/MtHowardMastiff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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