[TR] Snowking - Day Hike 5/25/2009

[zoroastr]

Trip: Snowking - Day Hike

 

Date: 5/25/2009

 

Trip Report:

The idea looked good on paper: a brisk Memorial Day jaunt to the summit of a pretty North Cascades walk-up. In restrospect, the details of our grueling and ill-concieved death-slog might have made a passable episode of TV's "Jackass."

1. Most of the upper portion of the route is currently buried under a deep layer of heavy, wet snow--so, naturally, we left the snowshoes in the car.

2. After the first hour, the way is utterly devoid of water, and the single, tiny plastic bottle I brought was instantly drained.

3. The primitive climber's path quickly transitions from a typically steep North Cascades root ladder to a forrested half-mile section of deep but solid snice that doesn't really take a heel--very easy to get lost here; GPS would have helped.

 

I was actually ready to abandon this fiasco when we met a very nice NOLS group who were doing a week-long mountaineering seminar and had planted their tent city at the base of the peak. The group had set up a couple of very efficient black bag water catchers and were cranking out snowmelt by the gallon. One of the group leaders very graciously allowed me to fill my bottle, removing the only real obstacle to a summit bid, and turning what would have been a pretty but dissappointing hike into a fine afternoon's climb--thanks tons, NOLS!

 

Some snaps....The summit as seen from an approaching ridge. I'm very interested in finding out the altitude stats for this trip, because the approach ridge undulates over a series of rolling hills whose cumulative gain must be quite significant.

 

 

The very nice NOLS people and their encampment near the base of Snowking...

 

 

Once on the mountain, snow conditions improved only slightly. An older ski track gave almost no flotation. For some reason I've yet to fathom, Erick Johnson is in phenominal early-season shape this year--he took the lead for most of the way, grinding out the miles of post-holing like a Sunday stroll in the park. Very pretty summit ridge!

 

 

Snow stayed deep, soft and wet all the way to the summit. Fortunately, the last few hundred feet ramped up enough to allow for a quick seated glissade off the top. From the summit, we were back the the NOLS tent city in one hour. After a brief chat, we started sprinting out of the valley. It was already 5:00 PM, and there were several miles of wet slop between oursevles and safety.

 

 

This is really a tremendous summit for views, and a great place from which to launch an extended multi-peak traverse. The potential for unstructured wandering is everywhere!

 

 

More summit goodness...

 

Edited May 26, 2009 by zoroastr

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

good job! we were spanked on an approach into Logan this w/e. the snow conditions were indeed sloppy and miserable

[belayerslayer]

nice work! How's the road to the trailhead? Is it as bad as the guidebooks say?

[zoroastr]

Unless you have very high clearance, you'll be stopped by a large washout with maybe two or three miles left to the trailhead. The ocasionally overgrown road ends at a small clearing with a fire ring. TH is fairly obvious.

--cheers

[JoshK]

Snowking is a favorite peak of mine, both on skis and hiking later in the season. I wonder if it would still be a worthy ski, hmm...