Forum Index > Trip Reports > Yellow Hill & Elbow Mtn (USGS Teanaway Butte) 3/25/2018
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
PostSat Apr 07, 2018 12:10 am 
Date: March 25, 2018 Destination: Yellow Hill 5527 & Elbow Peak 5740 (USGS Teanaway Butte & Cle Elum Lake) People: Matt, Carla (Dicey), Suzanne (Sadie's Driver), Barry (Middle E) Dogs: Cooper Short Version: The Teanaway valley gave us mostly sunny weather. The Jolly Creek fire gave us brown trees lower and blackened trunks higher. Yellow Hill gave us a good view of the Enchantments. Elbow provided an interesting course along a cornice line.
Yellow Elbow GPS track
Yellow Elbow GPS track
Hiking from Yellow to Elbow
Hiking from Yellow to Elbow
Yellow Hill The snow berm on the Middle Fork Teanaway Road has mostly melted, so we were able to drive most of the way to the Yellow Hill trailhead. Snow on the road was hard packed, so it was okay for driving during cold temperatures. On a warmer day, there could be some risk of lower-clearance cars sinking in and getting stuck. We parked at the wide area just after the Middle Fork bridge, since we didn't want to drive up the icy incline for the 0.4 mile to the trailhead. The trail uphill gradually shifted from mostly bare ground to hard packed snow. After crossing the creek drainage at 4400 feet, the fresh snow became 6-8 inches deep in places, but we were still able to walk uphill without snowshoes to the summit of Yellow Hill. We hiked about a tenth mile past the summit to a more open spot with wide views. The crest became a bit windy, thus not so comfortable hanging around for a break.
Turkey tracks pointing the way
Turkey tracks pointing the way
Hiking on the brown road and trees.
Hiking on the brown road and trees.
Still having patches of bare ground.
Still having patches of bare ground.
Icicle tree
Icicle tree
Group photo on Yellow Hill
Group photo on Yellow Hill
Stuart and Enchantments (Sherpa, Argonaut, Colchuck, Dragontail, Little Annapurna)
Stuart and Enchantments (Sherpa, Argonaut, Colchuck, Dragontail, Little Annapurna)
Elbow Peak Carla and I donned snowshoes and continued onward to Elbow Peak. The next section went down and up over a couple intermediate points. The forest now showed the more intense burn of the Jolly Creek Fire, with only blackened trunks left standing.
Looking ahead from Yellow to Elbow
Looking ahead from Yellow to Elbow
Hiking through the burn
Hiking through the burn
Carla coming over one of the intermediate bumps
Carla coming over one of the intermediate bumps
Layers of scenery:  cornices on a ridge line below, burned slopes of the Jolly Creek fire, Cle Elum Lake, Domerie & Baldy beyond the Lake, I-90 clearcuts, and storm clouds out west
Layers of scenery: cornices on a ridge line below, burned slopes of the Jolly Creek fire, Cle Elum Lake, Domerie & Baldy beyond the Lake, I-90 clearcuts, and storm clouds out west
Beyond Point 5438 was an interesting line of cornices on the last wide saddle before Elbow Peak. It made a fine illustration of wind transport, with almost bare slopes on the west, smoothly curving lines of wind loaded slopes on the east, and a cornice line on the crest pointing the wind direction. Fortunately the windward side was blown bare down to the rock, so we could see a clear path to work our way along the back edge of the cornices.
Hiking down from Point 5438
Hiking down from Point 5438
Looking ahead to the cornice line
Looking ahead to the cornice line
After that it was just kicking steps uphill on the ridge crest, though we weren't the first ones to lay tracks there.
Little tracks on the crest
Little tracks on the crest
Big rabbit tracks on the crest
Big rabbit tracks on the crest
Big rabbit tracks (their length was almost as long as my snowshoe)
Big rabbit tracks (their length was almost as long as my snowshoe)
Carla coming up the to the summit
Carla coming up the to the summit
More wind effects on the summit ridge:
Sastrugi and cornices on the crest
Sastrugi and cornices on the crest
Places where the wind stripped the fresh crust off down to the older ice crust
Places where the wind stripped the fresh crust off down to the older ice crust
Summit cornice looking out toward the Enchantments
Summit cornice looking out toward the Enchantments
We retreated back to a more sheltered corner for lunch, and the clouds cleared away to provide us a sunny break.
Lunch break hiding out from the wind
Lunch break hiding out from the wind
Tree icicles deorating our lunch site
Tree icicles deorating our lunch site
Along our return, shifting sun and shadows lit up the cornice line even more dramatically.
The ridges back to Yellow Hill
The ridges back to Yellow Hill
Our tracks coming down from Elbow
Our tracks coming down from Elbow
Going back up Point 5438
Going back up Point 5438
Looking back to Elbow
Looking back to Elbow
Hiking back through the burn
Hiking back through the burn
Stats: 11.8 miles, 4430 cumulative gain, 8:30 hours

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Nancyann
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Joined: 28 Jul 2013
Posts: 2314 | TRs | Pics
Location: Sultan Basin
Nancyann
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PostSat Apr 07, 2018 12:57 pm 
Interesting and helpful trip report, Matt, although it’s painful to see the extent of the Jolly Mt. burn. Cool tracks, too bad you guys didn’t get to meet the giant rabbit in person.

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