Forum Index > Trip Reports > Windy Mountain 23 jan 2021
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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
Posts: 842 | TRs | Pics
Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostSat Jan 23, 2021 8:00 pm 
Windy Mountain is a small mountain near Scenic, WA, right before Stevens Pass on the north side of hwy 2.
The trickiest part of the hike is finding parking. Unfortunately WSDOT closes (and gates) the Iron Goat trailhead near Scenic each winter. There is very little snow and the Old Cascade Hwy is actually completely melted out, but there is an icy berm blocking access from hwy 2. Later in the afternoon though I have seen a few cars driving over the berm and parking on Old Cascade Hwy. Kind of sketchy though. Alternatively there is a big parking lot on the south side of the hwy across from it at Scenic, but there is a big sign indicating that that parking lot is private and no parking is allowed. Looks like it is used by a CAT skiing company for their customers. I arrived at 8am and one of the employees of the "Cascade Powder Guides" thought I might be a client. I explained that I'm not looking to CAT ski, but just need to find parking for Windy Mountain. He was very kind and gave me permission to park in one of the further away slots, since they were not expecting to have that many clients today anyway. So I and Cookie parked there and had to cross hwy 2 on foot, which is actually very scary, but we made it and walked quickly to the railway tunnel.
This area is famous with ghost hunters, since it is the location of the biggest avalanche disaster in US history. More than a hundred people died when an avalanche hit a passenger train and rolled it over a town. From the tunnel we walked along the grade until we found a suitable place to go up. This section is very-very steep and extremely icy. I had to put on crampons and use them for the rest of the trip. Even above 4000 feet the snow is very icy, though it became softer in the sun. The ridge route is mostly covered in second growth trees, dense at times. But there are open spots too with good views. There was no avy danger today due to freezing conditions, but the ridge route will be very avalanche safe most of the winter. The summit is also only partially open, but one could find many spots to see Glacier Peak, Sloan, Daniel, and many other mountains. Interestingly we also saw a bald eagle. The first time I see bald eagle not by a river, but in the snow in the alpine. Windy Mountain turned to be a kind of misnomer. There was very little wind, and it was very sunny and even kind of warm. But it was nice to have this sunny mountain all to ourselves and see no other people.
We got back to the car by 2 pm only to be stuck in hwy 2 traffic.

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KascadeFlat
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Joined: 06 Jul 2020
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Location: Eating peanut M&Ms under my blue tarp
KascadeFlat
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PostSun Jan 24, 2021 8:41 am 
You have proven successful yet again and finding an excellent hidden gem. Looks like a wonderful day. smile.gif I love photos that show the trail like this. There is something enchanting about seeing footsteps leading off into the woods.

For a good time call: 1-800-SLD-ALDR.
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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
Posts: 842 | TRs | Pics
Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostSun Jan 24, 2021 9:55 am 
KascadeFlat wrote:
You have proven successful yet again and finding an excellent hidden gem. Looks like a wonderful day. smile.gif I love photos that show the trail like this. There is something enchanting about seeing footsteps leading off into the woods.
Merci! There are so many little mountains on the map with no trails to them, they are not really hidden, but they are so fun to explore and great places to enjoy solitude in winter! This is why I mostly take photos on my way back, this way i can add photos of my and Cookie footprints to the frame smile.gif But mainly I take my photos only on the way back, because me and Cookie are too excited on the way up! Thanks!

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pula58
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PostSun Jan 24, 2021 5:52 pm 
Kitya, I always enjoy looking at your photos. You are a good photographer! I am curious about your gear? Mirrorless? one lens?

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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostSun Jan 24, 2021 6:09 pm 
pula58 wrote:
Kitya, I always enjoy looking at your photos. You are a good photographer! I am curious about your gear? Mirrorless? one lens?
Thank you! It is easy to take nice photos, because I have a good subject (Cookie) and our amazing mountains for the backgrounds! Until recently I was using Nikon D7200 with 18-400 tamron lens. It is not the sharpest lens, but it is very great for hiking, because it allowed me to use one lens for both scenery and wildlife. Sadly I don't have this luxury anymore, because this winter I lost my nikon in the snow on a hike frown.gif(( So now I switched to mirrorless Fuji X-t2 and I currently use 18-55 kit lens. I also just got 100-400 fuji lens, but it is sooo huge, I am not sure I can bring it hiking, and even if I did it will be hard to change lens all the time frown.gif I might consider buying some other lens like 18-135 in the future, but there is not much choice for fuji. While there are some downsides, I think fuji has some upsides too and I like how sharp it is and the color is good too.

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Kenji
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PostSun Jan 24, 2021 9:09 pm 
Did you see any sign of recent skiing up there? Or a yurt? Cascade Powder Guide takes skiers up there, so I heard. Probably not when there is not much powder to ski. I've also used Fuji X-T2 for several years until dropping it into a lake, now have an X-T3. Their 18-135mm zoom is a good option for hikes, I've used it many years. It's long enough for pooch shots as well as landscapes. I've recently switched to a 16-80mm zoom since I prefer wider angle and it's more compact.

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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostSun Jan 24, 2021 9:30 pm 
Kenji wrote:
Did you see any sign of recent skiing up there? Or a yurt? Cascade Powder Guide takes skiers up there, so I heard. Probably not when there is not much powder to ski. I've also used Fuji X-T2 for several years until dropping it into a lake, now have an X-T3. Their 18-135mm zoom is a good option for hikes, I've used it many years. It's long enough for pooch shots as well as landscapes. I've recently switched to a 16-80mm zoom since I prefer wider angle and it's more compact.
I didn't see any skiers on Windy Mountain or any people or ski tracks there, at least not anywhere near the ridge route up. But that ridge route will be pretty miserable to ski, because it is covered in very dense trees and ice. However I have seen Cascade Powder Guides machine taking people on forest road 6710 to the back (north) side of Windy Mountain. From the summit of windy I have seen some ski tracks far down below, i think near Embro lake and maybe towards Captain point? But there was definitely no powder there either. Yeah, I'm thinking about 18-135 and 16-80 seems good too and probably better quality. It is a good option, but still definitely not long enough for marmots and squirrels frown.gif I am sad there is no similar lens to 18-400 tamron frown.gif

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Cyclopath
Faster than light



Joined: 20 Mar 2012
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Cyclopath
Faster than light
PostSun Jan 24, 2021 9:42 pm 
You find the most beautiful hikes, mostly ones I've never heard of. I think maybe we've all seen Mount Si so often that a lot of really beautiful country is "old hat" to a lot of us, so your photos from an unusual vantage point look new and remind us how beautiful our mountains are. Plus you're pretty good with a camera. Cookie is a very lucky dog. Most dogs don't get to have adventures like that. Or at all. I skied the Keechelus Dam yesterday and surrounding area. I saw the same kind of hoar frost, couldn't get a good picture of it.

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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
Posts: 842 | TRs | Pics
Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostMon Jan 25, 2021 12:18 am 
Cyclopath wrote:
I skied the Keechelus Dam yesterday and surrounding area. I saw the same kind of hoar frost, couldn't get a good picture of it.
Thanks! We are all lucky to have so many nice mountains around. Choices are endless. Did you do cross-country ski? Yeah, lots of surface hoar right now, this will make for interesting conditions later, I guess!

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