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MangyMarmot
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 392 | TRs
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This week started with grand ambitions which, as often happens, did not survive the deteriorating weather forecast. Instead of a bluebird weekend, we were going to have a decent day Saturday followed by rain/snow on Sunday. Then there was the usual Friday ritual of figuring out plan B, then plan C, and so on. After a flurry of suggestions, we settled on Mount Price.
In the morning, as I approached North Bend, I could only see about 1000 ft of Mt Si below the cloud ceiling. Things were looking good for an early start until I got to the end of the pavement on the middle fork road. The road gets pretty rough fairly quickly. I was concerned my van wouldn't make it t the end. After a few questionable decisions to go for it, I ended up at the Dingfort Creek trailhead considerably later than planned. Fletcher and Fred were already there and Eric and Damon would soon arrive. Much to our surprise, the trailhead was quite busy. Someone had talked to some of the other groups and found out that one of the other groups was heading for Price also.
We gathered up our gear and headed out. The trail started out snow free, but it wasn't long until we hit a few snow patches, then bigger patches, then continuous snow. At about 2 miles we put on the snowshoes. We followed the tracks of a party ahead of us until they turned toward Sorcery Mountain. We then dropped down to the creek and looked for a way across. It took a little scouting, but we found a safe way across.
 Scouting the creek  Crossing the creek
Once on the other side, we started upward. We had a GPS track that we used as a rough guide, but didn't follow it exactly. There were a few cliffy sections to work around and few steep sections to overcome, but nothing too bad. The snow felt stable. We saw some slide debris here and there, but it didn't look terribly recent. About 1000 ft from the top the sun started poking through the clouds. Soon we were above the cloud deck. The views started opening up and the tree bombs started falling. Before long we were on the summit with spectacular views all around.
 Steep Bit  On the summit  Chair Peak, Kaleetan, Roosevelt, Snow Lake  Big Snow  Snoqualmie  Garfield  Hanging out on the summit
We ate some lunch, took some photos, and enjoyed the views. Much too soon it was time to head down. Just as we were packing our stuff up, the other party from parking lot was arriving. We chatted with them for a few minutes and then started down. With the help of gravity, going down was much faster. Soon we were back in the parking lot chatting and drinking beer.
 The descent  The forest |
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Fletcher
Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Posts: 1664 | TRs
Location: kirkland
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| Thanks for the write up Dave! Really enjoyable day out. |
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iron
Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 6171 | TRs
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Gimpilator
Member
Joined: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 1494 | TRs
Location: Edmonds, WA
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RichP
here and there
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5036 | TRs
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| Price is a nice summit. It's a fairly long one in summer so i'm sure that other group was grateful for the broken trail. |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 6835 | TRs
Location: Stuck in the middle
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I'm impressed you did this route without running into big problems with steep and cliffy areas. You must have planned well. Previous reports have not been encouraging and scared me away!
I notice in sushihq's Flickr feed a great use of slope shading to avoid steeper areas.
 My GAIA track with slope angles.
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Mid Fork Rocks • flickr |
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Mike Collins
Member
Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 2834 | TRs
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| When I climbed Price on the downclimb I happened upon a Mylar balloon with a note attached. It read “This is BRITTANY’S birthday party. Call [number was no longer in service when I called] if you find this note. Sammy, Windy, Candi, Tabitha, Kelly, Brittany’s Mom” If any of the members of this forum were at that party then yes, the note has been found. |
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raising3hikers
Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007
Posts: 2114 | TRs
Location: Edmonds, Wa
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it was fun getting out with everybody. the views were much better than i expected up there. i think we made the right call on our summit choice after 20 different ideas were thrown around during the last few days
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Eric Eames |
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Eckels
Member
Joined: 25 Feb 2021
Posts: 4 | TRs
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Looks like a great trip!! I was camped out by Gravel lake almost visible in one of your shots that day!! If you got any more clear shots of all the North Facing terrain across the valley from Thompson to Chair I'd love to see them! We we're poking around looking at what we could ski without running into cliffs  |
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MangyMarmot
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 392 | TRs
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Eckels, I looked through my photos and found two more of the area you mentioned. They aren't great, but that's all I have. Hope you find a good line.
 Thomson  Red Mountain |
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neek
Member
Joined: 12 Sep 2011
Posts: 1500 | TRs
Location: Seattle, WA
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Went up there today. Really good conditions. Snowshoes on the way up, crampons going back down, minimal postholing. Seems like the route has seen a bit of activity in the past week; there's a pretty well established track all the way.
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MangyMarmot
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 392 | TRs
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| Nice trip Neek! Looks like you had great weather up there. |
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RichP
here and there
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5036 | TRs
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| Ooh, I like that 360 summit view, neek. Make it full size and spin it around and it feels like being there. |
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