[whistlingmarmot]

Opened my 1974 edition of the 102 Hikes in the ALW, South Cascades, and Olympics to discover hike number 1 was Mt. Persis. I haven’t seen this one in any of the newer Spring/Manning books so I checked it out in Becky and then Smoot. Looked like a nice hike so I headed out on Saturday morning. On the FS road to the trailhead I nearly ran into the most enormous black bear I have ever encountered. The bear was running up the road as I approached. It was an impressive sight seeing all of its muscle trying to get it into the bush. Grabbed the camera but the bear had run away. I had the trail and mountain to myself the whole day. I could see why as this isn’t a gentle stroll in the park. On the way up it is very steep through a newly grown clear-cut. Due to my hard breathing and tree branches in my face I literally inhaled several bugs of unknown type. Yummy. At about 4600’ a ridge is attained with lots of windfall to take the place of small trees with bugs. Next up are a few patches of snow, no problems. A bit under 2 hours to the top. The top offered good views and many little bugs…they didn’t actually bite, but rather landed on me, 10 to 20 at a time, and annoyed in that fashion. While lunching on top for two hours I spied Sunset falls below on HWY2, and watched three people summit Mt. Index. A few photos for fun: Tarn Mt. Persis Mt. Index

[naturealbeing]

whistlingmarmot, Persis is one of my favorite hikes in early spring. I like to get up there when theres plenty of snow and the ridge that runs to Index is covered in cornices. It gives the appearance of frozen waves. If you'd like you may check out some pics I took the 20th. of March 2004. Heres the link: http://community.webshots.com/album/127177106YXXsrN

[whistlingmarmot]

Nice pics nb. I'll have to try it earlier with more snow.