This one starts as far as you can drive up FS Road 57 along Lennox Creek. Currently, and most likely permanently, the road is washed out just short of a large wooden bridge at 2120' near the trailhead for Bare Mountain. With Saturday's deluge of rain, I was surprised to see clear skies early Sunday morning; conditions that would persist through most of the trip.
We left the truck at 0845 and walked the road 1.75 miles to the start of the unsigned trail heading to Anderson Pass. There is only one significant intersection on the road where it's necessary to stay right to find the trail. The trail starts off as a decent sized creek and we got to hop rocks for the first 150' of gain. From here the trail switchbacks up the hill just under Dog Mountain. Snow started around 3600' and by 4000' it was 18" deep. At 4100' or so the trail begins trending to the east out onto the open slopes above the headwaters of Lennox Creek. We kept traversing until we were around 4300' where we headed straight up the mountain. Snow depths increased quickly to 36" and the going was slow without the aid of snowshoes which we deliberately left behind. We gained the north ridge at 5300' and followed the tree-lined ridge to the summit. Impressive views from the summit and mostly clear skies to boot - who would have guessed given the weather forecast. Noteworthy views included those of Treen, Garfield, Phelps and the lower Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley.
After 30 minutes on top, we descended our same route. We tried to get in a glissade or two, but the snow just didn't cooperate. By the time we had made it back down to the road at 2600', the rain finally arrived. Those 1.75 miles of road walking were way too long at the at the end of the day, but we eventually made it back to the truck at 1445.
The picture of big cougar in the western lakes book shows the lake half frozen. The big deal about that is that the pic was taken in mid august!!!
That lake would be turbo frozen at this point in the year!
TB
PS, I have a rig that can get past that bridge obsticle! Ask next time and I'll take you up there.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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