A year ago, K and I attempted Navajo Peak...only to be turned around on the summit ridge..... just 700 ft. shy of the summit by the ominous threat of thunder and lightening.
This year, we left Kirkland feeling smug.....the weather locally was sunny...much better than the weatherman had predicted. We had sun all the way to Cle Elum. By the time we reached the Stafford Creek trail head, the weather was pleasant...some high clouds and nearly 60 degrees. After our usual preparations, we were on the trail by 9:20. Walking along Stafford Creek, we had to talk loudly to be heard over the roar of the raging creek.
The first 1 1/2 miles, the trail was bare. We encountered patches of snow begining at about elev. 3,500 ft.. By the time we reched about 3,800 ft. the snow was pretty much consistent....with patches of the trail showing through occasionally. The snow was very firm....hardly any sinking at all. There are a few small blow downs to walk around. At about elev. 4,400 ft. there is a patch of avalanche debris. We managed to weave our way through without too much difficulty. At this point the "summer" trail gets to be harder and harder to find. When in doubt we just turned uphill and found it again higher up. After the third creek crossing at about elev. 4750 ft., we left the trail and turned uphill....setting a compass bearing and heading due north....straight at the summit of Navajo. We started up a steep bare dirt slope gaining a quick 300 ft. to a rocky bench where we stopped for a snack. By this time the clouds had thickened....but visibility was still good....and we were looking forward to getting to the top. After the snack break we started up the slightly less steep slope...on continuous snow. The snow was perfect for kicking in steps as we gained elevation quickly.
At elevation 6,600 we found a small bare patch with a short section of trail showing. According to the map, we determined that this trail most likely came from Navajo Pass and went towards the Three Brothers. Here we traded our trekking poles for ice axes.
Now our fun hike became more of an adventure. The clouds dropped on top of us and visibility was gone. We could barely see 50 yards ahead.....and it started to rain. We made a stop at elev. 6,800 ft. to pull on the goretex jackets and pants. Thank goodness we had the right gear with us. Continuing up, we began a travers across a steep snow field....then turned up again. We broke onto the summit ridge just to the east of the the Peak. We could barely see the sloping edge on the north side of the ridge......not knowing if it was corniced, we stayed well back. We finished the last 150 ft. to the summit (elev 7,263 ft.). The visibility was so bad we had to check the altimeter and the GPS to see if we were actually on top.
Jim K tells us that this is a spectacular hike with fantastic views. We must have bad Karma with this mountain....because we haven't seen any views yet!
We didn't stay on top for long......just long enough to set a "go to" on the GPS to get us down while avoiding the area we traversed on our way up. Following the GPS we plunge stepped down quickly to where we had stopped for food earlier. By the time we reached this location we were already drenched......thoughts of the dry shirt I had back at the jeep sounded really good. Here we replaced the ice axes with trekking poles and continued down. We slipped and slid down the now muddy dirt slope to the trail and retraced our tracks back to the trail head.
Time to summit 4 hrs 20 min
Time tyo TH 2 hrs 40 min
Distance: 11 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 4,300 ft.
Note 1: we noticed several areas along the exposed trail where the soil along the downhill side of the trail was fractured...indicating an eventual failure that will cause the trail to collapse. These areas need maintenance.
Note 2: If anyone would like to get the GPS points to plot a route on this trip, contact us through our web page at www.trailpair.com
Note 3: I have been learning how to use my new digital camer. Next I will learn how to post photos on the site!
This thing called work is interfering with my play
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This thing called work is interfering with my play
Jim,
thanx for the photographic support. I knew there must be some nice views from that summit. We just didn't have any on Sunday!
Rob,
Right now the snow conditions are perfect. Nice firm snow to walk on and to kick steps in and to plunge step down. If you want, we can send you the GPS information.
This thing called work is interfering with my play
0
This thing called work is interfering with my play
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