[Beave]

Randy stopped by my house at 7am and we were off, destined to beat the oncoming rain by heading E on US-2. Arrowhead Peak would be our destination. After my attempt a week prior, I was excited to slay the demons that had foiled my plot. Those demons being solo hiking, waist deep powder and lethal tree-bombs from rain-loaded snow clumps in the trees. Being the Maintanance Facility is a "No Trespassing, Official Business Only" area, we parked just E of milepost 72(?) in a small plowed area on the N side of the highway. My trench up the S side of the road was still evident, though consolidated nicely. We walked the tracks E for a bit before jumping into the woods, heading S to gain the E ridge of the mountain. The going was great from the get-go; No more trees bombs and no more waist-deep powder to break trail through. We made ok time, heading up through the mostly open forest. Things would change around 4200' or so, when the going got steeper, the snow got deeper and the consistency was no longer a crispy crust. Soon we were wallowing in the stuff. At one point I resorted to crampons, climbing trees and postholing like crazy. This 80' or so was the "crux" of the climb! Soon after, the slope eased a bit and we continued slogging up. We gained the ridge at about 5000', a much higher elevation than we had anticipated. I was getting super-hungry, and started to "bonk". We continued pushing on, alternating leads every 150' or so. Soon enough we were at the summit, and I enjoyed 2 powerbar and 2 Sausage McMuffins!No difficulties or exposure on this route. The only visible area was the summit and the surrounding flanks, but the clouds parted for a few minutes and we got views of Jim Hill, Bulls Tooth, Rock, Howard and Mastiff. It was very cold on top. We didn't stay long. Descending was a blast. The shin-deep powder made for comfortable plunging and we even got a glissade or two in the steeper areas. Down lower, the consolidated snow that was a blessing for the climb, was a curse for the descent, twisting ankles and making for so-so travel. The view of Arrowhead from the RR tracks is decieving. It seems so close and so easy. It took us about 4 hours to summit from US-2, but just over an hour to descend from summit to the truck. Another great trip with A+ company! Beave

Randy on the Summit