[Justus S.]

September 15, 2006 Destination: Snowgrass Mountain, Frosty Peak (Peak 6489 southwest of Frosty Pass) In spite of the somewhat dreary forecast Mike Collins and I set out to visit Snowgrass Mtn. Snowgrass Mtn at 7993 feet is a nice and worthy summit at the south end of the Chiwaukum Mtns. Unfortunately, this peak lacks a mere 7ft of clean prominence and is thus not included on the backcourt list. In all likelihood, Snowgrass could have the prominence necessary for inclusion. At 7am Mike and I set out on the Whitepine Trail (off hwy 2). Around three miles up, the trail splits. We took a left up the Wildhorse Trail. The trail has plenty of brushy sides and because of the recent rain we both ended up getting pretty wet. Further up the trial snow was encountered, and it was time to layer up. A half-mile before Frosty Pass we took to a gully that heads toward Pt 7161. Snow was falling, and visibility was limited as we headed up. At 7000 we crossed some flat rolling terrain and headed for the saddle north of Pt 7593. The gentle ridge up from the saddle eventually turns rugged. We scrambled the ridge top for a way before dropping a little on the east side to avoid some outcroppings. (We did use a 15ft piece of 7mm cord as a hand line to drop down some sloping rock due to the slickness of the fresh snow.) The final bit to the summit was up easy slopes on the east side. We didn’t stay long as there were no views on this snowy, cloudy day. On our decent, unknown to us, we passed two other nwhikers were on their way to the summit. Their story is here. Back at the flats around 7000 we opted to head down the mellower slopes on the south side of Pt 7161. Upon arrival at Frosty Pass we decided to add in Frosty Peak. The weather had also improved. It had quite snowing/drizzling and the clouds had lifted above the summit. A trail leading west from the pass, a sign says this trail leads to horse camps, was taken for a short distance before open slopes were ascended toward Frosty Peak. Frosty was a nice little summit, and we were both glad to have added it to the day. Oh, I must mention en-route to Frosty we heard a whiny. We looked down and low and behold there were some animals (horses, donkeys, mules ???) below just wandering around. On the way back we took a closer look. It turned out that there were three mules wandering around with nobody or camp in sight. It was the strangest thing. Well, the trail walk back seemed to go on forever and ever. Thankfully, the brush had dried for the most part. We were plenty happy to see the car just before it was time to pull out the headlamp. Another great and worthwhile trip. Notes: Mike's more interesting tr posted on wta. Trip time 13hrs. (6.5hrs car to summit of Snowgrass, from Frosty Pass about 1.5hrs roundtrip for Frosty). Summit reg for Snowgrass states height at 7996. The fallish color is beautiful right now with green, yellow, orange, and red colors. I'll see about posting some pics in a couple days.

upper wildhorse in early morning

Mike on ridge

summit

going down

rocks with tree

snowgrass from southwest

mules

trail color

[Magellan]

Does anyone know who this 'Johnny Jeans' is? His summit registers are turning up everywhere. Who is he? What does he look like? Does he wear jeans while hiking? I need to know!!!

[Tom]

I think Johnny Jeans might be his real name. I'm told he's "an English chap" and the first person to complete the Back Court. The only name I've noted more sightings of in peak registers in the Alpine Lakes is Fay Pullen.

[Randy]

Nice trip Justus. We could have shaved 45 minutes off our rt time if we would have had that 7mm cord as well. Nice work.

[wildernessed]

Nice TR guys, your obsessed or possessed.

[Stefan]

[Fred_Beavon]

Thanks, Justus, for the trip report and pictures. A picture of Johnny Jeans is at www.rhinoclimbs.com. Just click "Top 100 Lists", then "Top 100 Finishers Page", then scroll down.

[Backpacker Joe]

Look at all those krazie Klimbers! Nice job.

[Randy]

Thanks for the photo of the register PIB. In case the memory fades I can always come back to this register picture!

[Stefan]

Why is Mike C. approaching those mules? Is Mike C. from Enumclaw?