To all those mother's out there...I hope you had a wonderful Mother's day....and I hope all of you had some contact or thought about your mother this weekend.
On Saturday, Jeff H. and I went out to do Hardy. Pretty straightforward and highly enjoyable. We left from the large parking area before Rainy Pass, crossed the bridge over Swamp Creek, then headed up. First we hit snow, then about 1000 feet of no snow on the south west facing and former "burned" slope. We even came across where several trees had been sawed off--we could not discern if the trees were cut down for forest fire reasons, or infection purposes. When we reached back up with snow at around 5500 feet we started a frustrating postholing experience--more Jeff than I becuase he eats more carbohydrates and I cream than I do. We came across several ski tracks in the snow--I swear I could the skiers hooping and hollaring with joy at each of their ski turns.
Eventually within several hundred feet of elevation gain the postholing stopped and we remained on top of the solid snow which made the experience pleasant. We reached the top around noon and had some pretty nice views. Jeff scattered some of his brother's ashes to which I was witnessed. It was my first experience to see someone scatter the ashes of a relative and I personally found it to be a spiritual experience in such a beautiful setting. We eventually left the summit doing a fantastic glissade to where the snow ended and then continued on down on our feet.
We then drove to the Illabot Road and went up Fizzle Hill (1760+ USGS Rockport) (600'P). We followed Steve Fry's directions (P&P April 2001) to the summit. Aweful brush bash and having to contend with timber company slash. Not long roundtrip.
We then drove on to do Wall Mountain (2250 USGS Rockport) (650'P). We took road 1611 per Steve Fry's directions (P&P April 2001) to a saddle at the 1600' mark on the USGS map. We took the ridge and the scrambled over to the summit which is a rock outcropping hidden in the forest. The distance took longer than we anticipated so we opted to go downhill and east to the logging activity to access the road which would lead us back to the car. I recommend taking the logging road to the end, going straight up, and contending with the logging slash rather than following the ridge from the saddle. About 2 hours roundtrip.
Our last summit for the day was Flume Hill (1335 USGS Rockport) (720'P). We took the Concrete bride over the Sauk river south of Illabot road and took the immediate left on the logging road. We followed the logging road to where it met the power lines, then followed the power lines to a gated road that was just north of Flume Creek. We took out the mountain bikes and followed the roads (only one main intersection--take the right one which goes uphill) up point 1197 and then over to the rocky 1335 summit of Flume Hill. Flume Hill had treeless views to the north of the Skagit/Sauk confluence. One hour roundtrip on bikes.
Stefan Feller 5/10/2003
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We came across several ski tracks in the snow--I swear I could the skiers hooping and hollaring with joy at each of their ski turns.
Eventually within several hundred feet of elevation gain the postholing stopped and we remained on top of the solid snow which made the experience pleasant. We reached the top around noon and had some pretty nice views. Jeff scattered some of his brother's ashes to which I was witnessed. It was my first experience to see someone scatter the ashes of a relative and I personally found it to be a spiritual experience in such a beautiful setting. We eventually left the summit doing a fantastic glissade to where the snow ended and then continued on down on our feet.
We then drove to the Illabot Road and went up Fizzle Hill (1760+ USGS Rockport) (600'P). We followed Steve Fry's directions (P&P April 2001) to the summit. Aweful brush bash and having to contend with timber company slash. Not long roundtrip.
We then drove on to do Wall Mountain (2250 USGS Rockport) (650'P). We took road 1611 per Steve Fry's directions (P&P April 2001) to a saddle at the 1600' mark on the USGS map. We took the ridge and the scrambled over to the summit which is a rock outcropping hidden in the forest. The distance took longer than we anticipated so we opted to go downhill and east to the logging activity to access the road which would lead us back to the car. I recommend taking the logging road to the end, going straight up, and contending with the logging slash rather than following the ridge from the saddle. About 2 hours roundtrip.
Our last summit for the day was Flume Hill (1335 USGS Rockport) (720'P). We took the Concrete bride over the Sauk river south of Illabot road and took the immediate left on the logging road. We followed the logging road to where it met the power lines, then followed the power lines to a gated road that was just north of Flume Creek. We took out the mountain bikes and followed the roads (only one main intersection--take the right one which goes uphill) up point 1197 and then over to the rocky 1335 summit of Flume Hill. Flume Hill had treeless views to the north of the Skagit/Sauk confluence. One hour roundtrip on bikes.
Stefan Feller 5/10/2003
