[GeoTom]

Jasper and I headed to the Lake Wenatchee/White River area today to see how far we could get up Mt. David. We stopped at 7,420 feet. Luckily for us that was the summit Details: I woke up at 5:30 and grabbed the dog. Left the house by 6:00. He fell back asleep in the car on the drive over (lazy dog!) Arrived at the trailhead at~8:20. We started moving quickly as it was cold at the trailhead. Normally I slow down after the first few minutes, but I felt strong today (maybe it was the pizza last night ) and managed to summit in ~3.5 hours. No speed record, but good for me, especially since the trail gains 5,200 (maybe more with the ups and downs) in 7 miles. We saw a light dusting of snow at ~5,600' that was more noticeable on the north and east aspects. Near the summit it was slightly over an inch deep in places. It warmed up a bit on the descent and much of the dusting had melted. Luckily we only had a few minutes of snow flurries all day. Unfortunately, it was the few minutes we were at the summit. No views of NWHikers sweetheart, Glacier Peak but I bet she's still there. One of my motivations for doing this hike was to get a look at the stone privy near the summit. Somehow I forgot to actually research where it was last night I thought I recalled JimK saying it was ~200 feet down the north slope from the summit. I looked for a few minutes, but with the snow covered ground and the winds picking up, I decided to abandon the search. We encountered a few other hardy souls today, but no hunters on the trail Descent took ~3 hours. That last flattish mile seems to take forever. Some pictures:

White River from the bridge at the start

Yep, it's fall

First glimpse of the goal

Yummy snow

Clouds and ridge

Foggy summit

Snowy ridge

Almost there

Lunch

View down the north side

Soapy the frog on Mt. David

Less snow on the descent

Still fall

Happy trail dog (unleashed!)

On the descent

[silly_traveler]

Nice report and pictures I wanna see that stone privy too Maybe you wanna go up again next year Soapy on summit! Jake is jealous!

[Backpacker Joe]

Nice pics GT.

[the Zachster]

3.5 hours is quite respectable for that trail...good for you! And going leashless, how daring. Zach is SOOOO jealous...

[GeoTom]

[Mtn Dog]

GeoTom: The summit is sort of shaped like a two-humped camel. The true summit is the east hump that you arrive at after ascending the rock ledge. If you traverse over/around the west hump, which also has the benchmark and a 2nd reference mark near the top, the rock outhouse is on the NW edge of the west hump. It's maybe 30-40' from where the trails ends and its door faces west so you can relieve yourself while taking in the view of Whittier Peak and Mt Jonathan.

Best place to pee above 7,000'!

[Yana]

Nice, GeoTom! I've been meaning to do Mt. David for years, but somehow I always end up doing something else. White River sure is pretty.

[Magellan]

Sweet! This may get done before the year is out.

[twodogdad]

Greetings, unleashed one and leash carrier: Did you find a blank spot to sign in the "register"?--that and finding the outhouse are the secret challenges of David Last Monday, we had to add our names to the USGS topo someone stuck in evidently years ago... If someone plans a Mt David hike this year please bring a new notebook, for posterity's sake. Should the old one (ones, I should say), be handed over to the UW library? tdd

[summitseeker]

Cool! We were the party of two behind you. Had a great trip also. Beautiful spot.

[GeoTom]

tdd- I didn't even think of looking for the register on top I found a safe spot to leash Jasper, gave him his lunch and took a few photos. Maybe next time summitseekr- So you were the two I encountered just below the summit? Nice to have "met" you. Mtn Dog- Thanks for the info on the loo. Maybe next August I'll have to use it...

[summitseeker]

[tomastaylor]

Here's a picture of the trail to the outhouse from the top:

I climbed down from the flat mountain top and scrambled around the perimeter of the summit looking for the outhouse. It didn't take long to see that it would be far too dangerous to build an outhouse there so I stood on the summit looking for a more suitable location. That's when I saw the trail to the outhouse. When heading down the trail from the top, stay right on the ridge.

[deconinc]

Sweet. We were the group of three. Looks like everyone is here now. Our trip report (mostly just pics) is here. We also tried to find the outhouse. Went in the right direction, but it got too icy to get there safely.

[Sadie's Driver]

GT - Just so you know, if you had been in the Sawtooths (Id) with Jasper you would be "legally" off-leash.

Seems a reasonable compromise!

s.d.