Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:50 am Mixed Welcome (Welcome Pass Points 5743, 5933, 5854) 2/17/08
Three dogs herded their people to various points above Welcome Pass today:
Jasper’s Group, Point 5933: GeoTom, don b, Randy, mtnmike, Suzanne R, Fay P
Dougie’s Group, Point 5743: Ian & Mary Jane McK, Greg & Sara K, Lori J
Dakota’s Group, Point 5854: paultkuhn, Matt, Natala G, Juan E
This trip report could also be titled "Little Black Dots on Long White Ridges." After the group divided at Welcome Pass, we could see each other on the opposite ridge as smaller and smaller black dots leaving a trail of white tracks further and further into the distance. Even a couple miles away, those receding black dots were just barely visible against the white crest.
This was the third time to Welcome Pass for me:
First time, the crest was a soft mystery of fresh-falling flakes, it’s edges and ends disappearing into shifting curtains of mist and snow.
Second time, the crest was a wind-carved sculpture of rippled crust and corniced waves, surrounded by shoals of snowy peaks under clear cold skies.
Third time, the crest was a gleaming banquet of bright whipped cream and folds of satiny silk, swooping along the ridges and soaring up the faces of the peaks, all basking under warm deep blue skies.
The greatest dilemma was whether to keep exploring further for the beautiful views, or just luxuriate longer in the wonderfully warm sunshine.
As before, we parked by SR542 (2000ft), hiked about ¾ of a mile up the road to the trailhead (2500), and another ¾ mile where the trail follows another road. We missed the point where the trail leaves the road (3000), found it a hundred feet uphill, followed it awhile, then lost it again (circa 3500), and made our own route the rest of the way to the pass (5350).
A strong group kicked steps all the way up to the summit. Directly up. With big long steps. No matter how steep. With nary a concession to such trivialities as switchbacks. Alas, they soon were too far ahead to hear the pleas for mercy or cries of outrage from the us normal humans trailing along behind.
From the pass, Jasper’s group headed east to Point 5933.
Dougal’s group, arriving later, headed the same direction, but stopped on the flats near Point 5743.
I joined Dakota’s group to head west and north to Point 5854.
Along the way, we could look east and watch the tiny black dots of the other parties moving higher and cutting a bright track up to the end of their ridge.
Paul kicked steps all the way to the top. The warm damp snow was stable, tended to cling to one’s snowshoes like concrete.
The route to 5854 turned out to be easy – a walk westward on the main ridge, a curve to the right to get around a steep corner, and then a hike northward up to the summit. The final ridge was almost an arête, with a minor cornice and lots of snowball tracks down the side slopes, but nothing loose. The summit had a nice flat area just below the top, with a few rock and snow outcrops for decoration.
We relaxed for an hour on the summit, basking in the warm sunshine and bright views.
Views of the other groups (if you enlarge the photos, you can see the little black dot people:
Views of surrounding peaks:
Reluctantly we departed.
Loathe to leave too soon, I ambled over to the 5600 closed contour a little further west on the main ridge, dwadling to watch how the afternoon sun dimpled the snowbanks and stretched long shadows from the trees. The melt patterns on the trees also showed the sun’s one-sided impact.
From here, I could see all three of the destinations I’ve explored near Welcome Pass
Then I followed my own lengthening shadow back down to the pass
The moon rose over the ridge, where wide lanes of tracks led back from 5933.
Dropping down from the pass went quick. On the lower slopes, the snow had softened and compressed enough to allow about 500 feet of easy glissading right through the trees. When we hit the road part of the trail, I got a picture of Dougie’s group, since I’d missed them earlier. After crossing the creek at 2850, we angled downhill on a shortcut suggested by mtnmike, which cut off a loop of road walking and brought us back to the road below the trailhead.
Chronology: Depart cars 8:45am, arrive Welcome Pass 12:00pm, arrive Point 5854 1:24pm, depart 2:30pm, side trip to 5600 2:55pm, return to Welcome Pass 3:25pm, return to cars 5:05pm
Stats: 9 miles, 4300 gain, 8:15 hrs
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 2998 | TRs | Pics Location: Back to work
Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:49 am
Thanks Matt for organizing this outing, and to Paul for driving and Dakota for putting up with Jasper. And to Fay for retrieving the shovel handle that jumped ship off my pack.
A strenuous day for me, but well worth the effort. Glad I applied sunscreen too.
Matt, really enjoyed your description of the different conditions on each of your trips to Welcome. Sounds like third time is indeed a charm.
Looks like a great outing with a lot of nice folks and furry friends.
Gorgeous cup of tea, too.
-------------- .....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
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