Forum Index > Trip Reports > Surprise and Spark Plug 5/31
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Justus S.
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Justus S.
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 11:08 am 
May 31, 2008 Destinations: Surprise Mountain, Spark Plug Mountain It was another beautiful weekend and once again I found myself up Hwy 2 for a hike. I pulled off at the road for Surprise Creek. Progress was stopped about one quarter mile short of the trailhead sign due to downed trees and snow. After getting all my gear together, I decided, I should take one of those start of the hike photos. I pulled out my camera and my heart sank. The camera felt light, and I immediately knew I had left my batteries in the charger at home. Grrr, this was the second time this year I wouldn’t be able to take pictures. Oh well, there was some hiking to do. I hiked the road which wasn’t too long of a walk. The first half-mile of trail had patchy snow and was easy to follow. The snow then became continuous, but I was still able to follow old tracks and see where the trail was leading. About one mile in the trail crosses to the east side of Surprise Creek. A log bridge still remains for getting across. After crossing, there where a few old tracks visible here and there but for the most part it was just easier to make my own way along the creek. Travel was easy and straightforward, and I was able to reach the lake in 2hours, much to my surprise. The lake was still heavily snow covered. The edges had sky blue patches of water. The thaw appears to have begun. I made my way around the east shore heading for Glacier Lake. I reached the Glacier Lake area fairly quickly. My route had me traversing high along the east shore. This led me to the bottom of the large open basin that runs up to Surprise Gap. I love basins like this. This section was sweet, with the cliffs of Surprise Mtn on the right, the crags of Thunder mtn to the left, and Glacier Peak in the distance to the rear. I just soaked it in. Upon reaching the gap it was a bit disappointing since there where a bunch of trees on the other side. I took a brief rest and looked through the trees at Daniel and Cathedral Rock. With the gap reached, it was only a short distance to the summit. The five hundred feet of gain went quickly as I was motivated by the increasing views. The peaks of Daniel and Hinman, even this far away, seemed huge and impressive. Once on top I sat on some metal pipe thingy and took in the scenery of the distant frozen lakes and snowy peaks. Even though Surprise has some trees blocking the views to the southwest, the views, overall, are nice. Also, springtime snow covering the top makes things better. With my stay on Surprise completed I made my way in the direction of Spark Plug. I easily dropped to where the summertime trail crosses between the two peaks. Enroute, I also noted what a nice glissade could be had if I had chosen to drop to Glacier Lake. The route over to the summit was a bit of up, down, and around. I was quite happy to have continued as the summit wasn’t half bad. I checked out the views for a bit and then feeling a little tired found a nice open patch of ground to take a nap. I awoke from my rest feeling better and then made for Spark Plug Lake. From the summit I was able to glissade most of the way to the lake. Boy was that fun. At the lake outlet I dropped my pack and headed up to Pt 6016 because it looked interesting on the map. I’m not sure of a name for this little point; therefore, I dubbed it Little Plug Mtn to go along with the rest of the names in the area. After this brief side trip I dropped toward Little Plug Lake and then dropped down the obvious drainage to the main trail. From Spark Plug Lake all the way to the main trail I was for the most part able to glissade. There was so much glissading that I almost had to give it up cause of a cold rear. I crossed the main creek on a snow bridge and connected back with my earlier tracks. It was then just an exercise to hike back to the car. A great trip! Notes: Trip Time 8.25hrs, no need for snowshoes. All the lakes are beginning to thaw around the edges.
Map, route in green
Map, route in green

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wildernessed
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 11:57 am 
That is a scenic trip. Can't smell the dead horse yet, eh ! I wanted to drop down to Spark Plug and Little Plug Lake and go out that way last year, but we back tracked, my partner was just recovering from a bad ankle sprain, and was happy with his progress and wanted to keep it that way. hockeygrin.gif

Living in the Anthropocene
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naturealbeing
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 12:27 pm 
Thats a great loop trip, especially at this time of year with the conditions the way they are. Justus, your telling us that you sat on top of this.
The Seat of Justus, 8.14.07.
The Seat of Justus, 8.14.07.
Time to keep an extra set of batteries in your pack Dude! Just to add some color to your report minus the snow. Cheers!

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Justus S.
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 12:56 pm 
W, huh.gif if there where a dead horse one can't smell it burried under all that snow. NB, lol.gif nice caption. The seat looks funny in that picture. Yesterday, it was only poking out about two feet. Yeah, I should start carrying some extra batteries. The problem is my flashlight and headlamp I carry use AAAs so the doubles don't make it in.

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Andy D.
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 3:10 pm 
Nice work Justus, sounds like a fun trip. I'll have to add that one to my list!

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Beave
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 6:03 pm 
Cool trip Justus. I still have to run up and do Suprise sometime this year. Maybe later after the fall colors start coming in. Bummer about the camera, I would have enjoyed seeing some pics. I run a total AA kit so I can swap between headlamp, GPS and camera if needed.

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kathyb/oldgrrrl
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 9:04 pm 
had the camera, but didn't make the lake...
surprise_necklace valley-07
surprise_necklace valley-07
surprise_necklace valley-08
surprise_necklace valley-08
surprise_necklace valley-09
surprise_necklace valley-09
surprise_necklace valley-10
surprise_necklace valley-10
surprise_necklace valley-11
surprise_necklace valley-11
embarrassed to say... the snow made me nervous. I'm only happy when my boots are hitting dirt, and I don't have to guess where the trail is. I'll try again in about a month. We bailed on Surprise and hiked a bit at Necklace Valley, instead.

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Matt
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PostSun Jun 01, 2008 9:19 pm 
Too bad about the batteries. I make it a deliberate ritual to always turn on the camera and look at it before I pack it. I haven't yet forgotten the batteries, but once almost departed with the memory card still stuck in my computer's card reader. Good trip anyway. Your map has an intriguing collection of extra route lines on it.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Slide Alder Slayer
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PostMon Jun 02, 2008 12:12 pm 
Too bad about the camera battery, be that as it may, brilliant trip report!

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