[TrailPair]

We were in the sun today more that we were out of it. There were clouds all around but we were in the right spot. We picked up Joe at the Preston Park and Ride. This is a good meeting place, just off I-90 at the Preston exit. After quickly loading his gear we were on our way. It was rainy and nasty crossing the pass, making us apprehensive about today's choice for a hike. By the time we reached Easton, things were looking much better. Turning off at the Roslyn exit, we drove on toward Salman la Sac, taking the right fork just after the guard station. The road is a bit rough and pot holed but passable. We drove to the Davis Trail Head...no snow on the road. By 9:20 we were on the trail. After crossing the bridge over Cle Elum River, the trail goes up and up, switchback after swithcback. We hit the first patches of snow at about elevation 4,400 ft. We lost the trail about 300 feet higher and crossed a boulder field. Seeing the trail a bit below us we downclimbed and continued on the trail up to the ridge. Here we were on continuous snow. Route finding was straight forward from here. At the upper end of the ridge, we downclimbed about 100 feet into the basin. When we started climbing toward the look-out it was simply following the line of least resistance. After arriving at the look-out, Joe was not feeling adventurous, so he stayed behind while Niko, K and I continued on toward the summit, staying high on the ridge...but not too close to the edge. There was a steep side slope to contend with, then a rock scramble and finallly the last slope to the summit. I went up first. A gust of wind blew my hat off and it landed in a moat. I could see it, but it couldn't be retrieved. I miss that hat. After I donwclimbed Niko went up and then K took a turn. We then returned to the look-out where Joe was waiting, and quickly descended back to the trail head.

switchback after switchback

off route - a little

trail, sometimes snow covered

down to basin

climbing up out of basin

K climbing up to look-out

looking at route down to basin

K at look-out

Tricky slope to cross

Ridge to summit

Bob hiking up the ridge toward summit

approaching rock scramble

Rock scramble

Niko approaching summit

Niko on summit

K on ridge

steep descent

looking toward Esmerelda

frosted trees in June-uary

Bob climbing toward look-out

climbing up out of basin

Diostance: 12 miles Elevation gain: 4200 feet.

[Opus]

The moats on Davis claim another victim - first snaring a labradoodle, now taking your hat! Glad you guys found some sun, we weren't sure looking off into dark clouds from up on Esmeralda. Looks like a fun scramble too.

[Joe]

It was a fun trip today and the weather was better than I expected. No rain and only a few snow flurries near the summit. My Trip Stats: 11 miles with 4300 feet elevation gain (4135 in and 170 out). 7 hours and 24 minutes car to car. The rest of the crew probably logged another 8/10 mile tagging the true summit.

Cle-Elum-river

bob-on-bridge

Calypso-Orchid

flowers

Cle-Elum-Lake

trail

views4

pondering-the-ridge

K-climbing

views6

looking-back-at-ridge

tree1

lunch-time

Cle-Elum-Lake2

snowing-on-summit

summit-shelter

tree3

summit-views1

summit-views2

summit-views3

glacier-lily

Davis-Peak-route

[MLHSN]

Cool trip The rock scramble looks like fun. Sorry to here about your hat I have a terrible time finding hats that fit so loosing one is a tramatic experience for me.

[Matt]

Glad you guys got at least some sun.

[EastKing]

Looked like a fun trip!! Great trip report!!

[wildernessed]

I have always wanted to do that peak, but haven't gotten over there. Caught a burn in the Sawtooths, decent cloud deck, but it looked socked in to the W - SW.

[loper]

Hi Trail Pair, We went up Davis today and the snow level was amazingly different in just a short week. We did not get to any real amt snow till about 5600ft and were not on constant snow until we dropped off the ridge into the basin. The lady bugs at the lookout were in full force. Must have been a gazilliion of them out there. Then on to the summit for another short stay before heading down. I looked for your hat but didn't see it. L

[TrailPair]

The darn hat must have fallen deeper into the moat! But I got a new one. B