rossb Member
Joined: 23 Sep 2002 Posts: 1679 | TRs | Pics
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rossb
Member
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Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:26 pm
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I had planned on hiking to Hawkins Mountain, but it was socked in clouds all day, so I stopped on the shoulder (right before it gets steep).
There is spotty snow almost from the beginning of the DeRoux Creek trail (about 4800 feet). There are plenty of bare spots, but the mounds are pretty big as well (several feet). It is easy to navigate, and getting easier, as a lot of people have gone through (and most of them are going the right way). The dicey section that Bryan mentioned (https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7967277) is still dicey, but not as bad as it was when he did it (because of melting and because the steps kicked into the side of the hill are fairly pronounced). A little while after the dicey part, you cross the creek (it is easy to do so). On the other side, there is solid snow (about 5200 feet). It would have been a pain to carry skis this far, but it would have been nice to have them at that point (the bowl under Hawkins would make a fine ski).
I took a gradual ascent, sometimes following the trail, and then crossed the creek again, as I headed towards Gallagher Head. I probably could have made a more direct heading to my destination, but by heading towards Gallagher Head, the route finding is easy. Once below Gallagher, I just headed left (west) until I ran into the ridge that ascends to Hawkins. I found a spot to ascend the ridge (a spot that didn't have a cornice) and walked up the easy ridge until about 100 yards before it gets steep. This top section had been in the clouds all day and I was hoping it would lift. After about 3:30, I decided that it wasn't going to lift (or I wasn't going to wait for it to lift) and headed down. I then ran across a couple snowmobilers who had come up via Salmon La Sac. On the way down, I wandered over to the pass area next to Gallagher Head and climbed a little ridge to get a better view north and towards Stuart (northeast). Stuart was mostly in the clouds and there was a lot of snow in my face coming from the north (there was plenty of blowing snow that day in general).
The route down was fun, with plenty of glissading and giant stepping. The trail below is in good shape. There are a few blow downs, but none are too bad. I managed to break apart one big, rotten log and cut the branches off the worst log (I carry a little saw this time of year) so things should be a bit better now. Of course, the snow may be covering a few blow downs as well. I'll add pictures later (I need to sort through them).
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