[raising3hikers]

I got out by myself today. I had to give the boys the weekend off from hiking so they'll be ready to go next weekend. I left my house at 4:45 this morning to go to Whitehorse Mountain. I've driven by it a few times and wanted to get a closer view. I was thinking about a possible summit attempt but due to the very sloppy conditions and avy danger, that will have to wait. I started hiking a little before 6 a.m. at the bridge that is blocked off. The distance to the Neiderprum TH is about 1.25 miles of easy road walking. At the TH, the trail gets steep in a hurry. After many switchbacks, the trail goes through an open area where the snow starts at around 2400'. A little time in the woods and another open slope is there to keep climbing. There are good views of Whitehorse and the Darrington valley from here. I put my snowshoes on cause it was better than post-holing the entire way. I ran into a couple a climbers that turned around after a tough night on the mountain.

Whitehorse

first light in the woods

looking over Darrington

I kept on going up the slope and knew I wouldn't be summiting today because I saw some little avalanches going down the glacier on Whitehorse. When I got to another steep slope before Lone Tree Pass, I saw that there had already been many slides that took most of the thick slabs down. So I traverse to the pass and took a little break there.

Whitehorse

White Chuck Mtn.

Mt. Baker

The view improved with the elevation and I was able to see Baker and Shuksan in between the clouds. There were many peaks also visible in the North Cascades. Too many to count. I began walking along the ridge and climbing some of the lookout hills to see the mountains better. I wondered around for about an hour before turning around. I heard some loud slides and was glad I didn't try to go any further today.

looking back at Lone Tree Pass

Whitehorse glacier

Whitehorse

The way back was a lot quicker cause I was able to glissade 100's of feet at a time. I ran into another guy going to the pass and he said there is a lot more snow at this time than there usually is. Back through the woods, I enjoyed spring coming around. The ferns are growing and the skunk cabbage is very fragrant. I got back to the truck at 1 p.m. and went home. 9.5 miles- 5500 elevation gain in 7 hours

ferns

swamp

[silence]

NICE ... great tr and pix .. wh has fast become a fave mountain for us .... in fact it's one of the stars of our movie .. and i've had my eye on a summit for a couple of yrs .. ha it's on my calendar for coming up soon now ...

[Gabigabs]

Very nice report and pics. Thanks for sharing.

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Thanks for this report.

[Magellan]

Mmmmmmm, Whitehorse. I think we will try it in 2010.

[puzzlr]

[tmatlack]

[peltoms]

Very straight tracks going around crevasse, smarter than the average bear. Nice shots of upper whitehorse. Must have big plans next weekend if the boys needed to rest up.

[raising3hikers]

[bobbi]

sometimes it's great to go out and hike without the boys! i'm sure they are excited about their upcoming 3 day backpack trip. if you didn't read this...i think this is the same Thunder Creek you mentioned. raz2sea's thunder creek TR thanks~

[Layback]

Thanks for the TR. What are your thoughts on the ability to establish a campsite at Lone Tree Pass? Is there a suitable place there or nearby? I've been told the answer to that is yes, but I'm curious what you experienced. Do you have any pics of the area that you didn't post? I'm leading a 2-day up there in 2 weeks. Thanks again for the TR!

[raising3hikers]

[Don]

[Schroder]