Forum Index > Trip Reports > Iron Mountain and Conglomerate Point 01/03-04/11
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Yana
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Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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Yana
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 10:30 am 
I wasn't able to enjoy the outdoors during the glorious weather of the weekend, so I decided to head out on a trip Monday and Tuesday while the weather was still decent. I chose Iron Mountain and Conglomerate Point for several reasons: 1. I needed a destination with a short drive since I had a morning commitment that prevented me from leaving early. 2. dicey and I had been turned back on Iron about a year ago and she vehemently refuses to go back up the logging road, so I chose it knowing she wasn't available for a trip and thus wouldn't feel like I'd done something she wanted to do without her. 3. I knew from photos that the summit of Iron had good views - a must for summit bivies. Approximate route map here. The roads don't show up in the 'terrain' feature but do show up on the 'topo' feature. The approach for Iron Mountain begins just before the washout of the Index-Galena road and just after the road crosses Trout Creek. This is six miles past the turn off from Highway 2. All six miles were on compact snow and ice, but easily driveable with a little extra care. I arrived at 0900 to find the gate of the road ajar, but I parked anyway since I'm pretty sure this road is not supposed to be vehicle accessible to the public. The not quite a mile to the old logging road turn off went quickly, and I took a left on the disaster of a logging road reminiscent of Dirty Harry's road, but with bigger drainage issues. Someone had recently gone around the unsubtle rock barricade with their ORV and driven up this road several hundred vertical feet. rant.gif Curiously, they had stopped just as the road gets much better. I was gratified to note that they had left a sizeable portion of their bumper behind. In addition to the obvious vehicle tracks, I had noticed boot tracks heading up as well. Whoever it was had decided they had had enough at about 2780' at a switchback before turning around. I put on snowshoes a bit before that at around 2600'. The snow wasn't very deep here, maybe about six inches, but the snowshoes definitely expedited my progress. I was pleased with the time I was making, especially lugging an overnight pack. I had incentive not to stop for long, anyway - the road stays on the "cold" side of the mountain for quite some time before finally swinging onto slightly sun warmed south slopes.
stripes of sun
stripes of sun
Above 3000' the snow deepend and my progress slowed. The last mile was especially difficult, particularly after the left turn at 3400' onto what is a brushier road. The impediments (trees, brush) actually weren't too bad with the current amount of snow, but trail breaking became a chore of gargantuan proportions. I felt like I was crawling along and, of course, being alone meant that there was no one to trade off trail breaking duties with. I was beginning to lose hope that I would make it to the summit before I ran out of daylight at the pace I was going. Still, I plowed on, counting steps to keep myself motivated. It was an exercise in patience, the first of many I was going to encounter on this trip. The road eventually rounds a corner into a clearcut basin. From here, I took a bearing toward the saddle SE of Iron Mountain. My bearing conveniently pointed to a big tree at the edge of the clearcut, so up I went, keeping the tree in sight. Shockingly, the snow was actually somewhat consolidated in the clearcut and I was able to make much better time than I anticipated given my crawl so far. It was still slow going, however. Once I reached my bearing tree, I headed straight uphill toward the ridgeline. I was now back in the trees and the snow varied from deep, unconsolidated powder to deep, unconsolidated powder under a tough crust. I was forced to make lots of switchbacks as the unconsolidated snow made it impossible to go straight uphill. This is something I'm not used to, and required a lot of patience and extra effort. It's a lot less exhausting to go straight uphills as it requires fewer steps and less traversing. It took a lot of patience and self-discipline to not just try to go straight uphill, but a few failed efforts convinced me that it was worth it. I reached the ridge at about 1420, which gave me slight hope that I could make the summit by nightfall. After all, I had "only" 500' vertical feet to go. The ridge is mostly treed, especially in the beginning, and would be fairly simple snowshoeing in more consolidated conditions. I continued to have to zig zag up the slope, ocassionally bypassing small rock outcrops to the left (south). There are a couple of spots that could be tricky in worse avalanche conditions. About the time that my altimeter claimed I should be nearing the summit, I approached a beautiful point of snow devoid of trees. It took a while to flail up the deep powder, and then I discovered it wasn't the summit. It was very scenic, though, and I could see the summit from it, not too much higher. At this point, minor crags block the ridge route. I dropped down a bit on the left (south), though with the current cornice conditions it looks like you might be able to go to the right (north) as well. The traverse was okay but another spot where I would think twice about going in high avy danger. I regained the ridge and followed it to the summit, where I collapsed in a greatful heap at 1541. It had taken me almost an hour and a half to gain the last 500'! Ouch! It seems strangely unfair that, in winter, you need more time to get to where you're going and yet you have much less daylight. The summit has excellent views - nearby you are bracketed by Gunn and Merchant, as well as the deep valley below them, and the inspiring and scary Spire Mountain. Further views include many Mountain Loop peaks to the north and northwest and Alpine Lakes peaks to the south and southeast.
tracks and Spire Benchmark summit
tracks and Spire Benchmark summit
Spire
Spire
Gunn and Merchant
Gunn and Merchant
Mountain Loop peaks
Mountain Loop peaks
The summit is not overly large but has an almost flat spot already on it, thus making the task of setting up my bivy pretty simple. Good thing, too, as sunset was approaching and I needed to engage in some excessive photography, of course. The best part was that I could complete said photography from the comfort of my sleeping bag! up.gif up.gif
summit bivy
summit bivy
Sunset did not disappoint, painting all the peaks to the north and east of me a beautiful pink color and providing some interesting cloud color as well. I would take a few photos, then warm my fingers back up before picking up the camera again. It was an interesting routine - I really had to pace myself and not take too many photos at once lest my fingers turned into useless icicles - yet another exercise in patience.
tracks
tracks
Mmmm... ice cream!
Mmmm... ice cream!
clouds on fire
clouds on fire
Glacier Peak and company at dusk
Glacier Peak and company at dusk
bright contrails
bright contrails
Olymics
Olymics
Luckily, other than the finger temperature management, I had no problem staying warm all night. The temperatures were milder than predicted (the low dropped to only 22F) and I had come well-prepared in the clothes department. As the light died, I fired up the stove and began melting snow. Talk about another exercise in patience - it took me two hours to melt enough snow for water for the next day as well as to warm some of it up enough to use for dinner. I only own a canister stove, and though it kept going pretty well, it definitely wasn't its robust self in the sub-freezing temperatures, despite the fact that I had it insulated from the snow (another wonderful feature of the MSR Denali snowshoes - they make a great, flat deck for putting a stove on). I went to sleep surprisingly easily at the early hour of 1840! What else is there to do in the dark and cold? I did wake up around midnight and enjoyed the meteor shower. I didn't even know there was one, but luckily I very briefly caught GeoHiker's post in the morning before I left, so I knew to look for it. Thanks, GeoHiker! Eventually clouds rolled in so I went back to sleep, thinking I was in for dreary skies for the rest of my trip, but I woke up again later to clear skies and more meteorites. up.gif up.gif Around 0630, light began to fill the southeastern sky and I propped myself up and waited for the show. There was a band of clouds that promised great sunrise colors, and I was not disappointed. Alpenglow ensued once more, much to my delight.
Good morning!
Good morning!
Stuart and weird clouds
Stuart and weird clouds
rosy glow
rosy glow
peach
peach
Daniel and Hinman
Daniel and Hinman
symmetry at dawn
symmetry at dawn
Three Fingers
Three Fingers
Sloan
Sloan
Merchant, Gunn, and valley
Merchant, Gunn, and valley
Gunnshy Peak
Gunnshy Peak
Gunn Peak
Gunn Peak
alpenglow north
alpenglow north
It was nice of the clouds to wait for the spectacular sunrise to occur before rolling in around 0830. Visibility was still good as they were high clouds, but the light was flat - your typical winter day (without the snow/rain). After packing up, I descended back to the saddle, marveling at how painless going downhill was in comparison to my flailfest of the previous day. I stashed most of my overnight gear here and continued on the ridge toward Conglomerate Point. The ridge is gentle and mostly treed, with minor ups and downs and a couple of small crags to go around (always on climber's right). The undulation brought to the forefront another unique feature of winter trips - the need to constantly regulate your temperature by putting on clothes or taking off clothes. I'm not sure how many times I put on or took off mittens in this section, but it was a lot. When I had to stop for a food break, I'd immediately put on clothes, then I couldn't take them off right away before starting to walk because I wasn't warm enough yet. Of course, in a few minutes, I was plenty warm and had to stop and disrobe. No wonder snow trips take so damn long! embarassedlaugh.gif The ridge takes a weird jog before turning toward Conglomerate Point, from which point it's more of a wide slope than ridge. This part is especially scenic and gently angled, passing through open areas and groves of trees. The left side of the ridge is often a precipice with views of various bits of Spire Mountain and the deep valley in which tiny Howard Lake is nestled.
scary Spire
scary Spire
Interesting skiing terrain, but you have to get there
Interesting skiing terrain, but you have to get there
Iron Mountain and the ridge to Conglomerate Point
Iron Mountain and the ridge to Conglomerate Point
Olympics
Olympics
The last few hundred vertical feet have a couple of steeper portions that again involved some ridiculous zig zagging. The summit itself appears to be a rock outcropping and was a bit corniced - definitely pay attention here unless you want to take the express route to Howard Lake.
Conglomerate Point from lower on the ridge
Conglomerate Point from lower on the ridge
me treading carefully
me treading carefully
watch your step
watch your step
summit from the south
summit from the south
cloud stripe above the Mountain Loop
cloud stripe above the Mountain Loop
I originally had aspirations to continue on the ridge and attempt Spire Mountain Benchmark (this was when I was considering doing a three day trip instead of two), but given the slow trailbreaking, impending weather doom, and the fact that I was alone, I was content to stop here. I plowed happily downhill, admiring my even uphill snowshoe track - it looked like it was made by a robot, every step perfectly measured to be the same length. People make fun of me for counting steps, but it's really good for providing efficiency and purpose to the whole thing. I ambled back to my overnight gear and regretfully put it back into my pack. It had been so much easier with a ligher pack. Oh well, at least it was all downhill from here. In fact, the descent was amazingly painless. It took only two hours to get back to the car from here, and this was including food, water, and photography stops. The road has some pretty impressive icicles and frozen water features that I took the time to admire on the way down.
ice pillows
ice pillows
icy waterfall
icy waterfall
teeth
teeth
nature's geometry
nature's geometry
Despite the shortness of the descent, I had turned into somewhat of a zombie for the last mile and a half or so, slipping on the treacherous snow-covered rocks in the roadbed and just ready to be at my car. This is when the moments most likely to induce injury occurred as I slipped on several unexpectedly icy spots caused by the ORV's tires and nearly bit it. Disaster was averted, however, by my magical balance skillz. Or possibly sheer luck. clown.gif

PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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kite
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kite
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 11:08 am 
Wow!

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JimK
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 11:14 am 
Very nice report. Snow camping on a summit is a whole lot of fun. Difficult when solo snowshoeing with an overnight pack. Some really good lighting and great pics too.

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Guiran
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 11:27 am 
Awesome! Would skis make the approach/depproach any easier/faster?

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Yana
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Yana
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 11:31 am 
Thanks for the replies, all. JimK - I know you're quite fond of another Iron for overnights. hockeygrin.gif Guiran - not unless there was substantially more snow lower down. This road is actually very efficient, for a road - it gains over 3000' in under four miles.

PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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wildernessed
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 11:57 am 
up.gif Nice !

Living in the Anthropocene
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Redwic
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Redwic
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 12:01 pm 
Great job! Great location! Great photos! up.gif up.gif up.gif

60 pounds lighter but not 60 points brighter.
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veronika
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 12:06 pm 
+++ Awesome pictures and great report! If it makes you feel better, I count steps too. I thought I was the only one! But I have no clue why I do it. dizzy.gif

Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
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Matt
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Matt
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 12:53 pm 
That's quite an undertaking solo. Great job describing the experience of snowshoeing - snow, steps, tracks, temps, etc. I've tried counting steps, but it makes me feel more tired. Looks like a cold summit bivy, especially with the slow stove. Glad the clouds stayed back to give you the sunset & sunrise views. The ice crystals at the end are cool, too.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Hulksmash
Cleaning up.



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Hulksmash
Cleaning up.
PostWed Jan 05, 2011 1:21 pm 
Dam! up.gif up.gif That road alone is one long it seems to take for ever. Being in such horrible shape does not help. Thanks for reminding me i need to get back up there.

"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog Albuterol! it's the 11th essential
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dicey
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 1:26 pm 
Oooh! Like Shiney!! up.gif That road, however, can bite me gag.gif

I'm not always sure I like being older but being less stupid has advantages. http://www.flickr.com/photos/32121172@N00/sets/
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Rainie Too!
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Rainie Too!
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 1:34 pm 
I have the utmost admiration for you Yana. You may be my new inspiration! I have yet to solo overnight in the winter....and frankly did not think breaking trail alone was a possibility. I am newly motivated to set my goals higher! Thank you for sharing this! up.gif up.gif up.gif

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Sadie's Driver
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Sadie's Driver
Sadie's Driver
PostWed Jan 05, 2011 2:29 pm 
I am duly impressed with this little mid-winter madness! Fabulous. Love the pics! up.gif I want to be just like you when I grow up!! borank.gif borank.gif hink.gif agree.gif winksmile.gif

Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
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naturealbeing
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PostWed Jan 05, 2011 2:50 pm 
Spectactular! Yana, You are to incredible for words. Having been in that area a few times and knowing the beauty that surrounds Iron Peak gives me a true appreciation of the efforts you made. Your writing envelopes me in a sense of being part of your experience and that is a real pleasure to take part in. Thank you for taking the time to let me experience your trip through your words and the images you so generously blessed my eyes with. Namaste

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Mtn Man
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Mtn Man
Snow addict
PostWed Jan 05, 2011 3:56 pm 
Ahhh, just so much hate to embrace in this thread for the #1 hater. I hate you too, with all my heart, horrible job winksmile.gif B)

Mmmmm, backcountry...
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