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GeoTom Member
Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 3215 | TRs | Pics Location: Earth |
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GeoTom
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Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:42 am
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2-legger: GeoTom
Roller in snow: Jasper
Access: Highway 2 > Foss River Road #68 > Road #6830 > Spur #310
Maps: Green Trails #175 Skykomish and #176 Stevens Pass
Trails/Route: Tonga Ridge Trail #1058 > Mt. Sawyer Trail > Off-trail travel > Tonga Ridge Trail again
Summits: Mt. Sawyer (5,501) and Mt. Finn (5,280+)
Mileage: A little less than 6
Elevation Gain: GPS said ~2,800 total, which seems a bit high to me but who can question technology?
The story
The weather forecast was not encouraging for the weekend, and Saturday was spent at home raking leaves and trowing frisbees for Jasper. We needed something more before the work week started again, and decided to check out Tonga Ridge and Mt. Sawyer before the roads became totally snow covered.
Fortunately I wasn't texting while driving as we came to a sudden stop when I saw this about 4 miles up Road 6830:
We got out, assessed the situation, then drove around.
After safely driving around the obstruction, we soon reached the empty trailhead and set off hiking with some wet snowflakes falling from above. The views were limited, so we kept moving until we reached the junction with the Mt. Sawyer Trail. Somehow I lost the trail less than 50 vertical feet from the top, but we pushed on and soon found ourselves gazing at the nearby clouds from Mt. Sawyer's summit. I ate a sandwich, Jasper had a few treats, and I placed a call to Dani to share the good news of our summit conquest.
Follow the stubby tailed dog Snow roll! Brightness behind the clouds Berries On the Mt. Sawyer Trail I. Want. The. Treat. Leave the fingers!
Since it was still early I decided to try for the unofficially named Mt. Finn. I would have liked to have been able to see the peak before heading towards it, but the weather gods had other ideas. We tried to stay on the crest of the ridge connecting Sawyer and Finn, but a rocky section a couple hundred feet below Sawyer's summit posed a problem. If dry we may not have given it a second thought, but the thin snow on top of the rocks wasn't appealing to me or my stout friend. We descended below the obstacle to the south, and managed to reach the saddle between Tom and Huck without incident, other than getting soaked from the wet vegetation.
I looked up and was surprised to be able to see Finn looming overhead. We picked up the pace a little and soon found ourselves on the top of Mt. Finn. Or so I thought at first. While taking a break I checked the GPS and noticed that we were actually on the point marked as 5,258 on the map, and the actual summit of Finn was few hundred feet to the west and maybe 30 feet higher. As the clouds came and went I could even see a slightly higher treed bump where Finn should be, so I told Jasper that we would walk over the top of it on our way back. In the spirit of the peak names, I decided to call Pt. 5,258 Becky. Silly, but it sounds better than Injun Joe or Muff Potter.
Route to Finn from Sawyer It's getting brighter... A Mt. Finn sighting Almost to the top of Finn Sawyer from Finn Jasper admires the views
Thoroughly unimpressed with the views from the actual Mt. Finn summit, I didn't even bother getting the camera out of my pocket. The batteries were on their deathbed anyway. I thought it would be a quick and easy descent back to the Tonga Ridge Trail, but somehow I kept wanting to descend further right than I needed to. A check of my GPS track corrected my internal navigation error, and shortly I tripped over the trail. Jasper led the way back to the truck with a snow/rain mix assaulting us (again, it was falling from above).
A milkshake at Zeke's and some more frisbee tossing in the backyard completed the day.
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Go Jo of the lykkens
Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 2248 | TRs | Pics Location: Around The Bend |
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Go Jo
of the lykkens
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Mon Nov 08, 2010 2:59 pm
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GeoTom wrote: | A milkshake at Zeke's |
I was thinking of doing a variation of this trip (minus the actual hiking & peak bagging) and wondered if I could get a little beta concerning which route you chose flavor-wise?
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Sadie's Driver Sadie's Driver
Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1763 | TRs | Pics Location: Welcome Pass |
GeoTom wrote: | Route to Finn from Sawyer |
I think you ought to do a "Find Jasper In This Photo" contest! This time of year, it would be hard to spot him, so to speak.
Nice trip - always wondered about that other little bump!
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
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woutervw In search of trips
Joined: 02 Oct 2010 Posts: 217 | TRs | Pics Location: Sammamish, WA |
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woutervw
In search of trips
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Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:44 pm
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GeoTom wrote: | Snow roll! |
Dogs are all the same. I keep wondering if Zoey makes snow-dogs or dog-angels.
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Type E Member
Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 1381 | TRs | Pics
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Type E
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Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:54 pm
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I see the snow has melted quite a bit since I was there. Did you see any sign of my footprints?
E
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GeoTom Member
Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 3215 | TRs | Pics Location: Earth |
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GeoTom
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Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:22 pm
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Go Jo wrote: | I was thinking of doing a variation of this trip (minus the actual hiking & peak bagging) and wondered if I could get a little beta concerning which route you chose flavor-wise? |
First I leaned towards raspberry as I had enjoyed one only a couple weeks earlier, but I decided to try something different. Then I thought about espresso, but it was getting late in the day and I didn't want to be awake all night, so I finally settled on chocolate. Yum.
Sadie's Driver wrote: | I think you ought to do a "Find Jasper In This Photo" contest! |
To be fair, the photo you picked doesn't even have Jasper in it.
woutervw wrote: | Dogs are all the same. I keep wondering if Zoey makes snow-dogs or dog-angels. |
I asked Jasper, but he didn't respond.
Type E wrote: | I see the snow has melted quite a bit since I was there. Did you see any sign of my footprints? |
I did see some old footprint impressions near the top of Sawyer and again as I was descending Finn.
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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:02 pm
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:15 am
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Good to hear from you and Jasper.
Nice job naming the peaks.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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