[woutervw]

A great forecast for today. Avalanche danger only moderate. Would today be the day I get to summit and enjoy some views? I picked Lichtenberg Mountain. The trail reports I read all seemed interesting. And last year when I tried to reach Lake Valhalla I got lost in the fog and ascended pt5362 as a consolation price. So another visit to the area seemed appropriate. I reached the TH about half an hour later than I planned, around 9:45. Only a couple of cars at the parking area. I quickly got my things ready and headed out to Smithbrook road. No signs of recent snowmobile activity. That made me feel a lot better as last time I was here there were three different parties polluting the air and tranquillity. The snow was relatively packed on the road and I didn't bother with snowshoes. Someone with about the same gait as me had just gone up which made progress for me quick. When I could see the switchback, the boot track I was following headed to the left into the woods. Score! Someone has broken trail for me!

Zoey scouting the road

Creek crossing

"What's taking you so long?"

The creek is not so high and it was easy to cross it by hopping from rock to rock. Only getting back out of the creek presented a bit of difficulties as the banks are over 6 feet high. I lifted Zoey up and use a tree to climb up myself. The person before me put his snowshows on here and I followed in his shoesteps. The tracks went gently up and towards the creek that comes from Lichtenwasser Lake (Lichtenbach creek?). The steepness increased when we reached the creek. Having the tracks to follow made things really easy. I knew where to go and had my map and compass ready, but it was nice to just follow and look at all the prettyness around me. We quickly reached the lake and I could see the destination. And the sun. Sunglasses out, jacket in the backpack and arms out of the sleeves. I was getting warm.

The outlet and a glimpse of Lichtenberg Mountain

What a gorgeous lake

Cloud rolling in

The tracks were leading up the east ridge and I followed. Soon I caught up with the hiker. The snow here was heavy with a semi-frozen crust on top. Every time you put down your foot it would rest on the top. And when you then put your weight on it, it would sink through to your knees. This made breaking trail hard. I went ahead and took over. Progress was slow but steady. And then I reached the point I read about. No progress ahead possible. I was no sure where to start the traverse and where to end up. I had a general idea from the reports, but was hesitant to commit myself. Just then the hiker caught up with me again and showed me where to go. He offered to go ahead and take the head again.

Imposing dead end

Traverse

Lost glove

After he got onto the south ridge I started the traverse. Just before gaining the ridge my gaiter got loose and I had to adjust it. So I took my glove off and put it down next to me. Just then a little gust of wind gave it a push and it went down the mountain some 30ft. I had extra gloves with me and used one of those. If the glove was still there on the way back I'd see if I could retrieve it. Up on the ridge the snow was rock-hard. And the wind was blowing. We both put on jackets and headwear. I considered swapping my snowshoes for spikes. That would have been a good idea. Going up was fine with the snowshoes. They gave enough traction. Going down was a different story. A couple of times I turned around to go down backwards. More grip that way.

Cornices

Last bit to the summit

Clouds rolling through the valleys

Poor trees

And the views. What gorgeous views! No clouds at all, just eye-candy all around!

Summit shot

Looking back down the ridge, ready to go back.

I stayed there for about half an hour, soaking up all the good stuff.

Zoey checking out skiers

Better creek crossing

About halfway down the east ridge I came upon some ski tracks. A bunch of skiers had followed us up and headed back down before reaching the summit. I made good progress going down and surprised myself when I caught up with the skiers below the outlet. Zoey got some loving and i told them about the views. They had a worse creek crossing than I did and were eager to try mine. Somehow I reached that point before they did and saw a log further down the creek. This allowed me to cross without doing rock-hopping and going up and down the banks. Zoey didn't like it though. She opted to go back to the other area and jumped down the 6ft bank. Silly girl. I flagged the skiers and showed them where to cross. Numerous people must have been using the Smithbrook road. It was packed down well. But no snowmobile tracks. All the way back to the car I didn't see a soul though. What an amazing day. Gorgeous weather, a wonderful hike and reached the summit. Lesson learned: If you hit the snooze button a couple of times before getting up, someone will have done the trailbreaking for you. View larger size in new window

[wildernessed]

Nice !

[Dayhike Mike]

Looks like a beautiful day out! Thanks for posting the pics and map!

[woutervw]

[Dayhike Mike]

Aha! Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[Matt]

Glad to hear that sometimes oversleeping pays off. Looks like you picked the best day this weekend.

[Rainie Too!]

You and Zoey are really making the most of it this winter! She is such a cutey too! Thank you for the report.

[Yet]

Nice report. Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for the tip regarding the snooze button.

[fourteen410]

[smokeydon]

Woutervw, glad I could break trail for you! I guess the early bird gets to break trail also. It was worth the sunrise I got to see walking up the road. I did appreciate the relief on breaking trail up the last part of the ridge and was glad I could direct you to the proper summit route. What a great weather day.

[woutervw]

[Bryan K]

Thanks to you all for breaking trail. I plan on heading up there tomorrow.

[Ingunn]

Beautiful! Now I know where I'll be going the next time I venture up Smithbrook, thanks for the photos. I wonder if you left the "parking lot" just ahead of us, we were a group of four with a fat, white and black dog.

[woutervw]