[Elvis]

366 days ago a friend and I tried to hike to Split Rock and were turned around due to the deep snow and limited time. We didn't see Split Rock but we did enjoy the peculiarity of Bald Mountain.

Bald Mtn access road

Bald Mtn

Fast Forward to today... I managed to round up a different buddy for another attempt. This buddy was the guy who first told me about Split Rock. He'd been there a few times before, but it was decades ago and he was longing for a repeat visit. Our schedules collided this morning. We treked out there with mountain bikes and snowshoes. We had clouds, sun and snow. We encountered snow a lot lower than last year, but were able to make good use of some old 4WD tracks that were solid enought to walk in without snowshoes - even though the snow was more than three feet deep.

Bikes + Snow = Slow

Leaving the bikes

Snow Ruts

Eventually the tracks petered out and we had to switch to snowshoes. It slowed our progress a bit, but the snow was pretty crusty so breaking trail wasn't a whole lot different that we we had been doing in the tire tracks -- except now we were wearing snowshoes while doing it.

Snowing at 2,500 ft on 4/19/11

Split Rock is a HUGE rock that just sits there... surrounded by nothing similar. My buddy explained that he heard from some knowledgeable geologists that this was not dropped here by a receeding glacier but it was in fact spit up by the earth at some point long, long ago. It's hard to guage the scale in these pictures. This thing is at least as large as a five story building. At least!

First view of (part of) split rock

Amazement

Split Rock (most of it)

We didn't climb to the top, but if I happen to go back then climbing to the top would be my objective. My buddy claims that if you hike past Split Rock a short ways you can then circle around it and there is a rather easy route to the top. The return on bikes was heavenly! Having to hike those final miles would have just been too much to be enjoyable.

Riding back down, approaching Bald Mtn

All in all, it was a great day with excellent company, unusual weather (but it kept us cool without being cold or drenched) and lots of miles. Our round trip clocked in at 13.9 miles with 2, 194 feet of elevation gain. We biked about 7 miles, hiked about 2.5 miles and snowshoed about 2.5 miles. The gate was open upon our arrival and still open when we left, but we left the vehicle outside the gate. Saw NO ONE all day long. ~E Edited to Add a link to a Geology Field Trip to Bald Mountain, in case you are interested in that stuff (and so I can find it later when I need it). Edited to add a crooked stitched panorama:

Split Rock Panorama 04-19-2011

[puzzlr]

[mike]

We always approached Split Rk from Janicki Rd or Walker Valley Rd in the distant past. Dallas Kloke and friends explored a few route there in the '60's. Also Bald Mtn and the Walker Valley Boulders. That area of Cultus Mtn must have experienced some catastrophic event in the recent past. Probably at the same time as Slide Mtn on the Nooksack

[aywolfpac]

Great report Elvis. "Amazement" is a really cool picture.

[cascadefreeheeler]

If you go up there in the summer to climb, here is some info: The left hand side of split has a nice 5.11+ bolted route. Look for the shiny anchors. In the split I've installed two sets of anchors for top roping. Rappel into the split from the first set of anchors to the bolted belay and then climb back out. The route to the top is really class 4. I suggest a rope to traverse the chock in between the split. There are a ton of boulder routes all around split. If you like that sort of thing, you've got mecca. Dallas had the routes in his old guidebook but I seem to have misplaced my photocopies. The ones he listed are all < 5.5. In the summer you can drive right to it.

[cascadefreeheeler]

Example boulder

[Elvis]

[cascadefreeheeler]

The gate can limit access but isn't always locked. As far as bald mountain, I can't imagine any continuous lines on that choss pile. Even split rock is limited in the amount of climbing due to moss.

[Matt Lemke]

Love that geological description! Thanks for posting it