I went for a quick trip today to Bedal Pk off of the mountain loop highway. The ML from Darrington was in decent shape as well as road 4096 which lead to the unsigned Bedal Pk TH. I parked just below the TH at 2160' and followed the flagging into the forest at the switchback.
The boot path was easy to follow at first but after 600', I lost it. I knew the path should go further North but I went uphill instead following animal paths. After weaving through some minor cliff bands, I put snowshoes on at 4200'. Soon after, I saw some more flagging along the narrowing ridge. I found the ramp that lead to easy terrain at 5100'. From there, the views opened up. The slopes below Bedal were open and the snow was punchy at first but firm up higher.
Bedal ahead
I traversed over to the East ridge and found some really soft snow as it was baking all morning. I reached the summit after 2hrs 45min of hiking with the absolute best view of Sloan that can be had! I signed the register and soaked in the views to the South.
Glacier Pk
Sloan Pk!
Monte Cristo Pks
I stayed for about 15 minutes but wanted to get down the softening slopes. It went easy enough and I was soon near the spot where I put snowshoes on, I saw 2 guys putting theirs on and talked to them. They did a better job following the boot path up the forest than I did, that's why they saw no sign of me until then. I told them they have a path all the way to the summit as I followed their path down on the boot path. It was easy to follow for most of it until the traverse through the brush around 2800'. Oh well, it went good enough and I eventually found the path again and got back to my truck.
I assume the road from that side was completely clear of snow?
road is clear of snow but there is a washout on the mountain loop i should mention. it might be tough for low clearance vehicles to pass, if i remember correctly, the washout is a few miles after the pavement ends
Very nice. I thought you were supposed to save all those everyone-has-done-them peaks for when you're old and decrepit (like that's ever gonna happen).
That is a sweet view of Sloan. Views must have been special, a 15 minute summit stay is an eternity for you.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases when you use our link(s).
