[flatsqwerl]

This area was new to me in December. I have been looking for new places that are 1 hour or so from Tacoma. Today was my 3rd trip into that nest of logging roads...and today was summit day. The approach is a left turn 3-4 miles past Ashford onto a rough road. In less than a mile the first of several mega washouts appears. And the driving part stops here. So now we have an area that offers skiing and snowshoeing and solitude mid-week. These washouts will likely take years at a minimum to fix. The longer approach now changes the appeal for me. In 3 trips here I have seen nobody after miles in. Today was perfect weather. I hiked the road heading toward the lake Christine summer trail. Just where the road crosses the Lakes outlet, I donned crampons ( very hard snow in the trees! ) stayed to the north side of the stream and headed straight up towards the ridge. At the ridge things open up a little and the angle lessens. Heading left ( north ) I easily reached the summit. Some rock was bare and it was a comfortable seat on top with a killer view of mnt Rainier. Zero wind and not very cold. I could linger for as long as I wanted. how many times can you say that in January?

[Brian R]

Great report! This peak was both of my kids' first summit. That road looks bad, how many miles up before you hit snow that would stop a mountain bike?

[flatsqwerl]

Maybe 4 miles..last trip up here some really fat tired bikers had made it a long way in the snow. The road is much flatter where the snow starts. Yesterday the snow was so hard you could have ridden with out breaking through the snow...assuming you had fatty tires.

[flatsqwerl]

Just had a great ski trip up these roads on tuesday. Perfect snow. Now there is a track all the way to the full Rainier view from the ridge at 4600ft. Lots of nice gliding coming down. Zero humans, a few does and lots of fresh critter tracks. Downside: you hike 3 miles of road to get to the skiing.