[Mike Collins]

Has anyone been up the North Fork Snoqualmie recently? I am thinking about climbing Phelps this Friday and wondering how much snowpack is on the road. I would want to take it as far as possible of course.

[Scrooge]

Probably depends on how far up the North Fork valley you want to start. We were at about the same elevation, 1200', in the Tomtit Alps last Sunday and the roads were mostly bare to maybe an inch of snow in protected places. Did you know that the last 3 miles of the Phelps Ridge Road have been destroyed, apparently the result of a Weyerhaeuser/DNR trade? They've done the whole thing, not just trenching but "restoring the natural slope" as well. That means they turn the roadbed into a 30 degree pile of rubble.

[Mike Collins]

Thanks Scrooge. I would be going in past the Blackhawk Mine and not the Phelps Ridge road. Some people have mountain biked in that way during the summer though.

[lopper]

Too bad about that upper stretch of the Phelps Ridge Road. That was sure a spectacular run on a mountain bike. Two buddies and I did it once about 3 autumns ago. It looks like that will be a lifetime total for that ride. I wonder whose brother-in-law is getting rich on those bogus contracts for vandalizing roadbeds? The govt minions pay huge bucks to make boring flat bike trails more boring and more flat, and spend thousands more to destroy exciting scenic ones. A pox on them.

[Sore Feet]

I was up there today, attempting to get somewhere near the Wagner Bridge. You can safely drive up to around Deep Creek (in a sedan at least), then the snow starts getting significant. 4WD likely wouldn't have trouble, but there is a 4-5 inch deep centerline beyond Deep Creek.

[Mike Collins]

In case anyone else is interested. I drove up the North Fork Snoqualmie road today in a Jeep Wrangler and made it to milepost 11. One vehicle made it about 100 yards farther on the road. This is about 3/4 mile before the logging road up Philippa Creek. We were attempting to climb Twin Peaks but only made it to Philippa Lake. The snow was very sloppy today due to warm temperatures and each footstep sunk 12 inches back into the snow, when they would hold at all.

[lopper]

Twin Peaks would be quite a coup in these conditions. About 30 summers ago, 2 highschool friends and I camped at Upper Loch Katrine and walked up the E side of TP on hard snow. Great boot-skiing coming down. Has anyone been to Upper Loch Katrine lately?...I've heard that someone has built a cabin up there in the last decade or so...... Congrats on getting in to Phillipa Lake, Mike. You had your own Olympic Event.

[Backpacker Joe]

Been to Phillipa many times. Cant imagine climbing that ridge up to the lake in snow! How was the climb up from the valley?

[Mike Collins]

I had never been to Lake Philippa but understand there is a fisherman's path to the lake. I stayed to the north of Philippa Creek and did not access the lake via the waterfall beneath the outflow. It involved some elevation loss but we avoided crossing the creek. I went up a gully to the north of the the creek starting at about 2,900'. Oddly enough it was the same route which a band of goats had chosen to descend from the mountain. There was at least one kid in the group. I only saw their hoofprints in the snow. The gully had firm snow from a recent slide and we then took off our shoes to kick steps up the steep slopes which fortunately had cedar trees for aid. I will do this peak in late spring and bring my mountain bike for the roads after Gate 16 as that flat section is a yawn.

[Scrooge]

I have a little trouble with your "north of Philippa Creek" description. Except for the falls, PC runs something like NNNNW - so I guess you're talking about what I would call east. Isn't the brush pretty bad at the top of that gully and through the notch leading to the lake? I've looked at it from near the outlet and it didn't look like fun at all. On the other hand, I had the same idea Joe did: the climb from the base of the falls up to the bench would be a real bear in wet snow. Incidentally, unless it's changed recently, crossing the creek should be easy. I've been there three times and there's always been a really good log at the base of the falls. ps - Don't knock that road. It's so good I walked it in moonlight one night.

[Mike Collins]

At elevation 3,000' Philippa Creek follows mainly a WNW direction. To the north of this area about 400 yards is a gully which goes to the SE. We ascended this and traversed to the east of a bump which tops out at about 3,460'. Then we went south to the lake.