Mount Ellinor #812

First things first, I left an ice-axe at the area where the cars parked right before the snow begins. If you happen to find it, please email me at scottb@workingsystems.com. I would much appreciate it.



In terms of driving access, not much different from the last post. You get stopped by snow (and that includes 4-wheel drives too, someone was stuck 6 feet from where the snow begins) approximately 1 mile from the lower trailhead, and two miles from the upper trail head if you take the shortcut through the clear cut. For a map of the exact location, use the following link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47+30.732'+N,+123+13.688'+W&ie=UTF8&ll=47.511636,-123.220768&spn=0.024697,0.060253&z=14&pw=2

A significant amount of snow on the road had melted by the time we got back (6:00), but still plenty of it, and no chance of getting any further up the road. A couple more days of warm weather will probably due the trick and make it passable closer to the lower trail head. You will appreciate snowshoes or skis to do the road part. Trekking poles are helpful the entire route.

The trail itself was almost 100% snow covered, with few tracks to follow. If you don't know the way, it would be easy to get off trail and lost. We lost the trail in the woods several times.

The chute was in good shape, the soft snow from the warm weather making for a pretty safe glissade. However the existing route goes right next to a large boulder, the closest one to the bottom of the chute. We created an alternative path to provide a little more safety distance, but you will need to be careful to steer this part.

Good luck.