In Thuringia we had heard great things about Male Bach's Peak, which piqued our interest greatly. So my dad Johann Sebastion (the old Bach) and my brothers Wilhelm Friedrich, Johann Christoff, and PDQ all hopped on a carriage to the trailhead. We put on our best powdered wigs and the old Bach waved his baton and we started up this steep trail in unison. But it wasn't long before the old Bach was unable to keep tempo, being in the mood for an adagio rather than toccata. Well, he gave the baton to me, and I passed the baton to Christoff, who passed to Wilhelm, who passed to PDQ, who promptly passed out. We just left him there. Upwards we climbed in crescendo, the way getting more and more heavenly. The old Bach laid his wig aside after getting a bit warm at the 2400' level. He then set the metronome to 88 and we marched along. But again he fell behind. Soon me and my brothers also slowed, because oratorios hurt badly. Moleskin fixed that. Sebastion remarked ""aria glad they have moleskin in the 21st century'"" Well, after pulling out all the stops we finally reached the double bars near the top. Nice trailwork whoever did it. The old Bach admonished us not to do the repeats due to the lateness of the day. We reached the summit and discovered a mailbox, of all things! What the heck' Were we misled' And inside... a notebook put there by Anna Magdelena! How did she manage to scale the mighty Male Bach's Peak' Gee mom, you sure took the wind out of our pipes. Well, we gave the baton back to the old Bach, who tapped it on the mailbox. We improvised a four-part contrapuntal chorale on the spot as the nearby birds chirped and the freeway roared its approval below. Sebastian told us to get off the roccocos and get back down before we all went baroque, so we trilled a decrescendo in 3/4 time (we each had a hiking staff plus two legs) and made quick time of getting down. Viola! It was all over in an instant and we collected the wigs, PDQ, and a few donuts at the truck stop before heading back to Germany. Just to note: there was only a little snow on the trail but generally not a problem for us, although my bach hurts. See ya at the symphony!

Snow starts as you break out of the trees about 800' vertical from the mailbox. There's been some nice work on the mailbox, by the way, and a new register placed there just yesterday. Even though you hit snow, there isn't a lot and some of the boulders are free of snow. Most of the route above is clear of snow on the path. Perhaps in a few weeks the whole route (boulder route) will be bare. Snow starts on Si 1/4 mile from the summit area. Very icy from boots packing it down!

Trail generally is in good condition. Wet on the the approach. Lots of snow on top. Crampons not needed, but ice axe recommended. As always, brutal, but worth the workout. The toothbrush was not seen. I'll plant a new one next time I'm out there.

I had to try out all my new x-mas gear and what better place than Mailbox. New backpack, poles, and a rain jacket. I didn't need the rain jacket, just sunglasses. It was very windy at the start. At 1500' the wind just stoped. It got realy warm. It got warmer all the way to the top. There was some snow near the top but hardly worth mentioning. It was awsome to see the rest of Puget Sound fogged in but the mountians were clear.

Overall, the trail is in excellent shape. A little muddy here, some water there, but nothing to complain about. The trail around the rockslide has been clearly stamped out in the snow by boots. Snow starts shortly before you break out of the trees, and there's 2-3 feet of snow on the summit. (The toothbrush is gone.)