Made it to about 2700 feet to a Avalanche area which was as far as I was planning on going today anyways. Hit minor patches of snow before then but still good views of White Horse and Darrington.

Yesterday we hiked Neiderprum trail which is the approach to White Horse mountain. White Horse is on my must do list but yesterday's goal was only Lone Tree Pass. The first two miles or so is on an overgrown road due to a washout. That section could probably be done on a mountain bike except for a couple of hills. The actual trail is quite steep and is getting pretty overgrown. I would recommend long socks, or pants to protect your lower legs from the brush. The views were spectacular and we had the trail to ourselves, probably due to the brushy conditions. Did I mention it was brushy ? It took us about four and a half hours to get to Lone Tree Pass and I don't mind saying I was sucking wind. The trail was more of a goat path by the time we reached the top of the pass. We literally found clumps of goat fur/hair all over the bushes on the ridge. We never saw the goats but they must have been there somewhere. We followed the trail along the top of the ridge a little further and found a couple of really nice camp sites, one of which we plan to put to use when we return for our two day trip to the top. There is no water on the trail so pack accordingly. This was a great hike and if not for the overgrown trail it would be one of my favorites.

At the urging of Craig Romano, I returned to this trail confident that I could reach the Neiderprum Meadows. On this beautiful, drier, brighter day; I found the sharp right turn just past the pile of rocks on the trail shortly after you pass beneath a huge downed tree. The turn is flagged, so pay attention. This is a difficult journey. The trail is steep, uneven, rooty, rocky, and very brushy. But the destination is worth the effort. The views are excellent. We met one other hiker on the trail. I'm glad that I took Craig's advice to "Give it another go."

I left arrived at the road block at 4:30 pm after a long days work and started up the road to neiderprum. I saw two parties descending: one party of two, and another of three. There was no one else ascending. Be diligent to make sure you're still on the trail. Looking down and my feet and trudging forward led me onto a goat path, not the trail. There are just enough cairns/marking tape to navigate. You will get scratched up and maybe blistered feet. I reached the talus slope just before the glacier at 5200' by 10:00 pm and I melted snow as there are no sources of water between neiderprum and the glacier! pack lots of water! I left camp for summit at 6:50 am. The glacier was very easy to navigate in the cool morning, my crampons bit well and there was no self arrests made. There was one small crevasse along the boot path that looked like it might turn into something menacing later in the season. The final bit of the summit did involve rock climbing, lacking any rock protection some might consider me foolish but I was comfortable free climbing the rock and made summit at 8:10 am. The decent was fantastic, I got some great glissades in on the glacier and the skree. I terrified a mountain goat as I descended the rocks. I was back to my car at 1:40 pm with a belly full of salmon berries. I won't be back to visit this mountain again, unless it's a work party to improve the trail, but it was a great experience.

After passing the Neiderprum TH on my way to visit the mine and valley at the end of mine road, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about the trail going up Whitehorse Mountain. Those who write the trail descriptions in the hiking guides must have written them years ago, because this trail is so badly overgrown starting at 2.5 miles that it probably won't be accessible much longer. From the closed bridge at the end of mine road off Hwy 530, it is 1.2 miles to the Neiderprum TH. From there I hiked 1.7 miles up Whitehorse and gained 1,800' of elevation. I was hoping to reach the meadow where Neiderprum, a prospector, had his cabin. The destination was at an altitude of 3,200', but I was only able to follow the trail to 2,600' before it disappeared into thick, wet brush. My GPS said the trail continued in the direction I was going, but there was no sign of it whatsoever. At least I had a good workout...