Great conditions to get up to The Pulpit today as the snow is very firm the whole way up. Ice axe and crampons are highly recommended, especially on the last part up to the pulpit. I left my ice ax in the car and was sure missing it. I almost turned around as there was one spicy part with a steep runoff up near the summit.
Rainy Lake trail is not bad. Most of the trail is nice but the bad parts are really bad, especially the muddy parts. Wear gaiters for the mud. Also be aware of the slick roots on the way down. I slipped a few times.
Trail becomes all snow around 2800 ft, but is pretty easy to follow. At around 3200 ft where the trail drops down to cross a creek I left the trail to the right to head up. There were some old tracks that were barely visible in the hard packed snow. There was about 2" of new snow last night to partially obscure these boot prints that were frozen in the snow. This was an excellent route up to the ridge at 4000 ft. There was no bushwacking involved, which was sweet.
Once on the ridge I headed to the right thru a snow covered forest. his part was pretty easy as the incline was not that much. The final 1/4 mile over to the Pulpit was a little more spicy. There was one spot that I had to climb 15-20 ft up a steep snow slope with a lot of runout. There were some steps cut into the ice so that helped. I REALLY could of used an ice axe here. On the way back I down climbed this part backwards, very carefully.
Summit was in the fog today, so I did not get to see the view from the previous report. On the way back, I went over to the other high point that is not as high as The Pulpit. There was a cool summit rock with cliffs of to the north. There was a nice view of Preacher Mt from this summit. This summit should be named "The Bully Pulpit"
Nice adventure as there was no bushwacking or postholing. Snowshoes not needed, but spikes, crampons, and an ice axe are highly recommended
Started at 9:40 am and finished at 3:43 pm. 9.9 miles with 3858 ft gain
Comments
greymstreet on The Pulpit, Rainy Lake
Hey! Is "bully pulpit" at the end of the short spur off your main trail? We went a drop that way but I don't think we saw any cliffs so I guess we didn't go far enough
Posted by:
greymstreet on Feb 03, 2021 08:26 PM
kidz won't hike on The Pulpit, Rainy Lake
Yes it is. The cliff was at the top, just below the summary boulder. I walked down a bit to the east to get a view Preacher and it was more gradual. I saw some old boot prints. They may have been yours from last week
Posted by:
kidz won't hike on Feb 03, 2021 09:29 PM
greymstreet on The Pulpit, Rainy Lake
I doubt it! Didn't go too far in that direction. But good to know for next time. Always hate to miss a view :)
Thanks!
Posted by:
greymstreet on Feb 03, 2021 09:41 PM