I have to admit that this trail was not my first choice for a snowventure; but after failing to find parking at Alpental and near Gold Creek sno-park, this turned into a fantastic Plan C. I found this trail on Gaia when I parked in the Silver Fir overflow parking lot at 9:30am, and I walked over to the Silver Fir chair lift and Hyak-to-Central Connector ski trail to connect with the Nordic Pass Trail. There was a boot path as well as blue diamond blazers marking the trail through tall, snow covered conifers for several miles, allowing me to keep my eyes on the scenery instead of on my phone/topo maps. The grade is relatively easy and the powder was as clean and corny as it gets. Like the other trip reports mention, there are no substantial views on this trek, but the quiet landscape and the trees amongst the clouds and haze were surreal. I only came across a handful of shoe-ers along the path between Silver Fir and Hyak Lake, and I didn't see/hear a person between the last XC ski trail crossing and Nordic Pass.
At the pass, I coincidentally met a couple of climbers about to ascend Mount Catherine and followed them up the west slope for a solid hour. Caltopo/Gaia topo maps show moderately sloped terrain up to a ridge that seems easy to traverse, but the avalanche forecast called for considerable avy conditions and we found it pretty quickly. With the deep new snow and the steep micro-terrain features, the top layer was borderline unstable/faulty and we called it a little above 4200' (for scale, Nordic Pass is at 4000' and it took an hour to climb 200' vertical feet. There is a lot of snow up there). It was the safer judgement call and I'm glad I was with people more experienced than me to make that call. The clouds parted on the way back down and we saw a soaring bald eagle and a nice view of the valley, so that's pretty neat. I said my good-byes back at the pass and made a bee line for Rockdale Lake and the Grand Junction Warming Hut before walking back down to Hyak Lake and Silver Fir lift.
I was surprised by how much I loved this experience. To me, the best part about snowshoeing is sauntering through deep snow and thick trees to get to interesting spots in the backcountry. While this area isn't technically remote, you can definitely find some areas not frequently traveled. The relatively flat terrain near XC ski trails here allows you to experience some solitude without being too far from a bailout point and without navigating avy terrain.
Comments