A beautiful day made for an excellent early season climb of Mt. Ellinor. With the road to the lower trailhead still partly snow covered, we decided to start at Big Creek Campground, hitting the trail at 8:15 AM. The campground is littered with tree brush, but the Big Creek Loop Trail has been cleared (thanks trail crew!). We took the clockwise loop from the campground and the Connector Trail to the Mt. Ellinor Trail, adding about 3 miles compared to starting at the Lower Trailhead. There were a couple of easily bypassed downed trees on the Connector Trail and Mt. Ellinor Trail. We encountered intermittent consolidated snow on the trail at about 3,500 feet. Microspikes would have been helpful here, but we decided to wait until the chute to put on crampons.
The snow on the chute was consolidated and frozen nearly solid, making it difficult to kick in steps. Traction was an issue, even with crampons. I'd say crampons and an ice axe are mandatory through this section, although a few climbers managed to make it up in microspikes.
The views from the summit were spectacular, with five volcanoes (Baker, Glacier Peak, Rainier, Adams and St. Helens), Mt. Olympus and the interior Olympic Range on full display. I felt fortunate for the view, because even nearby Mt. Washington has been difficult to see on previous climbs.
Descending the chute at around 1:00 PM, the snow was softer but still too firm to glissade from the top. My initial intent was to down-climb the entire chute but due to poor traction, I eventually slipped into an unintentional glissade, using the ice axe for speed control and keeping my crampon-laden boots up to avoid snagging them in the snow. Not the best glissade form, but this time it worked (pro tip: don't glissade while wearing crampons!). We made quick time after that and arrived back at Big Creek Campground by 4 PM.
With the weather rolling in over the weekend, new snowfall will surely bring deteriorating road and trail conditions.
Stats: 12.8 miles, 5,010 ft gain
Equipment: crampons, ice axe, helmet
Comments
Eve on Big Creek, Mount Ellinor
Haha, we were the ones in spikes! Switched to crampons at the top because wow spikes were not sufficient. I remember you shouting "PRO TIP DON'T GLISSADE WITH CRAMPONS" while glissading with crampons as you passed us on the way down! We had some unintentional glissades too. Waaay icier than I expected.
Posted by:
Eve on Mar 07, 2022 09:18 AM
northwestandup on Big Creek, Mount Ellinor
Yeah, I was amazed when you guys passed us on the chute in microspikes. That was the iciest I have ever seen the chute and the most exposed I've felt in that crux area near the top. It felt good to get an early season run up Ellinor and besides the ice, the conditions were perfect.
Posted by:
northwestandup on Mar 09, 2022 08:21 AM