TL;DR: At least for me, snow conditions are not conducive to a safe ascent through Headlee and unlikely to improve for at least another week due to significant snow warm temperatures.
I'm always a little astounded at how many hikes are done without a trip report at places where a trip report could be extremely helpful. A half dozen people apparently tried this trail yesterday on a Wednesday, and yet the last trip report I can find is over a week ago. Anyway, I digress.
Road is fine for something with a little higher clearance, but for a sedan there's a couple spots in the last ~1/2mi which might either require a lot of finesse or perhaps parking and walking extra mileage. Just some really lumpy spots rather than deep potholes.
There are three water crossings early on. As others have stated, with some skill and probably poles to assist with balance you can keep your feet dry on the first two, but the third one pretty much requires wading through calf-high water flowing reasonably fast.
The trail is mostly snow-free until it gets steep below Headlee pass, but there are a few spots with short snow crossings that will probably last at least a couple more weeks. If you've never been here (and maybe if you have), I'd highly suggest tracking down a solid GPX file for your watch or phone. The route is super easy to lose as you approach the pass. I was really proud of myself for finding a mostly snow-free approach to Headlee before I realized I was going up the wrong chute and had to descend a bit. As I was trying to cross a couple steep areas with snow my whole body broke through the snow and I found myself up to my shoulders. A few minutes later I lost my footing and broke one of of my poles.
I thought my MSR snow shoes would be the best bet for going up the steep chute to Headlee, but the snow was far to sloppy for even their aggressive traction. I was able to make it to maybe 200ft below Headlee on a dirt/rock route, but when I went to put on my microspikes and looked at what I'd have to climb and the run-out below I had second thoughts. Additionally the snow was so soft that I wasn't able to get enough hold from my ice axe to hold even a fraction of my arm strength and no faith I'd be able to self-arrest so I bailed.
I did moved over to a spot with a safe run-out and did a couple short glassades and noted that it was difficult to control my speed with my ice axe.
FWIW, I left the trailhead about 6:45am and the temperature when I arrived was just below 60f. The snow at Headlee was already very soft before 9am and I suspect it probably never firmed up overnight in this warm weather.
Comments