Cold Creek Loop via Tinkham and Silver Peaks — Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

I got up late and wasn't planning on hiking today. It was supposed to be a honey-do-day. But my wife had to work, so I had the afternoon off. I thought I could try to get up to Tinkham Peak before there's too much snow. Go up I90, over the pass, take exit 62 and turn right. he first part of the road to the 'trailhead' is nice, but after the 5 way junction at Lost Lake it gets a lot of really big potholes. Nothing my Forester with some creative driving couldn't handle, but don't take your minivan up this road. At 7 miles from I90 you reach the 'parking area'. It is basically where the road becomes impassible for anything but a rockcrawler. Hike up the road a bit to the start of the trail. The snow starts at the beginning of the trail. But it is just a liitle slush, so nothing to worry about. After Cottonwood Lake it becomes a little more, but still nothing to worry about, right? After the junction with the PCT you walk along Mirror Lake. Only glimpses of the lake are visible as we're hiking in the clouds. At the outlet of the lake Zoey decides that a little swim is called for. Here we cross the outlet and part with the PCT. Follow the lake for some 30 yard or so and head a bit north-west to some campsites. Here you'll easily pick up the trail up the ridge. There's a lot of surveyor tape. And even if you don't find the tape, just head up the ridge. You can't miss it. After a little while you see a talus field on your left. Head towards it and traverse it. This is somewhat tricky with all the snow. You can't see where the boulders are, and there's not enough snow to carry your weight. So be careful where you put your feet. After the field you pass below a big rock and follow it on the other side. This is a rather steep section that is slippery. The first trespassing signs appear here. Now it is just a matter of following the ridge, the tape or the signs. Snow started to become somewhat deeper here and I would punch through up to my ankles. No problem. We look for some views, but all we find is the inside of a cloud. Then you get to an area where the ridge is wide and level. The snow here is rather deep. Sinking into it up to my knees is still ok. We plough on. A little further up I see a trail cross the ridge. But I haven't seen anyone. And this is a ridge, where would the trail go but off the cliff? When I reach the trail it becomes clear. A mountain goat has been here. And yes, he descended straight down the cliff. Still we move on. The trees now become scarce and I realize I am up to my waist in the snow. And there are big boulders here. That means that there can be big holes between them and I have no idea where they are. We look on and can't even see where the peak is. So we call it quits and follow our trail back down. A nice hike we will have to do next summer. Or with snowshoes and nice weather. But we did not get really wet as there wasn't that much rain here. And higher up the ridge it was snow instead of rain. Still a nice day out.