Three men and dog set out for what looked to be a low key, possibly snow dusted, climb to the summit of Mt Ellinor. The snow started below the parking lot and was part of the ascent at all times. The boot pack ended just above Frank's lookout (I'm sure there is a proper name that I am not aware of) and we had to cut trail from there.
The snow was light and about knee deep (I'm 5'11") but still shallow enough to allow us to see the outline of the stairs when they were present. We only lost the trail once into a boulder field which could have created for some dangerous situations for lower leg injuries. Fortunately, we recognized the situation, back tracked and found a way around that was obstructed by some snow loaded boulders.
Once above the tree line, we were able to cut new trail with a bit of effort and cold feet. We hacked our way to the summit with the dog in tow (coincidentally, her name is Ellie), tramped out a flat spot and had some snacks before bundling up to slide our way down.
Would recommend:
- knowledge of the trail to begin with. One person in our party has done this several times in the summer and winter which helped with the trail finding above the tree line
- trekking poles, maybe ice picks if you plan on going to the summit after any more snow
- micro spikes for anything below the tree line, there was compact snow and ice through many of the rocky areas of the trail and while we didn't have any falls, we were one slippery step away from one
- gaiters if you plan on going up into the deep snow, as it was light and fluffy we faired okay without them but it would have been much more comfortable with them
Driving notes:
- there was one rough spot in the road that looked like it caused a sedan to park below the upper lot. We had an Xterra and crossed it with ease. It is marked with a cone and tape, you can't miss it. Parking below it would only add a small effort to reach the upper lot
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