Mount Townsend — Sunday, Apr. 9, 2000

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

i was really excited to go hiking this beautiful day. so excited i didn't think for about ten seconds as i approached the trail head and drove too far, getting stuck in the snow. so stupid. only a couple hundred yards from the trail head and there i was all by myself, 14 miles from the main road, no shovel, no one else around. one truck nearby in which i found a hand shovel. i spent over three hours, making a little bit of progess, unstuck but unable to get myself back, when finally the owner of the truck returned. mike was the greatest guy and spent about an hour finally helping me back to dry land. so don't drive too far! stop before the snow on the road. mike said he had done the hike to the townsend summit in two and half hours up, one and a half down and hadn't needed the snowshoes he'd carried. in addition to rescuing me, he was right about everything. his times were exactly how long it took and i left my snowshoes in the car and was glad i did. snow on and off on the trail through the trees, then head straight up once it leaves the trees since the trail is pretty hard to follow. an ice axe advised for this part but probably not absolutely necessary. up near the summit very little snow at all. great views. glissade on the way down was a bit soft when i got to it. when i passed by mostly unfrozen Sink Lake in the evening i got to watch a beaver trolling back and forth. also saw four deer on the drive back down. a great hike right now for the early season. just don't drive too close to the trailhead! the upper trailhead won't be accessible by car for probably a month.