Mount Rose — Friday, Jan. 5, 2001

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Although we got a relatively late start, Richard and I were first in the Mt Rose parking lot this sunny morning. We started up this well-maintained trail at 9:20 and arrived at the trail junction at 3050 ft by about 10:50. As it had been warm and rainy the past week, we expected the snow level to be high. It was surprising, however, that it was about 3600 ft before we ran into any snow at all. We were able to follow the summit trail all the way to the top, which is unusual in January. Arrived at the summit just before noon and spent a pleasant hour on the sunny summit rocks taking bearings on nearby peaks, eating lunch and fending off the numerous hungry camp robbers. Just as the next party arrived at the summit, we started down, and met about four other parties on our way. Trail is good the entire way; poles and in-step crampons are useful, as the snow is rather icy toward the top. Today there was no more than a foot or two of snow at the top -- next week there could be much more!