Mailbox Peak - Old Trail — Friday, Mar. 26, 2004

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Hit the trailhead at 6:00 and got to the first of the open talus fields at about 8:00. It was wintery up there. The thin blanket of snow that graced the lower slopes last week is gone, but there was about two or three inches of fresh snow on an old crust at the bottom of the first talus field. I climbed a little further, gaining no more than 100 feet, and the wind-deposits of snow increased to about mid-calf. Thinking that there are better ways to spend a Saturday morning playing chicken with avalanche conditions I turned around. This is a pretty good conditioning hike. Passed about six other people on the way down. It must have been a tough week in the mountains, as there were a few more logs across the trail than on the last hike.