Fleetfoot,his brother Rory and I left Seattle around 10:30 to go to Bare Mt.. Potholes and the long gravel road make this a trip. There was one car at the trailhead (1/2 mile from trailhead due to down tree which was de-limbed enough by the people that came behind us for them to continue on to Lennox Creek). A rocky trail at the start means the hike out will not be fast. At the large creek crossing, the pool of water looked inviting enough that Fleetfoot could not resist submerging. Again he did not have a towel so Rory and I looked around and enjoyed the sun while Fleetfoot tried to regain consciousness. From here the trail improved some as we hiked into the valley. The couple from the parked car headed down as we neared the cutoff to the mines. We took a break just before starting up the switchbacks. This could be a hot trail in the summer. After about 24 switchbacks the trail turned to snow. We could not see any tracks from pervious hikers so we decided to head straight up to the large redish Mt. in front of us. The rocks in here are large so the postholing potential is great. We stayed as close to the tree line as we could and allowed Fleetfoot to kick steps as Rory and I did not have gaiters. We all went down to our waist a few times. The snow was soft, wet and cold. We knew going out could be worse than going in. After several hundred feet of elevation we came to a large outcropping of rock. I decide to sit here as my feet are freezing and my leg is cramping. They continue for ½ hour or more and reach the ridge. They think Bare Mt. is the peak to the west of us. By this time I have changed socks but we are bushed. Time to go! How? I think we can glissade if we can miss falling into the rocks. Fleefoot is worried about stopping but I think the snow is soft enough. He goes for a short one which turns out fine, however the snow in front of him continues down. The second slide the snow continues coming from behind him and as he stands his foot gets buried. It is like cement. I had put my wind breaker pants on so I went second. Great sliding! Rory is in shorts as he comes behind me-I don’t know why he did not freeze to death. A few more runs leaves us just 30 feet of rock to work our way through to reach the trail. A nice break here in the sun to change into dry socks and we feel better. By the time we reach the car we are cursing the last rocky section. Nice area. We will go back when the snow is melted. Back to the car around 8o’clock. Picture 1 is of pool Fleetfoot submerged in. Picture 2 is my high spot and Fleetfoot and Rory coming out of woods. There high point is Mt. in upper left.
Comments