Who: Kim, Erik, Susana, Scott
We got a late start after a good long breakfast and left Ballard hopeful in the breaking clouds and sunshine. We arrived at the trailhead in nasty cold rain and snow on the ground. We hiked the last 1/2 mile of the road to the trailhead through sloppy snow and mush since the Honda couldn’t make it up the last little stretch of increasing snow on the road.
We only saw three other parties on the mountain throughout the day and played leapfrog with some young eastside snowboarders. 1/3 of the way into the hike the rain turned to drier snowfall and we put on the snowshoes as the powder increased and more or less broke out of the trees. Past the prominent sharkfin rock, Sardinha (Susana’s working-mango-title (sardine)) started running out of steam so I helped her with the rest step and other techniques in efficiency. Kim and Erik led the way up the remaining beautiful winter-wonderland landscape and we made it to the fire lookout in moderate winds and low visibility. We ate snacks, congratulated Sardinha on her first summit, Kim cleaned house, and we plunge-stepped our way down the mountain, even more beautiful on the way down.
Stopped in Granite Falls for much Mexican food.
Looking forward to the next Mango outing..
Posted by scotts at March 16, 2003 8:13 PM