Trekking through Powder to Earl Peak 11-25-2012
Washington, United States, North America

Trekking through Powder to Earl Peak 11-25-2012

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Location Lat/Lon: 47.41147°N / 120.84315°W
Additional Information GPX File: Download GPX » View Route on Map
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: Nov 25, 2013
Activities Activities: Mountaineering
Seasons Season: Fall

Trekking through Powder to Earl Peak 11-25-2012


I attempted this trip the day before with the dogs but 2 miles in I noticed their paws were bleeding from the sharp icy crust covering the snow. The N. Fork Teanaway river road is currently passable by low clearance vehicles at least to Beverly creek, where a few inches of snow have been rutted down to dry gravel. The road to Beverly Creek trailhead however is covered in snow and my tires are nearly bald, so I parked and walked from the junction.






My thanks to the folks with the snowshoes who broke trail up to Bean Creek, from there on the deep snow was mostly fresh powder that had me constantly sinking to my thighs, bot not consistently enough to get used to it. The naturally snow-trenched trail was relatively easy to follow but i left it after a sketchy re-crossing of Bean Creek, opting instead to ascend to the saddle between Earl Peak and Bean Peak before continuing to Earl's summit.






Alpenglow on Mary and Judy






Icy rock in Bean Creek











Clear skies the night before meant lower temperatures today despite the ever-present sun. It took me nearly 5 hours of hard work to finally reach the summit, but the cold prevented me from lingering too long. Stuart and the Enchantments looked as impressive as ever covered in a fresh blanket of white. Bean, Mary and Judy looked tempting as I hoped to have time to make a loop of them on the way back, but the deep powder had me set on a smoother return along my own tracks.








Just below Summit







Earl Peak

Mt Stuart and the Enchantments behind me







Mount Stuart








I enjoyed a few short glissades on the way down (video here) and then settled in for a long slushy return. Just past Bean Creek a lone pair of ski tracks appeared over my trail. I met the owner as he passed me on his way out about a mile from my car, the only soul I encountered all day.

Images

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Bob Sihler

Bob Sihler - Dec 13, 2013 3:10 pm - Hasn't voted

Some friendly advice

Hey, some of your trip reports are pretty cool, but at the rate you're submitting them, they're not getting that many looks and very few votes. Also, by posting more than 40 this month alone, you're burying a lot of others' submissions. There are a lot of members who like to look at the What's New page (http://www.summitpost.org/whats-new) to see what members are posting, and they find it frustrating if a particular member is flooding the page and essentially making other members' stuff disappear. For example, one guy is putting a lot into a new trip report, but by the time it's all finished, it will be long buried and not seen by too many people: http://www.summitpost.org/are-you-nuts-prusik-peak-in-a-day/879499

As a long-time member and a staff member, I know a lot of people find this frustrating. I'm not suggesting you delete all these pages-- as I said, some are pretty good-- but you might consider only posting one or two at a time in the future. It will get more people to look at your stuff as well.

Cheers!

Jeb

Jeb - Jan 12, 2014 1:43 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Some friendly advice

Fair enough, by no means do I wish to bury quality material here. I apologize if I have messed with the ebb and flow here.

Thanks for the advice!

Viewing: 1-2 of 2


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