Parked at the Salmon La Sac Sno Park and made it to Jolly Mountain (more or less, actually stopped about 50 ft or so before the summit because the last little bit was a bit sketchy feeling to me, more on that later.)

I actually want to sell this snowshoe to more people because it was AWESOME! Getting all the way back to Jolly is fairly strenuous (10ish mile rt if you cut switchbacks on the road, a bit under 4,000 ft gain, requires avvy awareness and navigation skills) but just snowshoeing Little Salmon La Sac road to where the views open up (around 4,600 ft, maybe a bit lower) is pretty doable, I think. I managed it November 2020 and I didn’t know wtf I was doing wrt winter travel back then 😂

The Salmon La Sac Sno Park is huge… way more parking than Hex Mountain, for example, plus has a few portable toilets.. obviously you need a Sno Park Pass but I think you might need that to park anywhere in Salmon La Sac during winter. The road walk is pretty easy to follow, probably an 8 mile rt to where the views get really great, if you stay on the road the whole time and don’t cut any switchbacks. There are a few avalanche slopes to be aware of, but I think the danger would be pretty low on a low or moderate day, tbh, especially if you were staying on the road. I circled a point on my map below where the views looking down into Salmon La Sac and the surrounding mountains are excellent. I think this is a worthy destination on its own, but if you continue further the views only get more and more amazing… and they stay amazing all the way to Jolly.

The only potential downside to this area is despite the signage at the beginning of the hike saying snowmobiles aren’t allowed, they clearly come here en masse. So if you come on a weekend just expect to see and hear them. On this beautiful Monday I didn’t see ANYONE, so it wasn’t a problem, and actually it was kind of a help because the snowmobiles broke trail for me almost all the way to the summit, making it so I didn’t have to put on snowshoes the entire trip (downside, I had to carry them). The snowmobiles didn’t follow the road the whole way, either. The track they broke actually cut most of the switchbacks I wanted to cut, so I just threw on microspikes and followed them straight up. I have to say, they cut a pretty convenient route for me! There were a few places where I did a bit of side hilling that I wouldn’t have otherwise, because it was easier to follow their tracks than break trail on the ridge. Even off their tracks though, the snow was actually pretty firm and I had very little post holing, and even that was rarely fully over my boot.

The final push to the summit worried me a bit because it just looks a little intimidating from far away (I included a few pics of the summit from different angles). I was thinking if the snow was as hard up there as it was beneath it might be too sketchy to go without crampons, which I didn’t bring. But actually it was way softer up there until the last 50 ft or so. I followed the snowmobile tracks until they stopped and then just booted up (there was a section of ankle deep powder that normally I’d wear snowshoes for, but since it was short I just plowed through). Unfortunately I turned around just underneath the summit.. I was so very close, but to go further I would have to pass between a MASSIVE cornice on the right and a sidehill of hard snow with a massive run out on the left. I actually think it would be technically doable for many people, just mentally too scary for me. (Pics underneath my map, unfortunately I didn’t get one pic that showed the cornice and the summit so two will have to do 🤦🏻‍♂️) I wasn’t too upset though, since I had probably like 80% of the views from where I was, and also I want to come back in the summer anyway and try some of the other approaches I can see on Gaia. 🙂

On a personal note, I was feeling pretty good because my ascent time all the way to the top was the same as when I tried this one November of 2020 and I didn’t get NEARLY as far that time. I’ve improved a TON this winter on all measures and I’m feeling good about that progress

Today I snowshoed up the Jolly Mt Road, AKA Storey Rd locally, for about 1.5 miles to the first great viewpoint. That took 44 minutes. From here you see Red Mt, Lemah Pk, Hinman and Daniel to the north, and Davis Peak. The route had been snowmobiled, despite the voluntary machine closure designation, and snowshoed and was pretty rough at the start and on the corners. Otherwise, the going was easy. Weather was bluebird and crisp. I do this every year, and when I have ore time, continuing on this road gives even better views and more solitude. This road is the last one on the right before hitting the campground at Salmon la Sac, about 15 miles north of Roslyn on Rd 903. There is a huge Snopark here, so permit required. 

Took advantage of the first sunny and smoke free day in while to do a 3-fer. We drove up FR4315 about 2.5 miles (approx 3300' elevation) to a closed gate. It's possible that this lower gate was closed because of recent snowfall and rangers thought the road would be icy. In any case, it added an extra 4.5 miles or so to get to the Jolly Mountain turnoff. 

We went to Jolly first, backtracked and hiked up to the Louvre, then stayed high on the ridge and hit Skookum Peak on the way back. There wasn't any real accumulation of snow on the trails--just thin cover on the ground higher up and in a few areas that are in shade. Up on the false summit of the Louvre, there was maybe half an inch of snow that had accumulated here and there--if it's icy, the scramble over to the true summit (the rock horn) could be a bit treacherous. We decided to put on helmets just to be on the safe side. Be aware that getting over to the rock horn does involve a little spicy exposure.

The views of Mt. Stuart, Esmeraldas, etc are awesome and worth the extra mileage. But maybe that lower gate will be open again.

Total mileage for the day was about 19 miles. We went at a mellow pace and had leisurely breaks on Jolly and the Louvre, so wound up hiking back in the dark; however, total elevation gain is only about 5000' and other than the scramble up to the Louvre, it's a relatively gentle elevation grade for much of the hike.

This trail is in dire need of help!

We parked at the "end of the road" and ran back on the road to run a loop coming up from Yellow Hill along the ridge over Elbow and up to Jolly Mountain before dropping down into the West Fork Teanaway Trail. The first 4 miles from the junction are in great condition, logged out and with multiple access points for water.

At the first creek crossing, everything changes. The trail disappears beneath fallen trees and rampant underbrush. Be prepared to hunt for signs of a footpath and be prepared for disappointment. For the next 6 miles you will be battling hundreds of downed trees from the 2017 Jolly Mountain Fire, shoulder-high overgrown brush flourishing under the open sky, thorny bushes, slide alder, blackberries(!), more deadfall, even more downed trees, eroded trail in cliffy areas, and multiple unavoidably wet creek crossings.

When (if) you get to the final two miles from the road, you will find the glorious work of an intrepid dirt biker who had ventured up from below and logged out the remaining stretch of trail.

If you plan on coming up this trail, bring a chainsaw and a machete and a few friends and turn it into a trailwork party. This trail really is a hidden gem that needs some serious polishing. The gorge it provides access to is quite beautiful and letting nature reclaim the path here would be a shame.

Our route:

I started out at the Salmon La Sac ranger station and headed up Jolly Mountain Trail (1307). That part was uneventful. I left the trail to join the Paris Creek trail and that's when the blowdowns began. Most of them were manageable. There were plenty of high creek crossings here that required me to just walk through them. There was also lots of snow, but it was flat so not difficult to manage. I was not punching through anywhere. There must have been a big avalanche in the west basin below Skookum Peak because the avy debris was widespread and sometimes difficult to manage. Getting through this without GPS would be difficult. 

Still, there were nice meadows along the way

Including this Balsamroot meadow that had a bear in it (my first of the season!). It ran away before I could get my phone out, but it was idyllic.

The trail was also very marshy around the North Fork Paris Creek. Your shoes will not be dry at the end of this hike, just accept the marsh.

As I approached the ridge South of DeRoux peak, the snow started at 5600'. The ridgewalk to DeRoux also had some (manageable) snow, but was full of nice flowers throughout.

The views were good, the wildflowers were unique, including this "rare" Steer's head (whose image has been showing up quite a lot on the news recently?)

The ridgewalk was lovely. Sometimes there was a trail, usually not. The bit from point 6083 to The Louvre was the nastiest. I ended up doing some class 3-4 moves, but it was probably not necessary if you were a little bit more patient and worked around the West side of the Louvre more carefully or accepted the snow and dropped into the N. Basin of the Louvre with the mellow slopes.

The snow started on the way up to Jolly at about 6000' (North of Jolly) and was continuous basically to the top. I skipped the trail and just booted up the snow. And oh yeah for Beta purposes, Hawkins looks pretty much snow-free right now, matching the rest of the Teanaway peaks. Here's a shot from Jolley showing the whole ridge (DeRoux is the nice and round one middle of the shot, closer than the big peaks).

I was surprised to find 0 summit registers at any of these peaks (except two random GeoCaches)!