Jolly Mountain, Sasse Ridge Snowshoe & Jolly Mountain via Sasse Ridge Trail — Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020

I got out with Birb yesterday to do some fun snowshoe'nanigans.

Starting at the Sno-Park parking lot, we walked up NF-4315 towards Jolly Mountain where we had sweeping views of the Salmon La Sac area and peekaboo views of the Teanaway area.

The route we took in spots was the skiers route up, which cut several switchbacks with the road, reducing the trip length by about a mile or so. I felt comfortable taking Birb up this route because--while it's definitely going over avalanche terrain in areas--the risk was minimized due to the fact that the snowpack is still relatively low (which also made the snowshoe more challenging because we were dodging the gaps between boulders in areas breaking trail).

The conditions were mostly dry snow until it got later in the day and we got higher up; some of the snow was melting off the trees, so I suspect it was in the upper 30s or low 40s.

We turned around at 47.3865, -121.0441 (right before the Sasse Ridge/Jolly Mountain Trail junction) due to heavier than anticipated wet snow conditions breaking trail.

It was a wonderful day to get outside and we were having a blast spending time together and soaking up all the vitamin D we possibly could :).

Red Tape

• This is a popular snowmobile and skier destination in the wintertime: please stay near the trees where possible to avoid disrupting the down track and to avoid potential collisions with skiers/snowmobilers.
• Don't go up the Jolly Mountain summer route unless you have a death wish; I was going straight uphill under a number of cornices in March/April and I don't plan on doing that again.
• The road is avalanche prone once you get near/above treeline, but is less avalanche prone overall than the Jolly Mountain summer trail. Be avalanche aware though before heading out.
• Please exercise caution and pick your route carefully if/when shortcutting up the switchbacks on the forestry road; the road itself isn't avalanche risk free, but is more risk free than walking straight uphill (which I like doing a lot :D..).