New Year's backpack on Jolly Mountain from 12.31.2025 - 1.1.2026 via Salmon La Sac Sno-Park.
ROAD: The road to the snopark was drivable by a regular car, although there might be some snow and ice present on the road. There was compact snow and ice on the short spur road and in the large parking area. Snopark pass required for parking.
TRAIL: We began our walk up the road from the snopark, which was firm enough from snowmobile traffic to be bootable. We left the road (in snowshoes) at the 2,840' switchback and pretty much made our way uphill in the most direct way possible, criss-crossing the road a few times but eventually picking the road up again at around 5,000' elevation.
The snow was deep, fluffy and unconsolidated, which made for some exhausting trail-breaking - there were some ski tracks that we followed at times, but it was a lot of work in snowshoes as there was no real existing bootpath.
Once back on the road at 5,000' it was easier-going as there were packed snowmobile tracks to walk on. At the road's end (where the Sasse Mt. Trail picks up), a group of snowmobilers passed us, got stuck, revved their engine and promptly proceeded to fling a massive fountain of snow our way, which rained heavily down on us and completely doused us head to toe. Said rider seemed oblivious and unapologetic as to what he had done, so I'd say watch out for clueless snowmobilers if you're hiking up here. 😆
We continued along the ridge, following snowmobile tracks when we could, and breaking trail at other times. The snow was actually more consolidated up here than it had been lower, so we made better progress.
We ended up setting up camp on top of a point just over 6,000' and less than a mile from the summit of Jolly Mountain. The day had been beautiful, sunny and calm, and we enjoyed a nice sunset over the surrounding peaks with a view of Rainier and Stuart.
The (not-forecasted) winds started picking up at around 8.30 pm, and by 10pm it was gusting so hard I got up to re-guy out all the tents as mine was caving in on me. Thankfully we made it through the night, and it did calm down after a few hours.
We left our camp at around 6.45 a.m. and broke trail to the top of Jolly for our first summit sunrise of 2026 (under a mile and about 500' vertical from camp). It was pretty cloudy, but it was still nice to get to the top of a mountain for the start of the New Year!
Back at camp, we packed up hastily as the winds were picking up again. The way down went a lot faster, and snow moved in as we descended (also earlier than had initially been forecasted).
There was more snow on the road as we left, and there were quite a few cars spun out on I-90 as we headed home, but we made it back safely for a good start to 2026.
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Comments
Jarv on Jolly Mountain
Beautiful images. Impressive.
Posted by:
Jarv on Jan 02, 2026 11:20 AM
thenomadicartist on Jolly Mountain
Thank you! :)
Posted by:
thenomadicartist on Jan 02, 2026 11:29 AM
ricola on Jolly Mountain
" a group of snowmobilers passed us, got stuck, revved their engine and promptly proceeded to fling a massive fountain of snow our way, which rained heavily down on us and completely doused us head to toe. Said rider seemed oblivious and unapologetic as to what he had done, so I'd say watch out for clueless snowmobilers if you're hiking up here. 😆"
I was also on Jolly that day and spoke to these snowmobilers. They said that you asked them to "break trail" for them since you were "all exhausted". I saw that you had followed their tracks along the ridge since I took some "short cuts" to avoid these which confirms their version of events. I witnessed the lead sled rider getting stuck on the final rise to the upper ridge and he cut off his engine the second he saw you. I don't care for snowmobiles either since I dislike both the noise and fumes, but lets keep to the facts here.
Posted by:
ricola on Jan 03, 2026 05:46 PM
thenomadicartist on Jolly Mountain
Oh hi Ricola! I recognize you from some other equally cheery comments on my trip reports, I'm glad you're still being joyful in the hiking community.
Facts: yes, we jokingly suggested they break trail or that we could have hitched a ride when we talked to them.
Facts: Lead rider stopped the first time he got stuck, and we passed without incident.
Lead rider also got stuck a second time further up, and that was when we got sprayed. But thank you for telling me I was wrong, even though I was personally there being doused by snow and you weren't.
I don't see why you think I would need to make this up, but I now know to not be anywhere close behind a snowmobile if it gets stuck. I assumed that information might help other hikers, as I personally did not expect a baptism.
Happy trails!
Posted by:
thenomadicartist on Jan 03, 2026 08:29 PM
ricola on Jolly Mountain
Sorry, I was being rather salty here. Seems like they got the wrong end of the stick.
Good points on being behind the snowmobile. I honestly don't understand the appeal of it all, they got stuck a dozen times on the ridge. As I left ridge they were taking a saw to a root that had been sucked into the drive shaft and the entire thing was upside down. Seems more hassle than its worth, better to walk :)
I did really appreciate your steps and had hoped to catch up and thank you all. I kept thinking to myself that this was a strong crew, the snow consistency was exhausting, a bit like unconsolidated sugar granules. Glad you made it up there and enjoyed the experience. On my way down I thought it would be a r cool place to see in the NY.
Posted by:
ricola on Jan 03, 2026 10:42 PM