Mount Pilchuck - Winter, Mount Pilchuck — Sunday, Apr. 3, 2011

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The 3 hours it takes to walk the 5 miles from the gate and rubble blockade at the Heather Lake trailhead to the broad Mt. Pilchuck parking lot pass quickly with the anticipation of glimpsing the lookout at the summit, like the half-excavated remnants of an other-worldly archaeology. The hike back through afternoon slush is an exercise in the autonomic endurance of getting home to a hot meal and dry clothes. We learned at the Verlot Public Service Center that our original destination, Mount Dickerman, would have to wait a few more weeks until the Mountain Loop Highway opens at Red Bridge. We decided that a winter hike up Mount Pilchuck would provide equivalent views and, if not a strenuous climb, then at least a long one. At 8:20am we left from the Heather Lake parking lot and a thin layer of snow blanketed the ground soon after with more coming down as we walked. In 2 miles, I was putting on snow shoes and was sinking 6 inches into the fresh powder of the previous day with a well-consolidated base. By 11:30, we were at the Mt. Pilchuck trailhead, where 4-5 feet of snow buried the outhouse and there was 1 foot of fresh on top of the sign. We ate a small lunch of hummus-cucumber-spinach sandwiches to rejuvenate for the steeper climb ahead. We started on a southwest bearing, crossed the creek where the snow walls on either side were not too high since we could not find an adequate snow bridge, and soon followed the steepening, well-wooded ridge on a southeast bearing. Snowshoes were essential for breaking trail lower down, but as the slope increased, they provided little benefit until they were simply a hindrance, as we found ourselves kicking steps on a 45-degree incline. Throughout the day, the fog was getting worse up high, and we could tell we were reaching an exposed summit by the force of the wind and the pelting ice. Once out of the denser forest, the ridge grew thinner, and we found that we had turned in a northeasterly direction for the last part of our ascent. From the short distances that we glimpsed in sometime clearings, we noticed cornices and a steep drop to our left, on the north side of the spine. Once I thought I saw a saddle and continuation of the ridge below, but the fire lookout never came into view. We reached what may have been Little Pilchuck by 2:50pm, 20 minutes past our turn-around time. There was more than an inch of rime on the boulders and few trees near the top, and as we stopped to take our summit photos, we could feel the hoar growing on our exposed cheeks. What took 3 hours to ascend took 1:15 to descend by boot and by butt with one short break for hot chai, peanut butter-cucumber-spinach sandwiches, chocolate and candied ginger, small comforts that make a 16-mile hike through snow worthwhile, even on a day without grand views. Our pace was constant and fast, and we figured we had come 3 miles from the trailhead before stopping. Ours were the only tracks more than 2-miles up the forest road. It was apparent that many people had come and had turned back where I had put on snowshoes in the morning. We could also see that the snow had receded significantly with the warmth of the afternoon and all the foot traffic. On reaching the car at 6:40pm, we briefly talked to the sheriff, who had just arrived, gave our report of snow levels, and found that, although we had a quiet day alone on Mt. Pilchuck, there had been 30 cars at Lake Twenty-Two, a significant crowd on a day of little clearing.