Rock Mountain via Rock Lake — Friday, May. 29, 2015

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

I haven't been able to find any info on trail conditions for this or the higher elevations of Nason ridge, so I based my decision to give this a shot on a recent Round Mountain trip report. It didn't work out that well. The plan was for a long run going up the Rock Mountain trail, maybe up Rock mountain depending on snow conditions, east on Nason Ridge and maybe some other connecting trails. The trail is steep with so many switchbacks. There are some rocky sections, but it's mostly good. There are a couple easily crossed blow-downs. Snow patches started around 5500 ft. They were easy enough to cross. Above 5700 ft the snow was covering the trail with a couple patches of trail for the next hundred feet or so. I put on microspikes and kept going. I made it up to about 6200 ft on the ridge. There were tracks leading up to the ridge of Rock Mountain, but there was too much snow for a good trail run. Rock mountain and the Rock Lake basin are completely covered, as is Rock lake. I headed back down the trail and went with a backup plan instead.