A gorgeous, bluebird day for an Ellinor summit. A few quick takeaways:
- Expect to park about a mile away from the lower TH. It’s possible to make it a bit further up the road but it’s really not worth the attempt.
- Start EARLY! We didn’t park until 10am. By the time we made it to the chute the snowpack was the exact consistency of a snow cone.
- Recommend the use of crampons. I actually made it up in spikes just fine, but crampons would have been nice.
- Be careful not to miss the lower TH sign. It’s easy to overshoot this time of year.
- It’s a great time to go. Zero crowds and fantastic glissading.
Vehicles are coalescing in the same spot about a mile from the lower TH. It was quickly apparent why: the road, though snow free in spots, still has a fairly deep snowpack for low clearance vehicles with a downed tree that high clearance likely won’t make it under. That combo makes the wisdom of the crowd evident. Park where you see everyone else parking.
We got a late start and didn’t park until about 10am. From there we hoofed it to the lower TH about a mile away. Initially, we overshot the lower TH sign by about a quarter mile before correcting our mistake. The sign is on the right, the start of the trail is directly across the road up a small embankment. I think we overshot because we were in a hurry due to a late start.
The trail is briefly snow free but transitions quickly to hardpack. It’s like this until you break out of the tree line below the chute. Spikes were great here and there’s no real threat of postholing. Then the slog started.
The combination of a late start and brilliant sunshine made the snowpack beyond the tree line incredibly soft. It’s easy to posthole up to your thigh - and we did on a few occasions - in those conditions. Can’t recommend an early start enough.
Of course these conditions apply to the chute as well. That character-building gain becomes character-destroying when you lose a half-step every other step you take due to walking on nature’s version of a snow cone.
There is a decent enough bootpack to follow on the way up but certainly nowhere near as established as I’ve seen it in the past. I made it in spikes but as noted above crampons would have been welcome.
The great thing about snow in the midday sun is that it makes for pleasant glissading. It’s tough on the spirit on the way up, soft on the behind on the way down. Enjoy it!
As for the summit, it’s breathtaking and worth the effort.
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