Alpinism Home

Today the Dawn Patrol was again just Michael and I. Originally we had talked about heading into the Alpental or Denny Creek valleys to check on ice conditions, but instead we continued to the Hyak exit to take a look at Mt Catherine. It was snowing lightly as we reached Snoqualmie Pass.

Mt Catherine is a popular ski tour but this area also has many miles for snowshoeing as well. I am familiar with the ski area since this is where it all began for me 20 years ago. It was in the shadow of the Olympia Beer can water tower that my brother taught me how to ski. Good memories! But I wasn't familiar with the area behind the ski area so I was excited about exploring it.

It was 6:30am when we left the parking lot and started up the ski slopes. I remembered that the main ski run was steep in sections and with all the new snow I was concerned about avalanches, so we kept to the side of the run. Breaking trail in deep snow is hard work, so we alternated as we slowly made our way up under the dormant chair lifts. I looked back every now and then and watched the lights of the buildings sink farther and farther below us.

We were greeted by a stiff wind as we gained the top of the chair lift. There was a large sign with a map of the area so we took a look at this before continuing towards Mt Catherine. There was a chair lift that ran down the backside of the mountain but we didn't like the looks of the steep snow below it, so we decided to follow a cat-track that descended gradually to the left. The cat-tracks had been groomed in the last few days, so for the most part they had a hard packed base 1-2 feet down, which made travelling easier as well as safer.

Our cat-track ended at the base of a power line tower with cliffs on the other side, so we headed down a steep but forested slope. It was fun descending the steep slopes, but we knew that we would have to regain this elevation on the way out. We made our way to the base of the chair lift and continued on across the floor of the valley. After a fun log crossing over an open creek we started to climb back up the other side of the valley. We had seen a cat-track earlier so we knew if we kept heading straight we would intersect it.

Sure enough, we stumbled onto the road a few minutes later. We stopped for a bite to eat, then looked at the clock. It was already 8:30am and since we had just reached the base of Mt Catherine, we decided to turn around. If this wasn't a workday, then we would have continued higher. But it was an exhilarating day to be in the mountains and we certainly got our exercise in.

On the way out we practiced building a shelter out of a tree well. It's good to know how to protect yourself from the elements in the event of an extended trip. 'til next week, Dawn Patrol signing off.