Hall Peak 5485 ft (Reconnaissance)

Silver Basin

November 10, 2002

Well I couldn't find a willing soul to go with me, so I drove myself out to Silverton late Sunday morning and did much battle with the local flora.

I had hoped that this time of the year might be good for an attempt because 1) there wouldn't be much snow, and 2) the brush would be manageable. I was woefully wrong on both accounts. The upper mountain appeared to have close to a foot of snow and the brush leading up to Silver Basin was still very dense. I had to draw on my Gunn Peak experience to negotiate the two areas where slides and the subsequent brush have overtaken the trail. ;)

And did I mention that it was constantly raining? I was thoroughly soaked and if it weren't for my superior clothing (GoLite umbrella, GoLite Jacket, schoeller Mammut "Matthias" pants) I would have been hypothermic. I turned around when I saw the gully that Chris, Jake, and I took last February. It was an avalanche slope at that time, and this time it was a nasty amassment of slide alder, stickers, devils club, slippery broken tree limbs, and other nice things to crawl under, around, over, and though.

It was about 2:45pm by this time and my sick mind was entertaining lofty dreams of ascending the gully, gaining the ridge, finding a route to the summit, freezing in the wind, trying to descend in the dark, losing the trail and spending a night out in bushwhacking hell, but then I suddenly remembered that I saw a McDonalds in Granite Falls on the drive in, so I turned around. I know, I know. I wimped out, but man those cheeseburgers sure tasted good!

I'm still picking devils club needles out of my hands but at least I got some exercise and I'm reaquainted with the approach.