Attempted a summit yesterday but a thunder and lightning storm scared us off the peaks and we ended up camping in Goat Flats.
Rd. 41 is closed with a nice uphill ride to the trailhead, done easily on a mountain bike. Trail #641 to Saddle Lake is unmaintained but passable. Some salmon berry bushes are pushing their way over the trail, but not hard to walk through them. Trail is up or alongside the stream bed, so rocky, large roots, and multiple fallen trees to climb over or under. After Saddle Lake, trail opens up and is easier, though muddy in a few places. Trail from Goat Flats to Tin Cup Gap is fairly clear with 2 easy snow fields to walk across, passable in trail shoes though lightweight crampons make it easier. Mote just beyond Tin Cup Cap is not clear all the way through. Had to climb up on the snow and things become much more technical at that point. Large snow fields with a couple of clear trail areas. The snow fields are steep and ice axe and crampons are a must, a rope is nice but not essential. This was all the further we got when weather rolled in. Close enough to taste it, but far enough to be unwilling to have lightning cracking around us.
lray - Aug 2, 2014 11:56 pm - Hasn't voted
Recent Trail Report to 3 FingersAttempted a summit yesterday but a thunder and lightning storm scared us off the peaks and we ended up camping in Goat Flats.
Rd. 41 is closed with a nice uphill ride to the trailhead, done easily on a mountain bike. Trail #641 to Saddle Lake is unmaintained but passable. Some salmon berry bushes are pushing their way over the trail, but not hard to walk through them. Trail is up or alongside the stream bed, so rocky, large roots, and multiple fallen trees to climb over or under. After Saddle Lake, trail opens up and is easier, though muddy in a few places. Trail from Goat Flats to Tin Cup Gap is fairly clear with 2 easy snow fields to walk across, passable in trail shoes though lightweight crampons make it easier. Mote just beyond Tin Cup Cap is not clear all the way through. Had to climb up on the snow and things become much more technical at that point. Large snow fields with a couple of clear trail areas. The snow fields are steep and ice axe and crampons are a must, a rope is nice but not essential. This was all the further we got when weather rolled in. Close enough to taste it, but far enough to be unwilling to have lightning cracking around us.