| A winter hike on the Butte Trip Report |
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| A winter hike on the Butte   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Washington, United States, North America Date Climbed/Hiked: Dec 14, 2002 Activities: Hiking | Page By: mvs Created/Edited: Feb 16, 2006 / Feb 16, 2006 Object ID: 172948 Hits: 1037 Loading... Page Score: 78.4% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
A Winter's WalkTheron Welch and I got an early start for a half-day trip up this local conditioning peak. We had umbrellas against the steady rain, and enjoyed the pleasant walk up past various gravel roads. There was plenty to talk about, especially the little-known Gore Range in the Colorado Rockies. About halfway up, we encountered snow, which deepened quickly. Theron didn't have gaitors, so on the few times I mercilessly put him in front to break trail, he got soaked. He invented a scheme of tied shoelaces which I nick-named "Piggly-Wiggly gaitors" after a well-known supermarket in the southeast. We got occasional cloudbreaks and less rain as we approached the summit. We were really surprised at the large amount of heavy, wet snow. At the summit ridge we prepared for the scramble, stepping out into a screaming wind. "Is this advisable?" I was ready to turn back when Theron found a better way at an impasse. One more crux move right along the knife-edge of the ridge got us past the difficulties to a sheltered area where we could rewarm hands (mine got numb going up and down). On the summit we saw the clouds part two or three times to a great wintry view of Mt. Kent. But before we could take a picture, a new cloud came screaming into place. We descended cautiously, then bounded down the trail easily. We ran into three parties, presumably grateful for our tracks ;-). A very small avalanche had obliterated a portion of the trail on the way down. Theron's car had heated seats, a nice reward! Images
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