High Hut

Drove up to the Upper SnoPark at the South District of the Mount Tahoma Trail Association near Ashfort to snowshoe up to High Hut. From the upper SnoPark, this was 6 miles round trip with 1,750 ft of gain. Only saw 11 others today. View of Mt Rainier from High Hut this morning:

The drive up to the upper SnoPark was snow free, and the snow started on the trail at the end of the parking area. The closed road was bare in some places, but I stayed on the side as requested of hikers and snowshoers. About 1/2 way up, the snow was soft enough that I put on my snowshoes. There were lots of creeks running as the freezing level is up around 7.000 ft today.

Some of the creeks along the road.

So happy to have a view of Mt Rainier on this mostly cloudy day!

zoom of the Goat Rocks to the southeast:

zoom of Mt St Helens to the southwest:

 

Gold Creek and Heli Ponds

We went to the Gold Creek SnoPark at Hyak on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass to snowshoe around Gold Creek Pond and Heli Pond. Our route was 4.7 miles with minimal gain. The closed road to Gold Creek Pond, the trail around Gold Creek Pond and to Heli Pond were all well packed and we carried our snowshoes until we started post holing on the back side of Heli Pond. View of Gold Creek before reaching Gold Creek Pond.

View of Gold Creek Pond from the south shore

Some views along the north shore of Gold Creek Pond

Heli Pond from the south shore

Heli Pond from the north and east shores