devils peak snow shoe

Spring Ascent of Devil's Peak - 03apr04
Team: Mike Bialos, Dave Creeden, Pat Dowerty, Gary Hehn, Dave Stephens

click images for large view

Another spectacular day in the Cascades with previous and new found friends! This seemed like a good time of year for this day trip; snow shoe travel was good. There was some concern about avalanche potential although, seemed fairly stable early spring snow shoe conditions. The snow on the southeast facing slopes to upper basin had the classic deep rotten mushy (mash potatoes) consistency making the going somewhat challenging.

The rock portion of the southeast route is pretty minimal but pleasant; as Becky says, about 35 feet of class 4 and then a short scramble to the summit. The view of the central Cascades around the Mountain Loop Highway is stunning!

It was a bit of an odd day for me in that I felt I was suffering from sleep deprivation; maybe that's because I was. Got a ten minute power nap on the summit - dreams and all.

belay off! gary