May 1, 2008

PCT-Herman Creek Loop

Starting from Herman Creek workstation, Thomas and I took the PCT to Chinidere and returned on the Herman Creek trail. In deep snow, the high back country provides a challenging and remote environment. Above 3000 feet snowshoes are needed, but conditions are improving and the surface may soon be firm enough to do without. Route finding was difficult in places and will probably remain so for some time.

Fresh snow caked the 4,000 foot level forest and the sun shone warm enough to sustain a continuous melt water drip mixed with intermittent falling clods of slush. I got soaked and needed to repeatedly wring my gloves out, but after a few hours got used to the misery.

You could get used to hanging if it didn’t kill you. 

Towards the end of the Benson Plateau the trail became almost impossible to find. After Camp Smoky we just followed the ridge line and discovered a series of vistas along the top of the rocky areas. Snowshoeing takes you a bit off the beaten track and reveals things in a new way.

Herman Creek Drainage

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Tanner Butte

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South from Ridgeline

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Our Tracks along Ridgeline

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After the rocky open areas, we regained the trail and side hilled along the steep slope for some distance before returning to the forested ridge top. There the going was much easier. At the Hicks Lake saddle the barrage of dripping slush from the forest canopy became intense. I began to wonder how the trees could fire down on us all day without reloading.

Deep, soft snow on the north side of Chinidere made for hard going with a few steep steps, the last step with a corniced lip. The top was just a hundred feet beyond.

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South to Mount Hood

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Wahtum Lake

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Indian Mountain

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Tom and Tomlike

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We’d been to Chinidere two weeks before. There was no view then, but the trip did familiarize us with the route needed to connect with the Herman Creek Trail. Since that time, fresh snow had completely obliterated our tracks.

The next objective was to find the rock that marked Point 4213 on Tomlike Mountain. That was easy enough. Walk with the sun at your back until you can look down on Mud Lake. Hang a left.

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Plunge steeping down the steep slope below point 4217 was easy, going in up to the knee like a shock absorber squeezing the air out of the fresh snow. Once out of the frigid wind atop the ridgeline, the open areas below felt balmy in comparison.

The last challenge was side hilling the steep forested slope and hopefully finding the trail to Noble camp. Here we took off the snow shoes, preferring to post hole rather than fall. Lucky for us to find an open line in the trees. Seeing a trail blaze gave a feeling of elation, knowing we could follow a trail from that point into improving conditions ultimately get home after a long day out with wet clothes, sunburned face and soggy boots that made squishy sounds with every step.

Nice work, guys! - As usual - great report and photos.  You've answered the question "is Wahtum lake starting to melt out yet...?".

This has been an amazing year for mammoth drifts and deep snow late in the season - here's a summertime pic looking north at the Tomlike Mt. ridgeline from about the same spot as the one you've posted. The drifts on the east side about mid-ridge must be thirty feet deep - or more, judging from the size of the trees completely buried. (For scale, there are two people in the lower left center of this pic - one in a light blue shirt and the other in a white one.)

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon

Fred:

South to Mount Hood

Goshdarnit do I miss Oregon.

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Photos: http://mattisnotfrench.smugmug.com/
Facebook: add me! (Matt Reeder, Portland State University)

Wow, that's a lot of snow!  Great trip guys!  Nice photos as well.  How amazing that there is still that much white stuff in May!

-Zach

btw - is the photo on your logo "angel eyes" from the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Zach:

Angel Eyes, you got it.