Mitchell Point circumambulation

[Chip Down]

Just east of Mitchell Point I pulled off I84 and headed up the eastern slopes. It was tedious at first; steep, icy, crumbly, ugly. Worked just slightly CCW to a nice flat spot overlooking the river, with a broad steep bare ridge above me, and my spirits lifted. It started snowing though, and I got a little anxious. It was quite chilly and windy, and I worried a little about snow accumulation that would make my day even more arduous. But I still had a quick safe descent plan, so hoped for the best and started up the ridge, mostly along the north edge with nice views of the river and Mitchell Spur. It got considerably more rugged, until I was forced to drop off crest and spiral/traverse up clockwise, looking for access to the upper crest and summit area. So many "almost" routes. Not really terribly difficult, but just a little too unstable and a little too exposed. Kept traversing around clockwise, trying this and that, until I finally found a route that was comfortably safe. Popped out onto gentle grassy slopes, almost free of snow. Hit the trail that goes from utility road to summit.

Took a break from Mitchel for a bit. Went south down to the utility road and up the gentle forested hill south of Mitchell. Surprised at how bare it was. The route was as clear as I hoped for, following a well-defined trail. Topped out and dropped down the south side until I hit the trail (Mitchell Ridge #110?). Terribly windy, much more than expected.

Back at Mitchell Point I continued working my way clockwise around the west side, staying as high as I could, exploring promising routes up. Some worked out, some were dead ends. Most were fun, and more interesting than the east side. Wind continued to be a problem, but at least the sun was out, and it was getting a little warmer (finally above freezing, but probably not by much). I was deliberately oblivious to the time, but an hour before sunset I checked the time and realized it was time to hustle. Pretty much managed to do everything I wanted to, and dropped off to the north, just slightly east of Mitchell Spur. I lucked out with a fairly clear (almost brush free) route through the forest, followed by excellent glissading conditions almost all the way to my car. Didn't check the time, but it looked like it must have been past sunset.

Overall, a pretty good day. Lots of little disappointments and failures in this very-rugged terrain, but there were some micro-successes, and even the failures were occasionally fun.

[Chip Down]

Many parts of Mitchell Point look like a river-rock chimney.

[Chip Down]

Hoppy New Year!

[bobcat]

Many parts of Mitchell Point look like a river-rock chimney.

The west side of Mitchell Point is fun with some interesting formations!

Mitchell Point is Columbia River Basalts overlain by Troutdale Formation conglomerates (river deposits). There are chunks of lava from a later flow on top, too.