Nice day for an alpine hike, but with this year's early snow I decided to stick to the gorge.
The west/SW aspects of Wind Mt are rugged and less accessible than the fun south side, but I decided it was worth a little bushwhacking. Found a safe place to drop the car, and started up, following clear spots as much as possible. Wanted to start at the foot of the SW ridge and wind up to the west side, looking for interesting cliffy spots along the way. Although there were many interesting route challenges, as I got higher it was obvious that most routes deadended at unclimbable cliffs (some were even blocked by overhanging blocks). Other than a long miserable bushwhack, it appeared my best option was to stay right (towards the south side) until I reached the climbable SW ridge, but as soon as it was sensible to do so I dropped to my right into a broad grassy valley.
Ahhh! Felt so good to stand on firm safe ground, where I could just wander up casually, without having to analyze every boot placement. Scenery was great, and the complexity of the terrain was fun. I continued up, zigging and zagging to enjoy the views. Came to a point where route options were extremely limited. To continue up, I had to cling to the cliff edge (dropoff to left/west) or veer right/east towards easy slopes to summit. I went left/west, towards a nice viewpoint spire, and then continued traversing the west side.
There are a few exposed viewpoints jutting out of the west-side slopes, but soon I was just in steep boring forest. I came to a pair of parallel ridges, one open/broad and one narrow/rocky, and followed them down a bit, but both of them ended in steep brush.
Spiraled CCW up the mountain until I came to the Indian pits just below the summit on the SE side, then dropped through forested slopes to the SE.
Spotted a clearing which turned out to be a trail. I was dumbfounded until I realized it had to be that section of the Wind Mt Trail that comes curiously far to the west.
Continued down a forested ridge (open easy travel) until it dead-ended at a cliff band. I knew that was coming, but figured I'd probably be able to find a way down. Yeah, it was pretty easy.
Picked up a talus slope and followed it all the way down to the abandoned utility road that runs parallel to SR14.
Disappointing day, but I don't feel too bad about it. Offtrail hikes with no beta don't always turn out to be successful. And there certainly were a few fun spots. Actually, I guess if I'd never been on Wind, this would have been a great adventure. But too much of it overlapped places I'd already been.
Wind Mt: up southwest, down southeast
Wind Mt: up southwest, down southeast
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Re: Wind Mt: up southwest, down southeast
That bottle looks empty... did you really kill the whole thing off by yourself while hiking? That's literally like drinking a whole bottle of wine. (I split one of these a couple of weeks ago, heavy stuff...) Boulevard is great, but it's a wonder you don't get an OTUI from USFS, or, like, fall off a cliff.
Interesting photos - I've actually never been up Wind. Need to grab my rope and go play around on Windy Slab sometime. But I guess Table/Wind/Dog are all we've got for the next few months, so maybe I'll be going up there soon...
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased
Re: Wind Mt: up southwest, down southeast
I made two trips up there years ago. Two trips is enough. It's fun, but you go through all the routes (all sport) pretty fast and they are short. Most are easy, but a couple were beyond my ability as I recall. What I do remember is that I took off the legs on my zip-off pants and set them on a rock at the base. It was a windy day and I looked over and saw one of my pant legs spiraling up into the sky. It went up and up and out over the river and I presume was drowned. I still have the other leg. Can't bear to throw it away. Windy slab indeed.Bosterson wrote:Need to grab my rope and go play around on Windy Slab sometime.
Don't forget Silver Star. I love that area. It and Pyramid/Sturgeon/etc. crags actually offer up some fun, but short scrambling/trad routes. There is supposed to be good bc skiing there as well, but I've never hoofed it up there in the winter. The bowls east of Silver Star look very enticing, but also could make for some serious avalanche concerns. I think most of the bc skiing has been off the west side of the Grouse Mountain trail.Bosterson wrote:...I guess Table/Wind/Dog are all we've got for the next few months, so maybe I'll be going up there soon...
Re: Wind Mt: up southwest, down southeast
Bos, you've gotta check it out, there's much fun to be had on Wind. Short drive, no approach (except the rubble at the start), and lots of neat scenery. PCG is right that a couple trips is enough, but only if you move fast and make good route decisions. I think this was #4 for me, and I've pretty much done all there is to do. It's also a good fill-in if you're coming home from some other hike early, and it's good for a sketchy weather day where you want a quick easy descent if things turn ugly. I remember my first time (I'd never even been up the trail to the top) I worried it would be nothing but talus and brush. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be.
No, didn't finish the beer. Could have if I'd paced myself. It was a weird day, time wise. If I'd been planning on descending via trail/road, then yeah, I would have finished it.
Oh, regarding difficulty, there is some vertical, and even overhanging. I have no doubt there are climbers good enough to pull it off, but anybody who says there's not a difficult route up Wind probably just hasn't explored enough.
No, didn't finish the beer. Could have if I'd paced myself. It was a weird day, time wise. If I'd been planning on descending via trail/road, then yeah, I would have finished it.
Oh, regarding difficulty, there is some vertical, and even overhanging. I have no doubt there are climbers good enough to pull it off, but anybody who says there's not a difficult route up Wind probably just hasn't explored enough.