Mout Ellinor Day Hike (edited for larger pics)

[anne37]

Drove to Mount Ellinor near Hoodsport in the Olys today. JointheDance (Steve) was my co-pilot for this gloomy but rewarding adventure. Three hours, 6+ miles RT and 3,200 feet of gain. Lake Cushman pretty much forms the southern border of the Olympics, with Ellinor rising up behind it.

The snow begins at about 4,000 feet and microspikes or really grippy boots are a necessity. Rainier and Helens floated behind us.

The avalanche chute on the summer route was surprisingly steep, but we zipped up it relatively quickly. At the ridge, we were happy to see mountains on the other side despite the cloud cover.

The climbing didn't relent until the summit, however, and I was more than ready for a comfy sit-pad and some of Steve's homemade Glogg once we took in the views of the Olympic Range to the north and the Cascades from St Helens to Baker.

The views:

Seattle poked up from the thick cloud bank - unfortunately neither of us got a snap of that, but here's a shot of the cloud cover with Glacier Peak:

After our break, we picked our way down from the summit, and down to the chute. We both chose to downclimb, something I had never done before. It was a touch nerve-wracking for me, but the snow was soft enough that slipping wasn't too much of a danger. I did utilize my ice axe at all times during the downclimb, but the microspikes were enough (I also carried crampons in my daypack just in case).

This shot should go on Steve's mantle, if you ask me:

After some annoying postholing, we barreled down the trail back to the lower trailhead. Great, relatively short hike with a lot of payoff. Even in January.

Thanks to Karl for teaching me how to put the pictures in the post!

[BrianEdwards]

Love that shot of Rainier over the fog!

[Splintercat]

Nice! What's the travel time to that corner of the Olympics? Hadn't really thought of it as a day trip before..!

Thanks for posting!

Tom

[anne37]

Only three hours, relatively easy drive. I-5 to 101 and then 119 to NF2419. Road's not bad either. We parked at the lower trailhead to extend the hike, but there was no snow on the road as of this weekend. not sure how the conditions will change with the turn in the weather. The snow was soft, and there was some ice at the top but totally manageable. Those chutes are steep!

[jointhedance]

A lot of that EG was bunched in to the upper mile and half of trail. Mt. Ellinor has to be one of the most worthwhile hikes/climbs in the leeward Olympics, and within 3 hours of Portland. This is a well-loved, well-known summit, and can be busy, but this January Monday we met not one hiker the whole time. Thanks, Anne, nice report, and great photos!

[kepPNW]

Oh boy, given the cool places you go, your TRs are going to be so much more fun to look at now!

This seems to be yet another that I'll be bookmarking, and making a point of getting to at some point. Looks like a whole lot of fun, and some really fresh views! Thanks for that.

[raftingdog]

Ellinor has great steep glissade so popular it become a deep bath tub chute....... busy in spring

[TheAverageGuy]

Wow. Those were some great pictures!

Looks like a lot of fun.

[anne37]

You could even see a shallow chute already, and with the soft snow it would've been great for glissading through that steep part if it weren't for all the boulders poking out. Steve glissaded a small part below once we were clear of the rocks and tree wells.

There really is a lot of epic stuff just at the three-hour drive mark from Portland. Three hours gets you to Rainier, Goat Rocks, central Oregon and now this.

[TeamReynolds]

WOW! What Amazing pictures, I love the 6th one down with the blue hued foothills. Sounds like a killer hike. On my list... Thank you.