Sunset on Siouxon (Siouxon Peak 7/9/08)

[jeffstatt]

Souixon Peak is a 4100 feet mountain just south of Mt St Helens in Washington. It's the next highpoint due East of Mt. Mitchell

First things first. How do you say "Siouxon". Well it's "sue sawn" (rhymes with Tuscon).

The traditional route up to Siouxon Peak is loop that takes you through the Siouxon Creek valley across a bear of a creek crossing, up to the Peak, across to Huffman Peak and back down to the creek bed. These two links give you an idea.
http://nwhiker.com/GPNFHike48.html
http://nwhiker.com/GPNFHike49.html

According to Brian Jenkin's SummitPost.org page, the whole round trip would be about 16-18 miles with just under 4000' of elevation gain.

So my challenge for this afternoon was to find a shorter route taking an approach from Carson up Wind River Road. Sure enough the maps show RT64 turning into RT6403 and getting you withing a few miles of the summit.

I was getting a late start, leaving my quiet Vancouver neighborhood at just after 4:00PM. So I know going in I'm going to have everything go right to make to the Siouxon Peak summit by sundown. I had planned on doing half the hike by headlamp and getting back to town after midnight.

Most of the route up until about 2500 feet was paved and in pretty good shape. Once I got up into the GP National Forest, the roads started getting choppy and well grown over

However all the big blowdowns were cleared (just barely)

When I got to 6403, this is where the going got pretty tough. There were tons of places with giant would be speed bumps in road. I finally got to "legitimately" use the 4x4 on the Rodeo. In a few spots it was particularly sketchy. I was not in the mood to get stuck, especially after seeing two Suburbans get stuck last week near Trillium Lake!

The Rodeo did great over the rough road. I'd drive realllllllly slow in low gear and even got out of the truck in a few places to check on my clearance.

However, there was one washout in the road I wasn't going to brave. I turned the truck around and decided what my options where.

I was stopped right near Timbered Peak so - I could bushwhack to the top of that, but the map didn't indicate any views from the top. There are a number of other peaks to bag in the area, but it would have meant backtracking 10-20 miles depending on which one.

I did some quick math - it was 7:15PM...Light is good until about 9:45. So I determined I had about two and a half hours to go about 6 miles in order to make the summit before it got dark. I didn't know exactly when sunset was this evening. I figured it was sometime around 9:00PM. 6 miles in two hours and about 1200 feet of elevation gain? With a good enough pace I could pull it off...so I parked the tried got out and started walking!

So here is my trail for the next 4 1/2 miles!

I watched my speed on the GPS and kept a pretty steady speed between 4.2 and 5.5 miles an hour (jogging about 1/3 of the time). It was a steamy day - probably still about 85 degrees and just as much humidity, so I was sweating pretty good.

Dodger has an uncanny way of seeking out any possible water source and making a mess out of himself. Apparently this is Springer Gatorade:

So after about 4 miles or so, I got to this point where the forest road coming up from Siouxon Creek met up with 6403. Just out of the shot ahead of me in this photo, the road disappeared obviously falling victim to decades of landslides and disuse.

It wasn't long after where I was treated with some views of Swift Reservoir to the North and Mt Adams behind me to the East

So...what I didn't count on when I did my math calculation is that my route on FR 4603 would actually LOSE 300 feet of elevation before getting to this point, so now I figure I have 1500 feet of elevation in the next 1-2 miles. So I'm jogging uphill to catch up with the sun.

Wasn't long before I got my first view of Mt St Helens. It was HUGE (much bigger than this picture shows)

Ok. So I finally make it to within a mile of the summit. I'm at about 3300 feet when I take this photo:

The trail diverts to the south and starts gaining elevation quickly and reenters the thick forest. It's about 8:45 at this point so I'm doing very good on time. At about 3400 feet the snow envelops the trail. I'm able to keep on track using the GPS, but after the snow patches relent it is clear I've lost the trail completely. So I start thrashing through the brush heading uphill biting off chunks of elevation and I begin to worry about having to count on my GPS too much on the way back down.

At 9:15 only a half mile from the summit and darkness approaching quickly I decide it's time to head back. It was a combination of having another 400 feet of gain, trying to route find on the way back down negotiating all the debris on the forest floor and having to count on my GPS for my survival!

I manage to work my way back to the viewpoint and snap some last minute photos. This one is of Mount Mitchell to the West (the north fork of Siouxon Creek valley is in between)

On the way back out it took until about 10:00PM before I needed the headlamp. It did cool down a bit, but the humidity was still pretty bad. For the next hour and a half I walked the most boring stretch of forest road in the dark by headlamp with only the incessant panting of Dodger to accompany me.

You know your spidey senses really start to tingle when you're that remote, that far from home and you're still many miles to your vehicle! The fact Dodger would get spooked by a bat every once and while didn't help! Occasionally I would stop and turn off my headlamp and gaze at the carpet of stars above me. It was a beautiful evening but I started to obsess that I left my headlights on!! But I made it back to the truck by 11:20 and back home by 1:00 AM ish.

I went through two Propels and 2 liters of water on that trip, and drank a 20oz Mt Dew on the way home, so I thought I was pretty well hydrated, but last night I suffered through some really nasty leg cramps - you know the kind I'm talking about, right? Feels like someone is grabbing, squeezing and twisting your calf muscle. Ow that friggin hurts! Gotta start eating bananas before bed on after night hike (and maybe hide a bar of soap in my sheets )

Total Miles: 12.5
Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Gain: 1300 feet

[jeffstatt]

I somehow managed to screw up my GPS track, but I drew it out with Topo!

[Paul]

Very nice pics! Thanks for sharing.

For some reason, I;m not too keen yet on hiking in the dark.

[pablo]

Dodger in the mud puddle would be my favorite although all are very nice. Siouxon has been on my list forever - I've got to get out there and do this one. The details, maps, and links are most useful.

Thx,

--Paul

[jaimito]

Jeff we'll have to hook up sometime to do a night hike, I've always wanted to do one, but I'm not going to do it alone… your a little braver than me.

[justpeachy]

You got some great shots, even though you didn't make it all the way to the summit! As for the Mt. St. Helens shot, it is frustrating when you remember how BIG the mountain looked in real life, but it doesn't look as big in the picture as you remembered it.

I've gotten middle-of-the-night leg cramps before too, but they seem to be quite random. More often than not, I get them on a night where I was not doing any hiking that day.

[jeffstatt]

I did some scouting of the area on Google Earth, and it certainly does appear to require a return visit. Maybe I'll have to take the creek approach or just give myself some more time next time around.

[jeffstatt]

By the way I exagerate elevation in Google Earth. I don't know if everyone was aware you could do that. It's under toos | options