Winter Scramble - Mount Washington (Snoqualmie, winter)

Meet at the Issaquah Transit Center parking garage NE corner at 7:00 AM

Changed at last minute from Teneriffe

Update as of Thursday 12/8 at 9 AM:

Hey there snow lovers:
Winter has come and will continue to come to the lowlands starting Thursday night through Friday night, when the middle sections of our route will  receive 10 – 15 inches of snow, (on top of the 1-2 feet they already have).

Usually at this time of year, the route up Teneriffe is bare until the last 500 – 1000 feet and the trip is more of a tough hike than a true winter scramble.  Not this time!  On Saturday, we will start seeing snow right at trailhead. A WTA trip report to the general area indicates we should expect deep snow for at least the second half of the mountain and possibly more like 2/3 of the mountain.

The section of the route just above the falls, from roughly 2500 to 3000 feet is very steep.  With no snow, there is a steep climber’s trail, (“Kamikaze Trail”.   If there is more than a few inches of snow, it could possibly be very difficult to ascend and even harder to descend (if we had to return that route).

My plan is to ascend the “Teneriffe Falls” trail to 2000 feet, (a bit below the falls), then make a decision as to how to proceed.  At that elevation, there is a “connector” route that traverses back to the main “Teneriffe Trail”, (which is a decommissioned road).

If it looks okay to proceed up to the ridge as originally planned, we will continue ahead.  If not, we will traverse west to Teneriffe Trail and ascend it.  If we do go that way, it will be because of deep snow, which likely would mean that getting all the way to the summit of Teneriffe would be unlikely via either route.  Via the Teneriffe Trail, will proceed to the top of Mt Si and skip the long eastward traverse to Teneriffe.

 Sound confusing?   If you don’t already have it, I encourage you to get Gaia GPS for your phone and study the routes.  On Gaia, the “Open Hiking Map” and “Gaia Roadmap” shows the routes.