Winter Scramble - Surprise & Spark Plug Mountains

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Required
-- Snowshoes (aggressive MSR ones work great)
-- Helmet
-- Ice axe
-- Boots
-- NW Forest Pass or equivalent for each car (not a Discover Pass)
-- Overnight gear (tent, sleeping bag, pad, etc.)
-- Headlamp with good batteries (and extra batteries)
-- Sit pad or something to sit on in the kitchen/evening to insulate from the snow (a foam sleeping pad works great)
-- Tent deadman anchors and extra cord (see below)

Recommended/Optional
-- 4WD vehicle & tire chains, or carpool (trailhead isn't plowed)
-- Hot breakfast together at Sultan Bakery Saturday morning
-- Metal shovel
-- Avalanche gear (beacon & probe), but only if others bring theirs
-- A little alcohol for camp Saturday night (no thin, easily breakable glass)

Notes
-- This is a 2-day 1-night scramble camping on snow.
-- Anyone can sign up, including snow-camping newbies.
-- Day 1: Snowshoe to camp (5 miles & 3600 feet gain). Day 2: Summit both peaks, then break down camp, then snowshoe back to the cars (7.5 miles & 1600 feet gain).
-- We'll only do this trip if there's enough snow to snowshoe and snow-camp. And only if the avalanche conditions are safe and the weather forecasts are friendly (friendly = no storms, no high winds, no rain at camp, and no single-digit temps). If the trip is canceled then there won't be an alternate destination.
-- Our pace will be 7 on a scale of 1-10 for Mountaineers scrambles, and we'll take efficient breaks.
-- Our group will stay together the entire time, so no fast people way ahead.
-- Caltopo map of our route...you can export the track to your device.
-- We'll all share carrying group gear (stoves, backup fuel canisters, water filters, shovels, satellite Inreach, etc.). A week before the trip I'll ask everyone what they own and then a few days before our trip I'll let everyone know which group gear to bring.
-- For safety reason my minimum group size is 5 people, if less than 5 then the trip will be canceled.
-- Sunset at 5:40pm, sunrise at 7:00am.
-- Please arrange your own carpooling.
-- The morning before our trip you can join the group for hot breakfast at the Sultan Bakery. They have normal bakery stuff in the case (donuts, etc.), and also hot plates from the kitchen (eggs, hash browns, bacon, breakfast burritos, etc.)
-- The photo at the top is from a past overnight scrambling trip of mine, Armando took the photo.
-- On Tues evening before our trip I'll send an email with more info, including what group gear everyone should bring.

Camping on snow
-- 3-season tents with mesh on the top half work great since they have good ventilation, as condensation is normally an issue in the winter. A 4-season tent is needed only in high winds and to support lots of heavy falling snow, but we'll cancel our trip in those cases. So for this trip pretty much whatever tent you have (with or without mesh) will work great.
-- To anchor your tent in snow you need to bury/deadman all your anchors. This means you'll need to use extra cord so the tent can reach the buried anchors (such as 2mm or 3mm "utility cord" sold by the foot at stores like REI). Also you'll need to use something other than the thin summer stakes that came with your tent. Here's a  video showing some methods, and here's more details...
#1 - One option is to use metal tent stakes with a hole in the middle (here's an example) and then girth hitch a loop of extra cord through the middle hole of the stake forming a T, and then girth hitch all of that to a tent corner. Then dig a T-shaped hole in the snow and bury the entire stake HORIZONTALLY. Summer tent stakes without holes won't work because the cord could slide off the end. Tip: make the loop of cord a little larger than you need, and then right before burying the stake you can roll up any extra cord around the stake to shorten it.
#2 - Another option is to use fabric "parachute" anchors, and just put a large snowball in the parachute and then bury the entire thing in a hole. This is my personal favorite option, and I just leave my parachutes girth hitched to my tent all the time and I never use metal stakes...and in the summer I just put a rock in each parachute if it's windy, which is especially handy in the alpine when camping on rock where pushing in tent stakes isn't an option. Plus this method doesn't require using extra cord. I found a website where you can buy some (their "silpoly" ones are great, and each one is only $5.00 and 0.22 ounces). I think this is the best option since it's cheaper than option #1 and it's less than a quarter of the weight.

When to meet
-- Saturday 7:00am-ish at the Sultan Bakery for hot breakfast, then we'll leave for the trailhead at 7:45am-ish.
Where to meet
Sultan Bakery
-- 31407 Hwy 2, Sultan, WA 98294
-- Hwy 2 @ green mile marker 22.5
Trailhead
-- Surprise Creek trailhead
-- Hwy 2 @ green mile marker 58.7, then 0.5 mi SE
-- Lat/Long = 47.71029, -121.15204
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See "Leader Notes" above