Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Mount Howard & Mount Mastiff
Sunshine, snow, friends, fun and a nice ridge = mastiff.
Brett Dyson
- Sun, May 21, 2017
- Alpine Scramble - Mount Howard & Mount Mastiff
- Mount Howard & Mount Mastiff
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
-
Quick and dirty route info:
- DriveHighway 2 ~11.5mi east of Stevens Pass and take a left(north) onto the signed, Merritt Lake trailhead road (the road was snow free).
- Followtrail to ~4400' (snow at ~4000') and exit trail head w up ridge.- Stay on ridge to PT6125 and then descend steep snow to the east and traverse below ridge .25 miles and then regain ridge and head to summit.
The original plan was to go to jumbo with eight mile as a backup.
What do those mountains think of our plans?
Lost count of how many slides and cornice failures we witnessed, but with each one, our change in plans made me feel better and better about our choice.
From the summit of Mastiff, we started over to Howard but did not go more than few steps before another cornice blew. With cornices looming above the last bit of the route to Howard, although unlikely to be a problem, we declared victory with one summit and went home healthy and happy and lived happily ever after. The End :>)
9.04 mi 4132' gain
4:55 car to summit (including 1:00 to go .3mi at the crux)
0:30 summit stay
3:58 summit to car (including 0:16 to checkout route to Mt Howard and including 1:00 to go .3mi at the crux)
9:23 car to car
Equipment: ice axe, snowshoes
Equipment brought, but not used: crampons
6-29-2014 stats:
12.00 mi 5433' gain
3:38 car to mastiff summit
0:16 summit break
1:00 mastiff to howard summit
0:18 summit break
4:15 howard summit to car
9:27 car to car
6-11-2011 stats:
10.78mi 5642' gain - moderate pace
3:53 car to mastiff summit
0:21 summit break
1:04 mastiff to howard summit
0:15 summit break
3:35 howard summit to car
9:08 car to car