Higher Squire

Our private group of four Mountaineers arrived at the trailhead at 8 am. The road to the trailhead is rough, but any high clearance vehicle should be able to make it. The trail is dry until about 2800 feet, when we began seeing patches of snow and ice. We put on our microspikes soon after that. There is one creek crossing on a narrow log that is a bit treacherous but fine with poles. We saw some impressive ice formations.

There was an existing packed-down boot path for much of the ascent, so we didn't need to use our snowshoes. We had to do a tolerable amount of bushwhacking. The snow grew progressively deeper, and the grade increased. Rising out of the trees, we were able to see the surrounding peaks. 

A few hundred feet from the summit, the grade grew alarmingly steep. There is also an obvious avalanche slope below the summit, with evidence of recent slides; the consolidated snow conditions and green avalanche forecast gave us confidence to continue. We took out our ice axes and helmets and kicked nearly vertical steps to the summit, arriving around 12 pm.

The summit offered stupendous views of Three Fingers, Whitechuck Mountain, Mount Baker, Shuksan and more. With little wind at the summit, we ate our snacks and took photos to our heart's content. There is room for about 8 people on the summit block and surrounding area.

The initial descent from the summit was a bit dicey and steep, but not too bad. After the steep bit, we plunge-stepped our way down in the deep pillowy soft snow, soaking up the sunshine.

We arrived back at the car at 2 pm, having carried but never used our snowshoes. A stop at Burger Barn in Darrington on the way home completed the outing.