Winter Scramble - McClellan Butte

Our group met at 7:30am at the Lower Trailhead off of exit 42.  We had our pre-meet and introductions.  Since this was a winter scramble, we made sure to discuss other considerations such as snow conditions, weather, and shorter days.  Both in the prospectus and at our pre-meet, the group was informed that if there was snow on the route at the summit block or if the summit block was wet, we would not be scrambling to the top.  Everyone was in agreement, so our group of 9 headed up the trail.

We had a couple of small stream crossings, but otherwise, the trail was in good shape and  free of snow until we got to around 3,000 feet.  We saw a few patches here and there but nothing of any concern.  Once above 3,500 feet, we saw snow starting to cover the trail, but never more than an inch.  We did not put on microspikes.  As we continued up, we passed a man who said he was coming down and said that the summit block was "bone dry" though he mentioned that it was windy up at the summit.

Once at 4,600 feet, the trail turned from a southerly direction to a westerly, and then back to the north as we came up on western side of McClellan Butte.  The trail was nearly completely covered in snow but there were others up on the mountain so there were no route finding issues.  Finally, we made it to the summit block.

Our route was there in front of us and sure enough, it was free of snow, and almost completely dry aside from a couple of very small wet spots where the recent precipitation had puddled.  One of our scramblers decided that she did not care for the exposure ahead, so she stayed at the base.  But, the other 8 of us continued our ascent.   The first section of the summit block along the old pipes had more exposure and was more challenging, but once halfway up the block, the route leveled out a bit and we had an easy time up to the summit.  Once at the summit, we had a terrific view of the peaks along the I-90 corridor and had distant views of four volcanoes (Rainier, Adams, Glacier Peak, and Baker).  After a summit selfie and signing the summit register, we descended the summit block the way we came up.  Once safely off the block, we stopped for a relaxing lunch.

After lunch, the group decided that we would use microspikes since we were slipping and sliding a little on the ascent.  We kept them on until we got down to about 3,500 feet.  Our hike out was uneventful.

Car to car 7h 15m

Overall, a really fun trip.  I was not entirely sure we'd be able to summit today but the nice weekend weather gave us a window where our group could be successful.