April 22, 2003, Mt. Ellinor

Nice dawn-patrol climb - difficult early descent.  Kevin and I drove within 200yds of the upper trailhead and started climbing at 5:20am.  We didn't encounter continuous snow until about 4300ft.  We climbed in light fog to the bottom of the chute (4600ft).  The route to here was a well packed footpath.  Climbing the chute was another matter - some firm steps, some breakthrough.  As we summited (7:30am) the clouds above us broke, but not so far as to see other peaks.  Needing to get to work, we began our descent before 8am.  This was way too early on a cloudy morning for any significant softening.  The top of the peak (5994ft) to the top of the chute was syrofoam on hardpack, then the chute was break-through crust.  We survived a challenging descent without injury and arrived at the car by 9am.  Not a bad morning.  A great training climb.  Time for work.