April 26, 2008, Old Snowy

Given such a great snow pack at low elevations we decided to try Old Snowy via Goat Creek.  So with that thought in mind we left the Johnson creek snow park around 9 am ready to once more test the durability of 28 year old Arctic Cat snowmobiles.

From the 2300' snowpark we road about 10 miles to about 4000' at the end of spur road 16 near Goat Creek.  From there Old Snowy looked a long way away.  Fortunately the skiing and route finding along Goat Creek went better than expected. 


When we finally got above tree line the views of the Goat Rocks, Adams, Saint Helens and Rainer were a great reward.


To reach the summit we decided to take the small pass on the south side of Old Snowy and ascend the easy slopes on the East side of the peak.  We also descended that route back to the pass on the way out.  Below are Tom and Mary with Ives and Gilbert in the background.


The trip down through the meadows was smooth and fast, eventually becoming sticky in the woods lower down.  Fortunately we were able to get back to the snowmobiles without skinning up, although there was a fair amount of poling.   


The timing and snow pack worked out great for this trip.  Wonder if we will muster the energy to try it again in 10 years!