Capturing the Art of Nature
Hiking Mt. Hansen
This was our second attempt to reach the summit of this mountain. This time the weather was cooler and we were able to reach the summit and the sub-peak to enjoy the views from both.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2013
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Last August Geoff and I attempted to reach the summit of Hansen. It was our first hike where there was no marked trail. On that occasion we had the misfortune of scheduling our hike for one of the hottest days of the summer. It didn’t play out as planned as the heat slowed us down and we cut across the sub-peak too early which led us into more difficult terrain. So we reluctantly abandoned our attempt at around the 85% point. But we planned a return the following summer taking what we had learned and applying to the new attempt.
Today was our day for the hike. We left the house at 6:30AM which got us to the start of the trail around 9am – not super early but early enough to benefit from the cooler air of the morning. The drive up the slope went very nicely with the tuned up truck, heading out we weren’t sure it would. Our last trip saw the truck struggling to pull itself up the slopes and we had to skip a number of side roads due to its performance. New plugs and a few other parts got the truck back into great shape and we flew up the slopes with ease.
This time we parked along the road near the place the road crosses the ridge line and hiked the ridge rather than from the end of the road but at a lower point. We made excellent time through the forested section. Being a month earlier in the season, the ground was still much wetter than last year and we came by a number of ponds and snow patches as we made our way along the ridge. Soon we reached the last of the trees and were now out in the open sun climbing the steeper section of the ridge leading to the sub-peak. There was much more snow still hugging the ground which was nice as it kept the air a bit cooler for us. We were cautious of it though as were weren’t sure how stable it was.
Soon we came by the point along the ridge where we had turned off the ridge to cross below the sub-peak heading for the second ridge that connects the two peaks of Mt. Hansen. The way ahead got much steeper at this point which was why we turned aside, but today we knew to keep going and to turn off much higher up. We fought our way across some steep cliff sections and picked our way along the edge of the snow fields as we didn’t trust them. Soon we had reached the point where we had planned to cut across. It was here that we crossed coming back on our first trip. Geoff was carefully considering the route but felt very uncomfortable with it as the route required crossing several steep snow fields where a slip could send one sliding for hundreds of meters – gaining speed as one went!
After a lengthy study we finally decided to continue up the ridge to the first peak as it avoided the snow fields and though steep and criss-crossed with a few dense thickets of trees, it was probably safer. So up we continued and then we reached the first peak. The views were nice and we stayed for a few minutes to regain our breath before starting down the second ridge to the true summit. Here we were able to test out some snow fields in a safer way and found them to be more solid than first thought.
Heading down the ridge to the saddle went quickly and once at the lowest point we stopped to reflect on our prior trip as it was here where we turned back. A moments thought was all that was worth and now we were on our way up the final section of the hike to the true summit. This section actually seemed longer than I was expecting as we kept seeing shoulders and cornices that teased us into thinking we were most to the summit. But eventually we achieved the summit and were able to get a longer rest and eat our lunch. From here we could see up the Silver-Skagit valley and we were also able to look down on Eaton Lake on the far side of the valley. Well one can’t stay at the top of the world for too long, soon we had to start the long trek back to the truck. Heading down is always faster for me and I wasn’t doing too badly keeping up to Geoff but then we had to climb the ridge back up to the sub-peak and that was slow going again.
On our trip down we travelled across the snow fields much more than on the way up as we had come to trust them a bit more and if we stayed back from the edge next to the big drop, it could save us time in getting back. Though we had some tiny slides, it went quite well crossing on the snow, and it was definitely cooler walking on them now that we were in the hottest part of the day. The constant breeze was also a welcome part of the day. Once into the forested section Geoff was constantly watching his GPS to keep to the trail we had made coming out. He did really quite well at following the path and soon we were at the logging road making our way the final way along the easier smooth surface.
The hike was tiring and challenging in places where we were crossing talus with steep drops around us and a couple of difficult points where we had to push through some dense trees on a steep slope. We felt good at being able to find a workable path along ridge lines and forests to reach our goals. I do feel much more comfortable now at being able to hike other summits with no trail markings and so I am looking forward to our second hike this summer which also has no marked trail to follow.