Springtime Snow

Rattlesnake Ridge 4/15/07 8 miles

Continuing on our conditioning for climbing Mt St Helens, Michael & I decided to traverse Rattlesnake Ridge near North Bend. This hike is 11 miles from start to finish - from the east end of the mountain to the west with a 2000 foot elevation gain. Not the conditioning hike Mt Si can be, but a good stamina booster. However, we didn't expect the late season snowfall that would contribute to our turning around.

Our plan was to start at the Rattlesnake Ledge trail head and continue to the other end at Snoqualmie Point. The last time we hiked the trail all the way through, the WTA had still been working on it. I was interested in seeing what they had done. We saw the dusting of snow atop Rattlesnake and the other mountains surrounding North Bend as we drove to the trail head. I thought this might make for an interesting hike.

Our initial climb to the ledge went smoothly, fog had settled in around the lake which gave the new green of the forest a soft quality. A few birds could be heard calling back to one another, possibly catching up on overnight happenings. The view that greeted us from the rocky ledge was partially obscured as the clouds drifted about the mountains - Mt Si and the other mountains across the valley played peek-a-boo with us.

We continued up the mountain. It wasn't too long before we reached the snow we had seen from the highway. Already the glimpses of sun had started melting what snow rested in the branches overhead. The resulting melt felt as if we were hiking in the rain - big heavy drops splashed on our packs, arms and hats. Every now and then a small frigid clump of wet soggy snow would let loose invariably hitting my neck or ear.

But that wasn't the worst of it. When we had hiked Mt Si the week before, there was no snow at the top. Mt Si is higher than Rattlesnake. We didn't envision the amount of snow we would run into on the trail. Approximately two feet of snow still lay in wide trail that once was a road. We were not prepared for this. On top of the snow on the ground, more snow had begun to fall around us. After a brief discussion, we decided not to chance it and turned around to head back to Rattlesnake Ledge and the lake below. Our day of happy springtime hiking cut short by snowfall.