Elevation Gain: Approximately 1640 ft.
Time: 10:30 am - 5:30 pm
Weather: Partly cloudy, cool, occasional sunbreaks.
I was up late with again no plan on where to go. I was hiking alone, and I wanted someplace close, and I wanted to be out on Super Bowl Sunday while most people were inside. I settled on the Carbon Glacier, the lowest elevation glacier in the lower 48. It used to be a good 7 mile hike from the Ipsut Creek trailhead, but the road to the Ipsut Creek Campground washed out years ago. Now there is a 5 mile road hike just to get to the trailhead.
I got to the Carbon River parking lot at 10:15 am. I forgot my gaiters, and I did not want to take my snowshoes. I was geared up and walking by 10:30 am. As I took off, a ranger stopped me and asked where I was heading. I said to the glacier and he asked if I was running. I said no, just not going to take a lot of breaks. He encouraged me to be carful and not get into any dangerous situation. I thanked him and told him I had a turn-around time to be back at 6pm. I walked off, and calculated the time I had to turn around so I would be back by 6 pm. I figured if I was not at the glacier by 2:15 pm, I would have to turn around.
The beginning of the hike is on a road, but through old growth forest. I was loving the sunshine streaming through in the mid-morning. It was a beautiful day, and I had the whole place to myself. About 2 miles up the road, the snow started to be a constant. Like last week, the snow was packed down and crunchy, so my snowshoes were not needed. I was at the Ipsut Creek by 11:50 am. The hike becomes a trail here, and the snow was still packed enough to make walking easy without snow gear. An hour later I was crossing the Carbon River. There are glorious views of Mt. Rainier as you cross here. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the wilderness seemed empty except for me. As I climbed up the north side of the river, I hit the trail marker that indicated I was 1.5 miles away, and it was only 1:02 pm.
This was the toughest stretch of snow. the snow was deep enough in places that I was post-holing occasionally, sometimes thigh deep. The last stretch was the worst, where I actually was crawling on my knees to disperse my weight and sink less. I made it to the glacier at 2 pm. The glacier was magnificent, covered in snow, below Mt. Rainier, shining in the mid-day sun. I enjoyed a 15 minute break, said goodbye to the glacier, and walked out. The walk out took 15 minutes less than the walk up. I made up that time on the 1.5 mile stretch from the river to the glacier.
Orchid: Setting a pace, and making my goal.
Onion: No gaiters means wet socks and feet after post-holing.
Picture:
Google Map
No comments:
Post a Comment