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Avalanche Mountain via Snow Lake trail (attempted)

I parked at Alpental and took trail 1013 (Snow Lake trail) to the pass just south of Snow Lake. At the pass I left the trail and followed a bootpath east on the ridge. I was planning to go to point 5,200+ on the ridge and then go north on another ridge to Avalanche Mountain. But at around 4,975' the ridge became very rocky and steep so I turned around. (Maybe I could have contoured below it, at the time the rainy and foggy conditions didn't let me see low enough to tell.)

On to plan B.

I returned to the trail at the pass and followed the trail to the low, broad ridge that runs east from Snow Lake to Avalanche Mountain. I pushed through tolerable amounts of huckleberry bushes on this ridge until I reached the base of Avalanche Mountain. Inexplicably, I turned around here and took the ridge back to Snow Lake.

On the way home I took the Source Lake loop trail, it has great views of Bryant Peak, The Tooth, and friends.

• Date: 2004/10/19 Trip type: scramble Elevation gain: approx. 2,250 feet USGS quad: Snoqualmie Pass In areas: Middle Fork Snoqualmie Drainage, Alpine Lakes Wilderness Reference: The Northwest Peakbaggers Asylum Total time on trail including breaks: 6 hours 27 minutes Driving there time: 1 hour 3 minutes Ascending time (not including breaks): 3 hours 22 minutes Descending time (not including breaks): 2 hours 26 minutes Driving back time: 57 minutes Altitudes below are readings from my altimeter so they are only approximate. 2013/02/20: 5 minutes driving there from Lower Queen Anne to Larry's Market 15 minutes driving there from Larry's Market to I-90 and I-405 43 minutes driving there from I-90 and I-405 to Snow Lake trailhead (Alpental) 1 hour 2 minutes ascending from Snow Lake trailhead (Alpental) to pass S of Snow Lake 54 minutes ascending from pass S of Snow Lake to unpassable section of ridge 20 minutes ascending from unpassable section of ridge to pass S of Snow Lake 27 minutes ascending from pass S of Snow Lake to turn off trail onto flat ridge E of Snow Lake 39 minutes ascending from turn off trail onto flat ridge E of Snow Lake to base of Avalanche Mountain 49 minutes descending from base of Avalanche Mountain to turn off trail onto flat ridge E of Snow Lake 1 hour 37 minutes descending from turn off trail onto flat ridge E of Snow Lake to Snow Lake trailhead (Alpental) 57 minutes driving back from Snow Lake trailhead (Alpental) to Lower Queen Anne

• Full sized map

• Avalanche Mountain, just visible from Snow Lake trail

• Impassable section of ridge east of trail