From the empty parking lot (1 other car), we walk the last spur road ~half mile to this sign for
Davis Peak. Elevation ~2400'. Already 11:45am!
Dry, and brown already. Still April.
The trail dips down to cross Cle Elum River on this fancy new-ish bridge.
Some glacier lilies on both side of the bridge access.
The summer trail goes all the way to Davis Peak and Davis Central all along the trail, zigzag.
Around 4500', we hit continuous snow, and trail was hit and miss. Boots were still good, however, mine leaked.
Some route finding is required.
We met one guy coming down, and told us that we needed to go over the cornice on the ridge, and north of the ridge, the snow was too deep, and he gave up because he didn't bring snowshoes.
Soon, we were on a small peak, with a survey marker. ~2:10pm.
There, traversed over rocks, not sure where the actual trail is.
Reached the ridge to Peak 5988 ~2:45pm. Investigated where this cornice cutoff is.
Very steep.
Decided to go over Peak 5988, and then pick the least steep slope to go down through the valley, more or less following a GPS track we downloaded. The slope
(On our way back, we did climbed through this cut-off.)
We made a lunch stop on top of Peak 5988. Already 3:08pm, I was starving.
Wolfed down the sandwich I made for yesterday's hike.
The view here is very good. Also good to see what was lying ahead.
My right sock was completely wet. Squeezed water out, and set on rock to dry.
Walking a bit north towards Davis Southwest until the lowest point, and go down the right (east) slope.
Steep, but not terrible. Snow is soft. I put on snowshoes very soon.
Then it's quite gentle going to the flat Davis Peak. 4:17pm.
A semi-circle stone wall at its east end.
Great view to the north and south (Mt. Rainier looked like a ghost, only the top tip).
Trees block the view to the west.
We walked a bit west towards Davis Central, hoping to get a better view west for North Davis, and the Goats.
~4:30pm, we headed down. Had a good view of the ridge where we came from.
We decided to try the cornice. It was very steep. Snow is soft enough, and I had ice axe.
O.K. took off her snowshoes for this slope, I kept mine.
Here's a photo of O.K. gong through the cornice.
The rest of going back is fairly straightforward. We were able to find the trail more than when when were coming up.
Got back to the bridge at 7pm.
Walked back to the car, now the only one in the parking lot.
I drove back. Stopped in North Bend for O.K. to buy some dinner. I tossed away my leaking boots. Got home after 9:30pm.
Found 2 ticks on me when I striped for the shower. Killed them. After the shower, I saw another on the bathroom floor (probably was on me before). Scooped it into a cup. O.K. found 1 on the floor by her feet, next to the couch. The next morning, I found another one in the shopping bag that I put my boots yesterday. Odd, the trail was not bushy. Not grassy. Not sure where we picked up the ticks.
