Jolly Mountain by Humerus Hill and The Louvre sits atop Sasse Ridge. Its nearest tallest neighbor is Hawkins Thimble on Hawkins Mountain, over four miles away. The preferred way to the peak is via Salmon La Sac.
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Jolly Mountain at a Glance
Access: Cayuse Horse Camp
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 2400′-6443′
Gear: snowshoes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Salmon La Sac
We escaped to the desert last weekend, away from the rain. But today, the better forecast had us seek solitude in the mountains instead. So we paid Jolly Mountain a second visit after our first trip in 2011.
Salmon La Sac Road was clear to Cayuse Campground, still under much snow. Soon, I put on snowshoes and walked past the buried stop sign. Then we reached the summer trail past the trail detour shortly.
The winding trail went over inches of snow from 2600′ to 4000′ and crossed the road a few times. Then we intersected the roadway once more before re-entering the trees at the road’s end by the 4000′ clearing.
See more trip photos here.
Sasse Ridge Bound
The snow softened past the Salmon La Sac Creek bridge crossing at 4400′. Then we began to break trail there. The terrain steepened past the junction at 4600′. Later it flattened at the top of Salmon La Sac Creek Basin.
The final couple of hundred feet up to the 5600′ pass on Sasse Ridge was even steeper. Then from the saddle, we had our first glimpse of Jolly Mountain’s impressive northwest face.
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Jolly Mountain Climb
The pups and I traveled clockwise in the direction of the summer trail. At the same time, we contoured Jolly Mountain’s northwest basin. What felt like the starting of Cascade Concrete had us slowly plowing through sticky snow. Meanwhile, we steered clear of the corniced ridge crest.
Later we made our way south toward Jolly Mountain. Along the way, we bypassed a couple of high points from the west. Snow arête on the north ridgeline slowly flattened as we neared the summit. So we were able to go on the ridge to finish the final stretch.
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Jolly Mountain Summit
The narrow summit dropped off steeply on both east and west. Then the flat top went for about 10 yards before dipping down on the south ridge. It ended up being a bluebird day. There was the occasional light breeze with temperatures in the high 40s.
Views were drastically different from our first visit. The then black pup and I went up on a hot summer day six years ago. Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Stuart Range, and peaks in the Snoqualmie Pass area were all visible.
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Outro
The cool-looking lookout pit was now under feet of snow. But back then, the massive ladybugs crawled all over the place. This trip marked our final winter outing of the season. So here’s to a happy spring tomorrow!