Photos from this trip can be found here.
Having gone through several dosages of meds to fight off a week-long cold, I finally felt well enough to hit up another mountain this weekend. Last time we drove through Stevens Pass was on the way to climb Rock Mountain over a year ago. Smith Brook winter pullout had just a handful of cars when we arrived, and a few more pulled up afterward.
Soon as we got on top of the snow berm, I put on snowshoes and scouted out a decent spot for us to cross Smith Brook. On the other side of the water, we headed straight up the steep slopes by staying just to the left of the stream flowing out of the basin west of Nason Ridge Peak #3 (NRP3), which was half a mile southwest of Nason Ridge Peak #2 (NRP2).
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Snow could have been firmer for a more efficient ascent. We followed old ski tracks to reduce the amount of postholing and eventually came out into the forested basin at 5,000′. Less than 200′ ascent got us up on the northwest saddle of NRP3. From there we got glimpses of our first destination NRP3, as well as NRP2 and peaks in the distant north.
From the saddle, we traversed southeastward to the summit by staying mostly on the south side of the ridge to avoid large cornices. Summit was only half-covered in trees so lots of views to be had. Nearby high points were all visible–Jim Hill Mountain, Lichtenberg Mountain, McCausland Mountain, Union and Jove Peaks, Rock Mountain, among many others.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
After enough rest, pup and I continued on northeastward toward NRP2 for a slightly different perspective of the area. We stayed on or east of the ridge to avoid steep drop-offs on the west. The two peaks were just a little over half a mile part, so before long we were on the summit of NRP2. Windy summit!
Views were more or less the same as those on NRP3, except we were now farther back on the ridge and couldn’t see Highway 2. The area had been cloudy all day, but the northern mountain ranges looked to have been blessed with lots of sunshine through those stubborn dark clouds.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
We spent most of our summit stay dodging the wind behind a group of trees. After soaking in the views and getting some photos, we headed back to NRP3 for the quick descent back to Highway 2.
Access: Smith Brook Road winter pullout
Gear: snowshoes