Kendall Peak 12.10.11

After carrying our snowshoes with us during the entire Gothic Basin adventure and never using them, Aaron decided to organize another snowshoe/climb the following weekend. He picked Kendall Peak, a peak many of us had not actually climbed. I had planned a trip there last January or February but when we got to the pass, it was raining so we decided to go back to Seattle. For as many times as most of us have been to the Commonwealth Basin, we tend to climb things on the west side and only walk beneath Kendall Peak near its base. Aaron sent out the e-mails and found eight of us that wanted to play in the mountains. The forecast looked great and we met in Seattle at 6am, hitting the road by 6:15am. After a pit stop in North Bend at the Starbucks for breakfast sandwiches and hot chocolate, we arrived at Snoqualmie Pass. We were geared up and walking out of the parking lot at the West Summit about 7:50am.

We walked the familiar path along the road and under I-90, before ascending the snowbank to start up the boot packs towards the basin. Aaron N was our lone skier of the day, the rest of us had strapped snowshoes to our back. Another group started out on the trail just ahead of us, a group from the Seattle Mountaineers on an organized climb. The trail was well traveled and we made quick time along it. After shedding a layer, we settled into the boys group out front with the girls trudging along behind at our preferred pace.

The girls

We had blue skies overhead with sunshine, I was feeling good, and was climbing with friends – I couldn’t ask for much more. We reached the creek crossing with the log and for the first time ever, I did not cross that log and instead stayed on the east side of the creek.

Found the log crossing

We wound our way through the trees over relatively flat ground. We re-grouped and grabbed some snacks, checking the map to see how much further we planned to go before we started the switchback up and across the mountain.

Group picture on the trail after a quick break

We followed the trail a bit longer and finally decided it was time for the switchback. Looking at the powdery snow we decided it was a perfect opportunity to use the snowshoes that were strapped to our packs. I finally got to try the new pair of women’s snowshoes that Aaron had won and that I had carried with me up in Gothic Basin.

Switchback to start winding our way up the mountain

They worked well and had a nice, secure binding system. We started up the first switchback along a nice path, taking pictures of the nearby peaks as we went. Both Guye Peak and Red Mountain were favorite subjects from the trail, glowing in the morning sun still.

Guye Peak

The traverse landed us in the flat, meadow area on Kendall. We followed the path up through the meadow and had a good section of elevation gain, prompting us to deploy the ascenders on our snowshoes. We took a quick break and applied sunscreen before venturing out onto the open face of the mountain for another long traverse across.

Aaron and Matt charging up behind me with an awesome mountain vista as a backdrop

Coming down from Gothic Basin my left knee had bothered me a little. It didn’t hurt but I could tell it wasn’t quite right. On the traverse with swinging my leg and snowshoe around, it was starting to bother me again so Lina and I took off our snowshoes and grabbed ice axes to boot pack it across. The rest of the group took off their snowshoes and Aaron N stashed his skis a little further up near a group of trees. We still had a bit of a traverse left until we took another switchback to head to the summit.

Luke was out front with the Mountaineers group, kicking steps. We made our way following their path and reached the summit. Luke pulled out the growler of IPA he had brought, while Aaron P grabbed the salami and cheese from his pack, and Matt grabbed the hot chocolate (in thermos) and peppermint schnapps. My friends sure do know how to bring the summit treats! The views were amazing! Clouds had started rolling in but it was still fairly clear and we could see lots of mountains stretching east and north of us.

Looking east

View northeast with Mount Thomson

Looking northwest

Sara packed up her antlers for some festive cheer and we enjoyed eating, drinking, and taking pictures of the amazing lunch scenery. After about 45 minutes at the summit, it was time to head down. Almost immediately I knew I was in trouble.

Sara brought her antlers for the summit

Aaron with a mini mug of IPA from Luke’s Growler

Group summit shot

Every step down set off excruciating pain in my left knee. I was trying to move slow but still could not avoid the pain. I soon fell behind the group and once I made it back to where the group had stashed their snowshoes and skis, we went into planning mode. I had figured out if I matched my feet I was OK, but it hurt to put weight on my bent left knee – a straight left leg was OK however. Matt took my pack and I started hobbling off with my ice axe and trekking pole. Lina stayed close behind me to help and soon Aaron, Sara, and Alicia were blazing a flat path ahead for me. Sara and Aaron tried supporting me with their shoulders, and Aaron even tried giving me a piggy back ride. They finally settled for making a nice path for me and let me hobble along behind with my trekking poles.

Playing on the log on our way down

Once we got back to the meadow, most of the significant elevation change was over and we were along relatively flat trails. Alicia and Sara stayed ahead of me, trying to keep the trail nice and flat and I did my best to keep up behind them. The uphill sections were rough but we were soon in the final stretch on the well traveled trail and we made decent time. Unfortunately I had to go so slow at the top that it took us as long to get down as it did to climb up. The group was great though – patient and understanding and helpful, as always. Couldn’t ask for better friends to climb with! After a communication mixup, the guys found Aaron N and we packed up to head back to Seattle for the 12 Bars of Christmas bar crawl through Lower Queen Anne that night. Despite the knee issues, I had a great day on Kendall Peak!

View Kendall Peak 12.10.11 in a larger map Map for this adventure

Climbing in the Commonwealth Basin, at Snoqualmie Pass

Our trail up

Trail up Kendall