Ben's Corner: The Confession

Consider this a public confession: I'm addicted to mountains. Since about January I've been dreaming about mountains several times a week. They're just so fun to climb! I've been getting itchy feet to get out there and climb, but avalanches are a big deal in Washington so I've been on the sidelines since November. I resorted to scouring the Internet to compile a list of 30 mountains to climb. The list is pretty extensive in scope and detail, just ask Bri. Anyway, of the mountains on the list, some were chosen because they can be climbed early-season (i.e. before June). One of those was Mount Persis.

Mount Persis Summit from the top of the ridge

April 12th was MY day. The forecast called for sunny skis and 70 degrees. That's nearly unheard of for Seattle in April. Nothing was going to keep me indoors. Leaving Seattle at 6:30am, the ascent party (my brother Brandon and friend Chris) arrived at the mountain around 8:00 to find the road snowed in a mile or two before the trailhead. It was hard going through knee-deep snow and it took 1:30 to get to the "trailhead". The "trailhead" was actually a path left by a group of snowshoers leading straight up into a second growth forest.

Ascending through trees

Brandon and I thought it was easy going but Chris kept falling through the snow to his waist. This is where it helps to only weigh 140 pounds! After going up forever we got to the top of the ridge at 5,000ft, having already gained more than 3,000ft from the car. It was already noon and getting time to turn back. I decided to set out alone to fulfil my summit lust. I made it to within about 100 vertical feet of the summit (5464 ft) before it was just to late to go on. It was so close I could hear those snowshoers talking on the summit! We suffered an ignominious decent.

The summit is right there!

All in all it was a great time. I got a really bad sun burn. The views were phenomenal.

Mount Gunn and Baring from Mount Persis. Highway 2 nearly a mile below us.