12/17/2011 Route: Jones Pass Posted On: 12/19/2011, By: COBuckeye Info: Sorry nothing here for Pettingell Pk, just Jones Pass, but I had to put something in the "Peak" catagory... Jones Pass Conditions as of 12/17/11: Main snowmobile/snowcat road is continuous snow from parking area to upper drainage, able to skin the entire way. Very thin, but packed by sleds, so we did not hit any rocks. Most of the slopes in the upper drainage have 12"-18" of snow, most of it wind affected. Wind slabs range in thickness and are sitting on a bed of facets at the ground surface. As a result we stayed on lower angle slopes (less than 32deg), but I cannot comment on the reactivity of the windslabs on the weak layer. There are isolated pockets of recycled powder (see picture of some of our tracks), but these are few and far between. There may be better powder/thicker coverage in the trees, but we did not explore those areas. |
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6/26/2011 Route: Herman Gulch Posted On: 6/28/2011, By: Papillon Info: Hit Pettingell and Hassell via Herman Gulch on Sunday. The snow is a mess in the trees. We encountered it around 10,700 and it was continuous the rest of the way. But there are social trenches all the way to the lake which is frozen solid. Microspikes may be helpful gaining the summit of Pettingell. The key is to take a steep grassy hill to climber‘s right before you reach the lake. This will lead you to a bench above the lake. From there you can choose your line to the summit. Pettingell to Hassell involves a 1.5 mile one way ridge traverse. The second half is grassy class I CDT trail but the first part is no picnic. It isn‘t anything difficult or dicey, just time-consuming. Overall, a great day out. Image 1: conditions in the trees Image 2: the road to Pettingell Image 3: ridge descent off Pettingell Image 4: the road to Hassell |
