"Drift Peak"

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/16/2017, By: Count40
Info: Pictures from Mayflower Hill. Again, you can see the pics, but briefly: road to Boston Mine not passable yet with ordinary 4WD, snow up to the ridge, and bunch of cornices along the ridge. Old skier's tracks visible coming down from mid-portion of the ridge. What you do not have in these photos is the south side of the ridge, which, as easily seen from hwy 91 by Clinton Gulch Reservoir, is dry. Hope this helps. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2017, By: JtheChemE
Info: Bootpack installed up the ridge. Wore crampons as I was up there at first light, snowshoes unnecessary, great supportive spring condition snow. Continuous snow to the TH. NW face of Drift tracked out, west couloir to Fletcher/Drift also skied. A skier triggered small wet avalanche coming off of Drift's NW Ridge around ~1. Left small digital camera on tree stump almost to gold hill. Went back up this AM to retrieve, found a single uphill skin track. If you are the skier that found the camera, please shoot me a message, thanks! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/12/2017, By: Built-to-Last
Info: Climbed route and skied NW Face, snow was okay, we all took skiers left exit and once past the initial part was good, skied all the way back to car. 

Route: Fletcher+Drift Traverse
Posted On: 4/16/2017, By: mdmss
Info: Good conditions throughout. Plenty of snow on the ridge. Notch to Fletcher with just a bit of ice on the left side crack variation. The rightward traverse looked quite a bit icier. Getting back across the flats during the afternoon entailed a little postholing, but didn't need to break out our snowshoes as long as we carefully followed old, hardened ski/snowboard tracks. Still not sure why such a short hike was such a long day! 

Route: NW Ridge, but neighbors' photos included too
Posted On: 11/12/2016, By: Count40
Info: As can be seen from Boston Mine, north aspect snowy, but south and sufficient portion of ridge dry. Added a bunch of photos, pretty much a 360 from summit, just in case moonwatchers want to consider this and some other neighboring peaks over next two, three days. As for the moon, note that, if you are up the road to and at Boston mine, it rises above the ridges between 5:10 and 5:30 pm, depending on your exact location Used microspikes only at that very start of ridge talus, and even there just scree and sand roller bearings (both when going up and coming down), not because of snow For the rest of the route, I was just too lazy to start the spikes on-and-off cycle, so I proceeded without them, but did find comfort in having 30" ice axe ready, as walking stick. As for the rest, remember to just stick to the ridge, the very narrow top. Just no need to hurry, measured steps, and you will be fine. As for that part close to summit, where instruction state "go across top for class 3, or bypass left for class 2", bypass is to the right (south), quite a few mini-ledge alternatives. Btw, those few cairns that are on the route, happen to be fairly reliable, if in doubt. Have fun. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2016, By: Unknown
Info: Snow, snow, and more snow on this route. Bring snowshoes, ice ax, and spikes (or crampons if you choose). I wouldn't be surprised to see snow on this peak into July at this rate. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/27/2015, By: BagginPeaks
Info: Ridge is straight forward, as always beware of blocks that appear stable and actually are not when you step on them. 

Route: NW Bowl
Posted On: 6/16/2014, By: sevenvii
Info: Lots of good snow in the Northwest Bowl. Have to use the lower Mayflower TH as the road has snow coverage 200 ft beyond the big parking lot. Road was well packed snow, and didnt really have any issues postholing on the way in or out. Past the mine was a different story, plenty of postholing at 7a.m. and 10a.m. Flotation would have helped a bit, but wasnt horrible. Continous snow line can be had from the mine (and a little below) all the way to about 300ft from the summit. Fun glissade down from the top of the bowl, wished I would have had a snowboard under my feet :( 

Route: Villa Ridge
Posted On: 3/18/2013, By: ulvetano
Info: Attempted to climb Drift on 3/16, but only made the ridge and took in some views. Trail to cabin was a veritable highway, skin up to the ridge was on packed powder, with some recent slab avalanches and cornice falls visible. Once on the ridge, it was easy going until the steeps of the ridge. Unconsolidated snow made for some challenging scree-post-holing. 

Route: Villa Ridge
Posted On: 11/3/2012, By: jeremy27
Info: Southern aspects are dry. The ridge has a couple inches of soft snow around. Used poles and gaiters the whole day. Axe and traction stayed on my pack. Fun but slow. Good luck. 

Route: Villa Ridge
Posted On: 5/1/2012, By: JosephG
Info: Road up to Mayflower Gulch is still snowed over, but melting steadily. Snow in Mayflower Gulch and the upper bowl is firm enough that snowshoes are not necessary. Snow on the ridge requires attention in the narrower spots. A lot of rock is showing, and talus-hopping is unavoidable. Edit: For skiers, the upper Villa Ridge is well-covered down to the basin. Atlantic's west ridge looked bone dry, although I cannot say the same of the trees leading to its base. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 4/2/2011, By: Monster5
Info: TH plowed. Packed trail to treeline - snowshoes needed after until steep section at 12550 (gain cornice at break downslope around treeline). Crampons/ice axe needed after. Snow on ridge - typical mix of bulletproof and land mine/talus wind shadow. Sugary snow with hard wind slab (not thick or avy prone) on ridge. Signs of avy off ridge in north-facing bowls. Major cornices. WIND seems to come consistently from SW over ridge. 3 parties turned back from traverse to Fletcher due to wind and underestimating Drift. Image 1: Ridge to Drift Image 2: Upper Ridge Image 3: Pacific/Atlantic coverage (Crystal looks similar - cornices. One group successfully climbed/skied) Image 4: Traverse to Fletcher (blurry around Fletcher)