Townsend Mtn, Mt Persis, Frog Mtn, point 4534, and Stone Lake (attempted)
Plan #1: Mount Townsend. In the Sultan Cafe we decided not go to
Mount Townsend due to potential avalanche danger on Townsend.
Plan #2: Mount Persis. Part way up the logging road to Persis we
encountered a large tree blocking the road.
Plan #3: Frog Mountain. The road up the North Fork Skykomish to Frog
had a "road closed after 10 miles" sign.
Plan #4: Point 4534, east of Stone Lake. At the trailhead
we spent over an hour digging out an SUV, we no longer had time to
make it to the peak.
Plan #5: Stone Lake. We go for it! Jim, the driver of the SUV,
joins us.
We made excellent time to Barclay Lake, which has a stunning view of
the sheer north face of Mount Baring. We followed the trail to the
east side of the lake then struck off cross-country toward Stone Lake.
The forest we climbed through was open, soon we broke into open
slopes, we ascended on the right side of the broad gully, meeting
some steep but manageable slopes
At 2 PM we were at the same elevation as Stone Lake, but it was not in
sight and we were out of time. Time to turn around and head for the
cars. We were back to the cars before dark.
Snow blowing off the north face of Baring Mountain
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