Elain by Gallagher Head Lake
Elain and I had originally planned to scramble Hibox Peak, but as we drove over Snoqualmie Pass it was rainy and appeared to be snowing at the higher elevations. So we decided to keep driving further east. Flipping through the guidebook, we settled on Esmeralda Peak, which is in the Teanaway region. We started hiking at 9:45 AM, under a slight drizzle and cold temperatures. As we walked along the creek, occasionally we saw some blue sky and the sun came out briefly. We reached the snowline at about 4800', and continued on until we reached the switchback where the climbers' path leaves from the main trail. We weren't sure it was the right climbers' path, so we kept hiking along the trail. When we reached Gallagher Head Lake at about 11:45, we knew we had missed the correct turnoff. The lake was surrounded by snowy peaks and was beautiful, so we didn't mind. On the other side of Gallagher Head Lake, we noticed a strange sight - a Subaru parked in the snow. Since we had hiked for two hours into the Cascades to reach this point, we were curious about how the car had gotten there. [Apparently there is an old road, no longer documented on the map, that goes back to Gallagher Head Lake.] We turned and headed back up the trail towards the climbers' path. About 12:15, we started up the faint bootpath towards Esmeralda Peak. As we ascended, it began snowing and the wind picked up a bit. We picked our way slowly uphill over snow-covered talus and dirt, and eventually reached the small saddle between the two summits. When we topped out at 1:30 PM, it was snowing pretty heavily. After some photos, we turned and started down. It was slippery due to the snow, so we just took our time, reaching the hiking trail at 2:30 PM. We slowed down a bit on the hike out to the car because we were discussing science, but made it by about 4:30 PM.
Elain by Gallagher Head Lake
Steve by Gallagher Head Lake
Gallagher Head Lake
Esmeralda Peak
Elain on the summit of Esmeralda Peak
Steve on the summit of Esmeralda Peak
Elain descending Esmeralda Peak
Steve descending Esmeralda Peak