Mt. Aix trip report from 08/09/2008

Trip Details:

Arrive Parking lot

 09:56AM

Start hiking

 10:04AM

Meet Nelson Ridge

 12:42PM

Dip to Low point on ridge

 01:02PM

Arrive at scramble junction

 01:18PM

Start Scramble

 01:19PM

Reach windy summit

 01:56PM

Leave summit (via trail)

 02:57PM

Back to Aix trail junction

 03:52PM

Car

 05:57PM

Snow

None on trail/route. One patch on backside going down trail on return that Greg and Jason took the glissade route. Others bypassed the patch.

Bugs

I detected none. Cool temps and wind probably helped.

Weather

Cool. Felt more like fall. Long sleeve hiking. Once on ridge, wind at times was annoying. Cold on summit when it gusted. No rain though.

Crowds All NWHikers. No one else. We had the other two that didn't hike with us beat us to the trailhead and summit. Saw no one else except some guys camping with horses down by the car when we were leaving.
Scenic Value This is up there with the best of them. This is the highest peak in the area. Clouds higher up obscured the volcano peaks, but other than that fabulous.
Difficulty Trail to the ridge a piece of cake, not even that steep. Lots of switchbacks. Once on ridge more traversy and loose dirt not so fun in places. The "trail" around the back was especially loose and sometimes hard to follow. We took this on the return. The scramble was not difficult, especially once you got off the lower dirt like parts and more on the rock. There is a semi climbers path on the scramble route.
   

 

Route map:

   Mt Aix after the hike info map.

Narrative:

OK, the hike what was postponed once was finally going to be bagged. Unlike most of my solo efforts this was a group hike with 4 people from NWHikers.net. Greg (EastKing), Jason (MountainMan), Fran (Bloated Chipmunk),and Fran's boyfriend Todd. I have had this hike/peak at least in the back of my mind since the late 80's when I also hiked a lot. Today it would come to fruition.

Meeting at Cedar River Park in Renton, we were on the road shortly after 7:20AM for the 100 and some change mile drive to the trailhead. The weather on the way was crappy at best. Rain off and on and almost no visibility around Chinook pass made for some slow driving for a few miles. Once we got more east, it brightened up. By trailhead time the sun was trying to come out. It looked like at least we'd have a decent, albeit cool fall like day. The temps eliminated the overheating/running out of water issues.

Trailhead sign. Apparently no forest pass required. Didn't see a sign, and I forgot mine in the other vehicle. No tickets.

  Actual Mt. Aix Trailhead Sign. Apparently no Forest Pass required. It was not signed, and we (I) left it in the other car. No tickets or nastygrams

You basically hike up and up but on nice switchbacks to keep the grade more gentle. A few views open up.

 Lower Mt. Aix trail. Early Mt. Aix trail shots. Another peak that shall remain nameless. Bumping Lake from Mt. Aix trail. You won't be able to see this from the summit.

   

Not soon enough you reach the ridge junction and start heading right towards Mt. Aix.

    Junction with Nelson Ridge trail. Mt. Aix not yet visible to the right. Zoom of the peak with no name opposite way from Aix on Nelson Ridge. Hiking on Nelson Ridge traverse trail. Mt Aix over there somewhere.

Finally you start getting close enough to taste victory, or at least seen the end in sight.

     Approaching Mt. Aix. Approaching Mt. Aix.

Then the choice becomes scramble or trial. We opted for scramble. Trail on way back. The "trail" sucked as it was a bunch of traversy loose dirt. The scramble wasn't bad, especially once off the lower loose dirt portion and this is from a non-scrambling type.

      This is the "trail" just past junciton with scramble. We would do the scramble instead. Mt Aix scrambel route. You can see the faint path going up here. Trail continues traversing ridge to the right. On the Mt Aix upper "scramble". On the Mt Aix upper "scramble".

    

Summit achieved. Plenty of wind but plenty of views. Chilly on top. Weather had predicted freezing level between 7-8K feet. Well we were at 7766 and while not 32 degrees it was somewhere in the 40's.

       Views form Mt Aix summit towards the east. Views from Mt Aix summit. Bismark Peak (7585) from Mt Aix summit (7766) Nelson Butte from Mt Aix summit.

A cheesy 360 quick pano video and time to head down.

 

 

Greg and Jason decide to glissade down the one snow patch on the back side as we take the "trail" back instead of the scramble route.

 

  

A few shots on the way down and we all arrive just before 6PM uneventfully back at the car.

 View down below Jason and Greg's glissade route. Aix summit just above on left. Exposure on Mt Aix coming down. Really this was nothing. Trick photography. Mt Aix traverse "trail". Views on Nelson Ridge trail. Bumping Lake visible. Shots from lower Mt Aix trail. The best view of Rainier all day.

 

All 120 something Trip Pictures (flickr)

NW Hikers Trip Report (my piece is a ways down in this post)

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Last Updated 08/11/2008