Grant and I made an early morning stop at the Camp 4 coffeehouse and then borrowed a 4×4 vehicle for the drive to the Yule Pass trailhead. There were already plenty of high clouds in the sky and we didn’t know what the weather would do today.
We followed the Yule Pass trail just past Cinnamon Mountain where we turned right and reached a ridge crest.
We would follow this ridge line all the way to Treasury Mountain’s summit. Shortly after leaving the trail we passed a weather instrument.
The rock on the ridge was fractured into little chips and cracked underfoot.
Around 13,000 feet we reached a flat section of the ridge line and walked around a snow field before beginning the final ascent.
The ridge got narrower with a lot of exposure to the north east into the North Pole Basin.
From the summit we debated continuing on and trying to reach Treasure Mountain. The persistent high clouds and some evidence of cloud building kept us put. So we relaxed and enjoyed the summit views for a half hour.
For our return we decided to backtrack to the level area and then descend directly to Yule Pass. On the way the obvious couloirs on the north side of the ridge really stuck out. Later I found out these are called the Whine Couloirs.
Once past the top of the couloirs we turned right and crossed to the top of a snow field. The conditions were perfect for a boot glissade, so I borrowed a trekking pole from Grant for a self arrest in case of a slip.
Grant opted for a butt glissade since he wasn’t wearing boots.
Once past the snow we continued our descent to the pass, hiking over loose rocks and past short cliffs.
Once on the pass we started following the Yule Pass trail back towards the trailhead. We quickly found one large snow mound blocking the route.
We climbed above the snow in the moat between it and the rocks. Then I kicked steps partway down the face until I could safely slide the rest of the way to the trail.
Grant decided to continue around the end of the snow and scramble down some rocks.
Once back at the trailhead Grant took me on a loop drive around Mount Baldy and to Emerald Lake.
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