Mount Alice

July 31st, 2008

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This was our most rigorous hike of the vacation. We got started at 6:00am from the Wild Basin TH under clear skies. After passing Lion Lake 1, we reached Triple Falls which was almost completely buried in snow. The middle of the snowfield looked a bit too steep so we skirted the rocks on the left side of the snow, where I've gained the ridge before, only to find more snow there. It wasn't as steep, and we were up quickly. We crossed another easy snow field as we bypassed Lion 2 and Snowbank and headed directly for the narrow ridge that joins into the saddle between Mt Alice and Chiefshead. We were even with Snowbank Lake at about 9:10am. A pretty good pace. This was a great route. Being on the ridge afforded excellent views in all directions. Even if you don't want to climb Mt Alice, I recommend climbing up to saddle if you've the time and energy after Snowbank.

After gaining the saddle, we took a snack break and checked out the lay of the land. The route to Chiefshead was obvious, although I think it was farther than it looked. Up this way and down via the North Ridge would make an awesome loop, but you'd need to find a good bushwhacking route to get from Sandbeach Lake to the Wild Basin trail system. Otherwise you'd end up way out at the Sandbeach Lake TH. When we started off again, I decided to take the low road to Thunder Lake. I guess I was intimidated by the unknown exposure crossing the Hourglass ridge and the steepness of Mt Alice's north face. In hindsight, and after seeing Ali's pictures of the exposed sections, it wasn't as bad as I thought. At the same time, I very much enjoyed the route I took and likely would never have done it as a planned hike.

Sandy and Ali enjoyed lunch on the summit (11:00am - 11:30am). The weather remained fair all day so they had great views as they descended to Boulder Grand Pass. They made their descent around 12:30pm. Ali and Sandy left the Thunder Lake patrol cabin at 2:00pm, after a short break. They caught up to me half way along the short cut camping trail and finished up at 3:40pm. It was a long but rewarding day.

Hike Stats:

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