Winter Scramble - Serpentine Hill

I would have given this trip 4 stars if we had views and could have done Iron Mtn too.  It's a long ways to go for such a short and easy trip with the conditions we had.

It was difficult trying to find a somewhat dry place to go this weekend  and also a place that had not received a lot of snow the last few days.  Serpentine Hill seemed to somewhat fit the bill.  We hoped to also include Iron Mtn (5480') if weather and time allowed.

We met at Tibbets at 7am, made a stop at Pioneer Coffee in Cle Elum before arriving at the Shaser Creek TH a little after 9am.  We started up FS #7322 at about 9:30am.We used Tim Hagen's 11/4/2014 Peakbaggers track to help navigate us to the summit.  

It was about a 3 mile fairly snow free road hike to get very close to the saddle between Serpentine and Stone.  Looking back at some snow covered mountains.First views of the saddle we are aiming for and Serpentine Hill.Almost time to leave the road.Leaving the road and heading for the saddle.At the saddle and looking at Serpentine's false summit.Looking back at the saddle where we will return to if we decide to do Iron Mtn later.As we leave for the summit (about a mile) the few distant views we had disappear and it starts snowing harder and is more breezy and cold.  Photo of Magda almost at the summit.We've been passing by some beautiful larch trees at their peak.  One such larch is right next to us near the summit.  We're at the summit around 11:45am.We find the register, sign it and soon depart.  Ken on the little bump where the summit register is located.  It needs a new notebook.Returning to the saddle.Another beautiful larch.The breeze continue, there are few views and it's still snowing by the time we arrive at the saddle.  We decide to call it an early day and head back.  We take a shortcut going down a sandy gully that's easy to plunge step and save ourselves about a mile of road walking.There are still some beautiful fall colors out there, but it's not going to last much longer.We're back at our cars around 2pm and head to Cottage Cafe in Cle Elum for a late lunch.  We all feel guilty for eating such a big meal after such an easy day.  We'll work the calories off next time.