Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor

 This was an excellent day with wonderful weather and great camaraderie on a challenging trip. A big thank you to the WTA for their hard work in making the upper summer route more user friendly.

 I welcomed Bill Stein, accomplished leader for the Mazamas, our sister club, as my assistant leader. Bruce McKelvie, an active Mazama member, also joined my team along with hike leader Courtny Eng from Seattle. There were others on the upper mountain, most of who started from the upper trailhead and many had dogs with them. But it did not feel crowded, and the dogs were not a problem. No goats were seen.

We shaved over a mile off the long way to Ellinor from Big Creek Campground by taking a little known shortcut. Although this was a hike, I listed it as a scramble so we brought standard scramble gear, including emergency rope. The only items we used were helmets to mitigate head injury in the event of a fall in the rocky stretches. We started at 7:20, reached the summit at 12:15. We left at 1:00 and back to the cars at 4:00. Eleven miles rt, 5,000' gain.  Again, a very enjoyable fun day and a nice dinner in Hoodsport to round it out!