Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
Awesome scramble on a gorgeous day with wonderful companions!
Nancy Lloyd
- Tue, Oct 18, 2022
- Alpine Scramble - Mount Ellinor
- Mount Ellinor & Mount Washington
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The road to the lower Mt. Ellinor trailhead has a lot of holes, some fairly deep. Overall it's just rough but doable for sedans if you go slowly. The trail is in great shape to the junction, no obstacles or trees down. No water along the route, bring plenty.
We met at and started from the lower trailhead at 8 a.m. At the junction where the summer trail bears left (sign high on tree), we followed a faint boot path bearing right toward the "winter" chute. After some initial brush bashing, signs of a boot path appear only intermittently - but don't depend on it.
It was a rare and amazing treat to see that area without any snow! This route is usually done only in winter in optimal conditions as a snow scramble with a fun glissade. The chute is mostly stable rock/roots/small trees with a couple of nice heather meadow areas. But it boggled my mind that those huge boulders become covered with so much snow to make a smooth surface! And the rock types and formations that I never saw before were just fascinating. It also made it easier to understand why it's an avalanche chute, and why deep holes in the snow form in late spring - they would be quite deep and a fall into one would not be good.
At the top of the chute looking toward the second short scramble chute:
We descended the summer trail to save on our knees, and that's where we also saw a few other people. I would not recommend this route in wet or icy conditions; late summer or early fall when it's completely dry is best. Stats: 6.5 miles rt, 3,200' gain. In a nutshell, this was a fantabulous scramble!