12 miles of hiking • 6750' elevation gain •
Drove up to Cold Springs Campground on Tuesday night - the road is snow-free. Hit the trail at 4:40am Wednesday morning. Clear skies, though a little hazy in the distance towards Hood. The snow up to the Lunch Counter was firm and had a well-beaten track to follow. Crampons at Lunch Counter and then up to Pikers Peak - super windy up to. Across the saddle and then to the summit around 10:50am. Very very windy on the north side towards Rainier, but it was calm about 20 ft back to the south and a good lunch spot. Bunch of other people, some with skis and snowboards. We hung out for a bit, then headed back down to the saddle with a partial glissade. However, the glissade down to the Lunch Counter from the false summit was phenomenal - they need chair lifts so you can do it over and over. It was around noon and the snow was starting to get slushy, and you got some real speed in the well worn chutes! Back at Lunch Counter we stowed our axes and slogged back down the slushfest, getting back to the car around 2:30pm. Beautiful day!
