Trip Report – Mt. Washington & Mt. Elma – 22 Mar 2023

Reports are that Mt. Washington has lots of snow. It’s true. We started out on the snowshoe trail from Raven Lodge with the vague intention of going to the lakes. Snow conditions were perfect for snowshoeing. The trails were broken and there was a sparkling layer of fresh snow. The sun was bright and warm, the air temperature was good, there was no wind. The sky was clear and blue. As I said, conditions were perfect.

Except for one thing. The trail to Lake Helen Mackenzie crosses a stream on a bridge. The bridge was packed with snow, up to about a metre above the hand rail. It was well packed, but too narrow for snowshoes. And there was no way to avoid it since the stream was open. We crossed it, but once was enough, so we came back the Battleship Lake route. It also has a stream crossing with a snow-packed bridge. That one felt much safer, but it looked as if it might collapse sooner or later.

So we arrived at Lake Helen Mackenzie and stopped for lunch. We looked around for a further destination. Mt. Elma looked perfect, so we headed there. The trail was broken already, so it was an easy, though steep, climb up to the ridge. The summit ridge was amazing, open meadows with fabulous views. In particular the mountains io the Forbidden Plateau skyline, all snow covered in bright sun with no clouds blocking the view for once. (13.1 km, 6 hours)

Norris

(click on photos to view larger)