On January 6th I set out to Wenatchee Crest on Blewitt Pass with Meetup for a snowshoe which turned into a microspike hike. The trail was pretty tramped down, so most of us opted to carry our snowshoes and put on our spikes. It is easier to walk with microspikes than snowshoes if the trail is hard packed. We were post-holing a bit, but not too bad.

Stats per WTA:

6 miles round trip, gain 400 feet, High point 4500 feet.

Sno-Park Permit required. A day pass or season pass can be acquired at the Chevron in North Bend.

• I think we only went about 5 miles round trip as some of us did not go all the way to the end

www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/wenatchee-crest-snowshoe

There are two parking lots one to the right coming up Blewitt pass from CleElum, the other to the left. The trail starts from the lot on the left. The lot across the street to the right has honey buckets if you need to relieve yourself. It also has several snowmobilers. Be careful crossing the road as cars come up quickly.

On the day we had set out they had freezing rain at the pass, so many of the branches and ground were frozen and the trees were dropping heavy bombs of snow from the limbs. Luckily we were on a wide path and not directly under most of the trees letting go of their heavy loads.

Frozen Branch

Frozen Branch

Bunch of Slackers

This is an easy, entry-level snowshoe as there is not much elevation gain and it is pretty straight-forward following forest road 800. Starting at the north end of the parking area, the route follows Forest Road 800, climbing moderately through forest to a junction half a mile up. Take the left-hand fork to continue along the ridge; the right hand fork drops down into Scotty Creek.

Beautiful view

Watch out for that tree!

Frozen tree hanging over the path

Fellow hikers

After the junction, the road levels out an follows the north side of the ridge dividing Scotty Creek and Swauk Creek. Enjoy views of Tronson Ridge, the Peshastin Creek Valley and Diamond Head.

Frozen Trees

After the road makes a sharp bend toward to the left, toward Point 4411 (per WTA) the road you will have views of the Stuarts and an occasional glimpse of Mount Rainier. “After another quarter of a mile, just past the point, come to a large clearcut with an unobstructed panorama of the Teanaway Mountains and the entire Stuart Range – all the way from Miller Peak to the Peshastin Valley. This makes a good lunch stop and turnaround point.” (WTA)