Moving offices at work is always a pain. You’ve gotta pack all your stuff, pause your work, and get settled in to your new place. Moving is the norm, though, and one of the associated rituals is the day off from work. With all my computers shut down from Thursday evening through Monday morning there was only one option: go outside. I posted a Red Mountain scramble trip on the Mountaineers website. As the day approached, my co-leader and I talked about avalanche concerns and opted to redirect to Pratt Mountain.
The Pratt Mountain route is straightforward as long as conditions are good. Good they were. We didn’t hit any snow until we got to the intersection of the Pratt and Olallie lake trails. One creek crossing later we were on the snow slopes. It’s a bit steep at first and then lightens up as you traverse the ridge.
One interesting bit of rock scrambling and steep snow step were the only obstacles along the ridge. That, and some waste-deep post holing in the just-enough-covered boulders near the top of the ridge. Woof.
The day started out foggy, but we were rewarded with our perseverance by great views at the top. We ate a lunch, turned around, and made easy progress back to the cars.
