Deer Mountain, Shay Mountain, Little Shay Mountain, Ingham Peak, Hawes Peak, Round Mountain, Luna Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain, White Mountain #1

10 November 1990

By: David Eisenberg

Leaders: David Eisenberg, Luella Fickle

On Saturday, we all met at the Deer Mtn trailhead at 7:00 am. We got off to a late start due to the 25° temperature and the fact that we all drove up that morning. Except for Erich Fickle, all of those who signed up didn't show up. Instead, we were joined by Georgina Burns and Bill Wood who had called the night before.

Keeping an eye out for hunters, we started of for Shay. We then cross-countried down to the takeoff point on the trail following a route done by Frank Goodykoontz 1 year earlier. Luella remembered a route she had taken and we switched places so she could lead. On the way back, I wanted to try a more direct route out of the area. While we encountered no major obstacles and did cut 1/2 mile off the route, it doesn't appear to be worth describing here. On the return, we first climbed Ingham, then Little Shay, descending the firebreak to the trailhead at about 3:30 pm.

It was getting dark fast so we left Hawes for Sunday. By 5:30, it was dark and we had finished our dinner and shared food. I attempted to play my guitar and sing, but the quickly dropping temperatures forced us to quit before six. We all were in our sleeping bags by 7:00 shivering the night away.

Because it was the last day of hunting season and we wanted to use the temperature changes to our advantage, we decided to start with the lowest peaks first. We all squeezed into my truck to do Round, Rattlesnake, and Luna, returning to the campsite in time for late lunch at 1:00. Georgina had had enough and signed out. Those remaining made a quick ascent of Hawes, heading straight up the ridge from the cars. Luella led this one.

At this point, Bill gave it up and went home. The three of us wanted one last peak and decided to drive up White to finish a profitable 9 peak weekend.