South Fork/Dollar Lake Saddle/Charlton Peak Report

[jack]

Charlton Peak report from Jan. 15 via South Fork/Dollar Lake Saddle.
Intermittent snow from Poopout Hill up to 9,000 feet, then consolidated snow shoe trail up to Dollar Lake side trail. Had to blaze trail in powder from there on. Boot stepped up to Dollar Lake Saddle no problem then used crampons the final 800 feet to the summit. The other three guys in our group used micro spikes but I think they would have preferred crampons. Lots of drifts/powder on the final climb but also some icy areas. Great day and fun mountain in the snow. 13.7 miles round trip with 4,000 feet of gain. Here is a pic from the summit:

[Farzad]

Thanks for the report! Do you think it’d be skiable up there?

[Farzad]

Thanks for the trip report Jack! Would you say it’s skiable up there or not quite enough snow?

[Serge C]

Jack,
Thanks for the info.
I can’t see any pics in your post.
Can you re-post it if possible?
Did it look skiable to you?

[jack]

I would say the day we were up there it was ski-able. Plenty of powder from 9500 feet and up, though I would say Charlton Peak has more trees than I would feel comfortable skiing. If you were on more open areas though I think it would have been fine. Hard to say how conditions may have changed. I suspect with the recent system there ought to be at least as much snow, if not a bit more than from last weekend.

I’ll try again with the link to the summit photo. I think the forum might restrict posting web links?

Posted by Jack Eichler on Monday, January 15, 2018

[Serge C]

Jack,
Appreciate the info and the link to pictures.
The link appeared in the email from the forum but not in your post, weird…
Anyway, thanks again and happy trails!

[Author]

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