Windtower

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My 100th successful peak ascent of 2010 was Windtower. It was supposed to be an easy hike but we took scramble route. With the condition, scramble route was bit more than scramble which made my 100th challenging and for that I am very satisfied.

We parked our car at side of road just north of Spurling Creek. Trail stated near a park sign.

Our intention was to follow West Wind Pass Route, however with snow covered condition and snow trail already existed, we followed the snow trail which didn’t go to West Wind Pass instead it went to Rimwall… We realized that little too late so we had to take a detour. This area being bit cliffy trying to get to West Wind Pass from Rimwall route was little bit tricky, we ended up down-climbing difficult scramble (page 3). However with more route-finding that could have been avoided and even better, if we had gone all the way near the huge cliff facing highway 1, there were no rockbands what so ever, however to get there we had to gain more elevation. For hiking route, I believe you need to go farther south and make a big “U” turn from the pass to avoid rocks. However for scramble route we aimed rocks (page 4). I would rate this easy scramble if dry, but with the combination of steep terrain and snow condition this easy scramble wasn’t easy at all. After spending quite a time, going left and right trying to find a route, we made to a non-technical gentle hill. From here it was just a walk to the summit cairn.

On the way back since we lost sunlight, we decided to bushwhack and follow Spurling Creek instead of searching West Wind Pass in dark.