April 2, 2022
Mt. Yale 14,196'
As Laura and I continue to prepare for our upcoming trip to climb Denali, our focus has been on repeating 14ers nearby. This week we chose Mt. Yale due to its relatively safe avalanche condition and decent weather forecast. The weather was sunny and 20-30 mph winds were forecasted but I was looking forward to the excellent views a clear day provides from up high on the mountain. We dropped Hazel off at Laura's mom's house and continued on to the trailhead, arriving at 7:30 to Denny Creek Trailhead. We were dressed and moving on the standard southwest slopes route at 7:45am. The trail parallels Denny creek for several miles and was mostly hardpacked snow. It had frozen overnight so hiking in just boots was not a problem - we carried snowshoes to prevent postholing in the afternoon after the snow had softened and were glad we did. As we made our way out of the forest and toward treeline we encountered a few deep snow areas to cross and a single avalanche path to cross. The wind picked up as we exited the shelter of the forest and as we made our way higher on the mountain. We chose to ascend a snow slope to the SW ridge rather than take the snow covered trail. It was more direct and a better decision for today. Upon reaching the ridge, the wind was howling. I chose to go ahead and summit since Laura was a few minutes behind. As I descended to find shelter from the wind, she passed by and enjoyed the 15 minute scramble to the summit and back to meet up with me. Except for the wind, the descent went smoothly and we were back at the car with a round trip time of 9.5 hours. A little slow, but Laura's ankle was slowing her down since she is still not cleared by the doctor for full activity. Overall, a good acclimatization day with a bit of weight. 
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