Mailbox Peak
Date: January 16, 2016
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 7.5 Miles / 12 Kilometers Roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 Meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to Snow Packed
Hiking With: My wonder dog Macho.

I chose a nasty winter day to hike Mailbox Peak for the first time in 2016, but I was needing an ass kicking hike without avalanche endangerment. After reading a trip report the day before I was a bit hesitant when I reach the open field of boulders and it was spitting snow and ice. I met a couple of guys coming down the summit and they gave me thumbs up on avalanche conditions. So I continued my ascent in blizzard like conditions with my wonder dog Macho.

Macho and I were the second group to summit and I took my first mailbox picture for the year. There were two other groups coming up when I was descending down, they too came up the old steep route.

I took the new long route down crossing paths of many ill equipped hikers coming up, including a guy wearing a pair of running shoes and shorts. He had no traction devices, poles or even a backpack on his back for dry clothes. I would say the 10 or so people coming up the new long route didn’t make the summit. Most all bonafide hikers or hikers that have summited Mailbox Peak before will always ascend the short steep route.