Raven's Roost 14Apr2024

[tobyw]

With a full day of glorious sunshine in the forecast, our ragtag group of Jeeps and Broncos took aim at the summit of Raven's Roost for a little czek of the snow levels at elevation. We launched from the West Richland Maverick at 0800, and picked up Paul at the freeway on ramp in Benton City. The trip Westward was beautiful, albeit a touch breezy:

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We took the left hand turn over the bridge and stopped near Crow Creek campground to air down:

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With appropriately squishy tires, the group headed up Raven's Roost. Those of us in the back of the pack enjoyed a nice dust sammich for the first several miles as we gained elevation, but we eventually found fairly consistent snow coverage. It was decided to hop onto the Pipeline Trail for a spell instead of just running the road:

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There were a couple of good hills to climb and some squishy spots in wide open drifts, but overall progress was very manageable. However, as lunchtime grew near, we lost patience and decided to jump back over to the road for the remainder of the assault on the summit:

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We made quick work of cooking and eating, as the winds were fairly stiff, but the views made it all worthwhile:

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The trip back down was quick and uneventful, and we said goodbye to Mike back down at Crow Creek. The rest of the group made the jump over to the Wedge trail, letting out on Milk Creek just above the Snow Park where we aired up for the trip back home:

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Although the weather and company had been remarkable, by far the highlight of the day was ice cream at Whistlin Jacks:

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