Bailey Range Traverse,  Olympic National Park,  Jul 26, 2007 - Aug 1, 2007     page 39 / 97

We continued over another rise into the next gully. This one was a bit more involved than the others. It was wider than the first and the snow within it had melted into sections. Some melt holes to the creek flowing underneath it were noted. We located the path across the gully and decided that crossing directly would take us too close to the edge of the snow. An alternate route would be made. We decided to hike above the lower snowfield, along the creek, then climb out of the gully. This initially looked feasible, but neither one of us could find an area of gravel and mud stable enough to get out of the gully on the other side. We backtracked and circumnavigated the next higher snow field. This allowed us safe exit from the gully without too much trouble, but with much effort and perhaps a 45 minute delay. In retrospect, we probably could have crossed over the lower snowfield without much trouble, but why risk it?