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Climbing Pinnacle Peak (6562’)

Climbing Pinnacle Peak (6562’)

The Off Trail section is featuring video shot during excursions of solitude. The latest iterations of GoPro cameras have very good audio and good enough software stabilization to enable shoulder mounted shooting while ambulating, skiing or biking. I record mostly in 2.7K and am authoring these pieces in full resolution. As of 2022 I am adding 360 video when appropriate. Many of these will be during peak bagging outings, where I can go hours or days without seeing another soul. Some include usually high traffic and popular trails, but during off season or early/late hours, also devoid of people. Enjoy the sounds of footsteps, the crunch of snow, birdsong, wind…and sometimes heavy breathing.

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Meany Crest Ski 4/14/24

Why in the Off Trail section? We had to bike on closed roads to the point where we could skin the road, then the trail to below Meany Crest. The actual trail was never seen, and creek crossings and other obstacles slowed us down. For the blog post click here. Stats: 15 miles skiing with 4000’ of elevation, plus 14 miles of biking adding another 1400’ of vert.

Chinook Peak (6904')

Capping off a multi day peak bagging trip, I drove early to the Crystal Peak trailhead to ensure a parking spot on this Saturday morning (August 12, 2023). The Chinook Peak approach is accessed right at a switchback from the trail, with a gentle climb to the right of Peak 6706, followed by a traverse right to Chinook. Despite intimidating rock features, there is basically a trail to the summit involving mild scrambling. On the return I continued up the Crystal Peak trail to the Crystal Peak summit (6595') as the last time I was there in June 2018 it was snowing. Fabulous views, especially lower down on the trail where Rainier dominates a 180 viewing horizon. Stats: 11 miles/4400'

Three Way Peak (6796')

Basically, I bungled the approach to this peak (August 11, 2023), ascending straight to the summit from a hop off point on the PCT. This was probably much harder than had I stuck to the description, ascending to the col and then via the ridge to the summit. However, my approach luckily went and I eventually intersected the "normal" approach maybe 100 feet below the summit block. The Mountaineer's description for the last 50 feet is "The Three Way summit block and final 50' are somewhat exposed but not technical." I found this to be the case, actually much easier than the nasty gullies I ascended and descended in the process. I had been peak bagging staging out of the Crystal Mountain RV lot, so my approach was via the Silver Creek Trail to a PCT connector, then the PCT. Stats: 10 miles/2932' elevation gain. Beautiful weather was on the palette this day! Rated Mature due to a few mild cuss words.

Silver King (6998')

Basing out of the Crystal RV lot, I accessed Silver King (August 10th, 2023) via the south ridge. I started at the Silver Creek trail, then branched off via Elizabeth Lake to climb to the ridge. Then it was a fairly straight forward walk along the ridge connecting to the Campbell Basin area, dropping down to the top of Forest Queen run and back to the van. In referencing attempts at this peak in the past, I got in some doggie cam and a few ski shots, as the ridge connecting Silver King and Campbell Basin is the access way for the South Backcountry during ski season.

Norse Peak (6856’)

First I will qualify that Norse Peak is actually a hike; there is a trail that leads to the summit. I put it under this heading as it is one of the peaks listed on the Mountaineers "100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier" list. On August 9th, 2023 I started the hike at 2 PM under patchy cloudy skies hoping for clearing on the peak. Luckily I was rewarded, with the fast moving clouds below peak level obscuring some of the distant views, but the local views didn't disappoint. Much of this hike is through the burn zone of the 2017 Norse Peak fire, eerie but beautiful nonetheless. Highlights on the trail: 3 immature elk skittering out of the way and a hummingbird that hovered in front of me as I was taking a photograph.

Boundary Trail (Nisqually)/Ridge

On May 17, 2023 I explored Mt. Rainier’s Boundary Trail (Nisqually entrance) as a possible approach to Mt. Wow. I followed the trail to a saddle where a social trail continues towards Mt. Wow on a ridge, steep in some places. Actually the Boundary Trail is steep and my unaccustomed downhill legs were quivering at the end of this hike. I turned back on snow covered slopes just below 5000’ as I was in trail runners and concerned about my legs and the length of day had I continued on (I summited Mt. Wow on June 6 from the West Side Road approach). This video will give the viewer an overview of the Boundary and Ridge leading to Wow.

Mt. Wow (6040')

First a note on the wonky video, which I eventually diagnosed and corrected after this trip. For those GoPro users, after a firmware update I had to make the Hero11 recognize that I had the Max lens mod installed

Third time’s a charm, trying for Wow from the West Side Road via the steep and unmaintained Lake Allen “trail.” Blog post is here. If you want to see more about the Lake Allen trail, click this. For this old guy it was an unrelenting, brutal day; stats: 6.7 miles/5018’ elev

Florence Peak (5508')

Mt. Rainier National Park's Florence Peak (5508') was #66 on the 100 peaks list for me. The Boundary Trail (Carbon River entrance) was in nice shape all the way to the saddle on Alki Crest, and the social/climbers trail along the crest led me all the way to the false summit. An easy scramble deposited me on the summit proper. May 26th, 2023 had me only stepping on a few very short sections of snow. I mistakenly figured that hitting Sweet Peak on the way back would be easy, but my attempt to reach the saddle leading to that lower wooded summit was a tangled mess of mossy rocks, snow, slide Alder and Devils Club. Surmising that perhaps I wasn't taking the best approach to Sweet, I elected to turn around an save that for another day. NOTE: I experimented with recording this trip in GoPro’s Superview mode…that won’t happen again.

Lane Peak (6012')

Lane Peak resides in the Tatoosh Range in Mt. Rainier National Park. It is described as a difficult scramble in the "100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier" guide due to a steep gully that must be ascended to attain the summit. On a beautiful summer like Thursday (October 5/2022) I decided to give it a go. The description was correct; but although steep, there are bountiful hand holds and I never felt very exposed. This was peak #65 for me in my ongoing chipping away at the list. The fact that the Tatoosh side of the park is simply spectacular, especially clad in fall colors, was icing on the cake. I mounted a GoPro Max 360 camera on my helmet to try to capture the essence of the gully climb.

Seymour Peak (6337')

Seymour Peak (6337') can be accessed a few ways. Since I was camping at Ohanapecosh campground, I elected to bike from my camp site up highway 123 to the Seymour west ridge, accessed right from the road. I stashed my bike out of sight and began the steep forested ridge climb at 8:30 AM, planning on getting the effort part of the bike/hike/bike done before the temperature reached close to the forecast 100 degrees. This was a straight forward climb and non technical, but the angle of the ridge was constant effort. In some ways the descent was more difficult, especially in the footing amongst the forest detritus and pointy sticks. By the time I got back to the bike the temperature was around 90, but minimal pedaling was required to arrive back at my camp site. Seymour is #64 on my Rainier 100 list.

Old Desolate (7137')

Old Desolate in Mt. Rainier National Park towers above Mystic Lake. Unlike singular peaks, Old Desolate occupies a long ridge. Towards one end the high point tops at 7137'. For this iteration I started at Sunrise and hiked the Wonderland Trail past Mystic Lake, Mystic Pass, and entered the area of Moraine Park. After ascending a dry wash to a plateau in Moraine Park, I climbed straight away to a sub peak on the ridge which offered astounding in your face views. However, to reach the summit proper I had to descend a bit and traverse the loose rock that covers the whole western face. The summit area is round and broad, peering down to Mystic Lake and across to the Burroughs Mountains and the entirety of the Winthrop Glacier. Stats for the day: 25 miles with 7700' vertical.

Central Cowlitz Chimney (7421')

This video starts on the contour below and around Banshee. Central Cowlitz is described as a moderate scramble, but I found the hardest part of the day to be the side hilling and route finding below Banshee to access the peak. The star of the day is the view from the summit, looking across to the sheer wall below Banshee and the Sarvant Glacier with Rainier in the background. As usual for this area of the park, goats were seen lounging in various places during the hike. Because I started and ended at White River campground, the day was longish at 22 miles with 5500’ elevation. Link to blog writeup.

Third Burroughs (7828')

Actually there’s a trail to First, Second and Third Burroughs mountains. I include Third Burroughs here because of the outstanding views to be had from this 7828 foot summit. Gazing down on the seracs of the Winthrop Glacier from a mere hike is a treat indeed! The first part of the video includes a short jaunt on the Emmons Moraine trail to check out the tarn downstream from the Emmons Glacier terminus.

Pinnacle Peak (6562')

Pinnacle Peak is generally described as a "moderate scramble." However, sustained class 3 scrambling on the upper approach makes this one of the harder peaks I've done. Slipping or falling here would not be pretty. My buddy sums up his thoughts on the climb on the summit shot, providing the "Mature" rating for this video. As usual, the downclimbing was more difficult than the ascent. However, all in all this was another magnificent peak in the Tatoosh range sporting expansive 360 degree views. Blog write up here.

Foss Peak (6524')

Foss Peak (6524') lies in the Tatoosh range in Mt. Rainier National Park. The approach is short, climbing a short way on the Pinnacle Peak trail to 5200', then proceeding via a way trail to the saddle between The Castle and Foss. A well established trail leads across the ridge between the two with relatively mild terrain all the way to the Foss summit. As usual for the Tatoosh peaks, expansive views in all directions are on the menu for most of the day. Blog write up here.

Scarface (6108')

Scarface is a relatively obscure peak in Mt. Rainier National Park that borders the northern section. It is accessed by driving FS 73 past Greenwater, WA. This is a fairly rugged road with deep potholes and ragged surfaces in some areas, but is generally OK for most vehicles that are not low slung. The peak itself is a wooded summit but sporting a sheer rocky face. Lake Eleanor is visible far below. I ascended via the ridge a bit past Lake Eleanor and descended via the south ridge (good boot track here), then intersected the Grand Park trail back to the vehicle. Although listed as an easy scramble, bashing through the woods and battling voracious mosquitos makes this a summit that one would probably only pursue because it's on a list. Stats: 8 miles/2400’

Barrier (6521')/Buell (5756') Peaks

The most difficult part of summitting these two peaks (Mt. Rainier National Park) was the access portion, involving unpleasant steep forest and meadow hiking. I connected the peaks via a ridge between the two, which was not difficult. Buell was a mostly wooded summit but with enough open areas to take in the views. To regain the Owyhigh Lakes Trail I basically went straight down a wooded hillside, in some areas so steep that I landed on my bum a few times from slipping on the forest detritus. Luckily it wasn’t a long section and I sighed in relief when I popped out on the trail, enjoying mellow slopes and easy travel back to my waiting vehicle. A worthy day indeed!

Banshee Peak (7400')

Banshee Peak (7400’) is accessed from Mt. Rainier’s Wonderland Trail at Panhandle Gap (6780’). The way trail leads to gentle meadowy slopes on the way, abundant with wildflowers and mountain goat in summer. The fairly gentle final ascent to the summit reveals an airy drop down to the Sarvant Glacier and views of the Cowlitz Chimneys. On my iteration I was camped at White River so most of this sojourn was on trail, totaling 21 miles RT and 4600’ of elevation gain/loss.