First Mother Mountain (6480')

First Mother Mountain (Mt. Rainier National Park) is accessed from Knapsack Pass. It is described as a moderate scramble. It is not the first peak one can see from Knapsack; there is a fairly steady boot path that takes the hiker beyond to the actual peak. My only difficulty was on the return; it took several tries to get beyond one section as I was obviously off route.

Castle-First Mother Ridge Transit

The title sums it up. I attempted a transit of the ridge between Castle Peak and First Mother Mountain, but ended up dropping down to the Knapsack Pass trail at the end when confronted by rocky outcroppings. But that's just me, I got it in my mind to "escape". Others may well stay high, skirting the outcroppings on the right to connect the two peaks without the short detour to Knapsack Pass.

Castle Peak (6120')

Castle Peak can be accessed from Mowich Lake (Mt. Rainier National Park) by hiking the Wonderland Trail on the west side of the lake and taking to the woods, contouring around and up from the lake to a saddle. A nearer blocky peak is bypassed on the right side to climb Castle Peak. There is a boot path much of the way. Castle Peak has a flat summit area with two high points: the main summit at 6120', which requires a short scramble to get to, and the slightly lower peak on the opposite end of the plateau at 6110'. This one is relatively flat. At the end of this video I mention the transit across the ridge above Mowich Lake to continue to bag First Mother Mountain without backtracking. This transit is a separate video in the series.

Paul Peak (4800')

Another summit from the Mountaineers' "Guide to100 Peaks at Mt. Rainier National Park" list, Paul Peak is a forested climb culminating in a forested summit....not much in the view department, but pleasant enough. This forest is easy to negotiate, pretty much void of thick entanglements. The access is easy to find: after entering the park boundary on the Mowich Lake road, there is the “Paul Peak” trail.

Bald Rock (5904')

I’ve been off grid for a while since leaving Colorado on May 12th, occasionally resurfacing to check in with civilization. Lots of biking, skiing and hiking. Whilst hanging at Packwood with a retired friend of mine, I decided to bag one of the 100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier Mountaineers list, an easy one right off the Wonderland Trail between Box Canyon and Indian Bar. In fact the off trail section to Bald Rock (5904’) was easy going and more of a hike than scramble, but negotiating the Wonderland “Trail” above 4500’ was mostly on snow and rather tedious, requiring due diligence to stay in the vicinity of the trail. The western slopes are currently experiencing a record setting heat wave so the melt off should be accelerated substantially over the next week. I’m not complaining, I had the “trail” to myself and the views were unique on the spur that housed Bald Rock, looking back towards the mountain with the Cowlitz Divide in the foreground. This outing was 10 miles with 3100’ of climb, but the snow travel compounded the difficulty a bit.

Old Wonderland Trail Section: Carbon River

Some maps still show the Wonderland Trail continuing on the right side of the Carbon River all the way to Carbon River Camp. However, this part of the trail was closed after the severe flooding in 2006; current trail use utilizes a lower Carbon River crossing (for the Northern Loop Trail) and continuing on to the suspension bridge on the left side. It is doubtful that the right side trail will ever be repaired or rerouted...it has been 15 years after all. In 2017 I checked out the old trail for some distance and present it here. Further up, the trail was eradicated right down to the bedrock.

Mt. Rainier: Mowich Rivers

Why post this in the Off-Trail section? Because the simple bridges over the North and South Mowich Rivers tend to wash out practically every year. In 2020 the park even diverted hikers to a large log to compensate for the loss of one of the major bridges. During the exceptional low snow year of 2015 I set out to hike the west 57 miles of the Wonderland (Longmire to Sunrise) on June 9. I had 3 areas of concern: the Mowich River crossings, the Winthrop Creek crossing and Skyscraper Pass area. No trail maintenance had been done and all the previous year's bridges over the Mowich rivers were out. I was able to cobble together enough logs to stay feet dry across the entire flood plain. I also show a nighttime crossing in 2020, which utilized the same log I used in 2015.

DUNEs!

Akin to the Dunes of Arrakis, enjoy expansive views and the rhythmic thumping of feet on sand. View the panoramic shot from the top of High Dune (8691’) in Great Sand Dunes National Park, and the expansiveness of the gypsum dunes in White Sands National Park. Next best thing to being there! Includes never before seen footage at the end! The blog post “Dunes and Cacti” can be found here.

Martin/August/Virginia/Berry Peaks

Strava data.jpg

As the Mowich Lake Road (November 10th, 2019) was nearing its closing date, I decided to bag 4 peaks in one outing, all basically accessed from the Boundary Trail. Surprisingly the Boundary Trail was in excellent shape all the way to a clearing marking a FS road end (out of the NP boundary). From this point the old Boundary Trail continues all the way to the Carbon River entrance, which I have yet to explore….perhaps in 2021. My sequence was Martin (4880’) first, then back on the Boundary Trail to August (4680’). In my iteration I back tracked on the Boundary Trail to then hit Virginia (4880’) and continuing on to Berry (5120’). However, one can choose to proceed directly to Berry from August. On my return from Berry I mistakenly started down the wrong ridge line ( see graphic) between Berry and Virginia; this path obviously led directly to August, which one could use to shortcut between these two peaks. I soon discovered my mistake and proceeded back the way I came. This was a good example of using GPS or compass to check position and direction of travel as wooded navigation pretty much looks the same. The blog post for these peaks can be found here.

Whitman Crest (9323')/Fryingpan Glacier

First I must caveat this hike/skin/ski with a caution from “Guide to 100 peaks in Mt. Rainier National Park.”

This is a climb and is serious in places. It can be dangerous without requisite skills and equipment.

Any travel on glaciers should be approached with caution. That said, on June 15, 2019 I set out to tag Whitman Crest (9323’) and ski the Fryingpan Glacier on a beautiful spring day. The Fryingpan Glacier is accessed by hiking above Summerland to Meany Crest (7280’) and ascending the Fryingpan Glacier. Little Tahoma dominates the view with Mt. Rainier hiding behind. The hike was somewhat strenuous but the ski was glorious. Stats: 12 miles/5400’. The Whitman Crest blog post can be accessed here.

Lake Allen "Trail"

Twice now I’ve attempted to climb Mt. Wow from the access on the West Side Road. The start of the trail is marked by an “X” on a tree, with a pull out for a car or two. The first time was in November 2019 the day after the West Side Road was closed/gated at its entrance. The second time was with a buddy in September of 2020. On the the November trip I encountered some navigation problems above Lake Allen, losing my Whippet in dense steep brush as I was trying to weave between horizontal slide alder branches. By the time I gained the upper slopes there was a layer of snow on slippery steep grass, so I decided to turn back. Here’s the blog on that one, look for “Wow Failure”. On the second trip with my buddy we got a late start due to weather in the morning and it became obvious that were we to continue to the Wow summit, we would be trying to find this sketchy trail in the dark.

Actually the trail is fairly clear until nearing Lake Allen and progressing laterally through the forest. The crux of finding the trail lies in where it descends on a ridge line. I found using the Strava track, plus marking critical points on GPS greatly aided in getting back to the trail.

Although this is a path, it is very steep and rugged….and sometimes vague. At one point it gains 2000’ in one mile. Don’t attempt this if you don’t have off trail skills. On my two attempts up here I never actually went to Lake Allen, instead contouring higher to the meadow that eventually leads to Mt. Wow.

Aurora Peak (6094')

Providing a more lingering experience of solitary hikes, the Off Trail series takes the viewer to places seldom seen by dedicated Wonderland Trail hikers or those who stick to trails during the traditional summer season. Aurora Peak (6094') is found near Klapatche Park off the Wonderland Trail. This trek took place on November 2, 2019 during a period of great weather. Aurora Peak was accessed via biking the West Side Road to St. Andrews Creek, hiking the St. Andrews Creek Trail, and proceeding on the Wonderland until the off trail section. A short visit to a frozen St. Andrews Lake was in order also. Stats for the day, 27 miles (16 biking)/5700’ elev. The blog post on this hike can be found here.



Wahpenayo/Chutla/Eagle Peaks

It made for a full day with 11.3 miles and 6600’ of climb, but these 3 peaks are clustered together with access from the Eagle Peak trail so it made sense to get them all in in one day. I departed the Eagle Peak trail according to a description: leave the trail at 5000’ where it joins an open meadow and head east to the saddle between Wahpenayo and Chutla at 5800’”. After summiting Wahpenayo (6231’), I made my way back to the saddle and descended, contouring around until I spotted a possible way to the saddle between Chutla and Eagle. Some steep climbing here and lots of huffing and puffing. After summiting Chutla (6000’) I scrambled back to the end of the maintained trail, the saddle between Eagle and Chutla. Some mild exposed scrambling led to the summit of Eagle (5958’), where I returned to the trail and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon stroll back to my parked vehicle. The blog post for these peaks can be found here.

Plummer/Denman Peaks

This was a relatively easy day compared to the 3 peaker the day before, with just 6 miles and 3400’ of climb/descent. I started off attempting Pinnacle Peak (6562’) but got off course and tried to traverse instead of just going straight up the ridge. Crumbly steep slopes sapped my gumption by the time I reversed back to the ridge. I ascended another 100 feet and decided to turn back. However, the day was not done as Plummer (6370’) and Denman (6006’) were still on the menu, and the main course was some easy peaks topped with abundant sunshine and perfect temperatures. This is glorious terrain. Read the blog post here.

Andrew Benchmark (6716')

Piggy backing on a jaunt the day before to Aurora Peak, I set out on November 3, 2019 during a period of fantastic weather to climb Andrew Benchmark (6716'). Although it is close to the previous day's climb of Aurora Peak, with the short days I took a different route to Andrew, utilizing the West Side Road to Round Pass, then the South Puyallup Trail to the Wonderland Trail, leaving the snow covered trail in St. Andrews Park and proceeding towards Andrew. This trip involved contouring around the base of Andrew and accessing it from the Northeast side. Snow was consolidated. I had a flat tire on my mountain bike in the morning so had to do this entire trip via foot. The blog post on this trip can be accessed here.


Mount Ararat (6010')

I’m really chatty on this outing. Maybe because I’d been hiking, running and peak bagging for the past few months and was in relatively good shape. This jaunt to Mount Ararat (6010’) seemed like a walk in the park, and my legs barely noticed the 12 miles and 3800’ of climb/descent. If only this could last, but I enjoyed it in the moment. Unfortunately, the fantastic view towards The Rock shall remain a mystery to me, as my time on the summit only offered a few seconds of the very tippy top of Rainier. Nonetheless, a fantastic day in the mountains! Read the Mount Ararat blog here.