Scrambling Mowich Lake area
(Photos below)
August 27, 2005
On a near-perfect August weekend, we made good on a promise we'd made earlier in the summer, and returned to Mowich Lake for a day of peak-bagging. (Read about the promise here: Hiking Spray Park.) It was nothing short of terrific, with just enough danger to make things interesting. Not surprisingly, the danger was the result of following too literally the directions in Goldman's 75 Scrambles in Washington. Is that book ever right?
From Mowich Lake we hiked up to Knapsack Pass and just before reaching the top we were lucky enough to spy a herd of mountain goats clambering around the rocks. By the time we reached their elevation, however, they were long gone, descending toward Spray Park. At the pass, we dropped our packs and make a quick ascent of First Mother, which has a wonderfully airy view from the top.
Back at the pass, we shouldered our backs, dropped a little ways back down toward Mowich Lake, and then forged off cross-country toward the saddle below Fay Peak. From the saddle, there's an obvious boot track to the summit and nice views of Mowich Lake and the tiny little cars in the trailhead parking lot. Leaving the summit of Fay, we dropped back down to the saddle and began the worst part of the day: the long steep traverse to Pleasant.
The traverse is, in itself, not that awful. Just don't look down. Much of it crosses steep hanging meadows that appear to drop off into vertical cliffs some distance below. It's easy enough to keep your footing, but God help you if you stumble here. When we were below Pleasant we foolishly--stupidly!--decided to follow Goldman's route description, which says you head straight up to the summit. It can be done, but it is not a good idea. The route, such as it is, is steep and covered with loose rock, some of which Eric sent clattering down on Jill. Part of this "route" is simply not safe. But after a few goose-bumps we made the summit and there realized that there's a well-defined boot path leading up from the col between Hessong Rock and Pleasant. This was infruriating, because during the traverse our common sense and dead reckoning was telling us to head to the col and then double-back up the ridge to Pleasant. As it turns out, that is the obvious route, but it somehow does not warrant inclusion in 75 Scrambles.
We descended to the col, dropped our packs, and quickly scurried up Hessong Rock for our fourth and final summit of the day. Back at the col, we embarked on the last stage of our journey, which took us down into Spray Park (past many playful marmots) and then 2 or 3 miles of quick hiking by trail back to the trailhead.
Jill heading up toward Knapsack Pass.
A herd of mountain goats clustered on the rocks above Knapsack Pass as we approached.
By the time we arrived at the pass they had descended to the basins below us. (They're just visible in the lower fifth of this photo, in the center.)
Our first objective, First Mother Mountain, which is the sheer peak on the left.
Jill pauses up the rock scramble ascent of First Mother.
Jill takes in the view from the summit of First Mother.
Eric poses on the summit of our second goal, Faye Peak, with Mowich Lake (our starting point) in the background.
Jill's favorite pants had survived a trip around the world, but they couldn't survive Faye Peak.
Eric on the beginning of a long and surprisingly challenging traverse from Faye Peak to Mount Pleasant, the summit at the right of the photo on the connecting ridge.
Jill enjoys a nectarine on the summit of Mount Pleasant, after a harrowing and off-route ascent that was anything but. Why do we follow the guide book's instructions?
Our fourth and final peak, Hessong Rock, as seen from near the summit of Mount Pleasant.
The view of Spray Park from the col between Pleasant and Hessong. After climbing Hessong and descending to Spray Park it was three miles back to the car and then two hours to Olympia Pizza.
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