21 miles round trip, 11 hours car-to-car, beautiful mountain, able to see both Mount Baker and Glacier Peak!
Brian Jenkins - Sep 2, 2019 8:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2019
Racing the Rain
With Ron. Hiked in that morning, set up camp at Upper Snowy Lake, then got showered on a bit as we climbed up Golden Horn. 4 other parties at the summit. We all took our turns. Mantle move was definitely committing. Hot Tower the next morning.
kronshage3 - Oct 17, 2018 6:32 pm Date Climbed: Sep 13, 2018
Standard Route
Beautiful weather! Lots of larches! Cutthroat Pass and Granite Pass both had some snow and ice, was fine without traction since these sections were brief. Set up camp at Lower Snowy Lake. Attempted Tower first but the main gully was full of a thin layer of ice that never gets sun. Golden Horn is basically is big pile a choss and sandy stuff with a big rock on top. On the ridge and beyond was covered in 3 to 5 inches of snow. The summit itself had some ice and snow on it as well. Others set up a fixed rope for the ascent. I just reached up to touch the top.
Matt Lemke - Jul 7, 2018 9:35 am Date Climbed: Jun 24, 2018
Tower and Golden Horn in a day
Scrambled up the SW gully on Tower then on to Golden Horn. In via Cutthroat pass out Swamp creep to make a loop.
mrjenks85 - Oct 8, 2015 12:27 am Date Climbed: Sep 27, 2015
Larches!
Did this one as part of a twofer with Tower Mountain. Unfortunately we got skunked on Tower within about 150 vertical feet of summit. We ascended the gully route even though it already had ice and icicles on the ledges, but when clouds socked in and started snowing we decided the class IV moves were to risky and not worth a summit with no view. Retreated to find our other hiking companion (who does not like heights and stayed behind) had built a toasty camp fire and prepared hot chocolate & whiskey back at camp. Life is good...
Anyway on to Golden Horn. Next day woke up to clear, warm, sunny weather. Bagged summit via standard route. Summit is pretty straight forward. It is class 5 in that if you made an awkward move and fell you could roll off and tumble one side or fall of another big cliff on the other. Other than that its class 3 difficulty. We roped up and did with ease. I tied 2 new rap slings on the big boulder with a 20kn ring for anyone trying this in the remainder of 2015 or early 2016. Enjoy!
Oh yeah, and if you do this time of year...GOLDEN LARCHES!
We knocked this one out on a cloudy morning. It is a quick and enjoyable climb from Snowy Lakes. It is much less demanding on your mountaineering skills than nearby Tower. The route was easy to find despite the fact we were socked in after crossing the ridge. The much-talked-about class 5 summit block is really just two boulders stacked on top of each other.
We made a heroic 12 foot rap off the summit. It was very enjoyable despite the lack of a view.
Climbed this on a clear and dry July 4th weekend in this minimal snow pack year - 6 leisurely hours RT from Lower Snowy Lake (the only reason to get back to the buggy lowlands was for the refreshing swim). We climbed the summit block (great quality granite) on the NW side - 15' of 5.0 (improvised my knotted cordelette as a wedged piece of pro in the crack under the summit block). The summit block is worth climbing - great views and exposure! A minimum of 60' of rope is needed for the rappel. Down climbing that top 15' of the NW route would probably intimidate most - I was glad we had the rope - and it looked like the short 5' mantle up the south side would be the easiest to down climb if you didn't have a rope... I bet a lot of folks get 99% of the way up this thing and call it good, and that's a shame since the summit makes for a great moment.
seano - Jun 22, 2015 3:40 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2015
Standard route
Moderate day to check out conditions, after failing to bag this with Tower last year. Snowy Lakes are nice, as is the summit block. Trip report.
triyoda - Jul 8, 2014 12:17 am Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2014
1st North Cascade Peak
The hike from Rainy Pass was hard, but I'm glad I bagged this after a short break at Snowy Lakes. All fogged in the morning, so no Tower Mtn. Summit block was tricky, took me over 30 minutes but I finally figured it out.
gimpilator - Nov 1, 2012 11:03 am Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2012
Tower and Golden Horn
Tower the first day and Golden Horn the second. We saw a bull moose at the lakes.
belowfellow - Nov 1, 2012 9:30 am Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2012
golden
great climb with good partners (Gimpilator and cmurph)
Josh Lewis - Nov 1, 2012 2:37 am Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
Good Trip Success!
Lots of golden larches, certainly worth visiting.
RokIzGud - Mar 22, 2010 2:16 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2009
Turned Around...
I got to about 15 feet of repel slings and decided to turn around. The rock was wet and had snow on it and I was solo and thought this was bad juju...
Jowzynkyn - Sep 9, 2020 3:50 pm Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2020
Golden Horn of the Cascades Year Rona21 miles round trip, 11 hours car-to-car, beautiful mountain, able to see both Mount Baker and Glacier Peak!
Brian Jenkins - Sep 2, 2019 8:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2019
Racing the RainWith Ron. Hiked in that morning, set up camp at Upper Snowy Lake, then got showered on a bit as we climbed up Golden Horn. 4 other parties at the summit. We all took our turns. Mantle move was definitely committing. Hot Tower the next morning.
kronshage3 - Oct 17, 2018 6:32 pm Date Climbed: Sep 13, 2018
Standard RouteBeautiful weather! Lots of larches! Cutthroat Pass and Granite Pass both had some snow and ice, was fine without traction since these sections were brief. Set up camp at Lower Snowy Lake. Attempted Tower first but the main gully was full of a thin layer of ice that never gets sun. Golden Horn is basically is big pile a choss and sandy stuff with a big rock on top. On the ridge and beyond was covered in 3 to 5 inches of snow. The summit itself had some ice and snow on it as well. Others set up a fixed rope for the ascent. I just reached up to touch the top.
Matt Lemke - Jul 7, 2018 9:35 am Date Climbed: Jun 24, 2018
Tower and Golden Horn in a dayScrambled up the SW gully on Tower then on to Golden Horn. In via Cutthroat pass out Swamp creep to make a loop.
mrjenks85 - Oct 8, 2015 12:27 am Date Climbed: Sep 27, 2015
Larches!Did this one as part of a twofer with Tower Mountain. Unfortunately we got skunked on Tower within about 150 vertical feet of summit. We ascended the gully route even though it already had ice and icicles on the ledges, but when clouds socked in and started snowing we decided the class IV moves were to risky and not worth a summit with no view. Retreated to find our other hiking companion (who does not like heights and stayed behind) had built a toasty camp fire and prepared hot chocolate & whiskey back at camp. Life is good...
Anyway on to Golden Horn. Next day woke up to clear, warm, sunny weather. Bagged summit via standard route. Summit is pretty straight forward. It is class 5 in that if you made an awkward move and fell you could roll off and tumble one side or fall of another big cliff on the other. Other than that its class 3 difficulty. We roped up and did with ease. I tied 2 new rap slings on the big boulder with a 20kn ring for anyone trying this in the remainder of 2015 or early 2016. Enjoy!
Oh yeah, and if you do this time of year...GOLDEN LARCHES!
BKW - Jul 13, 2015 6:57 pm Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2015
Standard RouteWe knocked this one out on a cloudy morning. It is a quick and enjoyable climb from Snowy Lakes. It is much less demanding on your mountaineering skills than nearby Tower. The route was easy to find despite the fact we were socked in after crossing the ridge. The much-talked-about class 5 summit block is really just two boulders stacked on top of each other.
We made a heroic 12 foot rap off the summit. It was very enjoyable despite the lack of a view.
applewood - Jul 6, 2015 2:09 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2015
Shortest rock climb of my life!Climbed this on a clear and dry July 4th weekend in this minimal snow pack year - 6 leisurely hours RT from Lower Snowy Lake (the only reason to get back to the buggy lowlands was for the refreshing swim). We climbed the summit block (great quality granite) on the NW side - 15' of 5.0 (improvised my knotted cordelette as a wedged piece of pro in the crack under the summit block). The summit block is worth climbing - great views and exposure! A minimum of 60' of rope is needed for the rappel. Down climbing that top 15' of the NW route would probably intimidate most - I was glad we had the rope - and it looked like the short 5' mantle up the south side would be the easiest to down climb if you didn't have a rope... I bet a lot of folks get 99% of the way up this thing and call it good, and that's a shame since the summit makes for a great moment.
seano - Jun 22, 2015 3:40 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2015
Standard routeModerate day to check out conditions, after failing to bag this with Tower last year. Snowy Lakes are nice, as is the summit block. Trip report.
triyoda - Jul 8, 2014 12:17 am Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2014
1st North Cascade PeakThe hike from Rainy Pass was hard, but I'm glad I bagged this after a short break at Snowy Lakes. All fogged in the morning, so no Tower Mtn. Summit block was tricky, took me over 30 minutes but I finally figured it out.
gimpilator - Nov 1, 2012 11:03 am Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2012
Tower and Golden HornTower the first day and Golden Horn the second. We saw a bull moose at the lakes.
belowfellow - Nov 1, 2012 9:30 am Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2012
goldengreat climb with good partners (Gimpilator and cmurph)
Josh Lewis - Nov 1, 2012 2:37 am Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
Good Trip Success!Lots of golden larches, certainly worth visiting.
RokIzGud - Mar 22, 2010 2:16 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2009
Turned Around...I got to about 15 feet of repel slings and decided to turn around. The rock was wet and had snow on it and I was solo and thought this was bad juju...