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Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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49.81136°N / 125.83676°W |
Route Type:
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Hike/Scrambling to 3rd and 4th class |
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Time Required:
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A long day |
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Difficulty:
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Walk-up |
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Approach
See the Getting There section for directions to the trailhead.Route Description
The route starts off steep and gets worse. About a half mile into the woods, you will cross a bridge near some power lines. After this point the trail becomes kind of a tree root climb for a while. You basically are scrambling up some easy rock as well as dirt that has filled exposed tree roots on a steep hillside. It's actually kind of fun.You will view two waterfalls before you come to an area that appears to be a lot of downed trees in a pile at the base of a valley. We guessed that this was avalanche debris. Shortly after this section you come to another waterfall and you will do some third class rock scrambling next to it to get to a steep-sided river bank. It appears that an avalanche may have wiped out whatever pre-existing trail there was here but you can follow small flags up the left side of the bank back to the trail. A short snowfield crossing as well as a river crossing and you come to a small flat meadow with your first views of Queen's Ridge. After some more steep trail you come to a hanging valley at the base of the glacier. It's a good spot for lunch or a snack.
From this point you can spot the narrow couloir which is the snow climb to the glacier in winter and spring. The trail however goes directly west up a narrow gully to the obvious ridge. Try to follow the path that is the furthest to the right from the meadow. We got off trail here and did some rock climbing to get back on. The gully that the trail climbs is very steep with some 4th class moves near the top. The rock is loose and a fall would be bad, be careful here.
Once on top of the ridge, follow the trail which starts basically on top of th eridge but ends up traversing to the west of Queen's Ridge and climbs up the backside of the col. From here scramble up King's Peak to the summit.
Length of trail is about 4 miles with an elevation gain of 5700 feet. Average time round trip is 10 to 12 hours.