Standard South route

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Page Type: Route

Location: Washington, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 47.81640°N / 121.4461°W

Route Type: scramble

Time Required: Most of a day

Difficulty: Class 3

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Page By: don frazier

Created/Edited: Aug 15, 2002 / Oct 2, 2009

Object ID: 156828

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Table of Contents

Approach

From the town of Baring on US Hwy 2 turn North on forest road 6024 and follow it approx 4 mi to a spur road on the left. Turn left on this narrow road and go several hundred feet to it`s end and park. This road is just before the Barclay Lake TH so if you reach the TH turn around and it will be the first spur on your right.

Route Description

There are three difficulties on this route;1) Finding the start of the path; 2) Staying on the path up high through the brush; and 3) The narrow ramp one must cross near the summit. The first two can take some extra time locating and staying on; however the third difficulty can be a deal breaker when covered in snow early in the season. Someone also posted a great little sketch on how to locate the begining of the path from the parking area. Even with the sketch, plan on doing some bushwacking in the begining to find the old abandoned road. In 2009, when I last visited, the road was quickly disappearing and resembeled more of a way trail in most spots.
From the parking area find a faint path heading east into the woods,DO NOT FOLLOW THE ABANDONED ROAD. The little path winds through the woods and comes out at a log jamb in Barclay creek. Cross Barclay and try to follow the flags leading to the old road. My method to locate the old road was to cross Barclay cr. and follow the bank east until coming to a stream bed (this will have water in early season but will be completely dry later in the year) Then follow the stream bed as it heads NNW for approx. 5 minutes. Be looking for the old road meeting the creek on the west side. In 2009 I built a large cairn on the bank since the old road was getting very overgrown and haed to see. Then follow the mostly level road westerly for approx. 1/4 mile until it turns off heading north. There was a cairn marking this location in 2009.
Follow the flat path northerly for another 1/4 mile until reaching "the clearing" that is drawn in the sketch. The clearing is not much of a clearing anymore since things have started to grow up. There is a well traveled path though through it that is easy to follow. Once at the other end of the clearing the route starts is steep ascent straight up the hillside. After around 400 ft of gain it starts adding in some switchbacks but it is still very steep. At 3600' reach a large cairn and a rocky outcrop the the trail heads up over. The route continues up and over rocky knobs and around others to the first views at 3800'. At 3900' the path skirts easterly under the base of some cliffs and after a short while drops down to cross a ravine. In early season there will be a nice little waterfall here; late in the year it will be completely dry. Some class 2 scrambling leads accross to the other side and up some slabs to regain the dirt path.
At approx. 4300' the trail starts to disappear amid ferns and brush. It is still there, one just has to keep a close eye on it under the brush. In early season when under snowcover this might be a good spot to just head east into the open basin and head straight for the saddle. When the snow is gone stay on the path. At around 4500' the path starts to split into many paths. To avoid thick brush it is important to stay on the right path. The incorrect paths fade quickly into thick brush. Once past this area the path opens up into meadows and rocks and is fairly simple to follow. Where the path is not beat into the grass it is marked by cairns. The path eventually tops out at the first ridge (5400') with point 5842' closely to the west. There is a pretty little pond, with a nice view of Baring, on a flat shortly west of the saddle when heading towards 5842'.
From the saddle at 5400' contour into the basin NE of point 5842' and head counterclockwise around the peak just NE of point 5842' You will have to lose some elevation to get below cliffs but there is a faint way trail to follow. Once around this point a large boulder feild will be encountered. Take this boulder feild up (North) for several hundred feet intil a gully can be seen heading east, up under the base of the summit block. There are some class 3 moves getting up through this gully. In 2009 there was a sling on a stout tree for a rappel if one needed it. After the gully start an ascending traverse until below the final slopes that lead to the "V" notch in the ridge. Immediately on the other side of the "V" notch is the narrow ramp leading to the summit. Early in the season it will be covered with snow/ice and could make the end of the climb if the proper equiptment was not brought. Later in the year it is a fairly simple walk across and then some class 2 scrambling to the summit.
Time up to the summit from parking area was 3 1/2 hours.

Essential Gear

Early in the season an ice ax is needed for the steep terrain and crampons would be advisable, just in case. Also a rope and protection to get accross the ledge near the summit. Later in the season when the snow is gone no special equiptment is needed to complete the climb unless one is uncomfortable with downclimbing some loose class 3. Then a rope could be needed to help get down the gully south of the summit block.Plenty of water is available on the route early in the year. Later in the year there is no water up to the first ridge at 5400'. There is always water in a bunch of small lakes in the basin on the north side of the 5400' ridge.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

Camping

There is a firepit and area to set up a tent right at the trailhead. Also, there is a beautiful basin area north of the 5400' ridge that has meadows, lakes and scattered clusters of trees that would make a spectacular place to camp.

Images



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