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| Northwest Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Washington, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 47.50290°N / 120.8013°W Route Type: Hike & scramble Time Required: Most of a day Difficulty: Class one, two
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| Page By: Dean Created/Edited: Nov 27, 2004 / Nov 27, 2004 Object ID: 163054 Hits: 957 Loading... Page Score: 86.73% - 2 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
From Leavenworth, described on the main page, follow the directions given that will get you to the Stuart Lake Trailhead. The TH requires the Northwest Trail pass to park there.
Route Description
NORTHWEST RIDGE:
You need to get to the Stuart Lake Trailhead parking area. From this parking area is an obvious but blocked off road at the east end of the parking lot. Several big boulders have been placed in the roadway to block vehicles from progressing any further. I've put a map in the photo section which shows this route in red dash mark lines. The elevation gain going this route is close to 5300 feet as the Trailhead is at 3300 feet and the summit of Cannon is at 8638 feet. In the summer, this can be a long waterless route so plan accordingly. Also take a good hat and sunscreen as this route is fully exposed to the sun after about ten a.m. Well anyway, leaving the TH parking area, follow what was once a logging road NE (overgrown in some places) for about two miles. The road bends back SE and at a point where the raod is washed out, look for faint signs of a boot path (near 4600 foot level) and head directly up a steep ridge. I said steep cause this ridge gains 3300 feet in a mile and a half (that's steep to me). A fire swept through here back in 1994 so some areas on this ridge are pretty brushy. About a thousand feet below the summit ridge, you leave the fire scarred part behind and now get into why we go up mountains. You hit some trees (pines, larch, firs) after leaving the burned ridge and continue to climb until the summit ridge is gained near 8000 Big views back over toward the Stuart range and over to Cashmere mountain across the way. From the top of the ridge you have a one mile rocky traverse to get to the summit. The ridge is mostly scramble type hiking with some talus and or snow traverses that skirt the rocky points closer to the summit on the eas side. Alternatively, angle down talus or snow slopes ot Coney Lake then climb the basin headwall southwest of the lake via talus and snow and pick your way up . If you don't want to return the way you just came, you can head for Prusik Pass and head out the Aasgard Pass / Colchuck Lake route (not my choice to do in one day)
Early spring when snow is present, consider the following:
North couloir route variation. Jeff Smoot in his fine book "Climbing Washington's Mountains" describes a route he calls the North Couloir. It ascends the broad couloir just below the north end of the summit ridge. It provides a long moderatively steep early season snow route to the summit ridge. He states that this route is not quite as direct in gaining the summit ridge "but it is much more sporting and alpine in nature, and allows you to bypass much of the brush that makes the Northwest Ridge unpopular"
Essential Gear
Unless you are planning on the early spring North colouir route, no special gear is necessary. Crampons and ice axe may be needed on the colouir route when snow is present .
Miscellaneous Info
An interesting trip report along with some great pics can be found here
Images
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Enchantments
