| Skokomish climb Trip Report |
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| Skokomish climb   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Washington, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 47.59130°N / 123.2949°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Jun 24, 2004 | Page By: OlympicMtnBoy Created/Edited: Sep 24, 2004 / Object ID: 169612 Hits: 537 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
My friend Andrew Meyer and I started out at 6:00 in the morning from the Putvin trailhead. It was misty in the forest and I was afraid the weather would be cloudy. Fortuntately near the first avalanche slope the sun broke through the clouds and we were rewarded with a dazzling misty view of Mount Pershing's spires acrosse the Hamma Hamma River valley. With this as encouragement we headed up the first headwall. We stopped for snacks at a creek just before the Lake of the False Prophets and then continued on, crossing White Horse Creek and then began our ascent of the snowy slope of the 2nd headwall. St. Peter's Gate on Mount Stone rose prominently to the north and to the south and east Mount Pershing and Jefferson Peak were visible above the hilly meadow below. We reached Lake of the Angels at about 9:00 and settled down for a half hour rest for "lunch". The day was clear, sunny and pleasantly warm...65. Perfect hiking weather. We put on our sun screen and then I filtered water for the next part of our trip...the Summit of Mount Skokomish.
Already by this point we'd gained over 3,300 feet of Elevation in 3.6 miles and we still had just over 1600 feet to go before we reached the summit. As we headed up the snow field above the lake a friendly mountain goat, who I call Fred, came down to meet us. I snapped several pictures and turned to continue on the upward climb, only to have the snow giveway. I began falling head first down into what had been snow.. Thankfully something caught me and I held onto the rock face I had wanted to step on before the snow gave way. My ski pole fell about 60 feet down the rock face and slid back underneath the snow field. Needless to say I was shaken up and learned a valuable lesson about climbing on the snow. Stay away from edges of snowfields near rock faces in the spring and summer! They can give way without warning!
Upon reaching the top of the ridge we were blessed with a view of the main southeast summit of Skokomish towering about a thousand feet above us. A huge snowfield graced it's rugged rocky slopes. To the Southwest Mount Cruiser dominated the scene, rising above a small tarn. We decided on a route up the rock face instead of the snow. The handholds were a bit shaky and the rock was very lose. We finally learned to yell rock after my partner, Andrew, knocked a rock the size of my hand down and it smacked me on the arm! I stayed over and away from his ascent. He cut the path and I followed. It was steep. A helmet would have been nice because at any moment I could have slipped and crashed far below on the rock, but with God's help I clung to dear life and kept going higher. Once I thought I couldn't go on. I have a fear of heights. It almost got me, but my friend urged me on. I looked back to see Mount Ellinor, Washington, Pershing and Copper Mountain to the south and east beautifully surrounded by a mist of clouds! Dude! That view rocked!
Finally the summit was in sight, one last steep pitch. We made it. I climbed out on top and first noticed Mount Olympus and the Valhallas to the far west! That was awesome! The view was sweeping. I took a panoramic series of photos and several of my friend and I on the summit! We had made it...Peaks I remember seeing from southwest to west to northwest to north to northeast to east to southeast to south included: The Valhallas, Mount Queets, Mount Christie, Mount Olympus, The Bailey Range, Chimney Peak, Bicentennial Peak, Crystal Peak, Mount Anderson, O'neil Peak, Muncaster Mountain, White Mountain, Mount LaCrosse, Mount Steel, Mount Duckabush, Mount Hopper, Diamond Mountain, Mount Mystery, Mount Deception, Mount Clark, Mount Constance, Mount Lena, Mount Stone, Mount Brotherton, Mount Pershing, Mount Washington, Mount Ellinor, Copper Mountain, Mount Cruiser...yeah and ofcourse, MOUNT SKOKOMISH!
The climb down was rougher then going up but once we reached one of the snowfields we slid on our butts nearly a thousand feet down the slopes of Skokomish. We then went on the rim of the basin beneathMount Stone, climbed up a cliff and then headed down to Lake of the Angels. We had accomplished our goal and by 12:00 we left the lake of the Angels. Time up Skokomish was about 1 and a half hours! Time down was about an hour...thanks to the snowfield. God was good to us. That was an ultimate wilderness experience. Nearly 10,000 feet of elevation gain and loss in just over 9 miles! Sweet stuff!
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