Tieton Peak

Tieton peak is located in the Goat Rocks Wilderness.Tieton is pronounced "tie-it-tun" not like the Tetons in WY/ID. The peak's summit is in the middle of a long ridge that starts at Bear Creek Mountain and ends between Gilbert Peak and Ives Peak.

The Goats are quite unique in their own way. The group sits all alone to the north of Adams and to the SE of Rainier. They are remnants of old volcanoes and are made up of Pleistocene andesite and basalt.

The high alpine meadows are a main reason folks go into the Goat Rocks. Meadows that go on for miles and miles. Aspen and larch groves sprinkle the entire east side of the range. It is a great place to visit in the spring for flowers and color in the fall. Elk reside all through the area as do the namesake mountain goats.

Views are great. Rainier to the NW and Adams to the south. Gilbert, Old Snowy, and Ives are front and center. Great views of the Conrad Glacier, Ives Glacier and McCall Glacier.

Route Overview

Tieton peak is not often climbed and one can see why. Climbers must deal with some of the nastiest scree, talus, and loose unpredictable rotten crumbly crags to gain the summit. It would be hard to find good protection it is so crumbly. This peak would be much nicer when covered in snow.

The SW route is a long (19-20 miles rt) day climb or a good overnight. The ridge goes well (C3) till about ½ mile from the summit. Then it gets nasty. C4-C5 depending on the spot you chose to gain the summit. See route.

East Ridge would be shorter and may work better than the SW. C3-4 maybe some class 5 for the summit block.

NE Ridge from Bear Creek Mountain might work but one would have to get around the Devils Horns. This route would be quite sketchy as the rock is so bad. C4-C5

The North Face has been skied. They climbed the SW Ridge and skied the NF. Trip reports here

Getting There

Conrad Creek Drainage approach access.

From Route 12 take the Tieton Road that goes around Rimrock Lake. Turn right onto South Fork Tieton River Road. Take that 13-14 miles to the end.

Snowgrass/Cipus Basin Approach access:

Drive to Packwood on Rt 12. About 3 miles SW of Packwood turn on Johnson Creek Road (FSR21). Drive FSR 21 for about 13-14 miles to Hugo Lake. Take a left at the fork for FSR 2150. Drive FSR 2150 for about a mile. At a fork, stay to the left on FSR 2150 for another 2 miles to FSR 405 loop which takes you to the Snowgrass Flats TH. .

Approaches to routes

Conrad Creek Drainage approach route:
One can approach from Cipus Basin. It will be a little shorter but you would have to climb up and over a saddle to the east of Ives Peak and would be more difficult. The Conrad Creek Drainage is a little more direct and not difficult.

[img:237091:alignleft:small:] The parking lot is a few 100' from the gate on the road. Then one has a choice of taking the road or dropping down to a trail that takes you along the meadows. The meadows are a nicer choice. The road is the same distance but less appealing.

After 1.5 miles you reach an intersection. Look for the signed trail for SF Tieton River Trail. Hike on this trail for .3-.5 mi. or so. Take a right at a signed intersection. Then you are on the Conrad Creek drainage. Follow the trail through several marshes and meadows for a couple of miles. You go through one last marsh at around 4-4.5 miles. Then you start your ascent at 4500'. There is a trail all the way up to the upper meadows, but there are also many other trail weaving in and out of the main trail. It is easy to get off trail but it will magically appear again.

Right around 5500'-6000' or so, the trail starts to open up. You go through many small meadows. The trail starts to descend a bit and you will see some red colored slab (around 6300'-6500') in the trail and right there is a trail off to the right that takes you up to the bench. (If you stay on the path to the left it will take you down to a large meadow below the falls. If you follows the lower trail to gain access to the Cold Lake basin then you will run into a nasty scree field with some class 3 and exposure and then some thick alpine fir bushwhacking.) Make sure you stay on the right upper trail to gain the basin. Once on the bench it is all open meadow hike up to Cold Lake. This is where the SW ridge route starts. [img:235558:aligncenter:medium:]

Cipus basin/Snowgrass Flats approach:
Hike Trail #96 or 96a about 3.7 miles to Snowgrass Flats. Head of trail on a small path towards Ives Peak. Take the saddle to the east of Ives and drop over to the north side on rotten steep scree/talus/snow/glacier. Work your way NE to the SW ridge of Tieton.

One can also gain the SW Ridge cross country through SF Tieton River and McCall basin. Most is on an abandoned trail and cross country.

Camping

Many great places to camp. Snowgrass Flats is quite popular so if you want solitude I would choose the Cold Lake area. The meadows all the way from Conrad Meadows to Cold lake are great places to camp. Be mindful of impact in fragile areas though. There is also cattle roaming the lower areas of Tieton River valley. Elk are found throughout the area along with their smell and droppings :). [img:249107:aligncenter:medium:]

Red Tape

Only a NW Forest Pass is needed for parking.

When To Climb

One can get into the Goat Rocks most any time of year. Winter on must be mindful of high avalanche danger. Some BC great ski runs all through the area.

Summer/Fall one must be mindful of heavy rock fall as the rock is very loose and rotten there.

Links and Maps

Fun TR thread on NWH started by Janet.

Green trails Map #303 White Pass Wa. And Green trails #303 Walupt Lake Wa.

Topozone Map

Conditions from Gifford Pinchot NF site

Thanks and resources

"Beckey Alpine Guide" Columbia River to Stevens Pass Fred Beckey

"Roadside Geology" Alt and Hyndman

To my climb partners Tom Davenport for providing me with Images

Thank to Randy Busch for providing images and beta from the ridge.

Additions and CorrectionsPost an Addition or Correction

Images

View Tieton Peak Image Gallery - 9 Images