Snowking Mountain 7433', Glacier Peak Wilderness

It's hard to find peaks that a) stepdad Steve hasn't done; and b) ones that aren't too scrambly for me. I've wanted to do Snowking Mountain for awhile and Steve hadn't been out there, so it was a perfect fit. The weather didn't quite clear as much as forecast, but for late-September it still was a pretty nice day. The route is straightforward and has only one small step that I would call third class, getting into a notch (on ascent) and climbing out of it (on descent). 

Some old growth and mature forest near 4000' on the climbers trail

Climbing up to point 5791',  and the real start of Kindy Ridge

Joints on 5791'

First view of Snowking, on 5791'

Snowking Lake on the left, Skaro and Neori on right

Snowking Mountain and Snowking Lake, from midway up Kindy Ridge

Looking at the upper half of Kindy Ridge, Mutchler Peak at left

Snowking, Cyclone Lake and Lake 5442'

Upper Kindy Ridge

Cyclone Lake, looking back down Kindy Ridge

Great granite slabs on Kindy Ridge

Mutchler Peak and glacial-retreat lake

Solid, as far as talus goes

Fresh snow on upper Snowking, notch visible separating the ridge from the summit block

On the ridge just before the notch, summit block beyond

Snowking benchmark 

Mutchler, Kindy Ridge and Cyclone Lake, from the summit

Illabot Creek headwaters from the glacial-retreat lake, Glacier Peak above the clouds, Mutchler

Steve in the notch on descent, showing the little step back up to Kindy Ridge

One Cyclone Lake, one Kindy Ridge, two Steves

Last look back at Snowking and Kindy Ridge

Found Lake

Eldorado, Dorado Needle, The Triad, Backbone Ridge

Hidden Lake peaks, Eldorado over to Torment, Forbidden, Boston and Johannesburg

Big Chiwaukum, Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Fresh off completing the Bulger Top 100, Eric is already tallying the remaining peaks for the Top 200. Doing the approaches to the climbs (Big Chiwaukum, on this day) usually is enough for me while he can get his summit and I can lounge. Clear fall days have to be my favorite time of year...

In the lower basin after leaving the Wildhorse Trail

In the lower basin

The elusive ground blueberry

Cresting the talus slope leading into the upper basin

Glacier Peak and its Wilderness

Snowgrass Mountain and Lake Grace

Big Chiwaukum's southwest ridge

Pano from ~7900' on Big Chiwaukum, south (left) to north looking west

The north face of Snowgrass with Upper Grace Lake

Looking at Frosty Pass and the terrain of Doelle-Chain lakes

Looking south from Big Chiwaukum's south ridge at 7900'; Big Jim at back left, Lake Charles left foreground, Stuart and Enchantment peaks back center-left

Looking north toward Maude, Bonanza and Dome (at left?)

Descending low on the SW ridge

The upper basin

Deer bed?

Pyramid Peak 6937', Mount Rainier National Park

A 4:44am email from Nick had us heading south to MRNP instead of east of the crest where the forecast had deteriorated overnight. Our plan was to park at Kautz Creek, head up to Pyramid Peak and then possibly to another destination, like Tokaloo Rock, looping back via the mostly-closed (but going to reopen?) Westside Road.

Classic fall weather with chilly, fog-filled valleys gave way to warm sunshine and transiting clouds above 5000' as we neared Indian Henry's Hunting Ground. Pyramid Peak was a very fun side trip with good views before more clouds rolled in. We decided to try for Tokaloo Rock as it was clear to the north when we left Pyramid, but that was pretty short lived. 

By the time we reached the ridge above St. Andrew's Park we were socked in, and stayed that way for our entire attempt up toward Tokaloo and back down. Looking at pictures from other TRs now, we were off route by literally 50 yards, but visibility was so bad we couldn't even see a huge 100-yard-wide bench that was directly below the rocky ridge we were on. It was late in the day, we had intermittent light rain and a little smattering of the frozen stuff and I told Nick it didn't seem like a smart idea to continue on. The clouds were so thick on the way down we got off route a couple of times on terrain we'd been on just 30 minutes earlier. 

Turning around early also was a good idea as Nick's feet we're very blistered from being wet all day and he had to resort to walking the last section of road in his socks. We also learned that if you're walking the Longmire Road at night by headlamp Park Rangers will pull you over and try to figure out what is going on, as well as keep you safe from drunk drivers who they say frequent the road; thanks Ranger Kelly! 

Breaking out of the fog on the Kautz Creek trail

Passing Mt. Ararat on the way to Indian Henry's

Rainier, approaching Indian Henry's

Headed to the aptly-named Pyramid Peak

Nick on the lower slopes of Pyramid Peak; Copper and Iron beyond

Pyramid Park looks gorgeous

The southwest flanks of Rainier, from Pyramid Peak 6937'

Tokaloo Rock (r) and Spire, from Pyramid Peak

Copper and Iron, from Pyramid Peak

South Tahoma Glacier with fresh snow

Nick leaving the summit of Pyramid with the Tatoosh Range and Goat Rocks area further back

Flow-banded rhyolite (?), south side of Emerald Ridge

Tahoma Glacier terminal moraine 

Dirty ice at the terminus of the Tahoma Glacier

Marmot on Emerald Ridge

Descending Emerald Ridge

Low on the ridge toward Tokaloo Rock

Contouring around Andrew Peak

We're having fun now!

Location check by one of the tarns along the ridge

Cool arch along the ridge

Where I told Nick I thought we should turn around; correct route was only 50 yards downslope right, and we couldn't see it

I can't recommend doing this...Nick crosses the arch on our descent

Columnar basalt along the South Puyallup River trail