South Ridge Route 7/5/07 - 7/6/07

From Rainy Pass we parked at the PCT Picnic Area and take Lake Ann TR to Heather Pass. The mosquitoes begin biting here and don’t let up the entire way to the peak. Snow starts at Heather Pass and from there all the way to the base of Black Peak. Heather Pass trail is in great condition with only one blow-down to navigate.

From Heather Pass we side-hilled on sometimes steep snow to Lewis Lake. We took the wrong way and went to the right around the lake. To save yourself time and go left around Lewis Lake, keeping a distance away from the lake on the snow. At the head of the lake cross the inlet on a snow bridge and head up the moraine staying at tree line. Up and over the next knoll brings you to the upper lake – Wing Lake.



We used the snow to camp on (so it was flat) near solid ground and filtered water from the lake. We got on the snow at 6am and made good time up to the ridge. We used crampons but you could just as easily wait one more hour while the snow softened in the morning sun and kicked steps. We climbed up the south ridge on very, very lose rock (everything moves). If you stay on the crest of the ridge the boot path is much better.



Cairns are very scarce so plan some extra time for route finding. We found some snow patches but for the most part it was bare rock. We continued to the summit pyramid and stopped just short of the traverse.

Heather Pass, Lewis Lk, Wing Lk, Black Peak 8970’ (Aug 13-14, 2005)

I remembered being in this area of the North Cascades several years ago with a friend. The friend is no longer a friend, but the peak and area stayed on my mind. I had tried Black Pk way back then as a day trip but it got the better of me and at about 8100’ I petered out. This time around, I knew it was a strenuous trip so I allowed for two days. Kim was eager to join me because she had never been to the area.

Saturday morning we got an early start with Kim meeting me at my house on the north end at 6:30. We were quickly on the road to the long drive to Rainy Pass (Lk Ann TH 4800’). We found a spot in the very large lot and by 9:30 we were hiking up the well groomed Lk Ann trail. About ¾ mile in the trail splits (if you are looking at a USGS map you’ll notice that the trail up to Heather Pass is not marked…but then neither is Hwy20!...maybe it’s time to update the map with such a significant feature?). The left fork continues down to Lk Ann. We went right uphill to a series of switchbacks to Heather Pass (2 mi, 6100’).

We got our first glimpse of Lewis Lk, and Black Pk in the distance from Heather Pass. Gosh…I just don’t remember this area being quite so stunning the last time I was out here. We took a quick break at the pass, fighting off the initial attack of black flies. We gazed down across the boulder fields between us and Lewis Lk. I recalled a bit of a boot path mixed in with boulder hopping. It turned out to be just that. Initially the route follows a most excellent unmaintained “path” down toward the boulder field. The idea is to drop down below all the rock making travel easier. You end up loosing 500-600’ elevation with this strategy and it mostly works. Follow the boot path as it drops below the boulder field. Eventually you don’t have a choice but to boulder hop but the route is fairly well marked with cairns. I found that I’d reach a cairn and spend 30 seconds or so scouting out the next one. We leap-frogged across the boulders doing just this. There is another piece of path in the dirt, a minor gully crossing, more boulders and eventually a short stretch of “patch” as the route crosses the outlet to Lewis Lk (5702’). Upon reaching the lake (about 1.5 miles from the pass) I was stunned be the azure color of the lake, the sight of the massive terminal moraine above us, and Black Pk in the distance. It just doesn’t get much better than this! The trail rounds the right (north side) of Lewis Lk and it’s clear that the crowds lessen from this point on since the boot patch gets more narrow and rocky.

At the other side (west side) of Lewis Lk the path crossed a stream and then began 1.5 miles of a series of steep switchbacks and straight up trail as it headed up what I think is an old moraine and ends up at Wing Lk . The views of the old moraine are the most impressive views of a moraine I’d ever seen. The size of the rock pike is absolutely massive. The trail winds through a stretch of ripe wild blueberries so make sure to stop for a few minutes to take a breather and taste the sweet flavor of the berries.

Wing Lk (6905’) is a stunning azure colored lake at the base of Black Pk. It’s surrounded two sides by the flanks of Black Pk and the impressive ridge that connects Black Pk to Corteo Pk to the SE. It was a bit surprising that the moderate sized glaciers on the NE side of this ridge are all about gone. Even the Lewis Glacier is all but an ice cube clinging to the near vertical walls of the ridge. The glacier that surely engulfed the area must have been impressive. I wonder how long the ice has been gone. I kept wondering if anyone and hoping that someone must have pictures of the area when the ice had more of a presence. If anyone does, I’d love to see them at janetputz@yahoo.com.

There are a few good campsites at Wing Lk. We took the one right at the outlet of the lake. There are a few others further up the trail along the lakeshore and some even up on the small bumps surround the lake. There were a total of 15 hikers/climbers that spent the night at the lake but you’d never know it because were all squirreled away in our own nooks. We got in at a decent time 4pm-ish so we spent the afternoon gazing at our route the next day, watching the huge cascading waterfall off the southwest flank of the peak. Again, the USGS quad shows this as a minor glacier but it looked barely more than a snowfield. Kim watched the alpenglow on the peaks to the east. I found a friendly group of climbers from Canada and we chatted about the evils of Bush all evening. We all planned an early morning rise to beat the heat of the next day’s climb.

I was up at 6am and snapped a couple of great shots of the morning sun on Black Pk. Then we quickly made haste to gobble down some breakfast and get ready to head out of camp. By 7am we were set. We rounded Wing Lk to the east and north where we picked up a very nice climber’s path. The path leads up first straight up the stream that drains the now snow-free col. Near the head of the stream it crosses first over to your left, then right, then up a very steep straight up screen trail as it heads about 1 ¼ miles nearly due west of the lake to reach the ridge at the head of the col (8100’). This was likely the most unpleasant part of the trip. The path was full of loose dirt and scree on top of rock. The last 50’ were unpleasant but very do-able. From this point the route descriptions in various sources get sketchy. Most said “follow the south ridge to elevation X then traverse to the right to the NE ridge”. Eeek. What the climber’s path actually does is cross over to the NW side of the ridge/peak. From here follow the darned nice path through a series of ledges and gullies. You’ll want to head up what I believe is the 3rd gully. Bring a helmet. There is plenty of loose rock. With all the people on the mountain it’s highly likely there are people above and below (there were 6 above us and 3 below). Scramble up the gully (C3) and at the top of it is where you begin heading to your right as you go up. Again, there is a pretty darned good climber’s path to follow. Eventually you reach the summit block to the far right and the trickiest move of the day. There is a rising ledge that appears to overhang on the right of the summit block. It rounds the peak and leads to the top via yet another gully. Views are most excellent from Baker, Glacier, Rainier to the whole of the North Cascades. Our route down was generally the reverse of the up with the exception that we went down the 2nd gully (a bit steeper). Also, one we crossed over the ridge at 8100’ we stayed high and to the left to a better ‘trail’ down not-co-crappy rock back down toward the stream and Wing Lk. We quickly packed up and headed back down to Lewis Lk, up to Heather Pass and to the well deserved Lk Ann trail which got us back to the car around 6pm.

Oh...we found out how Wing Lk got it's name. Must be from all the wings belonging to all those darned biting horseflies!

Pics: 1st - Black Pk & Lewis Lk from Heather Pass. 2nd - Black Pk in the morning sun.

Stats: 5100’ gain & 13 miles round trip.