Cave Ridge - Guye Peak
Starting from the Alpenthal parking lot (as though you were to hike Snow Lake Trail), walk towards the aforementioned trailhead. 50m downhill from this trailhead is an unsigned trail heading into the slide alder. The first 200m aren't very aesthetic, but don't be discouraged. The trail quickly runs uphill for about 1000' following a creek bed or switchbacking through old growth trees.
Once the slope eases off at the saddle a junction will appear. The left branch goes to Snoqualmie Mountain and the right to Guye Peak. A little ways on is a quaint pond and then the steepness begins again. Poles or an axe in the spring are a must. The trail winds around to the Commonwealth Basin side and can be quite exposed in spots. The first summit that you come to is where most stop and has great views. The true summit is the third one over and requires some exposed scrambling to get to. If you want to see the phone booth, it's at the far end of the ridge, above a couple of tarns.
Driving Directions:
I-90 to Snoqualmie Pass. Left at stop sign towards Alpental parking lot. Park by the covered bridge at the ski area. Recent Trip Reports
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Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | No water source
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Flickr: http://bit.ly/guye-peak
Standing just under 5,200', Guye Peak looked like a piece of cake. That may be the case in the...
Flickr: http://bit.ly/guye-peak
Standing just under 5,200', Guye Peak looked like a piece of cake. That may be the case in the summer months, but not on this day of snow and wind. Shortly after leaving the Alpental ski area and going up the slope, I found some old snowshoe tracks that seemed to be leading toward the junction. I followed the tracks for a while before they disappeared just before the junction. The wind grew stronger and the snow continued to fall as I tried to find my way to the upper meadows. The upper meadows is where I left the trail to Snoqualmie Mountain behind and headed south toward Guye Peak. On a clear day, Guye Peak would probably be in full view from the meadows. After descending down to the col between the meadows and Guye, I ran into two hikers having lunch east of the col to doge the wind. They had come up from the Commonwealth Basin side on crampons and ice axes. From this point, it was just a matter of following the ridge line and climbing straight up to the summit. A couple of tricky spots to maneuver through but that was about it. The summit was extremely windy without views. But shortly after I arrived, about half of the clouds miraculously dissipated, which allowed me to take some quick photos of Alpental and Cave Ridge. There was no in fighting the wind on the summit to set up my camera for a self portrait, so I got down about 100 feet to get away from the wind, the snow continued to fall. Got back down to the ski area just before dark. Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | Avalanche danger
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We did this trip as part of a two-day Alpental excursion. We took exit 52, parked in the Middle Alpental...
We did this trip as part of a two-day Alpental excursion. We took exit 52, parked in the Middle Alpental parking lot and off we went. Make sure you bring a map, maybe even a GPS, as the "trail" up Guye can be difficult to follow. Also, check the avalanche danger before you go (nwac.us) as there are times where you may be climbing up/crossing avalanche slopes. The trailhead is about 50m south of the Snow Like trail, through the avalanche beacon training sit. It was a steep hike up to the saddle between Snoqualmie mountain and Guye peak. We brought up snow shoes and wore them to the summit, however, microspikes or 4-point crampons would have likely been much more effective and comfortable to hike in. Once we hit the sat, we continued south to the first of the three summits and opted to stop there as the other summits are reached via some scrambling and with the route covered in a good amount of snow/ice, we didn't want to push it. Wonderful views from the top. We went slow and went up in about 3.5 hours and down in about 1.5.
Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
Issues:
Water on trail | Snow on trail
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It was my intent to go up as far as I could toward Cave Ridge, but figured recent snow storm...
It was my intent to go up as far as I could toward Cave Ridge, but figured recent snow storm would keep me from getting up real far (just a couple of days ago was still doable according to other trip reports I read). Thin snow layer at trailhead. Start out on road south of Snow Lake trail a few hundred feet and then unmarked trail is off to right. I read an earlier post that someone wrote that they loved to be the first to make tracks on new snow. It is quite the experience. I was able to follow trail pretty much with no problem to the junction of Snoqualmie Mt/Guye Peak trail. There the snow was 5 to 6 inches deep and I could no longer follow a trail. I went cross country up to the base of the cliffs of Guye Peak ridge. I found a natural shelter and had a snack. Even though clouds were moving in I had nice views across the valley to Denny Mt and range. I put Yak Trax on about half way up. Snow was soft and pretty easy to negotiate. Coming down was a bit harder. Will have to come back next summer & give Cave Ridge another try. Saw no other people on trail, a few in parking lot were probably hiking Snow Lake trail.
Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
Issues:
Bridge out | Overgrown | Mudholes | Water on trail
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It’s been months since we’ve hiked in Snoqualmie Pass. This week we returned to take care of some unfinished business....
It’s been months since we’ve hiked in Snoqualmie Pass. This week we returned to take care of some unfinished business. Over a year ago we tried to climb Cave Ridge via an unmaintained series of trails through the Commonwealth Basin, only to be stymied by early snows. This time the weather cooperated and we were soon enjoying big views filled with the reds and oranges of autumn.
Most hikers approach Cave Ridge from Alpental following the Guye Peak Trail up to a saddle, then veering left up to the top of the ridge. Instead, we wanted to try an approach that followed an unmaintained section of trail through Commonwealth Basin. Our route begins at the trailhead for Kendall Katwalk and Red Mountain. However, almost immediately you’ll take a left onto a narrow, alder-lined trail. Follow this one-time logging road as it occasionally tries on the role of streambed, a theme that continues for the majority of the trail up to the saddle. See the full report here: http://www.hikingwithmybrot[…]via-commonwealth-basin.html -Jer Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
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This hike/scramble is only 3 miles RT and only 2400' up, but made for a lovely half day. The...
This hike/scramble is only 3 miles RT and only 2400' up, but made for a lovely half day. The summit has a couple of comfortable spots to sit and eat lunch while dangling legs over a 2000' cliff. Views are great and the whole trail is very pretty with no boring parts, and no flat parts either. Blueberries are about done and fall color is at its peak.
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Lovely tarn on Cave Ridge. Photo by whitebark.
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