Kendall Peak, Kendall Katwalk & Kendall Peak Lakes — Saturday, Jun. 13, 2015

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Overall 17.0mi RT 1530m. Commonwealth Basin trail, PCT, Kendall Peak, Kendall Katwalk, PCT to ridge of Alaska Mountain. Hiking buddy was convinced he could make it to Alaska, so onward and upward we went. The Commonwealth and PCT trail sections are rather straightforward. The ascent to Kendall Peak followed the descriptions online (namely the stump), requires a bit of huffpuffing, but it's so short that one can reach the summit in five minutes. The views are pretty good. There was no obvious route up Alaska, so we scrambled around a bit. (It seems that approaching from the west, up the shrubs, might be the easiest.) One PCT light hiker was offended that I was using kilometers for distance, claiming that I was cheating by making the number look bigger (than the equivalent mileage). I failed to point out that, using meters for ascent, I was likewise "underreporting elevation", and that by almost double the associated factor. The return trip was uneventful, but much more populated.