Common wealth to PCT, up and over into basin and then up scree to saddle on right, then head towards summit following exposed dirt trails most of the way. Head left at harder looking rock, then easy scramble up and around. When you get to tree/steep rock higher up, continue left to route, then on your left you'll see a bunch of tat, look up to the 'hard class 4 move',(5.2/5.3) there are two options, one on right is a little over hung had loose rocks on top. We did the one on the left. From there it's a walk to the summit. On the way down, you can rap that hard move with a 30m rope. You could down climb it, but if you fell... It could make for a very long day... Or a quick end to all your days. Enjoy! 

Great day and trail conditions. Started at the PCT trailhead, took the Old Commonwealth Trail up to the PCT junction, then up to the Katwalk. We made it to the Mount Thomson climbers trail above Alaska Lake before turning around. Some mild icy conditions near the Katwalk early in the morning but everything was thawed out by our return trip. No issues to speak of on the trail at all. 14.0 miles RT with about 3100’ elevation gain. Took about 4hrs 40min with a brisk hike up and some light jogging on flat and downhill areas. Loving the addition of Laconia at the Pass for a sandwich and coffee/beer post hike!

Busy day at Snoqualmie Pass! Lots of day hikers, backpackers, PCT thru hikers, trail runners, and dogs. The latter accompanied by their humans of course. I got to the TH around 9 but was able to find a spot in the stock lot.

I took the Commonwealth basin trail shortcut up to the PCT, only took a brief stop to put on sunscreen before getting to Ridge/Gravel lakes. There, I stopped for lunch. There was lots of people at Ridge lake, so I found a shaded spot above Gravel lake. Unfortunately, I also found some folks' bathroom spots. People, it's not that hard to either bury or carry out your TP. I really don't want to have to do that for you.

After lunch, I continued on to the turn off to get to Bumblebee basin. Amazing views of Thomson from the col! There's still plenty of running water in the basin. Going up the talus slope on the other side of the basin was pretty miserable. To avoid the steep, hard packed dirt directly below the right most notch, I went up high on the slope then traversed on the rocks below the cliff face. Lots of loose rock, helmet highly recommended for this.

From the notch, I followed one of several climbers' trails up to the summit block. Watch your route, it's easy to end up on steep slab covered with a thin layer of duff. The dihedral was straightforward, then the summit! Beautiful views. Lots of bugs.

I found a small shaded spot for a snack just below the summit. Down climbing the dihedral was easier than climbing up - wedge yourself in from the top and lower yourself down.

Hike out was uneventful though interminable.

Just another fantastic October fall day, as Glen99, DaniilMag, and I got up to Mount Thomson today. Not to many cars in the PCT lot when we started at 7:25 am. We ran into one other group of climbers that had done Thomson the day before, and that was the only other hikers on the way up to Mount Thomson. We only saw three other hikers up near the Kendall Katwalk on our way back down.

Once past Ridge Lake, we took the climbers trail up to Bumblebee Pass. THis trail is mega steep going up, and mega steep coming down the otherside into the bowl just underneath Mount Thomson. Then back up to the east slope of the peak. The first part of the east ridge is not too bad, but then it is a scramble, super steep ascent up to just below the summit where the crux of the climb is. There are two chimneys that need to be climbed. These chimneys are 20 ft tall, so they are no slouch to climb. Glen and Daniil climbed up first and then lowered the rope. It was the first time with a harness and a rope in the wild for me. I climbed up right chimney and was protected by being tied off with the rope. I would have never made it up there without a rope, so thank you Glen and Daniil!! We rappelled down this section!!

Awesome to get this one done, as Mount Thomson is seen from so many other peaks in the Snoqualmie Pass region. Views were amazing today, up on the summit, and along the way!  No smoke for us, as it was a beautiful day, but we saw a new plume of smoke. I think it was from new fire up by Surprise Lake(pic 3). Murphy Lake Fire, I think it’s called. It also looks like Bolt Creek Fire has flared up. Crap, we need some rain!!

Long day as we got back to the car at 6:08 pm    15.8 miles with 5148 ft gain