Made it up to Wright Mountain this morning, it took us about 2:45 to make it to the top from the bottom of snow lake trailhead and 2:30 to get back. There’s not really a marked trail to get up we just followed a fork about halfway around gem lake that was going upwards (looked more like a dry creekbed than trail) and found our way. Lots of bouldering to get to the top but super fun and rewarding hike

Made it up to Wright Mountain this morning, it took us about 2:45 to make it to the top from the bottom of snow lake trailhead and 2:30 to get back. There’s not really a marked trail to get up we just followed a fork about halfway around gem lake that was going upwards (looked more like a dry creekbed than trail) and found our way. Lots of bouldering to get to the top but super fun and rewarding hike

Talked the hiking buddy into a very early start to beat the parking lot blues, which was beneficial since the heat and humidity slowed our ascent somewhat.

There was a steady swarming of mosquitos starting near Gem Lake. They. Were. Everywhere. Even atop Wright Mountain with a few small gusts of wind, the bugs were relentless, though they did come in waves. It became better in the late afternoon, reducing to 70F in the shade.

Pikae were not particularly loud Saturday morning, but started up throughout the day and apparently were becoming territorial with the increasing presence of people. I recall perhaps only a single call when going around Snow Lake. There were two within 200yd of our camp, high pitched and low pitched (older?), on a boulder slope that was only large enough to support two pika. I managed to see one of them moving and tracked it for a couple minutes, but didn't want to approach to get a picture (it would have been gone anyway, and encroaching in a low-human-traffic area isn't nice). All others, except Spike and Kage, were unseen. There were a couple atop Wright Mountain, and at one point I saw a furry mammal move from the rocks to some bushes, but couldn't tell if it was a pika or squirrel. More calls were heard hiking out Sunday, perhaps because they had all become pissed off at the loud humans.

On the trip out, the hiking buddy came to realize my painful genius: By getting started at 6:30am we were able to make it to the Snow Lake saddle before any crowds appeared. The final descent took an extra 15min, however, due to those just getting started, including one or two very large groups (too large for regulations) that were spread out in such a way that we got stuck. We got back by 9am and found lines at the bathrooms, carloads arriving 1/min, and groups of kids and dogs swarming around the day-use registration box. We drove to the PCT trailhead for the bathroom, the one at the Snow Lake TH having an hour wait.

12.0mi 1430m ascent, max 160m/km (Wright Mountain 270m/km).

My goal was to hike to the summit of Wright Mountain, which is next to Gem Lake. I almost turned around at Gem lake but was encouraged by another hiker to finish my goal and climb that mountain. The 360 degree views at the top were awesome. I could see Glacier Peak to the north and I believe Baker Mt. Looking down I could see Snow lake, Gem lake, lower Wild Cat lake, upper Wild Cat lake, and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.

At the trail head I met 3 other gentlemen and hiked to Snow lake with them. I took them up the old trail which is by way of Source lake. This old trail is not maintained. After Source lake, the trail is partially wiped out by rock slides. The old trail went past a little water fall/stream and made a couple switch backs then came back to where the water fall drops off the cliff. After the falls the trail is pretty identifiable, and passes meadows with ponds and bear grass.  Once reaching the main trail just past the Snow lake view rock on top, the 3 other men headed back via the main trail. I continued on to Snow lake. Someone had a drone which was being controlled at the view rock. They probably did not know drones are not allowed in the Alpine Wilderness area.

While hiking around Snow lake, I met up with a couple from out of state. He was from Kentucky and she was from southern California. They only had time for one hike in Washington so they picked Gem lake (actually Wright Mountain, but they turned around at Gem). We hiked for a while, and then a lady with her dog heading to Gem lake joined us. She welcomed the company for confidence she would stay on the right trail. The trail is not hard to follow to get to Gem, but there are several side trails. We did see several people taking a swim in the cold water of Snow lake.

I really did not notice many bugs along the trail, but when we reached Gem lake, they come out in force and I lathered up with Deet, which solved my issue with the bugs.

Wright Mountain is a short 1/2 mile up-hill from Gem lake, which took me 40 minutes. There is no trail sign telling me where the go. I passed the trail up, as shown on my GAIA app, as I was walking along the trail going around Gem lake. Once I realized what I had done, I headed up a trail taking me to a campsite with some campers. They gave me directions to get started. The trail up is pretty steep. Once passing the dirt section, the trail disappears and the climb is through rocks and talus. There are some routes marked in some of the rock fields but there is no one set route. Just continue up the rock field to the top, however you chose to go, and you will get there.

Once down off Wright Mountain, and down the trail for a mile, another lady caught me and we hiked back together.

This was a scramble traverse trip with the Mountaineers. It was a long day with over 13 miles of travel, 5,976 feet of elevation gain, and 6,834 feet of elevation loss. Overall an incredible day!

We started our journey at 4AM at the Issaquah Transit Center. We drove in three cars to the Denny Creek trailhead and consolidated the group into two cars leaving one car behind. The two cars went to Alpental and we began our journey a little after 5:30AM. 

The weather was clear and we enjoyed fantastic views throughout the trip. Everyone had an ice axe, helmet, and wore mountaineering boots for most of the trip. Many of us brought water filters and a liter water bottle to refill our water supply throughout the day.

Wright Mountain required no gear to reach the summit. We left our packs at Gem Lake and reached the summit with ease. After summiting Wright Mountain, we filtered water at Gem Lake. We switched into our mountaineering boots and wore helmets when we travelled to Mt. Roosevelt. This required route-finding skills as the trail wasn't very distinct.

Mt. Roosevelt was the most challenging of the three peaks we climbed that day. It was very steep and the rock was super loose, so it was essential to move methodically to prevent any potential harm. We used our ice axes to help us get up the heather to the summit. I carried a rope on my back just in case we needed a line down. We ended up not using it.

We continued to travel carefully to Chair Lake as we scrambled down a chossy gully. We dealt with plenty of loose rock here and made constant warning calls. Chair Lake was really nice and we were able to refill our water supply with ease. 

Traveling from Chair Lake to Kaleetan Peak required snow travel around the lake and up another steep gully. We could hear a stream below the snow at the bottom of the gully but we experienced no post holing as we moved conservatively. We traversed through another choosy rock field past the gully towards the White Ledges of Kaleetan.

The White Ledges were super solid for scrambling. There was very little loose rock here and we only had helmets and our mountaineering boots for specific gear. The route up to the summit of Kaleetan was fairly straightforward and solid. There was exposure but I never felt unsafe. The summit views were gorgeous from Kaleetan. We down climbed with no issues and took the long way to Melakwa Lake which required more route-finding.

We reached the Denny Creek trailhead 16 hours later. I had a super amazing time doing it!