Our Plan A and B objectives were thwarted after learning there were no permits available for Thorton Lakes/ Triumph cross country zones and that there had been a string of break-ins and even a car stolen from the Pyramid lake parking pullout (Snowfield Peak). So we thought quickly about what was nearby and what could be a good fit for a weekend where the weather was good and we wanted those sweet North cascade views and might avoid a few people and thus ended up landing on Snowking.
The cliff notes version of this trip report is the Old Found lake trail on the USGS maps/caltopo/Gaia does not exist which meant for some more route-finding than anticipated because we weren't able to do as much preliminary research in the parking lot at Marblemount (no cell service) so do your research and check out some of the trip reports from years previous. We found the current trail from the road easily however the main area that we messed up was trending straight when we reached the boggy section before the found peak saddle because we assumed we were looking for that old trail rather than trending left which is where the trail actually is and continues. The other area with more complex route-finding is the boulder garden area on found peak. Snow had been melting quickly and we could see many deep rock crevasses and just weird holes in the ground so we decided to try and skirt some of this on the west side of found peak but of course ended up in some steep side-hilling terrain. On the way back we had no issues with route-finding and ended up being on the trail almost the whole way except the boulder area up top.
Other trip details
- the approach route from the road is incredibly rugged- as a climber I've done a lot of steep approaches but none that felt quite as sustained in the woods.
- we camped near the small tarns next to cyclone- most sites were still covered in snow since this was a heavier snow year and there isn't really much flat ground so bring a tent with a small footprint and be prepared to look around a bit.
- we dropped our overnight gear at the tarns, ate some snacks and set up camp before heading up snowking. Leaving at 2:30pm from the lakes was nice because the snow had warmed up a bit and was good for kicking steps. A previous WTA trip report indicates that folks tried to not gain and lose elevation getting over to the ridge by doing some steep travel skirting cyclone. We thought about that and then decided to follow our own advice to just look for a trail and do a few more feet of gain and loss from the tarns. Followed the top of the ridge most of the way to the top. We stopped when the snow stopped about100-200 ft from the summit. We looked at some of the choss in front of us we called it a day because we were tired and didn't have the energy to be as careful as we needed to be moving through that loose rock. If you did the ascent in the morning you'd want crampons probably and you'd be fresher for that scrambly section. Unless you go early season like my boyfriend did where they pretty much had snow all the way to tippy top.
- Cyclone Lakes and nearby tarns and thus the campsite were incredibly beautiful but the bugs were also incredibly bad- hopefully they will die down in 2 weeks or so.
- On the hike out i realized that one of my straps was undone and i had lost my prescription sunglasses along with some toilet paper on the trail- if anyone reads this who found the prescription sunglasses (raybans) please hit me up at tesswendel@gmail.com and apologies for littering.
- Overall i think this is a good objective for those who like scrambling and mountaineering and are in good fitness - I would not recommend to the hiker/backpacker who only gets out on our trails a few times each season. I'd want to be comfortable scrambling a bit with an overnight pack on. There was a search and rescue helicopter hovering around found lake when we hiked back out on Sunday morning. Hoping the 3 hikers we encountered at the road campsite are okay.
If i come back in a few years (after forgetting about the approach) i'd probably time it so i was a little earlier with more snow or later in the summer/fall with less bugs at the lake.
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