NOTE: This is an off-trail kind of route!
This trip report was very helpful: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8012854&highlight=caroline
Went up Caroline Peak yesterday. I was intrigued by the overall elevation gain, the number of lakes I'd pass by, a summit, and the accessibility of the trailhead from Seattle. I wasn't disappointed -- it was a good moderate adventure for a solo hike and short scramble.
I left the car at Alpental at 8:30 AM and got back to it at 6:30 PM, with probably only two or three 3-minute breaks and a 5-minute summit break.
Great views start right off the bat with THE TOOTH! and Chair Peak. Then Snow Lake -- so popular but for good reason! -- the trail from Snow Lake to Gem Lake is awesome, hadn't been there before. Really cool to look into the Middle Fork Valley.
Gem Lake to Lower and then Upper Wildcat Lakes was fine, almost no blowdown. Definitely a little brushy between the two Wildcats, my legs/socks/shoes got soaked from the dew-y blueberry bushes.
From Upper Wildcat Lake up to the col/ridge, the route to Caroline Lake is quite generously flagged once you hit the talus field. That continues with zeal up to the col, along the ridge for a bit, drops down to go around a cliffy section on the ridge proper, and then continues until it starts heading downhill to Lake Caroline. Definitely some mandatory short-lived bushwhacking between flags, along with game and social trails through heather and blueberries. Where the flagging heads downhill to Lake Caroline, start heading uphill (SW). Find your way up an easy boulder-filled gully and then on the ridge proper, you'll see the summit block of Caroline. For easier times, head up the talus field around to the west side of things and take a short 3rd-class section to the summit.
The summit was very mosquito-infested, and had a dead tree and the summit register in a nalgene bottle. Fantastic views!!!! Worth it.
On the way back, as expected, found that the flagging went further than where I had hit it. I took a waypoint Ran a bit of the easier sections of downhill trail and coming down from Snow Lake, passed a dad with his four sons that all looked to be under the age of 8. Wow!
Here is a rough GPX of the route I took with the start of the flagging, in the talus. Note that along the ridge/the trail to Caroline Lake, the track is very approximate -- just follow the flagging! https://caltopo.com/m/RG6FC
Comments
ALW Hiker on Caroline Peak
Sounds like a great adventure! You got a great shot of Preacher Mountain and Lake Caroline.
Posted by:
ALW Hiker on Aug 19, 2021 10:04 PM