Managed to climb these two peaks while there was a small break in the smoke for the day.
I started at the Cascade Pass trailhead around 7:30 a.m. There were a few other hikers and a lot of wildlife on the way to Cascade Pass (goats and deer). Smoke from the pioneer fire was floating into the valley, but it was nothing serious for how bad the fire burning near Chelan/Stehikin is.
I made it all the way to the Sahale Glacier Camps in about 3.5 hours. From there, the glacier was easy to navigate, and I was at the summit of Sahale Mountain about 1 hour later. I sat on the summit for a full hour without encountering any other hikers or climbers.
From the summit, Boston Peak and the traverse to it look like a nightmare of choss and scree. For most of the time I was sitting on top of Sahale, I debated whether I wanted to climb it or just call it a successful day and head home.
In the end, I decided to give it a go. The ridge traverse is extremely steep and loose. A small climber's path hugged the main ridge, which made some of the walking easier.
I have heard horrible accounts of climbing Boston Peak. However, the scrambling was a standard class 3-4 with loose rock-covering sections along the route. There is a lot of exposure, which may be why so many people have issues with the climb-up.
Though many choose to rappel off Boston, I opted to leave the rope behind and downclimb it. While it was a little nerve-racking, the downclimb was totally doable. It only took me around 20 minutes to make my descent off the summit and back to the ridge for my traverse back to Sahale.
Excellent 12 hour day!
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