Mount Townsend, Mount Worthington, Welch Peaks & Hawk Peak — Saturday, May. 24, 2025

Townsend to Iron

We attempted a traverse from Townsend to Buckhorn but bailed down the valley between Worthington and Iron Mountain since didn't like the terrain we got ourselves into.

Started our loop from Tubal Cain TH and enjoyed the start of wildflowers on our way up to the expansive views on Townsend. The traverse over Welch Peaks, Silver Lake Peak, and Hawk Peak was straightforward. There's generally a faint bootpack and  even with some snow on route (low snow year) we made quick progress. Generally stay on or south of the ridge line.

We opted to camp near the B17 crash site by dropping into Tull Canyon. Snow was good for heel plunging at first but was pretty miserable steep postholing in the trees until snowline shortly before camp. We avoided this the next morning by sidehilling up  high on the slopes of Hawk peak back to the saddle below Worthington. Excellent views of the constance group there with space for a tent.

Worthington was rather steep and loose with steep snow and solid enough rock used to the summit. Might be better when dry but our route up the ridge line required steep snow climbing.

Fun scrambling down Worthington and dropped a bit to the south off the ridge while working our way to the grassy meadows between Worthington and Iron.

We found Iron to look intimidating and worked up the ridge through snow then around to the south on dry terrain for awhile, but below the summit it was clear that the next mile to Buckhorn would require steep loose scrambling on the south or exposed scrambling over spires and snow on the ridge line so we reversed course to the saddle NE of Iron Mountain.

Some scree skiing, glissading, and steep bootplunging through a forest got us to Buckhorn lake then an easy trail back to the car.

Overall, this was a fun adventure that felt remote despite being within line of sight of many familiar features. I would recommend waiting until a bit more snow melts to have more secure footing on the ridge, and/or generally staying a bit south of the ridge proper. Great fun from Townsend to Hawk, but be prepared for extended focus on loose 3rd/4th class from there to Buckhorn.