Lake Constance — Sunday, Jul. 6, 2025

Attempted a summit of Mount Constance. Started on Sunday, didn't take too long to turn off the Dosewallips Road Trail to the steep Lake Constance Trail. The first 3rd and last 3rd were definitely the worst part of it. Lots of scrambling over logs and rocks, and in the last 3rd, lots of cliffs and holding onto trees and roots to make sure you don't tumble off the edge. Not too bad going up, worse going down in my opinion. Spent a night at the lake and woke up the next day at 4 AM, started going a bit late by 530. The walk through Avalanche Canyon wasn't too bad, and we soon arrived at the south chute. Lots of loose scree and rock on this part, definitely took some maneuvering too. Heard another report about a large rockfall a few days before, and I could definitely see this happening with how bad the scree was. We made it past the first large scree field, gaining around 1500ft from the bottom. We then went over top a ridge and descend into a small valley and to the 2nd scree field, which was more difficult. We stayed to the left as the gully narrowed, which was really the only way to proceed since the scree was so bad on the right. Near the top, approaching the Notch, the scree was difficult to navigate because of how loose it was. Unfortunately at the top of the Notch we decided to turn around because some of our team were uncomfortable with the previous scrambling and the exposure of the continuing route. The way back down wasn't too bad since you could glide/ski down the scree. Took us longer than I would've liked to get down, but we made it back to camp around 2 or so. We then packed up and hiked down the Lake Constance Trail, where the first bit on the way down was the worst, especially with a heavy pack and some exposure. Made it down and back to the cars around 8. Overall pretty difficult hike to and from the lake itself, and the actual climb on the mountain is time-consuming and difficult, especially with the scree. From what I've read, the rest of the route after the Notch has lots of exposure and climbing. Did not use my crampons or ice axe, since there were so few snow fields on the actual mountain.