I set off with my climbing buddy Miles at 4:00 AM from the Eldorado Peak Trailhead at around 2200 ft. The river crossing was easy, though I'm not sure we chose the best route. There was a noticeable beaten path around 500 feet down the road from the parking lot. This route has two easy log crossings to get over the river. The river was rushing pretty hard, so I wouldn't recommend falling.
Once on the trail, suddenly gravity feels personal. It gets very steep very fast. It was extremely humid in the trees, and even at the coldest point in the day, we were drenched in sweat by the time we reached the boulder field at 4000 ft. The boulder field can be annoying to navigate; it's generally the easiest going if you stay to the climber's right side. The bugs were a little obnoxious in the morning, but if you kept moving, they were no issue. We started getting some spectacular views of Johannesburg once a few hundred feet up in the boulder field, and the marmots were big and furry.
We saw a few tents on the ridge at 6200 ft before the 100 ft or so descent over the ridge. The snow starts at roughly 6500 ft, but is melting fast. We threw on crampons and gaiters. We opted for no rope because a friend of Miles who had climbed the mountain the previous day said it was unnecessary. There were more tents right where the snow started, another beautiful place to camp. The crampons probably weren't necessary until the east ridge of Eldorado because the snow had already softened up quite a bit. Once at the flat between Eldorado Glacier and Inspiration Glacier, views of the North Cascades open up. Peaks such as Glacier, Buckner, Forbidden, etc., were all in view.
The route up the east ridge was relaxing. There are a few steep sections, but the runout isn't bad. There was one snow bridge on the entire route, but it still seemed pretty thick and solid. The knife ridge right before the summit is truly something, and is the crux of the route. There is about a 30-40 ft section on said knife ridge where either side has bad runout. We summited the mountain around 10:30 am and didn't stay long because we were nervous about coming down the knife ridge and just wanted to get it over with.
Also, there were a couple of beautiful Mountain goats up on the east ridge.
We got back to the car at 3:15 PM. C2C: 11:15. TH to Summit: 6:30
Comments
Mountain Goats on Eldorado Peak
Great report, nothing like that view up top!
Posted by:
Mountain Goats on Jul 14, 2025 05:21 PM