ALERT: It’s bear season - I had a surprise Black Bear encounter today! I’m glad to say I handled it well, but the bear was a big healthy looking guy/gal. Glad it minded it ultimately minded its own business. Linking a WTA article on hiking in bear country. Be safe out there!
TLDR: If you’re looking for a quieter trail, a prominent central-Cascade summit just an hour from the city, and an approachable entry into alpine scrambling, Guye Peak is it.
Road: Paved all the way, any car can make it (given you are of course paying attention to the road)
Bugs: Not an issue at this time of year.
Water: Nothing at all. Gauge your water needs beforehand based on your conditioning.
Trail Conditions: It’s a “gentle” climbers trail (as far as I’ve seen). Mix of dirt, talus and rock. The trail ascends immediately from the parking lot. There is a fair amount of rocky and rooty bits––recommend sturdy shoes/poles etc. Lots of places to trip and bite it.
Trip Stats: 2.28mi, 2Hr roundtrip, 1,807ft
Takeaways:
- Smoke: when I started, there was no smoke. After 30 min, the valley was filled with smoke. I felt fine, but don’t take a chance if you have respiratory issues. Closer to the summit the smoke smell dissipated a bit.
- The route to the Summit falls into 3-ish parts: The Forest, The Boulder Field, and The “Alpine Meadows”
- The Forest has a lot of rooty-rocky trail.
- The Boulder Field has some very easy boulder hopping, kinda fun + scenic -
- The “Meadows” is a mix of open meadow and trees leading up to the summit block. There is a tarn that you can walk around - a cool place to stop. Note that there are several spur trails around this area, so ensure you have GPX tracks.
- The North summit requires minimal scrambling, but the middle and south summit is class 4 and I’ve heard of some people using rope to get there. Not sure it’s worth it tbh, views are pretty much the same. For another day perhaps!
- Great views all around. Some evidence of fall colours, should see more once we’re deeper in Oct!
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