Overnight on Painted Mountain from 11.8-9 2025.
ROAD: Mountain Loop HWY was in good condition. The forest road after the turnoff had rougher spots and more potholes, but better than I remember it being, and a regular car should be able to make it to the trailhead.
The outhouse at the trailhead was clean and stocked with TP.
TRAIL: The trail to the old lookout site was mellow, although there were some large blowdowns that we had to climb over or squeeze under, made more awkward with heavy winter camping packs.
The "scramble" section a few switchbacks past the lookout site was pretty short and straightforward, with a bit of hands-on action.
Past that it was a steep, forested slog that was well-flagged for the first half although flagging eventually petered out. There were quite a lot of fallen trees to step over, and the flagging was helpful to keep us on track.
Patchy snow started at around 4,500' on our ascent but had actually melted out quite a bit more on our descent the next day. I used microspikes for a bit as the thin layer of snow on steep dirt and duff was slippery, but the snow was clumping under my spikes. Pick your poison.
Snow increased as we climbed, and the snowshoes went on at just under 5,600'. From here we broke trail up to 6,350', where we found a spot that was just large enough to dig out a platform for our small 2-person tent for the night.
This was the last flattish spot that also had a cluster of trees for wind shelter. Winds were forecast to be strong and consistent all evening through the next morning, and they sure delivered as promised. We were definitely grateful for our little nook - it was still a bit windy, but the brunt of the winds were deflected.
We headed out for the summit at around 5.50 a.m. the next morning. The snow on the upper ridge was actually less deep and there were a few rocky sections exposed thanks to wind-scouring, but we just kept our snowshoes on. A few awkward narrow steps along the ridge were negotiated carefully, but we found ourselves on top as dawn blazed red and pink on the horizon.
The glowing sunrise and the 360 panoramic views with Glacier Peak front and center were magnificent. We tolerated the gusty winds for as long as we could before heading back down to camp to have some coffee and break camp.
The way back down went a lot faster than the way up, lots of snow had melted overnight, and I kept my microspikes on for the steep dirt and duff descent.
We took a different way down the scramble section following an obvious bootpath from the top which was actually easier overall except for just one move that was tricky with a huge overnight pack - we ended up awkwardly taking our packs off for it.
This was certainly a beautiful summit and I look forward to coming back to complete the entire Painted Traverse on a less snowy day!
WANT MORE PHOTOS?
Follow along on Instagram @thenomadicartist
Comments