Mount Roosevelt, Kaleetan Peak, Wright Mountain, Chair Peak Lake, Snow Lake & Gem Lake — Monday, Jul. 22, 2019

This was a scramble traverse trip with the Mountaineers. It was a long day with over 13 miles of travel, 5,976 feet of elevation gain, and 6,834 feet of elevation loss. Overall an incredible day!

We started our journey at 4AM at the Issaquah Transit Center. We drove in three cars to the Denny Creek trailhead and consolidated the group into two cars leaving one car behind. The two cars went to Alpental and we began our journey a little after 5:30AM. 

The weather was clear and we enjoyed fantastic views throughout the trip. Everyone had an ice axe, helmet, and wore mountaineering boots for most of the trip. Many of us brought water filters and a liter water bottle to refill our water supply throughout the day.

Wright Mountain required no gear to reach the summit. We left our packs at Gem Lake and reached the summit with ease. After summiting Wright Mountain, we filtered water at Gem Lake. We switched into our mountaineering boots and wore helmets when we travelled to Mt. Roosevelt. This required route-finding skills as the trail wasn't very distinct.

Mt. Roosevelt was the most challenging of the three peaks we climbed that day. It was very steep and the rock was super loose, so it was essential to move methodically to prevent any potential harm. We used our ice axes to help us get up the heather to the summit. I carried a rope on my back just in case we needed a line down. We ended up not using it.

We continued to travel carefully to Chair Lake as we scrambled down a chossy gully. We dealt with plenty of loose rock here and made constant warning calls. Chair Lake was really nice and we were able to refill our water supply with ease. 

Traveling from Chair Lake to Kaleetan Peak required snow travel around the lake and up another steep gully. We could hear a stream below the snow at the bottom of the gully but we experienced no post holing as we moved conservatively. We traversed through another choosy rock field past the gully towards the White Ledges of Kaleetan.

The White Ledges were super solid for scrambling. There was very little loose rock here and we only had helmets and our mountaineering boots for specific gear. The route up to the summit of Kaleetan was fairly straightforward and solid. There was exposure but I never felt unsafe. The summit views were gorgeous from Kaleetan. We down climbed with no issues and took the long way to Melakwa Lake which required more route-finding.

We reached the Denny Creek trailhead 16 hours later. I had a super amazing time doing it!