This was a Tacoma Mountaineers scramble. Due to late snowpack this season, conditions were ideal to summit 3 peaks in one day on the MRNP 100 Peaks list. Weather was sunny and mild.
We left the trailhead about 7:30 AM. The hike to Owyhigh Lakes was uneventful. There were a few down trees, but easy to get around. Consistent snow began about 5,000' near the log creek crossing. The lakes have melted, but there is still a fair amount of surrounding snow.
After passing the lakes, we aimed toward Barrier Peak to avoid a rock face, then made slight left turn to head up the main gully toward the saddle. Once it got a little steeper, we chose to wear crampons. For some of us, this was our first time using them, and we wanted to gain some experience. The snow was soft enough that kicking steps was no problem. It's a bit steeper just before the saddle. On the other side, there was still snow, so we were able to traverse north past three prominent buttresses until reaching the rock gully that heads toward the summit of Governors Ridge. There was some loose scree, but not too difficult. Views from the summit were amazing!
From there we could see our next two peaks and figure out the route. We went back down the rock gully and then traversed across the large snow basin staying left of another rock face. Once past, there was a slight climb to reach the saddle. From there, we followed the ridgeline toward Buell Peak. This route was fairly easy.
Heading toward Barrier Peak, we retraced our route back towards the saddle, then aimed to climb up the southeast ridge of Barrier Peak through rock, avoiding snow on the eastern side. Again, amazing views at the summit! We descended back the same way briefly, then turned toward a large snow gully on the western side of Barrier Peak. We plunge stepped the first portion to avoid a rock cropping, then glissaded the rest back toward Owyhigh Lakes.
We returned to the parking lot about 5:30 PM. One of the scramblers logged 11.5 miles and 5,300' elevation gain on his GPS.
Although a bit strenuous, it was an amazing day with a great group of scramblers!
Comments