Mount Thomson, Kendall Katwalk & Gravel Lake - Ridge Lake — Sunday, Jul. 23, 2023

Busy day at Snoqualmie Pass! Lots of day hikers, backpackers, PCT thru hikers, trail runners, and dogs. The latter accompanied by their humans of course. I got to the TH around 9 but was able to find a spot in the stock lot.

I took the Commonwealth basin trail shortcut up to the PCT, only took a brief stop to put on sunscreen before getting to Ridge/Gravel lakes. There, I stopped for lunch. There was lots of people at Ridge lake, so I found a shaded spot above Gravel lake. Unfortunately, I also found some folks' bathroom spots. People, it's not that hard to either bury or carry out your TP. I really don't want to have to do that for you.

After lunch, I continued on to the turn off to get to Bumblebee basin. Amazing views of Thomson from the col! There's still plenty of running water in the basin. Going up the talus slope on the other side of the basin was pretty miserable. To avoid the steep, hard packed dirt directly below the right most notch, I went up high on the slope then traversed on the rocks below the cliff face. Lots of loose rock, helmet highly recommended for this.

From the notch, I followed one of several climbers' trails up to the summit block. Watch your route, it's easy to end up on steep slab covered with a thin layer of duff. The dihedral was straightforward, then the summit! Beautiful views. Lots of bugs.

I found a small shaded spot for a snack just below the summit. Down climbing the dihedral was easier than climbing up - wedge yourself in from the top and lower yourself down.

Hike out was uneventful though interminable.