9/30, Saturday. Up at 5:30am, and left shortly after 6am. It's a 3.5 hr drive. We made a gas stop at Arlington just off I-5. 3 other cars at the TH parking lot. There's a stock area. The last 100' of the road is a bit rough. Ate a lot of food I brought. Started hiking shortly after 10am. Elevation ~2600'.
The trail parallels Lost River, however the river is quite lower, and not easily accessible, until almost the bridge.
All along well maintained. Just resurfaced.
Minor ups and downs, not gaining elevation.
The bridge is 3.5 miles in, over Eureka Creek (which flows into Lost).
There, the trail leaves Lost River Valley and veers towards the Eureka Creek Vally, gaining elevation quickily.
From the bridge to our camp, no water.
Soon, it goes up, more or less along the ridge between the two valleys.
The trail is still in very good shape.
2.5 hours after TH, we had our first view of Monument Peak in the distance.
Above 5500', the grade eased, but a bit confusing at times.
I was already tired. Took a break. I began to worry about water.
~6500', the trail drops and traverse on the east slope of Eureka valley.
The trail is still very good, quite narrow at times.
Don't walk here when snow covers the trail: steep slope.
Met a group of 3 climbers coming out.
Then it zigzag up towards Pistol Pass ~7100'. 3:45pm. ~10 miles in.
Beautiful view of both sides, larch galore to the east.
Our first view of Lake Mountain.
There, Monument Creek trail drops 1000'. A side trail veers left leading to Lake of the Woods (gains ~250'). The track I downloaded branches out ~6600', but no track on ground. I ventured off trail, not worth the saving of the 200'. Had to scramble over 0.5 miles over rocks and trees, probably not saving any elevation.
No one else around the lake (~6640'). Too low, half larch half evergreen. Plenty camp sites. First thing: fetch water. Thanks to the cool cloudy weather, my 1L water lasted till here: 5300' gain 11 miles! The lake is shallow, but my new Cnoc bag is easy to fill. Pitched the tent. When I was blowing my sleeping pad, O.K. said she's ready to climb. Um... that wasn't in her two options. We headed out at 5pm!
Not really any track to follow here. Followed the GPS track on our phone.
Once leaving the lake basin, it becomse rocky.
All the way up, keep to the right.
The true summit is behind and north of these pinnacles.
In fact, we couldn't see the summit until the last 200'.
All the way, good view below. Can see our lake most of the time.
We hit snow ~8000'. Up to ~2" near the summit. Powdery as of now. Not icy.
Sun was setting, it was cold. Put on gloves.
Snow made the rock not as stable, so some care is needed. Very steep.
I finally made to the summit ~6:50pm. O.K. was waiting for me, in her down coat.
The summit area is flat-ish. Good view to the west, our tomorrow's target Monument Peak, the peaks of our climb in July in the clouds.
She headed down as soon as I arrived. She said she already signed for me on the summit registry.
We need to get down before dark.
Turned on headlamps to see each other, and for better foot step among rocks.
In the woods, it's not easy to make fast progress in the dark. We saw 2 headlamps, that gave us a good direction towards the camp. Yes, more climbers arrived at the camp. But we didn't see them after we got back. I was exhausted. 1700' 1 mile to Lake, which makes today my highest elevation gain in a day (~7300' up, 3100' down, 12.5 miles).
Chilly night. I brought my 0°F bag, so I was fine. First time using this bag, I like it so far. I did get out once at night. Stars. Not as cold as I expected, maybe due to the clouds earlier.
10/1, Sunday. Up early, and headed out at 6:30am, towards Momument Peak.
We scaled the ridge to our left (west). Watched the sunrise as we went up.
There, we dropped down a little, and traversed north keeping the elevation.
More trees here. Other than rock scrambling, we had to fight the bushes at times.
The traverse is very slow going. No track whatsoever. Steep slope.
I got discouraged pretty soon. O.K. insisted that we should get to the next ridge (the south ridge of Lake), hoping for better condition. Still the same.
There, you need to scramble down to just north of the junction of two creeks. ~6200'.
I bailed: my slow speed is not going to make it to Monument Peak and back to Seattle today. O.K. continued.
I told her, I'd wait for her in the car, so I have time to relax and can be fresh to drive.
Traversing the slope is the worst, once I got back on the ridge, it became easier.
I took my time going back to camp.
Found 2 tents north of ours, the owners were out (probably climbing Lake).
Walked around the lake. Took some photos.
Packed my tent. Took the car key from O.K.'s tent. Packed her pad.
This time, packed 1.5L of water.
Started down before noon.
It's sunny today, so took more photos on the way out.
I took more breaks. During one of the breaks, I saw 3 girls hiking out.
I lost the trail around 5600' for a bit.
After the bridge, I rest a bit by the river, washed my feet, filled a bit of water.
Took me 6.5 hours to get back to the car (slower than coming up yesterday).
Got really bored coming out. It seems endless.
After change, ate more food, and than tried to nap. O.K. showed up shortly after 7pm, way before my expectation. She turned around at the creeks. I felt refreshed, so I drove. However, 2 hours later, I was feeling sleeping. Made to a gas station in Arlington near I-5. O.K. drove the rest of the way to Seattle. Got back home ~11pm. My legs were sore until Wednesday!
