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Trip Report    

Basic Rock Climb - Huckleberry Mountain/East Face

Beautiful approach to a fun easy climb with fantastic views of the Cascades

David Kush David Kush
September 14, 2024
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The trail starts off at the Kendal Katwalk/PCT Parking lot, and you stay on the PCT for the duration of the approach. The trail is popular so you’ll encounter other hikers in pretty steady volume until after Kendal  Katwalk, after that you’ll run into a few PCT hikers depending on the time of year. 
    NWForest pass or America the Beautiful required. Outdoor privy open at time of climb.

    Water sources for the first couple miles along commonwealth creak usually stays in seasonally, but after that you’re next reliable water source will be Ridge & Gravel lake. 

Finding the parking lot almost immediately off I-90 is a treat. If you are traveling east on I-90, you will take Exit-52 and then turn left proceed   under the freeway, turn right at the first opportunity directly into the Trailhead for the PCT.  (westbound > take a right off exit 52 immediately take another right into parking lot)

We were a party of 6 and everyone moved at a pretty good pace putting us at Ridge Lake in about 3.5 hrs. We camped at the lake with a decent little crowd of PCT hikers along with a few other overnight backpackers.  The lake was warm enough for a few of our party to take a dip.

Boots on the ground at 6AM 

We headed up the PCT past the looming and beckoning mount Thomson with views of Chikamin and upcoming Lemah peaks in the distance.  Huckelberry Mt. seemed to always be in sight but took her time getting closer. After a series of Zig Zags on the PCT we finally passed above Joe Lake and wrapped around Huckelberry proper until we reached the Eastern most ridge. I chose to ascend via the boulder field vs the standard Tree/Bush swack. 

Gaining the upper final approach we were distracted by the abundance of huckleberries, after tossing back a handful of these tasty treats we geared up with harnesses, helmets and rope. Splitting into pairs we climbed the first pitch, then moved over the scramble route to a left leading ramp up to the top of a notch. dropping down the notch to the base of the 2nd pitch to start the final pitch to the top.  

After rapin off the summit and working our way back to our packs, we headed back to camp with a fun little detour to tag Alaska Peak along the way. 

Back at camp by 4pm we had the luxury of just hanging out relaxing at the lake and camping another night. 

In the morning we packed up and headed back to the cars by 11am where Hot pizza and drinks were waiting for us (-: