Trevor Dickie
Unsurprisingly, The Mountaineers community takes an astounding number of trips all around the Pacific Northwest in the summer months, and many of those yield great write-ups and photos. That makes aggregating reports for these Top-10 posts a lot harder. After looking through every report dated between June 1 and July 31, I pulled out the best of the best, which left me with about 50 reports - way too many to turn into a top-10 list. Therefore, I dub the reports below the "best of the best of the best."
This time around, we have five climbs, one scramble, three hikes, and one sea kayak report to highlight from our favorite trip reports.
You can find recommendations for how to write a solid report here. The following write-ups are listed in the date that the trips occurred, not ranked in any way. Click on the photos to read the full reports from the volunteers and members.
hike - summit lake 6/9/19
"Our four-legged hiking companion, Raven, led the way for our group of ten and provided leashed ascent assistance to her dog mom and hike leader Carlanna."
Check out this great report from Lara Linde, featuring Raven, the trail-dog most recently highlighted in our Trail Tails blog series.
climb - wedge mountain/west ridge 6/14/19-6/16/19
"Tent platforms are disbursed around the area so we chose three platforms near each other. There is a bearwire available to hang food/smellables. Also a privy. The second camping area is about 10 minutes up the north side of the lake. Again several tent platforms disbursed through the area but many of these are right on the lake."
Curtis Stock's report details a great late-season trip, with good route information for planning and details about a camping area that sounds pretty darn nice.
climb - middle sister, south sister, and broken top traverse 6/20/19-6/24/19
"The ledges above are very exposed and have loose scree on them and are un-protectable so we carefully step along them to reach a platform that jets out of the real summit block towards the false summit of Broken Top. This has a very thin catwalk (less than one-foot-wide) and then the final block is a class 3 scramble to the tippy-top of Broken Top. Exposure is real but this part is not very hard at all."
An epic traverse report by Emma Agosta from a multi-day, 40-mile, 14,000-foot trip. The large number of amazing photos and beta are be a great resource for anyone interested in the trip in the future, or someone who just wants to read about a great adventure.
hike - huckleberry mountain 7/1/19
"The trail was in great condition as we continued through the trees. The many switchbacks made the elevation gain fairly easy. At about 4 miles we reached Fred Bugner Camp where some filtered water."
Susan Shih's report from a hike that may actually be a low-level scramble, is filled with great photos, depicting some wonderful weather and beautiful views.
sea kayak - olympic coast 7/1/19-7/5/19
"Try to land at Holeak Pt. The bay to the north has large surf and multiple rocks. The north shore of Toleak Pt is sandy beach then exposed rocks below. We are able to enter a protected area within the rocks but carry over remaining rocks will be difficult. This is a difficult beach to land or depart at lower tides. We never make it to 'shore.'"
Tom Unger's trip looks like a great adventure. Paddling from Makah Bay to Ruby Beach, along the Washington coast. Read more and check out the photos from the trip.
climb - mount shasta/avalanche gulch 7/3/19-7/5/19
"This was a backup plan to an "Ice Cap Slam" around Eldorado, Klawatti, etc. A forecast of rain and low clouds pushed us away from the North Cascades and way down into California to take advantage of a long Fourth of July weekend. Shasta was forecasted mostly clear with some afternoon clouds, and not any thunderstorms. It's a lot of driving. Some people do Shasta in three days, but we combined Shasta and McLoughlin in a 4.5 day weekend to help break that up."
Road trip! When the weather doesn't suit you up here, head on down to California! An exciting trip to Mount Shasta for Brian Starlin's group.
hike - whistler train wreck 7/13/19
"Before getting to the trainwreck, we had to cross a suspension bridge over the Cheakamus River. The color of the water was amazing!After we crossed, we got our first look at the trainwreck seeing five of the seven box cars. We spent about an hour or so exploring the area and taking photos of the graffiti-painted box cars before hiking back to our cars. There had been plenty of parking when we arrived, but there were so many people now that cars lined the road."
Anita Elder's report is filled with great photos, from what looks like a fun trip up to B.C., as long as you can ignore thenoisy neighbors.
scramble - wright mountain, mount roosevelt & kaleetan peak 7/22/19
"Andy did a fantastic job in setting a solid pace for an endurance-filled day. The weather was clear and we enjoyed fantastic views throughout the trip. All the participants were excellent and we got along very well. 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."
A long, edurance-testing day was enjoyed by Denise Boyes and the group traversing through the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, with the reward of great weather and great views for the group. Read more of the trip here.
climb - the fin/northeast ridge 7/25/19
"I am writing this trip report from the perspective of a six person basic climb with three students who had never been on a Mountaineers alpine rock climb before. Hopefully I have included enough details to encourage climb leaders to post this climb as an alternative to the busier Kangaroo Temple and South Early Winters Spire. It deserves to be more popular than it is."
If that photo above is any indicator, Sherrie Trecker's group had a great day out on The Fin! Read more for good beta, photos, and details of the group's climb.
climb - mcmillan spire/west ridge 7/27/19-7/28/19
"The Pickets need no introduction, as their larger than life reputation precedes them. My first introduction to the Pickets was from a climbing friend who had mentioned them and correctly named them as Washington's most difficult hidden gems. Now having only scratched the surface of what these complex giants have to offer, I understand what he meant."
An alpine adventure, Jonathan Foster's first foray into the Picket Range sounds like the start of something great. For all the work required, the Pickets sure are worth it.
Our last Top-10 blog post is also online for you to check out. If you have a trip report you've really enjoyed, or wrote one yourself that you are quite proud of, send them our way at info@mountaineers.org. We may be featuring the best of the best in an upcoming edition of Mountaineer magazine!
