Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - French Cabin Mountain/West,North Peaks
A surprisingly pleasant shoulder season conditioner (~16 miles, ~5900’ gain), with added drama from an intimidating forecast that never happened. Gorgeous fall colors, treecicles (portmanteau of icicles and tree), plus much stoic cloud gazing.
Dave Morgan
- Sat, Oct 23, 2021
- Alpine Scramble - French Cabin Mountain/West Peak
- Kachess–Domerie Loop
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Water levels in Silver Creek are very low which allowed us to completely avoid slippery log crossings. No snow on the ground with only intermittent snowflakes throughout the day along the ridge crests.
With uncertain precipitation headed our way (plus our plans for a long day) we opted to ascend/descend West Peak on the west side of its south ridge:
Some brief clearing allowed a glimpse of the fall cottonwood colors along Silver Creek:
For a bit more workout we opted for the out and back to North Peak, where Leaf Peterson got this gorgeous shot of Treecicles:
Near Thomas Mountain we saw some beautiful fall color:
(by Leaf Petersen)
…as well as some of the very best ‘inside cloud’ views:
A great day in the mountains with much lighter precipitation than we’d originally anticipated. Our total time was ~10 hours with ~3 hours from the cars to the summit of West Peak. More photos from this and other trips to this venue can be seen here.