Trip Report
Lichtenberg Mountain
Scenic fall ascent of Lichtenberg via Lake Valhalla and the PCT, starting at Smithbrook Trailhead.
Rose Gear
- Sat, Oct 12, 2024
- Lichtenberg Mountain
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road rough but passable
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Route finding was a challenge after leaving Lake Valhalla. We did a rising traverse starting at Lake Valhalla and ending at the summit. There seems to be no established route, and so bushwhacking was in order. We had to backtrack on the ascent a couple of times to avoid being cliffed out on some of the large rock outcroppings. In hindsight, it would have better to stay low and then ascend to the saddle to the south of Lichtenberg via the heather slopes, then follow the ridge up to Lichtenberg Mountain summit.
Arrived at the Smithbrook Trailhead around 8:20 am, just ahead of the weekend rush. There is no bathroom at the trailhead. The road is rough, but my Prius had no difficulty making it to the trailhead. Our group of 3 set off along the PCT and quickly made it to Lake Valhalla. The fall foliage was at peak, and the colors added a lot to the natural beauty of the route.
After pausing for a snack at the north shore, we made our way counterclockwise around the lake.
There is a narrow boot path from the PCT to the south shore of Lake Valhalla that leads to a boulder field that you have to cross. The boulders in this area are made of grippy granite and were not too hard to cross. From here we ascended in a rising traverse towards the summit of Lichetenberg Mountain, though the summit was not visible at this point. We followed our GPS in the direction of the summit, bushwhacking as we went and endeavoring to find a safe and expedient route. We encountered mostly heather slopes and boulder fields, but were cliffed out a couple of times and had to backtrack to find a safe route. Eventually we made it to the slopes just below the summit of Lichtenberg. We traversed a bit further south and ascended sharply via the safety of the terraced heather slopes. We arrived at the summit at 1 pm, a bit later than expected given the modest milage of our route.
From the summit, we could see Glacier Peak and Sloan Peak. We signed the summit register, which had few entries though it dated back to the early 2000s. We were the only party on the mountain that day.
On the way down, we found what looked to be a slightly more well-used route back to Lake Valhalla, a bit higher on the slope than our earlier route. Our impression was again that there was no one definitive route to the summit.
Back at Lake Valhalla, there was a real party happening on the other side of the lake based on the amount of human- and dog-generated noise we could hear. For a sunny fall day, this was not unexpected and made the solitude of most of the day even more special.
We made our way around the lake and back on the PCT, arriving back at the trailhead by 4 pm.
Distance: 9.2 miles, Elevation Gain: 2,594, Time: 7 hours 36 minutes.