Alpine Lakes Crest Traverse

August 18-23, 2024

Background

Daniel and I have now done quite a few off-trail backpacking traverses, mostly in the Grand Canyon, but also the Wind River High Route last year. Hooked on this style of travel in the mountains, we were eager to do more. With a summer season of guiding in Washington on my calendar, I read as much as I could about Kyle McCrohan's routes and settled on the Alpine Lakes Wilderness as a good place to start. Daniel and I set aside a 6-day window in mid-August for a trip.  With so much time on our hands, I originally had dreams of linking the Alpine Lakes Crest Traverse all the way to Steven's Pass or even the Chiwaukum. But by the time we launched, it had become clear that we were in for unseasonable weather, suboptimal snow coverage, and lacked good shuttle plan. All of this slowed our roll significantly, but we still had a wild and fun trip!

Day 1

Daniel and I woke up at the Snoqualmie Pass PCT trailhead to cool, mostly cloudy, weather. We took our time getting organized and packing up, not starting the hike until almost 11am. Immediately we fell into a nice place climbing the grandual PCT towards the Kendall Katwalk. Views opened up occasionally and we were stoked to be together, in such beautiful mountains, with such great weather. It was around 65 degrees and mostly cloudy. Time and miles passed quickly since we had a lot of catching up to do.

After a 2pm lunch break we continued cruising and got water at Ridge Lake. From there on the PCT continued being super cool as we contoured around peaks like Alaska and got views in many directions through notches. There are a lot of different rock types in this area, but I was stoked to see granite is definitely one of them!

It was fun to cruise on a trail and be much more focused on conversation than on the map, but eventually the time came to leave and head up towards the Chikamin ridge. We had looked at our route from across the way and it seemed fine. We could also see a family of 4 mountain goats grazing a short distance above the trail. We quickly got above them climbing the steep tundra and trended right towards some chutes that ended up being quite choosy with a significant 3rd class exit. After tenderly walking on the steep screee for a bit it felt good to put hands on the rock and send it to the ridgetop.

Clouds had begun touching the ridgetop and we walked into a full whiteout. It persisted for a few minutes snack break so eventually we headed down by map. It was nice steep tundra for 100ft but abruptly changed to bare mineral surfaces that still made for easy enough walking to a large tarn.

This whole 300ft descent only took a few minutes despite being in fog, but now we were totally stumped on where we should camp. Somewhere between here and Chikamin Lake had been my goal for the day and it was basically dinnertime, but everything around was super rocky in an extremely not flat way. I was amazed how raw and alone it felt. It seems to me that a glacier must've existed in this area somewhat recently, although there was definitely very little snow now. It was so different from all of the terrain we had traveled through before creating the ridge. 

Eventually we decided the only likely place to sleep was on a nearly flat snow patch. It didn't seem like going to Chikamin Lake would be any better so we committed and sculpted a spot for the tent, setting it up with a combination of a pole, axes, and regular stakes. It worked fine!

Although it wasn't super windy or cold, the combination compelled us to find a sheltered nook for dinner. Right as we finished the sky started to open up a little and we ran out to a viewpoint to look around and watch the fog blow past. It was incredible! Seeing the clouds swirl around the Lemah peaks felt otherworldly. It was nice to have some long views to the east and occasionally to the west, too. But it was cold in the wind!

As it got darked we crawled into the tent and set up. It had been a long time since I had slept in snow and I was pretty surprised and excited about it! The whole setting just felt remarkably alpine with the weather and bare rock and ice everywhere.

Day 2

It was pretty gusty overnight and we blew both ice axe anchors at different times. I thought these would be the strongest, but they were upwind and were really just lifted out of their slots. Luckily getting up to fix them was pretty painless and beautiful with the full moon. Unfortunately it started raining around 6am. I was hoping it would rain briefly and then the wind would dry the tent, but I lost that hope around 8. We weren't on a time crunch at all so it was reasonable to just get extra sleep. But by 10 we started to get more restless. As we packed up and started moving at 11 the rain faded.

It was still cool, cloudy, and misty for a few hours. We began descending towards the pass by Chikamin Lake which was nice at first, but quickly became large nightmare talus. Anywhere steep was super unstable and the going was really slow as we contoured beneath the Lemahs towards a small pass. At one point Daniel let loose a couple of large rocks and went with the first, getting chased by the second. Luckily this only lasted a second but he yelled in a way that sounded like pretty serious pain and I was worried. Fortunately he just had a scrape on his leg and was okay.

Descending towards Iceberg Lake was mostly fun shoe skiing! Although the snow was a little firm and rotten, we were stoked because the movement hasn't been easy in a while. Traversing around Iceberg Lake was once again on big loose talus, but once we arrived at our ascent basin it was less steep and pretty good for the whole climb. Eventually we started climbing snowfields which was also pretty efficient. I followed Daniel as he kicked excellent steps. In general, the nearly 2k of ascent didn't really feel that taxing. 

Now we were at the second true scramble of the route. To get to the ridgetop, we had about 300ft of steep terrain that was often solid and often 3rd class, with some talus mixed in. Luckily it had stopped raining an hour ago and gotten a bit brighter, so the rock was actually dry! We enjoyed the movement and it was a nice affirmation to find that this was within our comfort zone.

At the top, we were on the Overcoat Glacier, which is a high, sprawling, and active glacier. It was a little foggy but we could generally see the towering peaks of Chimney Rock and Overcoat, with longer views occasionally opening up. A really spectacular setting, a bit different from anything we had every seen before!

It was after 5pm, and we decided that it was very unlikely we would find another camp until reaching the valley bottom near Williams Lake, which seemed like a doubtful objective for tonight at our current pace. We really had not seen any campsites besides snow since the PCT! Crazy. So we decided to camp on snow once again, right at the base of Chimney Rock on the glacier. I was really disappointed that we had anchor failure last night, so we put a lot of thought and effort into rigging the tent in a way that seemed like it would stay taught. I tied stopper knots for a few of the corner linelocs because it seemed like they slipped. 

We walked around on the glacier for a while longer and found a patch of blue ice we would have to descend tomorrow. It looked pretty okay. Then, with over an hour of daylight left we crawled into the tent to make dinner. It was really windy and cold everywhere up here!

Day 3

We were using my trowel as a corner anchor for the tent, and it almost made it through the night without lifting. The tent was still standing okay so I wasn't going to fix it because I figured we could pack up soon. But then it started raining so I went out and fixed it. Anchoring tents in snow is harder than I had hoped it would be, especially when the wind is constant!

The rain stopped after less than an hour and we packed up much earlier than the previous days. We put on crampons before leaving the tent for the upcoming ice descent. It was really foggy and harder than we expected to find a clean line down the glacier to the rock! But after trying a few routes we found one that felt comfortable. On the low end of the glacier we found a bunch of pretty waterfalls and slots that we spent some time checking out. The whole section took over an hour, but it was sweet! My crampons felt plenty secure on my Akashas.

Immediately after the glacier was a rocky saddle with two improved tent sites. Then we began traversing the gnarly rock ridge towards the saddle with Summit Chief. At one point along here we got too high and instead of going back down climbed some mossy rock that was definitely 5th class for like 10 feet. I'd say it was barely within my comfort zone. When we made it to the “key sloping ledge”, the lower one (which is really more of a slab) looked doable but scary due to the exposure and moisture. Luckily the upper ledge was amazing, almost like a tiny Kendall Katwalk. Beyond that we enjoyed a nice descent on low angle terrain that eventually had some plants. We hadn't walked on any plants since the Chikamin ridge! The Summit Chief saddle, though, was just made of talus.

Walking along the wide, gravelly drainage was such a stark contrast to the terrain we had been traveling through. It was awesome to finally be moving at a fast pace, but with the huge walls of the Chiefs still looking overhead. Soon we hit the forest and began a short bushwhack down steep slopes to the creek, where we crossed, ate some blueberries for a while, and then met the trail. We paused for a bit at the junction with Williams Lake to make a decision about our next section. Tomorrow was supposed to be our worst day of weather, but only by a little, so after reviewing some beta we decided to push on at least to Mount Hinman. 

Williams Lake came up quickly, so we kept going to Chain Lakes, which was a great choice. The extra climb was about 1k on beautiful granite boulders. All of the rock was granite over here which I was hoping would improve our experience going forward. Chain Lakes was a gorgeous valley with so many little lakes, cascades, and granite slabs. We found a neat campsite sheltered by some trees near a great overlook. It had gotten foggy and continued to be as we ate dinner (outside for a change), but eventually views opened up all the way back to Overcoat Glacier and we could see our previous campsite. It was absolutely epic! It was also extremely cold throughout this whole evening in the wind, maybe the coldest I have ever felt in summer! After a great hour enjoying the view and stretching on the rock, we crawled into the tent. 

Day 4

We had expected day 4 to have the worst weather, so we were unsure of our objective, once again due to lack of campsite options. But the weather was beautiful overnight, it actually got warmer after dark and didn't rain at all. We packed up earlier than usual but were really enjoying the views all the way up Hinman. We stopped at La Bohn lake for water, the most beautiful lake of the trip I think.

Climbing Hinman was so fun. We were so relieved to be in perfect granite again even if it was mostly talus. But oftentimes we detoured from the cairned route and opted for small class 3 headwalls, just out of eagerness to touch good rock. We really took our time but made the summit around noon. The views were incredible and a light rain squall passed quickly, so we decided to just eat lunch there. 

I had been thinking about Joelle a lot this week because she had a big stressful work event and I wanted to send her some encouragement but my inReach had broken a while back. So I decided to check for service on the summit, which there was. I also got a weather forecast. When we started the trip, Thursday (today) was supposed to have the worst weather, and then Friday and Saturday were supposed to be the best. But today's weather was phenomenal, and the forecast agreed, with a 20% chance of rain. But now tonight had a 90% chance of rain, and Friday and Saturday both did as well. I was thinking that if we were going to climb Mount Daniel and finish the traverse, Friday would be best. But this forecast shattered that plan. 

We were no longer interested in camping before Daniel. We needed to go to Pea Soup Lake right now and decide if we have adequate time/conditions to climb it, or bail towards Jade Lake. It felt great to finally have something to be motivated for, a clear plan. This whole traverse had been full of such unmotivated movement, brought on by huge unknowns about the weather and campsites. I was ready to try harder.

The descent down the remains of the Hinman Glacier was phenomenally fun, one of the best descents I have had in the mountains. We slid many snowfields, linking them all together by perfect granite slabs. It was so cool to be in a freshly exposed moraine that wasn't shitty for a change. Praise granite. 

The Peas Soup Lake outlet cascades down steep granite slabs for 900ft, which we now stood at the base of. It is one of the most beautiful features I could imagine ascending on a backpacking trip. The slabs are so clean and grippy, and the power of the water is so intense. I climbed pretty aggressively, with an earbud in since we couldn't hear anything anyway. I was stoked!

As we climbed up to a viewpoint, thunder cracked and a solid rain started. The view was also dismal: the glacier had a lot of exposed ice we would have to walk on and some complicated crack systems we would have to navigate. Our climb was suddenly feeling a lot less likely. We took shelter from the wind and sat in the rain for 15 minutes.

When it cleared up, we decided to keep going. Walking across the grey ice was uncomfortable with crampons on running shoes but felt secure enough. Daniel had figured out how to put his on more securely. We eased our way onto snow covered in rock debris and eventually into a big blank snow slope, with nothing in the way of us reaching the top except a small crack we might have to go around.

Unfortunately, upon reaching the crack it turned out to be huge! And it was almost connected to another crack, with only a narrow snow slope in between that I assume was a bridge. After exploring every other option, we decided to walk the bridge which was a little spooky even though it seemed totally solid. From there the climb to the saddle was awesome, perfect steps in steep snow. We crested the top and did the quick rock scramble to the summit.

Just shy of 8k, the summit of Mt Daniel is the high point of the traverse and the end of technical travel. It's the highest point on the Cascade Crest between Rainier and Glacier Peak, and has the realest glacier in that same distance, which we had just climbed. It was really special to be here with Daniel, my best friend and best outdoor partner, on his namesake mountain. Somehow, the weather was phenomenal! The wind had died, and a dark storm seemed to be staying there. A thick marine layer was creeping in from the west, giving us a classic Cascade “above the clouds” moment as we watched it swallow all the lesser peaks and spill over passes. Sunlight illuminated our whole massif, but quickly fleeted northward across the mountains toward Glacier Peak. We stayed on the summit for an hour and started down at 8pm.

Immediately small raindrops began to fall, and soon it became clear that the dark storm to the south had suddenly decided to wreck us. Luckily there was no lightning, but it rained heavily as we flew down the climber's trail in fading light. Right as I was about to put my headlamp on at 8:30, it started to get lighter as the rain lessened. We got a “second wind” of daylight and pushed on until 9pm before turning on lights. Daniel has a bit better vision than me but we both enjoy pushing into the darkness as long as possible. 

It was almost 10 by the time we rolled into a campsite by Peggy's Pond, and luckily not raining. We actually took our time making dinner and hanging out. Even though we were wet, the weather was pleasant. It had been a super cool day!

Day 5

Today we just had an easy 5 mile trail exit and then hoped to find a ride from the Cathedral Pass trailhead back to Snoqualmie Pass. This was the Grand Finale of our slow mornings, with Daniel sleeping until 11:50! He is generally tired all the time and can basically sleep forever, so I try to let him whenever possible. I was able to catch up on journaling.

We had a nice cruise out through the forest in cloudy weather. After talking to a few hikers, we caught a ride to Salmon La Sac Campground from a cool dad named Kevin. Later, another backpacker named Em who had been out at Jade Lake picked us up and took us all the way to Snoqualmie Pass! We were stoked to successfully hitch the long and complicated route on a Friday afternoon with another huge wave of rain coming in!

Notes

• This was an extremely slow pace for this route, even by our decidedly non-ultra standards. We spent a lot of waking hours not progressing because of unknowns about weather and camps. 

• Also, this route is typically done with more snow coverage, which makes almost all of the travel faster, especially the boulder fields. But at least we got to see pretty rocks. The granite sections were nice.

• I was impressed by our ability to stay warm despite all the moisture. We didn't expereince nearly as much sleeping bag down death as I would've expected.

• Crampons and axes were probably essential!

• This route is definitely a step up in technical difficulty compared to the WRHR, in terms of rock scrambling and snow/glacier travel. I get the feeling that it is very difficult to draw something that feels like a "high route" in Washington, because the landscapes are so glacial. That's why iconic routes like the Ptamigan and Isolation are better referred to as "mountaineering traverses".

• That being said, a step up in technical difficulty is exactly what Daniel and I were looking for! We look forward to doing another trip here next year, hopefully with better conditions.