CASHMERE MOUNTAIN TRIP REPORT
Wenatchee Mountains, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington
|
back to classics
|
|
|
Mountaineers party on Cashmere Mountain
|
This is a trip report from a scramble up Cashmere Mountain
with Doug Weaver in September 1999. This is a climb I had
always wanted to do, because my dad had climbed it back
in his high-school days. He grew up in Cashmere, so climbing
Cashmere Mountain was a big deal, I guess.
We picked a great day for the hike, a perfect September
day, not a cloud in sight. We left the trailhead at 8:45 a.m.,
a late start with the sun already peeking over Cannon Mountain.
From the trailhead the trail climbed a ridge above Eightmile
Creek and soon met and followed the old logging road through
open logged and burned terrain. After crossing a side creek,
the trail departed the road grade and dipped and climbed
upstream to Little Eightmile Lake. We continued on up Lake
Caroline Trail, which switchbacks up the brushy, fire-ravaged
slopes above the lake, leading us up from the shady creek into
warm sunlight. The trail climbed for awhile, then seemed to
be ready to level out some in a basin, but switched back again
and climbed even steeper up a grassy ridge through countless
silver snags left standing by the 1994 firestorm.
A rocky spot a bit higher up gave a view of Eightmile Lake
and peaks of the Stuart Range just showing over the intervening
ridge. After crossing a talus slide and a marshy flat, the trail
left the fire damage behind and climbed through lovely subalpine
meadows to a divide above Lake Caroline. Great views here of
meadows and peaks; a few wildflowers in bloom, mostly aster and
lupine this late. One of the notable flowers in the meadows just
below Lake Caroline divide was skyrocket - little bright red
flowers, hard to miss. Also, big fat crickets all over the
meadows and slopes above Little Eightmile Lake, and a redtailed
hawk soaring over the meadows. Those were the highlights of the
flora and fauna on this trip.
The trail descended abruptly to Lake Caroline, a pretty lake
framed by subalpine firs and rust-colored talus and cliffs.
Nobody camping here, which we found odd for such a nice September
weekend. The trail did a semi-loop around the lake and climbed
over a ridge, with views of Cashmere Mountain just peeking up
over an intervening ridge, before descending into even lovelier
subalpine parkland, soon crossing a stream and traversing close
above Little Caroline Lake. There were two tents at the upper
lake, but no people in sight.
The trail continued beyond the lakes, traversing rocky meadows
and around a ridge, then above a meadowy basin below Cashmere
Mountain. From here, the mountain seemed somewhat intimidating,
a craggy granite peak with no easy-looking route. At the head
of the basin was a small stream, last water, although in a
normal snow year it would probably be dry this late. The
trail climbed through a higher snow-patched basin, then
switched back lazily up alpine meadow slopes to Windy
Pass, elevation 7,200 feet. Awesome views! A near panorama
of the central Cascades, every peak standing out in sharp
relief, particularly Daniel, Sloan, Chimney Rock, and the
Stuart Range peaks.
Of course, we were only partway to our destination. We continued
up the climbers' trail on the ridge leading north from Windy Pass,
easy going for quite a distance, with better and better views,
including Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak. Some easy scrambling and
talus hopping led to a high pass (7,990') below the summit
rocks of Cashmere Mountain. Here a climbers' trail continued
up a few hundred feet, then petered out amid ledges and
gullies, leaving us to our routefinding skills. I exhibited
mine poorly and ended up on some loose, exposed rock, skirting
the first gendarme on the south side via a hand traverse
(a couple of low-Class 5 moves), but managed just fine and
reached the summit (8,501') a few minutes ahead of Doug, who
had taken the easier route after watching me groveling up the
loose rock. Having seen absolutely no one on the trail, except
for that one guy who left the trailhead about 5 minutes ahead
of us, we were surprised to find six people on the summit when
we arrived. The scrambling route is mostly Class 2 with a
couple of Class 3 sections, plenty loose and moderately exposed,
but easy enough if you pick your route carefully. The summit is
a small, exposed block.
We enjoyed the view for a few minutes, and chatted with the
chatty Mountaineers group, then headed down. As is often the
case, the hike out seemed much longer than the hike in,
although my watch confirmed we had made good time. We reached
the trailhead at 5:45 p.m., just in time to get stuck in
construction delays on US-2. By taking back roads, we
managed to shave about 90 minutes from the return trip,
but still didn't get home until very late. Oh, well. It
was still worth it.
back to classics
