Distance: 8.0 mi.
Elevation Gain: 5,600 ft.
We started from Hamma Hamma River Road at 9am up the Putvin Trail which follows Whitehorse Creek up to Lake of the Angels. The trail is pretty steep with a few almost scrambly bits mixed in. It was a warm day so we were in shorts and t-shirts for most of it. 2015 being a low snow year also, we didn’t hit snow until above tree line. Right around tree line, at 4,600′ is a flatter basin with some tiny lakes where we left the trail to scramble up scree slopes northward toward the peak.
Trudging up scree slopes
The easier slopes eventually turn toward the northwest until we met the west ridge of the peak. From there we had to traverse the east side of the ridge on snow to bypass some steep bits and then had generally easy travel up the ridge, sometimes on snow, until the summit block. The summit is very steep looking but is relatively solid 3rd class rock.
Traversing the ridge toward the summit
We reached the summit at 1:30 PM and had lunch. The views from the summit were beautiful in all directions.
Mt. Cruiser and Mt. Skokomish
The down-scrambling from the summit was a bit more treacherous but we made it down and back to the scree fields in short order.
The summit scramble is solid 3rd class on classic Olympics rock
The hike out was a little tricky on the rolly scree with one or two falls, but once we returned to the trail it was a straightforward hike out. The long downhill caused some cranky old knees, though. This was definitely a fun scramble and the views were so great.
(Download the free Gaia GPS app on your phone to view tracks and then get a Gaia GPS membership if you want offline access. Discount below!)
Recommended brew: Fremont Sister Imperial IPA
Gear Used:
- GPS
- Helmet
- Mountaineering boots
- Ice Axe
- Trekking poles
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