Distance: 4.6 mi.
Elevation Gain: 1500 ft.
Although we had attacked Sauk Mountain in 2017, we had to leave the true summit for another day because the route was wet. With dry weather scheduled for most of the day, we decided to return to this thigh-busting peak. We started hiking at 10:30 AM. The trail makes a steep and steady climb right out of the gate on dizzying switchbacks up a steep, grassy hillside. After the series of switchbacks, which were snow-free, we crossed to the east side of the ridge, where there was still some snow clinging on. We would have felt comfortable crossing the upper snow slopes without our ice axes but we brought them out since we had them.
After a brief northward traverse on snow, we regained the south ridge of Sauk and continued on dirt and rocks. We reached the false summit prior lookout site a around 11:30. From here we downscrambled briefly and then traversed on some crumbly rocks to the crux of the climb, a slab scramble with pretty thin features and also fairly high exposure. I appreciated my approach shoes for this bit but Craig did fine in trail runners. From here we had a brief exposed ridge walk and then a few easy ramps to the true summit. We spent a few minutes enjoying lunch which 360 degree views and then made our way back. The crux felt a bit trickier on the downclimb but we made it through just fine.
We retraced our steps for the way back out and crossed quite a few folks who were sweating up the climb. There’s no space to physically distance on the narrow trail but almost every person we passed was wearing a face covering. Nice work enjoying nature safely, Washingtonians!
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Recommended brew:
Gear Used:
- Aluminum ice axe
- Approach shoes (Vanessa)
- Day pack
- Glacier glasses
- GPS
- Helmet
- Microspikes (not used)
- Trail runners (Craig)
- Trekking poles
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