Alpine Scramble - Mineral Mountain

Trip

Alpine Scramble - Mineral Mountain

A long trail hike and a moderate scramble with big meadows and great views of Mount Rainier. And for a bonus: a fun bike ride.

  • Technical 3, Strenuous 5
  • Challenging
  • Mileage: 15.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 4,000 ft
Meet at 6:00 to 6:15 AM in Buckley on the street by the skateboard park. Address is 230 S River Rd Buckley, WA 98321.  Coordinates are 47.1603673,-122.0317958.


Mineral Mountain is located below the north cliffs of Mount Rainier. It stands above the lovely shores of Mystic Lake between the Carbon and Winthrop glaciers.

If you have not been up the Carbon River Road and trail, you are missing out on a great section of the park.  The road washed out 10 years ago and the park service decided to keep the whole thing closed to cars, (although they still drive trucks up there sometimes).  95% of it is an easy gravel road well suited to hybrid or comfort bikes.  Mountain bikes are great, but are not essential.  Skinny tire road bikes can get up there, but you will have a harder time and won't be too comfortable with a backpack.  I have a couple extra bikes, so if you would like to go on this trip, but don't have access to a suitable bike, I can lend you one.  The road is a gentle uphill.  You won’t notice it too much going in, but on the way out, you will be able to coast much of the way.
After about a 1 hour bike ride, we will lock up the bikes at the old Ipsut Creek Campground.  From there we hike 3700' vertical up the Wonderland trail to the ridge NW above Mystic Lake.  We then leave the trail and head SW along the ridges and hike in a counter-clockwise loop to the summit of Mineral.

Likely we will return the same way, but if there is time and the weather is great, we might drop down to Mystic Lake.

This will be a physically strenuous, but technically moderate trip.  Count on at least a 12 hour day.

In the event of dense low clouds that block the big views, the destination MIGHT change from Mineral Mtn to Wallace Peak.  The bike ride part and the first part of the hike are exactly the same, but overall, the distance is a lot shorter.  This will be a group consensus decision we make when we get to the point where the trails split off.

If you want to borrow a bike, let me know after you sign-up.

Route/Place

Mineral Mountain


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