Alpine Scramble - Tokaloo Rock & Aurora Peak

TBD: Possibly Whittaker's Rest, Ashford, Saturday at 10 AM.

Details will be emailed after we learn more about how the group camping permit will get us through the gate during timed entry. We will need names of participants for the group camping permit, license plates for all vehicles driven into the park. 

If you have already signed up for a scramble with me this summer, please refrain from this one so that someone else gets an opportunity.

Click [MORE+] to review all notes before requesting permission:

All three of these peaks are Rainier 100 peaks- Andrew and Tokaloo are scrambles, Aurora is a hike.

Travis has overnight permits for both Saturday and Sunday nights at the South Puyallup Group Camp. The plan is to have a relaxed, 5.5 mile road walk along the Westside Road and trail, arriving at the group camp Saturday afternoon. We will camp together, utilizing the climber's method of a pre-organized list of “group gear”- water purification, stoves, fuel and sharing tents to lighten our packs.

This will allow us a full day Sunday to scramble all three peaks, a loop of 10.5 miles and 4620 ft of elevation gain. Plan on boots on the trail at 8 AM. We will then return to camp for dinner and rest. Sunday evening.

Monday morning we will pack up and hike out, again walking the Westside Road to the cars.

To quote the climbers Alex Lowe and Carl Tobin, "The best climber in the world is the one having fun", and "It don't have to be fun to be fun"!

The success of our trip will rely upon the willingness to work together as a team efficiently, route finding and most of all, keeping in mind each other’s wellbeing.

Leadership style: I am not fast, but I do try to be strategic. I tend to move at around 1.5mph uphill, about 2.25 mph downhill on a trail, given terrain considerations. I prefer to make single bio-stops every 60-90 minutes, meaning that clothing and gear adjustments, food water, party seps and the like are all taken care of during that break. I enjoy chewing my food, so a break will be about 15-20 minutes, lunch maybe 30-40 minutes. If this comes across as too slow or too fast, too regimented for you, this trip might not be the type that you like.