Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Alki Crest
South to north traverse of the boundary trail.
David Judish
- Sat, Oct 31, 2020
- Alpine Scramble - Alki Crest
- Alki Crest
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road recommended for high clearance only
-
We did this traverse before the snows, but after the devil's club had died down, which seems to be a good time of year for it.
Mowich Lake road had markedly deteriorated since Labor Day, making for an unpleasant car shuttle on this one way trip.
From the saddle east of August, we worked through small trees NW, which opens up after a bit, intersecting the site of the upper switchbacks on the old USGS map at 4200'. There was no sign that the trail ever existed, but the terrain is open enough to make for relatively easy travel down to about 3500', where the brush and blowdown become thicker. We searched for the boundary trail until finding it near the "T" in trail on the USGS map. From here, the creek crossing on a log, and the trail up and oven Alki Crest are easy to follow.