Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Buell & Barrier Peaks
Very enjoyable scramble of 2 peaks. The day started cloudy, but by the time we got to the summit of Barrier, the views had opened up.
Fritz Klein
- Sun, Jul 16, 2017
- Alpine Scramble - Buell & Barrier Peaks
- Buell & Barrier Peaks
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Snow is mostly gone; we carried ice axes but never used them. There is some loose rock on both the ascent and e=descent routes on Barrier.
On 7/16/17, 8 scramblers climbed these 2 MRNP summits. We started from the Deer Creek TH, descended 300 feet to the bridge across Chinook Creek, then continued on the trail toward Owyhigh Lakes.This is a very nice trail in the forest with occasional views of cascading streams. At about 3700', we left the trail and headed up to the saddle between Buell and Barrier. We started by going directly uphill, but occasionally traversed left or right on game trails to avoid the worst of the brush. Buell is an easy stroll from the saddle, and we started to see some views from there. Then back to the saddle and a fairly easy scramble up Barrier. After soaking in the views for a while, we descended westward, picking up the trail at the saddle between the drainages of Shaw and Kotsuck Creeks. Goats were seen high on the south ridge of Tamanos, and a bear was seen across Kotsuck Creek.