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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - Guye Peak/North Route

Combined with Cave Ridge, this was a delightful third choice when weather forced us off our original destination and a closed road eliminated our backup plan.

  • Road suitable for all vehicles
  • We had originally planned to do the Putrid Pete's Peak - Defiance loop, but the weather forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms and the long, exposed ridge between PPP and Defiance seemed an ill-advised place to be in case of thunderstorms . Our backup plan was to hike Jupiter Mt to take advantage of the height of the rhododendron bloom, but recent trip reports indicated that the road up to the trailhead was closed. So, we settled on Guye Peak and Cave Ridge, figuring that we could quickly seek the shelter of trees if thunderstorms arrived. 

    We chose to approach the peaks via Commonwealth Basin instead of the more common approach from Alpental, figuring that the descent via Alpental could be unpleasant in heavy rain. As it turned out, our caution was unnecessary as we experienced no rain (until the drive back to Seattle).

    The Pacific Crest Trail parking lot was open and free of snow, although the outhouse is not yet open. Snow covered the trail right from the trail head and we were travelling on snow  almost the entire day.  The bridge over Commonwealth Creek at 3600 was snow free.  All creeks were running at elevated water flows and the numerous waterfalls we saw were magnificent. We stopped for an early lunch at the tarn at 4700 on Guye peak and enjoyed the spectacular views over to Denny, the Tooth, Bryant, Chair, Kaleetan, and Snoqualmie. We then climbed to the summit of Guye. Shortly after reaching the summit, we were enveloped in clouds. I'm sure glad we stopped to enjoy the views down below. After a leisurely summit treat, we started our descent, and the clouds immediately lifted. We had two glissades down to the tarn. 

    We then climbed to the top of Cave Ridge, and wouldn't you know it but shortly after reaching the summit we were again enveloped in clouds. Upon descending, the clouds cleared and we had blue skies all the way down. We exited the Commonwealth Basin via the Sahalie Ski Club road, which was snow free from 3400.

    After successfully avoiding the forecasted showers and thunderstorms, we experienced them on the drive down toward North Bend. We topped the day off with a spectacular dinner at Tikka Masala in Issaquah.