Alpine Scramble - Kendall Katwalk

We arrived at 7:30am to find the access road from Alpental Rd to the PCT trailhead still closed. It is torn up and not plowed beyond 100 or so feet. We parked at the Summit West parking lot which is now open for everyone without any resort fees.

We followed the Old Commonwealth trail to the PCT, and found patchy snow from the trailhead, with occasional post holes. With these conditions, there was no well defined trail in many places.

As we reached the PCT around 3900’ snow was more consistent. We opted to stay on the PCT for the first switchback up to around 4200’ and then scrambled a more direct path to Kendall summit.

Around 5300’ there is a grouchy mountain chicken (aka grouse) to contend with. Reading other trail reports it sounds like he/she is a fixture on the route and probably guarding a nest.

The final scramble to the peak was very steep but snow was amenable to kicking steps. We self belayed up and down this area.

We reached the summit at noon, and then about three hours back to the cars.

We brought microspikes and didn’t use them. We did not bring snowshoes and had no regrets on that decision.

Kudos to our scramble students Katie and Awdhesh on a successful snow scramble. Both did an amazing job.

Also special thanks to Mark Scheffer for being my mentor on this trip. It was very much appreciated and great to scramble together again.

Overall it was a really fun day on the mountain with a great group.