Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Wahpenayo Peak
This scramble had it all (except for glissades). A peaceful forest walk, gorgeous views, steep snow, fun rock, great company.
Sherrie Trecker
- Sun, Jun 15, 2025
- Alpine Scramble - Wahpenayo Peak
- Chutla, Eagle & Wahpenayo Peaks
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The Eagle Peak trail was in fantastic condition. Running water could be found until about 3/4 of the way up. There was no running water once we left the trail. The route was snow free until past the Chutla/Wahpenayo saddle. We alternated between steep, icy snow and steep, wet heather on the traversing ridge ascent toward the Wahpenayo summit. Both were tricky, but both went. Once we gained the ridge to the true summit, the rock was pleasantly solid for this area of the Cascades.
The snow was still hard on the descent, despite the warm, sunny weather. Nearly everyone on the trip fell and had to self-arrest at one point. I observed that everyone who fell was wearing microspikes, and the most if not all of the people who did not fall were not. My guess is that the snow was balling up under the spikes, making the descent more slippery rather than helping.
A group of seven scramblers departed the Longmire parking lot at just before 8 AM on a Sunday. The weather was overcast and cool at the parking lot, which we knew would change later in the day. Indeed, by the time we crossed the suspension bridge that was built in 1923, we already had great views of Tahoma. We ascended the Eagle Peak trail on the slow side of a moderate pace, as I have been recovering from an illness and needed to keep my heart rate in check. After around 2 hours and a few breaks for sunscreen, food, water, and blister prevention care, we reached the open meadow where we left the Eagle Peak trail to ascend toward Wahpenayo. The trail was easy to follow but brushy in places. Cairns mark the entry and exit of the small boulder field, which was pretty solid in my opinion.
We took a nice break at the saddle between Chutla and Wahpenayo to admire Tahoma in all her glory, then made a traversing ascent toward Wahpenayo. This is where we encountered our first snow. We generally stayed below the ridge and alternated between steep snow and wet heather. The snow was not in great shape. It was hard and melting fast and there were several trees/bushes poking out in places. We tread carefully and managed to only posthole a few times. Everyone took turns navigating, and our pace slowed considerably as we discussed our best option. In order to gain the true ridge and take a sharp left to get to the summit of Wahpenayo, we had to ascend a very steep and icy snow slope, which I'd consider the crux of the trip and made this more of a T4 than a T3 scramble for this time of year. Once on the ridge, everyone did a fantastic job following solid class 2-3 rock to the summit.
We had a lovely summit break. One of the participants had a Ham radio, which he used to contact other Ham radio operators. We had cellular service and were able to text our requisite Father's Day messages out.
We descended largely the way we came, with some people opting to travel on snow instead heather on the way down. There were quite a few slips on the snow, but the runout was generally very safe, and nobody was injured. We were also able to recover a water bottle that had fallen from someone's pack during a slip on the way up. We only saw two other people the entire day: a trail runner and a park ranger. We returned to the cars almost exactly 9 hours after we started. Our GPS's varied on the distance and elevation gained, from around 8.5-10 miles and 3500-3800'.
If I had to guess, this trip might be a little easier slightly earlier in the season, with more snow cover, or later in the season once the snow it totally melted. The conditions we experienced made for a fun adventure and good learning experiences for all.
