Governors Ridge & Barrier Peak

Trip Date: 10-04-2015
Party Size : 3
Governor's Ridge + Buell Peak + Barrier Peak

Departed the Owyhigh Lakes TH at 7:15 AM. Hiked to Owyhigh Lakes, ascended to saddle north of Barrier Peak and dropped over to the east side of the ridge. Traversed north past 3 gendarmes and ascended "infamous gulley" (about 300' vertical, class 3, T4 rock). Gulley splits into a left and right side. Both sides will work (we used both). From the top of the gulley it was easy going to the summit of Governor's Ridge, 6614'. We arrived here at about 11 AM. There is a PVC summit register filled with pieces of paper and a pen, no register booklet. After descending the gulley below Governor's Ridge, we dropped down a bit further and traversed to the Barrier-Buell saddle, mostly following game trails. We hiked to the summit of Buell along its west ridge, arriving at 1:15 PM. We returned to the Barrier-Buell saddle and ascended Barrier via its SE ridge, partly on game trails. The SE ridge goes at class 2, moderate exposure. We arrived on Barrier's summit at about 2:45 PM. We descended Barrier Peak via the west ridge, passing the false summit on skier's left, class 2 (poles only) with some side hilling on semi-soft dirt. We arrived back at the cars at 5:30 PM. About 13.5 miles and 5600' elevation gain. Perfect weather, lovely views and fall colors!

Gear: We used helmets and pole(s). Ice axe would have been nice for the steep dirt/heather in a few places.

Route Beta: Used information from Summit Post, Peakbagger, and NW Hiker to build this 3-summit loop route.