Mount Deception

Very beautiful, remote, and strenuous Wellesley-Deception Traverse that took place on 7/30/2015 through 8/3/2015. This was a combo trip that used two route/places in our database (one to Wellesley Peak/Sentinel Peak, one to Mount Deception) over a total of 5 days. It started at the Obstruction Peak trailhead (east end of Hurricane Ridge), and finished at the end of the Dosewallips River Road for which we used a car shuttle (see itinerary below). Our party size was 5 (highly recommended) and we covered a total of ~57 miles with ~14600’ gain and ~19800’ loss. Notable spots along our route included Grand Valley, Grand Pass, Cameron Basin (camp), Cameron Pass, Lost Pass, Thousand Acre Meadows (camp), Wellesley Peak, Sentinel Peak, Deception-Cub Creek Camp (2 night camp), Cub Creek Ridge, Deception Peak, Gray Wolf Pass trail, Dosewallips River trail (main fork). To ensure our ability to summit Mt Deception we brought harnesses and a small amount of rock gear (including a 30m, 8mm rope), as well as limiting the party members to basic graduates. As it turned out we used none of this gear. For future trips I would recommend that the Wellesley Peak-Sentinel Peak route/place have a rating of a S5,T4 scramble, and that the Mount Deception route/place be rated as a S5, T4+ or T5-. The spot which earns Deception this higher rating is the section on its west slope that is an ascending traverse between ~6600’ and ~7000’ (it has significant exposure due to the cliffs below this section).

My photos can be seen at:
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B085M7GFPGA3xYi

Itinerary (actual times):
Thursday 7/30 (~10 miles, ~3000’ gain/loss)
7:30am Drop off car at Dosewallips (everyone into remaining car)
9:00am Arrive at Port Angeles Ranger Station for permits
11:20am Depart from Obstruction Peak trailhead
3:30pm Arrive Grand Pass
7pm Cameron Basin Camp

Friday 7/31 (~11 miles, ~3000’ gain/loss)
9am Leave Cameron Basin Camp
11:30am Arrive Lost Pass
4pm Arrive Thousand Acre Meadow Camp (via ridge crossing at ~5400’)

Saturday 8/1 (~13 miles, ~3500’ gain, ~6000’ loss)
5am Leave Camp for Wellesley/Sentinel w/Day Packs
7:30am Arrive Wellesley Summit
8am Leave Wellesley Summit
10am Arrive Camp
Noon Leave Camp for Sentinel (using gaps near Pt 6152)
1:30pm Rejoin trail, leave packs, just water/first aid
2:30pm Arrive Sentinel Summit
5pm Arrive Dose Meadows Water Oasis
7pm Arrive Cub Creek/Deception Creek Camp

Sunday 8/2 (~9 miles, ~4600’ gain, ~4600’ loss)
5am Leave Camp for Mount Deception w/Day Packs
10:30am Arrive Deception Summit
Noon Depart Deception Summit
5pm Arrive Cub Creek Camp via Gray Wolf Pass Trail

Monday 8/3 (~14 miles, ~500’ gain, ~3200’ loss)
9am Leave Camp
2:30pm Arrive at Dosewallips River Road End
6pm Arrive at Obstruction Peak trailhead
7pm Begin Dinner on way home