Trip Report
Mount Stone/South Couloir
Great scramble, incredible views all day, very tough and very rewarding. Route in great shape: trail peters out a bit at the "frog pond," but the Summitpost.org beta for this trail is helpful in figuring out where to continue on, as are occasional ribbons and cairns.
Benjamin Brown
- Thu, Jul 28, 2016
- Mount Stone/South Couloir
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road rough but passable
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No hazards on trail, snowfields avoidable this late in the summer. Water plenty accessible up to the brushy gulley immediately following the "frog pond," make sure to fill up at that little stream because it's still a hard scramble to the summit! Bugs present but tolerable. No goats this time, but plenty of goat evidence.
Outstanding scramble on a lovely summer day with a fellow Mountaineer from the Olympia branch! The road in is in good shape except for some extremely large (and avoidable, with care) potholes on the dirt section, and two giant boulders in the road (also avoidable). The first 2/3 of the route is a steep hiking trail and pleasant to follow, and then some routefinding skills come into play as it turns into a proper climber's trail. We psyched ourselves up before the trip for the "class 4 moves at the summit block," but they ended up being pretty easy (and fun). Not a ton of exposure, but pretty steep, especially for me who hadn't done a rock scramble like this before! Great experience, great skill-building, and a tough, rewarding climb. I'm eager to try it again some time.
Check the beta at summitpost.org for assistance with routefinding. I'm trying to figure out how to attach my .GPX track to this trip report; until then, feel free to e-mail me if you would like a copy of it.