Trip Report
Winter Scramble - Arthur Peak (winter)
A rare visit to Falls Creek Falls and majestic winter views of Willis Wall on the northern aspect of Mount Rainier.
Dave Morgan
- Sat, Apr 15, 2017
- Winter Scramble - Arthur Peak
- Arthur Peak
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Great weather (sun breaks throughout the day) with freshly fallen snow starting at ~3400', and old snow with a hard crust (under the fresh snow) at ~4400' and above. Did not use snowshoes the entire day, but used micro-spikes/crampons on descent to aid with the hard crust.
After a bit of road walk we headed south through a true NW 'up close and personal' rain forest to reach Falls Creek Falls. We ascended the ridge starting immediately left of the falls to the summit. The lower portion of the ridge is broad and non-distinct, so we used game trails affording the best progress around large fallen trees and through scrub tree thickets made even more enjoyable by adornments of liquid/frozen moisture. Our ridge very nearly runs north/south and in the experience of myself as well as others on this trip has fewer cliffs than the other ridge to the east of this one (which is accessed via the Green Lake trail). Total trip time was 10.5 hours with 5 hours for ascent. Photos from this trip (as well as others) can be seen here.