Trip Report
Winter Scramble - Boulder & Everett Peaks
A decent scramble, with excellent views. Could be led more often.
Tom Girard
- Sat, Nov 2, 2019 — Sun, Nov 3, 2019
- Winter Scramble - Boulder & Everett Peaks
- Olympic Hot Springs, Boulder Lake & Appleton Pass
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Route probably in the best shape it is ever in. Brush has died off, and there was minimal snow. Microspikes useful in a few places.
Photos by Amrit Panda and Tom Girard
We planned this as a two day trip, due to the bike ride and time of year. It could be done in one long day when the days are longer.
First day was rather leisurely, riding the bike 8 miles, and stopping frequently for views. We ate lunch at the spot where the dam used to be. After the bike ride, hiked 2 miles to the campground, setup camp and then checked out the hot springs. Despite the long road walk, there were several people at the springs.
Next day we overslept an hour due to the time change, and started hiking at 7:30 (instead of 6:30 as intended). Hiked to Boulder Lake (which would also be an excellent camp site), and examined our options. We decided to take the north ridge, so we hiked .10 mile past the bear wire and toilet, and then headed directly west up to the north ridge. We follow the ridge towards the summit, occasionally dropping off on the east (left) side. Near the summit it gets very steep.
Summit has 360 degree views of the northern Olympics, including a great view of Olympus to the south.
On the way down we thought we could descend via the east ridge, but this proved impossible (for us). Instead we dropped down until we reached the avalanche gully and followed that back to the lake. We both agreed that the north ridge was better.
Yuck:
Back to camp, packed up and hiked (and biked) out. Back at Madison falls trailhead by 4:30pm.
