Trip Report
Winterish Scramble - First Top & Point 4795
A gorgeous day with stunning views, wonderful people, and a great workout to boot (of all kinds, hiking, scrambling, & navigation). A beautiful trip made even better by unseasonably warm temperatures (at least during the day) and prior snow melting that allowed us to leave the snowshoes at the cars.
Dave Morgan
- Sun, Jan 18, 2026
- Winter Scramble - First Top & Point 4795 Loop
- First Top & Point 4795 Loop
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Essentially spring/summer conditions with continuous snow limited to elevations above ~5000’ on First Top, and ~4500’ on Point 4795. Only a bit of snow at Lake Angeles with almost zero snow for all trail travel.
On the face of it this trip’s statistics make it appear extreme (well yes, it was pretty tough at ~14 miles/5700’ gain ;), yet the scrambling and navigation sections are interleaved with hiking on wonderfully maintained trails that give you time for one set of muscles (physical or mental) to engage while the others have some breathing room (aided by sparkling conversations the entire time ;). The maps at the end of this report show how these activities are mixed throughout the day.
Our party used a variety of means to achieve our 9am rendezvous time at the Lake Angeles/Heather Park trailhead (just outside the Hurricane Ridge park entrance, with paved road the entire way). Some camped at Dungeness Spit the night before, while most of us took the ferry and drove over in the morning.
We were soon on our way, and after a bit of hiking and cross country travel were soon at our first summit, First Top (elevation 5510’). The enjoyment and sweeping views are evident as we start our descent:
By Dave Morgan
We are soon back to the start of our 2nd episode of cross country travel (elevation ~3200’) for a party separation and food/water break.
By Leaf Petersen
Making our way down to intersect the Lake Angeles Trail.
By Lee Heustis
The toughest part of the day mentally was the moment we reached the Lake Angeles Trail at 2600’. The attraction of the cars (just over 1 mile away and downhill) was quite palpable, yet we resisted the urge, and at ~3pm turned right (and uphill) towards Lake Angeles and our 2nd summit, Point 4795.
Just at sunset from Point 4795, a timely glimpse of Victoria, Port Angeles, and Lake Dawn (the location of our cars)…
By Dave Morgan
…with smiles belying the miles of headlamp travel ahead of us.
By Max Parsons
After a bit of nocturnal brush bashing we were soon back to trail travel at Lake Angeles, and after a nice hike, reached the cars at 7:30pm.
By Leaf Petersen
A wonderful day in the mountains on this 14 mile/5700’ elevation gain trip. Our total time was 10 hours car to car. Photographs from this and other trips to this venue can be seen here, as well as here and here.
The following maps show the mixture of activities throughout the day. The solid red lines are the scrambling/navigation/brushcraft portions, with the dotted lines the hiking parts.
