The highest peak in the Chiwaukum Mountains, a long but relaxed scramble
This is the first day of a 2-day combo ascent of Big Chiwaukum and Snowgrass Mountain. We climbed Big Chiwaukum on the first day with a camp at Grace Lakes. For the second day, please see the Snowgrass Mountain trip report: https://www.hippohamster.com/posts/snowgrass-mountain-south-ridge
Big Chiwaukum Mountain is the highest peak in the Chiwaukum Mountains. With a camp at Grace Lakes, it makes a long but relaxed mountain summit objective.
We started from the Whitepine Trailhead at 8 AM. The road to the trailhead is in decent shape, with a few small potholes. The first 6.7 miles of trail up to the turnoff are also in good shape for a mountain that isn't very popular. There are no downed trees, and water is readily available along the trail. Once you leave the trail, there aren't many convenient water sources.
At the obvious turnoff, we filled up on water and followed our GPS toward a somewhat prominent ridge. The bushwhacking was light, and we reached it quickly. From the ridge you can see the Grace Lakes below, and they are lovely! We stashed our overnight gear there and walked up the southwest slope toward the ridge.
Route finding isn't a big issue. The only place that needs some navigation is right below the summit, where you have to downclimb first and then climb up to a key ledge. After that, it's a pleasant short class 3 scramble to the summit, which has a register. The view was still hazy up top but was still able to see Glacier Peak, Snowgrass Mountain, the Enchantment peaks, and the Index area peaks.
