3 days Snoqualmie Pass North Traverse trip report
Chutang and I planned a three-day traverse north of Snoqualmie Pass. We started at Snoqualmie Pass and followed the PCT Section J to the Mineral Creek trailhead. Along the way, we climbed three Snoqualmie Peaks, two of which are also Smoot peaks: Mount Thompson, Huckleberry Mountain, and Chikamin Peak.
We left a car at the Mineral Creek trailhead and spent the night at a nearby campground on Thursday, 08/07. On Friday morning, we drove to the Snoqualmie Pass PCT north trailhead and started hiking at 7:41 AM, heading toward Ridge Lake. The hike along the PCT was pleasant, but Section J is very busy. Even on a Friday morning, there were many people on the trail.
It took us about 4 hours and 30 minutes to reach Ridge Lake and Gravel Lake. We went at a steady pace with a few breaks to enjoy the views and take photos. Carrying climbing gear for Huckleberry Mountain made our backpacks heavier.
At Ridge Lake, we found two tents already set up. We chose to camp on the Gravel Lake side, where there are many established campsites. We were the first to set up there, but by the time we returned to camp, I counted over ten tents around the lakes.
After setting up our tent and hanging our food, we headed toward Mount Thompson. A short 0.4-mile walk brought us to the foot of Bumblebee Pass. The trail fork wasn’t very obvious, but GPS made it easy to find. We climbed a steep trail up Bumblebee Pass. At the top, both Chutang and I were amazed by how massive and rugged Mount Thompson looked.
We descended into the basin and climbed through talus and scree fields to reach a U-shaped notch. Most of the route had obvious boot path. After the notch, we followed the boot path to the summit, but occasionally lost it and had to make some class 3-4 moves. On the way down, we realized that if you stay on route, there is nothing harder than class 3. If you find something harder than class 3, you can likely find an easier way around.
The crux of the route was a 20-foot class 4 dihedral just below the summit. We changed into climbing shoes and soloed it. If your group has inexperienced climbers, setting up a handline would be helpful. The summit offered a 360-degree view of the Snoqualmie Pass area. There was a summit register and a pen.
After enjoying the view, we started descending. We did a short rappel using an existing anchor just above the crux. The webbing looked new — thanks to whoever added it! There was another rappel station below the dihedral, but we didn’t use it since we weren’t sure where it went. It also wasn’t necessary because the rest of the descent was class 3 or easier.
The whole round trip from camp took about six hours. We returned to camp around 7 PM. I took a quick dip in Ridge Lake — the water was surprisingly not very cold and felt very refreshing!
GPS: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2938165