Exploring above Twin Lakes/Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, WA, 9.04.24
Way back in 2014, Bridgit and I drove the rugged road above the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead to Twin Lakes. We backpacked up to the Winchester Mountain Lookout over Labor Day weekend that year and spent the night in the fire lookout on the summit. For those interested, here is a link to that report. Winchester Mountain.
As we gazed at the splendor all round us, one of the things that really caught my eye was the ridge on the opposite side of Twin Lakes. There were no peak names and no trails on any maps leading up there, but I thought it looked feasible to climb up that ridge and get a unique perspective on the surrounding peaks.
Unnamed ridge and Point 6,500' as seen from Winchester Lookout in 2014
Fast forward ten years. Neighbor Greg and I made our way back up the Twin Lakes road to do an exploratory hike up the ridge. For the first five or six miles to the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead, the dirt road isn’t too bad if you don’t mind numerous potholes. Once you pass that trailhead, the road gets a lot rougher. My Jeep had no trouble at all, but there were some pretty good sized ruts, holes and rocks to negotiate along the way. The last mile has steep switchbacks with dropoffs off the side of the road, but we laugh in the face of danger and boldly made it up to the lakes. There were several other vehicles already there and some campers in the sites near the lakes. We did see a Suburu Outback but I’d bet money it bottomed out at least once on the way up.
There are three trails that take off from Twin Lakes. As mentioned, one goes up to the summit of Winchester Mountain where there is a fire lookout. As tremendous as the views are from there, an even better trail wraps around the back side of Winchester Mountain, climbs up to a ridgeline and follows the ridge up towards Mount Larrabee. Greg Dilley, Neighbor Greg and I took that trail up to a high promontory in late September of 2018. The blueberries were insane that day but I stray. Here is the link to that report. High Pass
Greg and I started hiking at 8:45. Our plan was to climb the ridge to the top of a 6,120’ rounded hump. From there we hoped to drop off the other side, make our way over to a saddle and climb an even higher point just north of Goat Mountain’s eastern summit. This taller point tops out at 6,500’. We began by making our way past a gate and hiked a road to Skagway Pass. From here the Selesia (sel-ee-jah) Creek Trail drops down into Selesia Creek and makes its way up the valley until it just dead ends. This was an old gold miner’s route and it is very seldom used anymore. Rather than drop down into Selesia Creek, just beyond Skagway Pass we turned to the south and began to make our way up a steep gully filled with loose rock and hard packed dirt. Greg practically scampered up the gully but for me it was slow going. Views got better and better with each step of the Border Peaks (Mount Larrabee, American Border Peak, Canadian Border Peak) and a whole row of peaks just across Selesia Creek in Canada.
One of the Twin Lakes with peaks beginning to show above the trees
Greg entering the gully. It's a lot steeper and longer than it looks!
Just to be cruel, nature threw in a few false summits. As we reached the top of the gully the terrain leveled out and we were on the top of a very minor flat area at 5,600’. We still had another five hundred feet to go just to get to the top of the first hump. Before tackling that, we switched to shorts and slathered up with sunscreen.
Looking up at what I thought was the top of our hump. It turned out to be just another false summit. You can see Greg about halfway up.
The grind to the top of hump 6,120’ included one more false summit but from there we could now see down to Twin Lakes far below us. As we made it to the real top of the hump, we were also greeted with phenomenal views looking south to Mount Baker and the two horns of Goat Mountain. We could also now see our final objective. It looked a bit daunting but we had read one report from someone who had climbed it and if we followed his route it sounded like it was within our capabilities.
Twin Lakes from the top of hump 6,120'. Winchester Mountain is just left of center, the Border Peaks are right of center and Mount Slesse in Canada is back on the right.
From the top of hump 6,120’, we dropped off the south side and descended to a narrow ridge that led us towards Point 6,500’. The ridge wasn’t super long but it dropped off on both sides. Near where the ridge connected to Point 6,500’, we descended even further down to a rockslide. Crossing the rockslide, we then had to regain all that elevation as we climbed onto the south shoulder of the point. I was starting to feel like if I pushed much further I would run the risk of my legs cramping up so I made the decision to stop at a spot on the shoulder with an in your face view of Goat Mountain right across from us. Greg did a short reconnaissance around the corner but also decided he was ready to stop. The summit was only three hundred more feet above us but it sure looked like a long way up there so we ended our exploration there, very satisfied with all we had seen and accomplished.
Beginning our descent from hump 6,120'. From right to left: Mount Baker, the two horns of Goat Mountain, Point 6,500'. The ridge we crossed is in the center.
Descending to the rockslide. From there we climbed to a spot just above and around the corner from the snow patch.
Beautiful Mount Baker from our stopping point
Goat Mountain east and west summits with Mount Baker
The view of the remaining vertical gain to the summit from our stopping point. Only three hundred feet but looks like more!
As it was still only 11:30, we thought we would get back to the top of hump 6,120’ before having lunch. From there it would be all downhill back to the Jeep, although that thought was a little misleading. Following the route we took to our stopping point, we retraced our steps down to the rockslide, across and then back up to the narrow ridge. Along the ridge was a good patch of huckleberries so I took a few minutes to fill a container with enough for a few pancakes before moving on. The trudge back up to the top of hump 6,120’ really wasn’t too bad but we were glad to have the uphill done for the day and settled down for lunch on some rocks with a killer view that stretched from Yellow Aster Butte all the way past the border peaks and Mount Slesse, along an entire chain of Canadian peaks to the Picket Range far off to the east. I was particularly happy to have remembered to utilize my Peakfinder app to identify many of the peaks in Canada I’d seen before but never knew what they were.
On our way back to hump 6,120' which is in the center of this photo
Closeup of the summit of 7,294' Tomyhoi Peak
Greg and Goat Mountain's east summit
Final climb back up hump 6,120'
One last look back across the ridge to Point 6,500'. We made it to the trees on the ridgeline above the snow patch.
Closeup of the Winchester Mountain lookout from hump 6,120'
Looking across at High Pass. In 2018 Greg, Greg and I veered off of the Winchester Mountain trail on the left, accessed the ridge and climbed to the point above the white rock band in the center of the photo.
Peakfinder shot of a bunch of Canadian peaks
Closeup of 8,956' Mount Redoubt in the far north of North Cascades National Park
For those who love mountain symmetry, North and South Nesakwatch Spires and Mount Rexford in Canada
After lunch, peak gawking and more photos it was time to head back. With already tired legs, the descent down hump 6,120’ was taxing but the even steeper drop down the gully full of loose rock and hard packed dirt was very slow going. But as you can see from this report, we made it back alive, extremely pleased with our exploration, despite not reaching the summit of Point 6,500’. The end point isn’t necessarily the mark of success or failure. The journey is what really matters.
Heading back down the gully towards Skagway Pass
One final look at hump 6,120' on the left and Point 6,500' on the right from down the road at the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead