Labor Day Jackpot! Circle Peak 9.6.21
One year ago today we were in our RV trying to get out of Washington State alive as fifty fires ignited in one morning. With the smoke so thick visibility was down to mere feet on the interstate, traffic came to a dead stop as the winds howled and acrid smoke burned our throats. Thankfully we escaped but it was an extremely scary and dangerous situation and a day I will never forget.
Fast forward to Labor Day 2021. For the calendar challenged, that would be today. This morning Neighbor Greg and I set out in Mr. Green Jeens for a great climb. Our mountain was only a 2.5 mile climb of just 1,700’, fairly easy by our standards. It was supposed to be sunny but at the start of our hike clouds hovered in the trees and any possible views were shrouded in the mist. We were both fairly confident (hopeful) that the morning cloud layer would burn off and truth be told, the clouds kept the temperature nice and cool for gaining altitude.
Almost immediately upon hitting the trail we began to see big, fat juicy huckleberries, followed by plump ripe sweet blueberries. These two delicious fruits lined the trail almost the entire way. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many ready to pick berries on a hike. There could not have been any bears in the area because it seemed like every bush along the trail and as far as we could see off into the woods was loaded with big ripe berries. It would have taken us several months to reach our summit if we succumbed to temptation so we decided to hold off on berry gorging until the way down.
Huckleberries ripe for the pickin’
As we had expected (hoped), the farther up the trail we climbed the more the clouds began to burn off. After crossing a creek and climbing up through some beautiful meadows we came to a break on the ridge that gave us our first glimpse of our destination. Blue skies above boded well and it seemed that with each step the sun shone a little brighter, the sky turned a little bluer and the clouds slowly melted away.
First view of the summit block
Soon we left the trees and climbed a series of switchbacks up through lovely meadows to the top of a ridge line. The fall colors were clearly beginning to show and with a perfect hiking temperature it was a joy hiking up to the ridge.
Upper meadows below the ridge
Lovely hillside covered in fireweed
As we crested the ridge, a beautiful lake was nestled into the bowl far below us.
Good spot for camping and a swim!
Instead of dropping to the lake we followed the ridge crest a short way to a final little climb up to our summit. We weren’t actually on the true summit but getting to it from the false summit required a bit of scrambling. We probably could have done it but the views would not have been any better so we plunked down right there and surveyed the scene spread out before us.
Neighbor Greg on the false summit
When we first arrived at the false summit the clouds were still obscuring a lot of the peaks but we could tell they were in the process of burning off so we broke out our lunches and waited. We had not seen a single person so far. Greg and I spent almost two hours up on top as we watched the clouds burn off, revealing a sea of peaks in every direction. We identified dozens of peaks near and far and this spot was an incredible perch to view all these familiar peaks from a new angle since neither of us had ever been to this spot before.
Sloan Peak poking through the mist
Clouds parting off Dome Peak
Bonanza Peak, the tallest non-volcanic peak in Washington State
Dome Peak. In my opinion, one of the most dramatic peaks in the state
Mt. Buckindy with its bright orange rock
Meadow Mountain with Glacier Peak towering behind
White Chuck Mountain
Meadow Mountain and Glacier Peak. I’ve never seen Glacier Peak with so little snow on it. Scary.
This is an interesting shot. In the foreground is Green Mountain which I have climbed several times. If you look close you can see the lookout on the summit near the right side of the photo. Directly behind it is another one of the Cascade giants, Mt. Buckner. The jagged peak on the left side of the photo is Mt. Misch. I just love how incredibly rugged the North Cascades are!
After two incredible hours sitting on top of the peak we finally packed up and began to head down. To have the entire summit to ourselves for that length of time was a rare treat and it wasn’t until we were well off the summit block that we met our first people on their way up. I think we saw a total of five people the entire day which was almost mind-boggling for such a short climb to such amazing views. This was mostly due to the fact that this trail had been abandoned and the access road had been closed for many years (which was why we had never been there) and had only re-opened fairly recently.
On our way down we picked a massive amount of huckleberries and blueberries so tomorrow Bridgit is making us her special blueberry coffee cake recipe with fresh wild berries. Life is good!