Dust In The Wind - Goat Rocks Wilderness, Surprise Lake, Warm Lake, Gilbert Peak - 8.9.20 - 8.12.20, Part 2 of 3
As is typical, I was awake before the alarm had a chance to go off. I thought about just sleeping in but I knew I’d hate myself if I missed a good opportunity. Luckily it was pretty warm already so I grabbed my tripod, my zoom lens and my trusty Canon and crawled out to greet the day. My heart started beating faster as I immediately saw that the lake was like a big flat mirror and not a ripple could be seen. I set up the tripod and started shooting and it turned out to be just an incredibly beautiful morning.
First light
Warm Lake reflections
Calm as it gets
Morning light
We had a big day planned so once the golden hour for photography had passed we had breakfast and loaded up our day packs. Our goal this day was to climb Gilbert Peak. From all vantage points, this looks like a serious peak. We knew this would be a challenge for us but I felt confident we could handle it based on reports I’ve read. Greg wasn’t so sure. As he looked up at the peak he was clearly nervous but I kept saying to take each section one at a time and not look too far ahead. Most peaks look harder than they actually are yet we fully expected to be pushed to very edge of our comfort level if we were going to make it to the summit.
Our first move was to access Klickton Divide which is a long southeast trending ridge leading to Gilbert’s summit block. This involved a boot path up from Warm Lake directly to the top of the divide. It was steep but short and it only took about twenty minutes to access the divide.
Path up to Klickton Divide
Expansive view of the upper basin and Warm Lake from the approach to Klickton Divide
Mt Adams to the south from the top of Klickton Divide
Once up on the crest of the divide, we followed the ridge for a long way over towards Gilbert Peak. We had to bypass two rocky points on the ridge and this involved some minor scrambling with a few airy spots. Sometimes on the south side and sometimes on the north, a fairly easy to follow boot beaten path led over to the base of a steep hillside.
Part of the route over to Gilbert Peak
Once we made it past the two rock points, we had a stiff climb up a hillside through some scrubby trees and then another hill climb that led to a huge broad flat plateau directly in front of the massive summit block.
Route follows ridge to the top of the knob and then heads up and right to the plateau
Greg contemplating his next move
Cool looking volcanic plugs with Mt. Adams behind
The high plateau was really an interesting place. The Goat Rocks were directly in the path when St Helens blew her top in 1980 and tons of ash and rock were deposited on the Goat Rocks.
On the plateau with Gilbert’s summit block
Once across the plateau and again following a boot path, we worked our way up the ridge line and then curved around a bit to the south to avoid the cliffs. About two hundred feet from the summit we came to the end of any semblance of a trail. This was the beginning of the scramble section and poles were useless so we put them away. From here to the summit required hands and feet and very careful footwork.
Last section of any kind of path leads up and around the back of Gilbert Peak.
Greg working up the scramble section
Greg on the scramble section
Me near the summit
The scramble section was a bit airy at times and had a bit of loose rock to pay attention to but we both maneuvered well through the rock. We aimed for a notch between to pillars and once at the top of the notch two moves put us on the summit of the highest peak in the Goat Rocks, 8,201’ Gilbert Peak (also known as Mt. Curtis Gilbert). The summit area was very tiny and I could tell Greg was not that comfortable sitting up there with big cliffs dropping hundreds of feet all around him. We found the summit register and I signed us in. Greg took a few pictures and then decided to get off the summit and down below the scramble section. While all this was going on, the family of four that were also camped at Warm Lake arrived at the summit. The five of us managed to share the summit for a few moments before I took off to join Greg. The parents were in their mid-forties and both had grown up in backpacking and climbing families. The one daughter was about fourteen and the other daughter was nine. It was her very first backpacking trip and also her first summit. I couldn’t help but think of my dear friend Mike Kent who was also raised in a climbing family and was scurrying up fourteen thousand foot peaks at a tender age.
Author with the summit register
Stay tuned in for Part 3!