Jump to content

[TR] Mt Carrie - Catwalk Scramble 7/29/2017


bellows

Recommended Posts

Trip: Mt Carrie - Catwalk Scramble

 

Date: 7/29/2017

 

Trip Report:

Saturday I had a good day climbing my last peak in the Olympic Smoots. I tagged Bogachiel and Cat Peak as a bonus.

 

Driving over late Friday night I saw a cougar crossing the road near Lake Crescent. My first time seeing a cougar in the wild outside of Bellevue happy hours. Very cool!

01cougar.JPG

 

Early start on Saturday morning, I headed towards Deer Lake first so I could check out the Seven Lakes Basin area and hike up over Bogachiel Peak. Alpine flowers were on point as I traversed the High Divide:

02flowers.JPG

 

Looking back at Seven Lakes Basin somewhere along High Divide:

04sevenlakes.JPG

 

First view of Mt Carrie from High Divide:

03carrie.JPG

 

Mount Olympus was in my face for most of the day. At times I could pick out climbers on the Snow Dome.

05olympus.JPG

 

The "catwalk" part of the route seemed almost negligible. It blows me away the variation found in Olympic "class 3". After the catwalk I found ghosts of a bootpath up the west ridge of Carrie. The snow in the basin below the summit could be easily avoided by going above it. Crampons ended up being carried for training weight only:

07carrie.JPG

 

Views were sublime from the top on a cloudless day. Olympus again:

08olympus.JPG

 

Carrie Glacier and the Bailey Range:

09carrie.JPG

 

More flowers:

10flowers.JPG

 

On the return trip I went up and over Cat Peak. The ascent up the east side was easy. The descent down the west side was probably the crux of the trip with steep schwacking thru scrubby trees. Looking back on Cat Peak with Carrie behind:

11catpeak.JPG

 

Finally to Heart Lake where I returned via the slightly shorter Sol Duck trail.

12heartlake.JPG

 

Loop:

loop2.JPG

 

I may have finished the Olympics peaks in Smoot's book, but seems I've barely scratched the surface of this wild and beautiful range.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Trail runners and trekking poles

 

Approach Notes:

The loop via Deer Lake adds a few miles and ~800' of elevation and is well worth the extra effort

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Replies 3
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...