[TR] North Cascades - Triple Rainbow High Route 09/21/2019

[Kyle M]

Trip: North Cascade National Park / Lake Chelan National Recreation Area - Triple Rainbow High Route

Trip Date: 09/21/2019

Trip Report:

 

@thedylan and I did a fun fall high route from Bowan Mountain to Stilleto Peak. It had three distinct off trail sections, the most stunning of which was Rainbow Ridge, so we decided to call it the Triple Rainbow High Route. Even though the larches were not quite full on, it was still just such a beautiful and inspiring day, with miles and miles of larches and carpets of red. We found the off trail travel to be generally very easy, with some more annoying north facing moraine descents, but nothing really over class 2 or so.

 

In total, it was 30 miles (about 12 "off-trail") and 9.5k ft gain. It took us just under 13 hrs c2c, but we didn't always chose the optimal path, took some wrong trails in the dark, and took hundreds of photos. This is really an underappreciated area, and magnificent in the fall time!

Cool rock on the McGregor Massif.

Dome Peak and larches.

Looking across Rainbow Ridge from the shoulder of Bowan.

Lovely Rainbow Ridge.

Cruising through larch groves.

McAlester Pass.

Another nice meadow.

Looking at Twisp Lake from the south.

Endless larches and red carpets.

Another marvelous basin beneath Switchblade Peak.

Getting towards Stilleto.

Looking down to Rainy Pass.

Stilleto Lookout Site.

Beautiful meadows on the way down.

@thedylan looking like a running star or something.

Fun route!

Gear Notes:
Running shoes, poles.

Approach Notes:
PCT down bridge creek, then Rainbow Pass trail up to Rainbow Pass.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Kyle M

[mountainsloth]

Wow. Looks fun. So many adventures, so little time. 

Nice work on the marathon+ in a day. Wish my knee could handle that kind of “love” again.  😁

[2OldAnd2Slow]

Beautiful photos--thanks for sharing.  Looks like a fun trip (but multiple days for me!).

[geosean]

Wow, nice work guys! That looks amazing.