[TR] Tokaloo Rock (Sunset Ridge bailure) - Standard 06/29/2025

[JasonG]

Trip: Tokaloo Rock (Sunset Ridge bailure) - Standard

Trip Date: 06/29/2025

Trip Report:

 

Sometimes prudence is the better part of valor....or at least that is what @Trent and I told ourselves as the murk cleared and we had our first good look at Sunset ridge after walking in for 10 miles in our venerable Lowa Civettas.  We were camped at what we thought was going to be our "low" camp, next to some partially melted tarns to the NE of Andrew Benchmark, above St. Andrews park.  Our high camp was planned for about 11.1k on Sunset ridge the next day.  However, the entire upper mountain was very boney in the fading light and it looked like a several hundred vertical foot section of the ridge where the route went was completely bare of snow (~11.5-12k).  Hmmmm.

 

We had enjoyed the scenic ramble in from the NPS gate at their chosen spot on the still very drivable West Side Road earlier that day.  Lush forest, interesting geology, wildflowers, and swirling mists, it was unlike most approaches to the highest point in WA.

But then we got to camp and the predicted clearing didn't materialize and so we sat, napped, and stewed.

But then, like magic, the veil was lifted and Tahoma was revealed!

As was the camp of a neighbor, who had snuck up on us in the mists.  We would find out the next day that it was none other than our very own @DPS, who I had last climbed with back in 2005!  But as we turned in for the night, @Trent and I both agreed that we didn't want to climb Sunset the next day.  We wanted to climb it in good conditions, not just climb it, and it was plain that it was not in good nick.

And so we turned in for the night.  I admit I wrestled with the decision throughout the night and didn't sleep that well.  Were we just being old and scared?  Would the route have gone fine?  I felt like we never would know (actually, that was wrong- see below).  But the next day dawned clear and bright and the least we could do was take a ramble up to Tokaloo Rock with light packs.  It truly is a glorious side of the mountain and it was hard to complain about "missing out" on Sunset Ridge.

Adams:

Tokaloo Spire!  From this side it looks very stout, which @Fairweather confirms below.  Maybe easier from the other side?  Looked blockier but neither really matches the Beckey description.  Maybe another time!

@Trent rambling up towards the top of Tokaloo Rock:

Cumbre!  What a view of the West side of Tahoma:

Tokaloo Spire and St. Helens from the summit:

Lovely parklands and Adams:

We couldn't ignore how far we were from the car, however and in time retraced our steps back to camp and packed up.  There was cell service up there so I checked if the nearby "Andrew" benchmark was on any peak lists.  Turns out it on the "Mountaineers 100 Peaks in Mount Rainier National Park".  As @Trent says, It must be climbed!

And, so it was.  @Trent admiring the view from summit #2 of the day:

And then began the ramble out in our plastics.... which was long, but at least it was hot!  My feet took a beating.

Tahoma from the Puyallup River crossing on the Wonderland trail.  Sunset ridge is the left skyline.  That bare section is I think where @Nick Sweeney got to before they bailed (description and link below):

The hike out through the lush forest was just as beautiful as the hike in, even if a bit longer (it always seems that way doesn't it?).  Even though we didn't even get very high on the mountain, this route has set the hook in me.  There is just something about climbing the entire mountain that appeals to me, and is a feeling that is easy to escape on the more common Rainier routes.  Sunset is long enough, we a low enough start to be very sporting.  We will be back!

RESPECT:

Western Tiger Swallowtail:

Gear Notes:
snow gear if there is snow.... easy class 3 scrambling to the top of the rock. The Spire is considerably harder

Approach Notes:
West side road to South Puyallup Trail to Wonderland Trail to off trail near St. Andrews Park. Good camps at tarns just NE of Andrew Benchmark

[olyclimber]

Sorry it didn’t happen for you brother, and I hope you can get to it in better conditions. But a nice hike regardless.

[bedellympian]

Kyle Tarry and @Nick Sweeney tried it a few weeks ago too. Sounds like they had a similar experience. 

[Fairweather]

0 for 2 on Tokaloo Spire. The old piton is there, but looks pretty worthless--and the fall is a big swing. Next time we will try climber's left. 

[Nick Sweeney]

Some notes and photos from our attempt to 12,400'. Definitely not a good year for it, that couloir descent was pretty scary with all the rockfall.

 

https://spokalpine.com/2025/07/03/rainier-sunset-ridge-attempt/

[JasonG]

Ha!  Well, @Trent and I may be old but at least we still can armchair mountaineer with the best of them.  Sorry to hear about your trip @Nick Sweeney (and happy you survived!), but glad to know we made the correct call. 

Thanks for the write-up!  I'll finish this, this week.

[JasonG]

21 hours ago, Fairweather said:

0 for 2 on Tokaloo Spire. The old piton is there, but looks pretty worthless--and the fall is a big swing. Next time we will try climber's left. 

Was that up the NW side?  That thing is pretty impressive!  My first time up close...

[Fairweather]

Less than 35 feet to go! I guess it would be the east ridge as our backs were to the Tahoma Glacier. Whether to go right or left here was beyond us.

[JasonG]

I'm thinking the other side of the spire 180 degrees looked the the probably first ascent line?  But certainly neither this nor that aspect perfectly match the Beckey description.  FWIW, I was thinking that from this side the route would step down and right from the notch into that crack system to the right and then up.  But it didn't look easy!

[Fairweather]

We tested that. It's a really nice horizontal hand-sized crack that leads right into the vertical system, about 20 feet moving rightward. Only problem is no foot holds, completely smooth--and its a long vertical drop.