Beta request: Mount Mystery

[brother]

Has anybody taken the Heather Creek trail (abandoned) from the Dungeness all the way to Gunsight Pass near Mystery?

[k.rose]

Have not gone to gunsight this way, but I did climb Mt. Mystery from the end of this trail once years ago. I remember it being a long day.

[Norman_Clyde]

About five or six years ago I climbed Mystery via Del Monte Ridge. I descended into the Dungeness drainage near the peak in order to gain access to the east ridge, then returned the same way. In mid July this involved moderate snow slopes, easily ascended/descended with one axe and no crampons. It might have approached 45 degrees near the top.

If you plan to climb Mystery from the Dungeness approach, I wouldn't bother going around the mountain to Gunsight Pass. Just go up from the saddle East of the peak, between the Dungeness and Deception Glacier drainages. The route is obvious from the saddle. Expect lots of loose rock.

[Flying_Ned]

The Heather Creek approach is a jungle now in the lower basin. Two years ago we looped through here up to the ridge, then north to Goat Lake and back down to Handy. Travel up the riverbed is not difficult, but the route quickly becomes a quagmire. You might consider this as a winter approach, when the alder is under 6 feet of snow. Otherwise, Del Monte or Deception Creek approaches are much more favorable this time of year.

[Crux]

Hiked from Gunsight Gap to saddle at headwater of Heather Creek -- by way of Delmonte Ridge and summit of Mystery.