[TR] Middle peak of Mt Pershing - Route 2 (or 4 for South Peak) as far as I can tell 7/19/2008

[Drederek]

Trip: Middle peak of Mt Pershing - Route 2 (or 4 for South Peak) as far as I can tell

 

Date: 7/19/2008

 

Trip Report:

A funny thing happened on my way up Mt Stone... Looking for a little excercise and not too much commitment I headed up the Hamma Hamma for a day trip to Mt Stone. Had my bike as I'd heard the road was washed out a couple miles short of the Putvin trail. Sure enough it was (although it wouldn't take long to push a path thru it with a D9) and I started pedaling. Thought I would pick up the abandoned road from the main road and ride to where it crosses the Putvin. I missed it completely and found myself at the Mildred Lakes TH. No problem, a quick scan of the guidebook produced a new goal, Mt Pershing. I've looked at it many times from Mt Wa and Ellinor and from a hiking trip with my dad 25 years ago it seemed fairly straightforward. LOL. I remember looking across the valley at it and seeing scree from the valley floor up, much like the route description implies. I also remembered the trail being fairly obvious. after losing the trail and following some tape back to it I finally made it to the stream, where the guide says leave it (and the topo shows you already gone). After being unable to find the trail on the other side of the creek I figured I must be close so I headed SE up thru the forest, thinking I'd get up to a point where I could tell where I was and call it a scouting trip. The brush was nasty but had almost no Devils Club, a bonus for sure. Eventually I got on a ridge of sorts and glimpsed some high rock walls. Below them were cliffbands with overgrown scree ramps. I thought I was too far north but I started up, to get a better view of Stone if nothing else, telling myself I wouldn't climb anything I didn't want downclimb. A few fouthclass bits and 1000 feet later I checked my altitude and decided I was about 600 feet from the top of the north peak and the book said there was easier way down from it on the east side. So I continued, knowing I'd now be home late (and in trubbl) for sure. A few more nasty ramps and loose bits and I was looking up at a clean, 50', 5.9 chimney. Temptation led me up to the base but the little bit of good sense I possess finally bubbled up to the surface and I traversed around right and discovered I was not on N pk but the middle, doomed to retreat whence I came. With a few minor variations on the way down I eluded the fourthclass stuff and descended scree thru slide alder and Devils Club. I think I would not have made it up this part of the route I descended as it was slippery and steep but no prob with gravity assisting rather than hindering me. Ended up in a ravine with a pretty little creek in the bottom of it. A very distinctive feature which I had not crossed on the way up. Down was my mandate so off I went, eventually scrambling up out of it as I was not making very good time down there. No telling if I'd notice the 'trail' if I passed over it so I continued paralelling the creek, heading towards the TH, which in a clearing my gps informed me was just under 2 miles away and it was 5 pm. A short time later the terrain funneled me into the area where you cross the creek and I regained the trail. It seemed much easier to follow down and was not as bad as my memory of it. It was at this point I started seeing people hiking up to camp. I asked if they had headlamps and they gave me some looks! After walking the rest of the way and coasting down the road to my truck on my bike I was well satisfied and happy to be headed for an ice cream in Hoodsport.

 

Gear Notes:

pons and axe not needed

 

Approach Notes:

Take the guide's directions with grain of salt, it was probably written 30-40 years ago. Your results may vary.

[CPOly]

Nicely done, hopefully you didn't get in too much trouble for being a little late!