Unnamed lake - NW corner of park

[climbzemountains]

disclaimer: This topic is not summit-oriented. Stop reading now if you are obsessed with summits.

 

I've been hiking a bunch in the area around the Carbon River Ranger Station to train for an RMI 2-day summit climb (don't hate), and always wondered about this lake on the map. It's labelled as lake "4665", and pretty good in size (about 1/10th mile across looks like). It's just downslope from Alki Crest, and south of Sweet Peak.

 

 

The ranger there has never heard of anyone heading up that way, other than to tag Sweet Peak or Florence Peak. Has anyone been up there, or heard about people making their way up to the lake? If you have, I'd love to talk to you about route info and the such. Here is my planned route:

thin red is on trail, thick is off

 

I tried a few weeks ago, but got turned around early due to time restrictions and incoming weather. Looks like it will be a steep snow scramble (the stuff I was on seemed to be up to about 45 degrees) but seems do-able. Again, I'd love to hear from you if you've been up there before!

 

I'm also concerned with avy danger. No matter where I search, I can't find any info on whether you are completely safe in the trees. I'd assume the danger would be greatly decreased below tree line, is this true?

 

Looks like the best weather day will be Thursday, so I'll be headed up then to try again. I'll be back with how it goes! (and maybe my first Trip Report EVER?)

Thanks in advance for any response.

 

 

[Sheep]

might be a good idea to wait until summer to go bushwhacking

[climbzemountains]

Theres just something about winter that brings me out there this time of year.

 

Thanks for the tip!

[kweb]

I'm also concerned with avy danger. No matter where I search, I can't find any info on whether you are completely safe in the trees. I'd assume the danger would be greatly decreased below tree line, is this true?

You are never completley safe below tree line. An avalanche from above can still find you in the tress. The potential for an avalanche to trigger below the tree line is reduced.

 

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/encyclopedia/anchors.htm

[Phil K]

I've done Florence Peak as a winter snowshoe hike/ scramble, though years ago. That route very nearly follows the one your map shows. Although you are indeed "never completely safe" from avalanches, I don't recall much hazardous terrain, and going to the lake should be reasonable except under very unstable conditions. Driving to the TH is arguably as risky. If you have enough daylight, clear skies, and stable snow, mosey on over to the top of Florence to satisfy the peakbagger that lurks within and get a fairly good view of the N side of Rainier.

[climbzemountains]

On the route I'm taking I'm not really gonna be travelling under any tree-free terrain, so I think I'll be OK on the avalanche issue.

 

Yeah, Florence Peak is a cool scramble. I've been up to the top during summer, but never during winter. As far as I can remember, that last couple feet is pretty exposed, and I have limited snow scrambling experience. So if I have time maybe mosey'ing on over and checking out the last section would be a good idea, and deciding from there. We'll see.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Edited December 25, 2009 by climbzemountains

[Duchess]

Super easy to get to! Just follow the NPS boundary trail from the Rainforest Loop Trail, or the marked NPS boundary, up to the top of Alki Crest. Steep, but easy to follow. Then bushwhack up the crest to the lake.

 

If the timber is huge, you can assume that it is *fairly* well protected from avalanches. And there is huge timber up to Alki Crest. You just need to know what is above, and in this case. it's mostly timbered slopes above without substantial open slopes.