Stats: 8 miles and 4,500ft gain. Class 2/3. Strava track.
Gear notes: Ice ax and crampons carried but not needed.
White Cap Peak from Hwy 93.
This was supposed to be the week that we did our main group training climb for Mt. Rainier in June, but with the National Park that the mountain is located in being closed, we had no choice but to call it off (for now). I was still planning on getting out and Todd said he was in and Malachai jumped on at the last minute. I figured White Cap Peak would be fairly straight forward, although I was a bit worried that it was going to be tough on Malachai for a first time peak.
I had taken a good look at the peak earlier and could see an overhanging cornice above one of the major gullies that our potential route would follow. It was big enough that I could see it unaided from the road and it looked pretty monster through the binoculars. I figured the gully was wide enough that we could avoid the overhead danger, and if all else failed we would find another way.
We met up in Mackay and found some not great but free camping. After some dinner, a couple beers and a lovely rain/hail mix we were off to bed hoping that our apparent party animal neighbors weren't going to pull an all nighter. It was a cold night but I managed to sleep fairly well. We woke up at 5 to cold temps, clear skies and a bit of frost. I hopped in Todd's rig and he was able to muscle it up Sawmill Gulch Road and cut a big chunk of leg work out of the day.
We set off at 6:45, following the road to it's end, then following what we could of the unofficial trail. There was a decent amount of pretty hard snow in the canyon and we could hear running water underneath. At one point we were no longer able to follow the trail and we were short of the gully we wanted. After some brief conversation, we decided that instead of bushwhacking to get to where we wanted to be, we would just start up the the slopes to the left and get out of the canyon.
Early morning view of the White Knob Mountains.
Getting ready to hike.
View across the Lost River Valley.
Walking up the road.
Leatherman Peak a the head of Sawmill Gulch.
That worked quite well and we soon arrived at a nice bench, had a short rest and then began another push to the tree line. At this point we were at 10k and after more brief conversation Malachai had decided he was at his high point for the day. We made sure Chai was good-to-go and decided that we would split up (slight wince) and would regroup in about 2 hours. From there I could see that the ridge we wanted was not far and decided to keep the line we were on, aiming for the Col just northeast of point 11,045. Todd worked the snow and I stuck to the rocks. That overhanging cornice turned out to be a decent size and I was glad we were never under it. We arrived at the Col, had a short break then set off for the summit, skirting the rise in the ridge to the north to about 11,400.
Todd at a rest break.
Chai coming up the hill and probably thinking we're nuts for calling this fun.
Crossing an old avalanche track.
Bad Rock Peak.
Chai crossing some snow.
Bad Rock and Church.
From there it was a typical, albeit very scenic and kind of steep walk up. Conditions were cold and breezy on top and some pretty hefty cornices adorned the summit ridge. We summited at noon-thirty and only stayed long enough to snap our glory shots and gawk at the view. After maybe 10 minutes we headed back down to the Col for a nice break where it was relatively warm.
Todd climbing with Leatherman in the background.
View of the top of the gully and a small portion of the cornice.
Todd with the LRR crest in the background.
Summit push.
Close to the top.
Summit.
Me on the highpoint.
Todd on the highpoint.
Looking south-ish along the crest.
Mount Borah.
Looking north-ish.
There were a few decent fingers of snow to glissade and that made us quite pleased. Malachai was in fine shape and waiting for us as we descended to his position. Todd really wanted Chai to get some glissading time and the fresh blood jumped at the chance. After a quick snow climbing and glissading 101 course Chai was ripping glissades and self arresting like a pro.
White Knob's.
Pioneer's.
Glissading.
Chai the mountain climber. Photo: Todd C.
Glissading. Photo: Todd C.
We followed that finger of snow as low as we could, then bushwhacked in the direction of the mouth of the canyon until we found the trail again. The snow was very soft and sloppy on the way down and while we did post hole from time to time, I had to remind the guys that if your're not punching in at least knee deep, you're not doing it right.
While we were walking down, Todd graciously suggested that he could jog down, get his truck and drive back up to us. Malachai was in borrowed boots and developing some blisters. That allowed him to get his feet dry and save him some misery. Chai was fresh blood and got served up what I like to call the full mountain buffet. It's a little bit of everything; rain, snow, hail, wind, cold, hot and sunny, bushwhacking and blisters, all topped off with amazing views. While we didn't get any bug bites, I hope Chai at least got nibbled on by a big fat climbing bug. He has rock climbed, hiked, hunted and backpacked before, but this was his first attempt at a big peak and he hung in there like a champ.
