Forum Index > Trip Reports > Bacon Peak - 18-19 August, 2018
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Paul M
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Paul M
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 4:14 pm 
Craig W and I climbed a very smokey Bacon Peak this past weekend. Now you’ve probably heard it is said that everything is better with Bacon……. and Smoked Bacon is even better…… but not as Smokey as we had it this weekend! Prior reports on NW hiker and Summit Post describe the route from the Anderson Butte/Watson Lakes trail that crosses the northern flank of Mount Watson to gain access to the high basin SW of Bacon Peak. Some even mention how tedious the off trail portion of the trip is. Well we agree 100%. The route is not difficult but involves a good 11+ miles (RT) of off trail travel with plenty of up and down. Given the annoying bugs, the copious ripe blue & huckleberries, the endless scree side hilling, and unrelenting smoke this past weekend we found that the route took us much longer than we had anticipated. We took a full 11 hrs to get to camp on day one and ended up taking 14+ hrs on day two to summit and get back out. The surrounding views were almost non-existent due to the smoke in the air all weekend making for some surreal photos…. and lousy breathing too. ~16 miles round trip and ~7,000 ft total elevation gain
Trail boardwalk
Trail boardwalk
Distracting berries all weekend long
Distracting berries all weekend long
Smokey Bacon somewhere in the haze
Smokey Bacon somewhere in the haze
Traversing below Watson Peak in the smokey haze
Traversing below Watson Peak in the smokey haze
Countless tarns along the route
Countless tarns along the route
Splash of color in the lunar landscape
Splash of color in the lunar landscape
Craig traversing the endless scree and slabby ridges on the north side of Watson
Craig traversing the endless scree and slabby ridges on the north side of Watson
Our camp is somewhere up in the smokey basin across the valley
Our camp is somewhere up in the smokey basin across the valley
Camp at 5700 ft below Bacon Peak
Camp at 5700 ft below Bacon Peak
Sandy camp spot
Sandy camp spot
Another good camp location at 5900 ft
Another good camp location at 5900 ft
Glacier NW of Bacon
Glacier NW of Bacon
Objective finally in view
Objective finally in view
Route crosses the rocky ridge at the left side of the glacier to gain easier terrain leading to the summit
Route crosses the rocky ridge at the left side of the glacier to gain easier terrain leading to the summit
Craig coming over the ridge
Craig coming over the ridge
Craig ascending the final snow slope towards the summit
Craig ascending the final snow slope towards the summit
Bacon Peak summit benchmark
Bacon Peak summit benchmark
Surreal sights with all of the fire smoke
Surreal sights with all of the fire smoke
Craig descending the summit ridge
Craig descending the summit ridge
Impressive Quartz vein
Impressive Quartz vein

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Redwic
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Redwic
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 4:15 pm 
I actually ate smoked bacon at the summit, so it is appropriate that the entire trip was surrounded by smoke. However, I did not enjoy how the smoke affected breathing and sight/views, plus some water in the area tasted and/or smelled like ash. Yuck. Here are some photos. You might catch a theme:
Anderson Meadow (smoke above)
Anderson Meadow (smoke above)
Watson Lakes (smoke above)
Watson Lakes (smoke above)
Steep meadow (smoke above)
Steep meadow (smoke above)
Frozen tarn below (smoke above)
Frozen tarn below (smoke above)
Smoked Bacon, in the distance
Smoked Bacon, in the distance
"Which way to the smoke?"
"Which way to the smoke?"
Smokey view of camp shelf
Smokey view of camp shelf
Nice camp (with smokey views)
Nice camp (with smokey views)
NW Bacon Glacier (plus smoke)
NW Bacon Glacier (plus smoke)
Paul heading towards smokey summit
Paul heading towards smokey summit
Near summit (and more smoke)
Near summit (and more smoke)
Enjoying Smoked Bacon
Enjoying Smoked Bacon

60 pounds lighter but not 60 points brighter.
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Silas
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 7:01 pm 
Thanks for the smokey report. How did the approach to Bacon, via Watson, compare to the approach to Blum, if you have ever done that?

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Paul M
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Paul M
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 7:26 pm 
siaumell wrote:
How did the approach to Bacon, via Watson, compare to the approach to Blum
Yeah, I was thinking about that question too after this weekend..... I did Blum last year about the same time. https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8025319 Bacon is technically easier but the route is longer and there are some tricky spots just getting to camp. The old fishermans "trail" getting up to camp below Blum is reasonably easy to follow going up but seems horrible coming down and we lost it numerous times as we were overtaken by darkness making for a very long day coming out. I know people have day climbed both but I think they would make for very long days for sure.

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Silas
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Silas
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 7:47 pm 
Sweet, yeah I remember that trip report from last year. We went up Blum on August 1st last year. A beautiful climb, but the approach and descent were divorce-worthy. We want to do the high traverse from Blum-Hagan-Bacon. Which way do you think would be best?

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Paul M
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Paul M
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 7:56 pm 
That I don't know. We had zero views north to Hagan - Blum. Maybe going up Blum and coming out Bacon? But I suspect people have done it both ways. I know there are reports on line for this traverse somewhere.

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