With this nasty weekend forecast prefaced by such a nice day on Friday I opted for a sunset hike. Initially I was going to grab Humpback, but I've done that one a few times in the past two years so I settled on something I've never done: Margaret. A quick check on WTA showed that this peak is ordinarily short and straightforward with just over 5 miles and 2000' gain round trip, but there were no recent TRs on WTA and nothing on peakbagger either. Knowing I might get thwarted by snow and/or routefinding I went for it anyways.
The drive up to the spur parking lot was snow free with only a lingering patch at the bend in the road. I first mistakenly started up the overgrown road past the TH lot but after 5 min of schwacking backtracked and hiked up the road to the proper trail start. Snow patches began in the forested trail section around 4100' and became continuous around 4400' (with the exception of the short road section at that elevation). I passed a hiker with a dog here and despite there being 2 cars at the TH, she's the only person I saw all evening. She indicated she had just turned around with no summit.
I sniffed my way up to the ridge. There were some older boottrack remnants and I sometimes followed them and sometimes just picked the path of least resistance up to 5200' and started traversing. The traverse felt tedious and I opted to stay high rather than try to follow the way along the trail to Lake Lillian. Eventually I gave up fighting and went up to the ridge to the summit of S Margaret. It was 8:00 at that point and I deliberated if this would be my summit. I decided I could navigate out of this place even in the dark so I ran the ridge to Margaret (20 more min). After enjoying the views here I dropped back to the saddle, descended to the 5200' countour and followed that until I hit my track on the way up. My dog helped me stay mostly on that track as it dropped down and faded in spots. At twilight I hit the road at 4400' and put on a headlamp. We got to the car at 10pm and it was still warm and pleasant (and dry!) out. A very nice sunset hike!
When my son and I climbed Margaret we happened upon a single-engine plane crash on its flanks. Coming upon crashes is always a sobering moment. If I was more adept at ntsb.gov searches I could read about it.
When my son and I climbed Margaret we happened upon a single-engine plane crash on its flanks. Coming upon crashes is always a sobering moment. If I was more adept at ntsb.gov searches I could read about it.
I once ran into a plane crash on Rainier near our camp at the top of the Turtle Snow Field. There were air force markings. We reported it to the NP rangers who were thrilled with the info as they had been trying to clean it up but weren't sure where the debris was (this was very late season - September)
A quick check on WTA showed that this peak is ordinarily short and straightforward with just over 5 miles and 2000' gain round trip, but there were no recent TRs on WTA and nothing on peakbagger either. Knowing I might get thwarted by snow and/or routefinding I went for it anyways.
Thanks for the detailed TR, Stephen B. I've often looked at Margaret for an after-work hike but have also been deterred by the puzzling lack of TRs (a hike along I-90 with Rattlesnake-esque stats that doesn't get a lot of love? There must be something wrong with it...).
The views in your photos look pretty cool. Any chance you spotted the spur trail to Margaret Lake? Have always planned to do both the lake and the peak when I finally get out there.
The views in your photos look pretty cool. Any chance you spotted the spur trail to Margaret Lake? Have always planned to do both the lake and the peak when I finally get out there.
Hey Moose,
Yes, the views were quite nice. I have been up Rampart Ridge, Alta and Hibox among others visible from Margaret and always appreciate looking at peaks I've summitted from another perspective. The view of Rainier is quite nice from S Margaret (occluded by trees on Margaret).
On the ascent I actually walked right up to the sign for the turnoff to the lake. The sign poked out above the snow, but the trail is all under snow. I did not look over the edge to see how managable the route would be. Both the lake and the smaller tarn above it were mostly iced over.
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