The road up to the Irving Pass trailhead is in good shape. I walked up to the pass and then turned east, going over Irving Peak and on out to Peak 6359, the high point on the eastern part of Wenatchee Ridge. A few bits of trail and a little flagging up to Irving Peak. Previous trip reports advised against descending the east ridge of Irving, so I dropped steeply off the north side of the ridge just east of the summit to lower angle terrain and did a descending traverse to the 5000' saddle below Peak 5882. There were a succession of boulder fields coming off the ridge and it was easy travel near their base. I eventually hit a good game trail that took me to the saddle.
I went up Peak 5882 and then down through open meadows as I started to descend to the saddle on its east side. It was a steep climb from that 5400' saddle up to Peak 6059. Lots of obstacles on the ridge line. I stayed near the ridge top all the way up on my ascent, but found it considerably faster on the return to stay below the rocks on the south side of the ridge as long as possible.
From 6059 I descended to the east of Peak 6256, finding a decent line where I didn't lose much elevation and the sidehilling was not too bothersome. Nearing 6359 I went back up to the ridge too soon and found some unexpected bumpiness between me and the summit so went a bit further below the ridgeline on the right until I found easier terrain to reach the top.
On my return I took a slightly lower route from the 5000' saddle east of Irving Peak to reach the 5600' saddle north of the peak in order to ascend Peak 5937. I was a little surprised not to find water as I crossed multiple small streambeds at the head of the basin. Huckleberries provided some hydration, or at least distraction. Easy walk up to 5937. Not quite as easy to get back up to Irving, although that might just have been from being tired.
Almost an eleven hour day. I saw two bears and five bear hunters. No shots, so I guess the bears were leading at least for the start of the weekend. I spent Friday night in my car a ways down from the trailhead and walked back up to Irving Pass Saturday morning for a quick trip out to Longfellow. Definitely the more scenic and easier direction to go from Irving Pass. The trail past Poe was fine except for a few spots of erosion and the early morning wet vegetation. Trip photos
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