[Tom]

Ever since hiking to Delta Lake earlier this year I've wanted to climb Malachite Peak, figuring the views down to the Foss Lakes area from the summit would be superb. Saturday morning I headed out for an overnight trip to the surrounding lakes and hopefully the summit. Upon reaching the trailhead I noticed several parties wearing orange clothing and hats. I casually asked what my odds were of getting shot given that I was not wearing an orange hat - fortunately they were headed in a different direction. Thanks to my 20 lb pack I made it quickly to the first lake. Instead of dropping down to the shores I traversed the talus 100' above the lake or so as to not lose elevation, then up to a beautiful tarn at 5245'. From here I traversed southeast to the saddle above lake 5262' and then over to the saddle separating Malachite Peak from the North Peak. My plan was to camp down at lake 5280' but as it was relatively early in the day I decided to traverse south along the ridge toward the summit to scope out my route the next day. At first it seemed like I might even be able to make it to the summit along this ridge but things got pretty exposed after a while, ending at a steep drop where rope would have been necessary to continue. Nevertheless, the views were fantastic and I got a pretty good look at the route I had planned take the next day. As I was descending back to the saddle I came upon two other hikers (the first people I had seen since leaving the trailhead). They confirmed the route I planned to take to the summit was possible (having done it before) and gave me a few more words of wisdom for which I was quite grateful. I bid them farewell and ascended down talus to the northeast of lake 5280'. I was surprised to find one other party camping at the lake - a man and his wife who were quite friendly and made for some good company. There were not many campsites around the lake but fortunately there were trees aplenty to choose from to hang my hammock. After taking a chilly bath in the outlet and cooking dinner I was more than happy to crawl into bed given the bugs were quite plentiful and hungry. The next morning, after savoring a bagel and two cups of hot chocholate, I packed things up and headed for the summit. Thanks to the 11 hours of sleep in my cozy hammock I made it quickly to the snowfield northwest of the summit. From here I traversed east of the snowfield up talus and scree to a saddle just south of the summit, where a class 3 scramble led to the top (EDIT: after going up there again, my parter told me this is class 4, apologies if I misled anyone re. the exposure). The views from the summit were amazing - among the best I have experienced in my short peakbagging lifetime. After getting my fill of picture taking I located the summit register - a film cannister with a single piece of paper rolled inside a plastic baggie. Note to self - pack a pencil next time . All in all, an incredible trip. One hesitates to say much more. P.S. Enjoy this picture of Otter, Delta, Malachite, Copper, Little Heart, and Angeline from the summit. All my other shots from the summit and day 2 got inadvertently deleted off my card.

Otter, Delta, Malachite, Copper, Little Heart, and Angeline from Malachite Peak

Malachite Peak from Delta Lake

[Randy]

Good work. Malachite is one that's high on my list...might have to wait until next year though.

[#19]

Nice report and one for the list... Big bummer about losing your second day pics.

[Dean]

I did the same thing after one of my trips, somehow I lost a 64mb card worth of the pics I had worked so hard for. I understand how frustrating that is and after seeing the one pic you posted, it is a loss to all of us. Nice trip report and glad to see you enjoying your Hennessy Hammock.

[Tom]

It was a bonehead mistake. My laptop is short on disk space so I was working directly off my memory card (very risky because stuff doesn't go to the recycle bin). I thought I was deleting a picture when I realized I had deleted an entire directory . I've decided there are worse things in life to fret over (though I saw a lot more gray hairs in the mirror this morning). Oh well, just another excuse to go back next year.

[Tom]

Hmm, 3700' of gain (and potential brush bashing) just to get to Purvis? No thanks . I forgot to mention the summit register was a torn off title page from one of Beckey's Cascade Alpine Guides. There were only two entries (both from this year). One of them had crossed out the "by" next to "Fred Beckey" and appened __'s route description sucks. I presume they were referring to the route up from the Miller River, though the other routes described were equally questionable.

[lopper]

"just" to get to Purvis? Certainly. Purvis is a nice enough spot that it rates a variety of access routes and occasions. I can vouch for the brush bash at the start of the route from the Miller River road. But above the nasty old clearcut, it becomes an enjoyable escalator up the outlet gulley. In spring it makes a real good snowshoe climb. Long before road 68 melts out.

[Scrooge]

If you boost the magnification WAY up, you'll find that I'm down on that bare patch at Big Heart trying to take a picture of the top of the outfall. Real bummer on the loss of pics. I was counting on adding them to my collection. I had to take pics of the lakes one at a time, and couldn't see Angeline at all.

[strider]

Tom, Depending on the time of day, there's areal possibility that Hiker Boy and I are in the picture of the lakes. We hiked in to Little Heart on Sunday. I'll leave the trip report to Hiker Boy, he's better at them than i am.....

[Hiker Boy]

Too cool! So that's what the area we were in looks like from even higher!