Mike Collins
Member
Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 3097 | TRs | Pics
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The late appearance of snowfall allowed this peak to be open for a December daytrip. The outing starts at the end of the West Fork Foss Road. I was able to wear jogging shoes for the first 7 miles of the hike which took me to near the outflow for Big Heart Lake. Just before the outflow is a small fingerlike extension of the lake. You need to hike around this and gain elevation to about 4850. Then traverse around the large bay on the west of Big Heart. The route which we took was different than described by Beckey and more direct saving us about 2 hrs time. There is on the north side of the mountain some snowpack which remains from the previous season. We crossed over this to connect with a solitary right to left angled ramp which brought us to the NE ridge of Camp Robber. This is the only break in the cliff band and on the approach it looks questionable but it plays out. On the map you will see two distinct areas of cliffs to the north of the summit at 6286. This route is in the only section where the contour lines are not on top of each other. We passed an interesting aluminum plaque (2"x3") in the forest on the way in. The plaque stated "Blitz Puppy Expedition 8/30-9/3/79." We were the only ones to summit the peak this year so it is seldom visited. Do any of the readers have info about this plaque? Stats: 17 miles, 5,000' gain, 10.5 hrs from car-to-car.
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