A report I neglected to pen up. I thought I would, so as not to forget about it entirely.
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This one starts at the Taylor River Trailhead, elevation 1160'. Both of these peaks lie just north of Blethen Lakes; Paperboy at 5013' and Boomerang at 5185'.
Mike Collins and I made our way up the old Taylor River Road around 0815 and then turned left onto Quartz Creek Road. We followed the road until it becomes a trail at roughly 2700' (after about 4 miles). An obvious trail extends from here and led us up to the lower of the Blethen Lakes. Next, we headed north directly for Paperboy. We made our way across a large brushy flat and then opted to stray over to a large talus field to our west. Luckily, we were doing this trip late in the year as the talus filed was choked with slide alder and other assorted brushy horrors that would be darn near impenetrable in summer. We traversed and ascended the slope and found a nice gap through the slide alder. Once past the worst of the brush we made our way up the steep slope just under and to the west of Paperboy. We gained the peak's west ridge at roughly 4700' and then did an up and down traverse over to the summit. No real problems along the traverse other than some pesky cliff avoidance. Being the foggy day it was, the views were non-existent from the top and we quickly set out for Boomerang to the NW.
We stayed on the ridge proper for the most part, but at times the scrub fir was a bit dense and forced us to one side or the other. No real problems to speak of. We eventually came to a flat area at 4400' just under Boomerang. We went straight up the slope and gained the ridge crest 700' later just east of the summit or more accurately the high point on the ridge. Views were better here although the fog still dominated. No register at either summit and we forgot to bring ours (the latest 11th essential?). Once again we made our stay quick and departed the way we had come. Back along the various ridges then straight down towards Quartz Creek (slightly different than the ascent) where we finally ran into the trail a couple hundred feet below lake elevation (Lower Blethen). Back down the road and back to the car by 1630. The crux move on this trip appears to be the first major creek crossing. A large tree (with rebar) that was once part of a larger bridge structure now provides the only way of crossing without dropping 20’ or so to the creek and back up. It’s a sketchy crossing at best when it’s wet and it pays dividends to concentrate on what you’re doing while crossing to avoid a very ugly fall.
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* * * * * * *
This one starts at the Taylor River Trailhead, elevation 1160'. Both of these peaks lie just north of Blethen Lakes; Paperboy at 5013' and Boomerang at 5185'.
Mike Collins and I made our way up the old Taylor River Road around 0815 and then turned left onto Quartz Creek Road. We followed the road until it becomes a trail at roughly 2700' (after about 4 miles). An obvious trail extends from here and led us up to the lower of the Blethen Lakes. Next, we headed north directly for Paperboy. We made our way across a large brushy flat and then opted to stray over to a large talus field to our west. Luckily, we were doing this trip late in the year as the talus filed was choked with slide alder and other assorted brushy horrors that would be darn near impenetrable in summer. We traversed and ascended the slope and found a nice gap through the slide alder. Once past the worst of the brush we made our way up the steep slope just under and to the west of Paperboy. We gained the peak's west ridge at roughly 4700' and then did an up and down traverse over to the summit. No real problems along the traverse other than some pesky cliff avoidance. Being the foggy day it was, the views were non-existent from the top and we quickly set out for Boomerang to the NW.
We stayed on the ridge proper for the most part, but at times the scrub fir was a bit dense and forced us to one side or the other. No real problems to speak of. We eventually came to a flat area at 4400' just under Boomerang. We went straight up the slope and gained the ridge crest 700' later just east of the summit or more accurately the high point on the ridge. Views were better here although the fog still dominated. No register at either summit and we forgot to bring ours (the latest 11th essential?). Once again we made our stay quick and departed the way we had come. Back along the various ridges then straight down towards Quartz Creek (slightly different than the ascent) where we finally ran into the trail a couple hundred feet below lake elevation (Lower Blethen). Back down the road and back to the car by 1630. The crux move on this trip appears to be the first major creek crossing. A large tree (with rebar) that was once part of a larger bridge structure now provides the only way of crossing without dropping 20’ or so to the creek and back up. It’s a sketchy crossing at best when it’s wet and it pays dividends to concentrate on what you’re doing while crossing to avoid a very ugly fall.
