Didn't have anything going on until 1600 on Friday, so Craig and I decided to hit a couple nearby, easy peaks with good views. We headed up US 2 and then turned left onto the Beckler River Road. Another left put us on to FS road 6514. We were held up briefly by a logging operation that had the road blocked at about mile 1, but after a few minutes they had things cleared, so we could pass. We followed 6514 on up to the crossing of Eagle Creek and a bridge that was washed out the last time I was up in the area three years ago. The bridge bought us about another mile of road and a parking spot near what looked to be a way trail up the hill. It wasn't.
We left the truck around 745 and hiked more or less straight up the hill. I cursed my running shoes on the steep duff slopes, but aside from some sore ankles the going was pretty easy. At 4400' we entered a large talus field which we used to make a more northerly ascent to easier terrain. Once off the rocks we got into patchy snow, but it wasn't much and I was able to avoid most of it so as not to try to kick steps in my sneakers. From 5000' to the summit the route is fairly open and presents few difficulties. We topped out on the open summit just after 1000 and enjoyed the fantastic views over to Baring, Merchant, Townsend, the Monte Cristo group, and Glacier Peak. The summit register dated back to just before I was born (9/74) and it was a fun read through almost 30 years of history. Not the popular peak, the last entry in the summit register was two years old.
After our summit naps in the warm sun, we spied two possible next objectives - Flap Jack Point and/or Mount Townsend. We decided to head for the broad talus slopes to the SW of Flapjack and then decide where to go from there. We glissaded down to the NNW about 600' and then worked back to the south looking for a way off a steep band of cliffs. We finally found a steep gully that allowed access to the saddle at 4200'. From here we rolled NW around a minor high point and up on to the large talus (flapjack?) slope south of Flapjack Point. It was obvious that Townsend was too far off for a 1600 return to Seattle, so we ascended up the talus slopes over the false summit of Flapjack and on to the true summit (still snow covered) around 1210. No difficulties on the route. A lone rock with an orange flag poked through the snow and marked the location of the summit register. We "tag-teamed" the digging operation and after about 10 minutes Craig dug the register from its winter hole. We made the customary scribbles in the register (again no one since 2002) and left the summit at 1230.
Our route off the hill varied somewhat from our ascent route and made the going back to the road a bit more efficient. We butted heads with some brush near the road, but there wasn't much difficulty on the descent (see map for route). We made the truck at 1330 which left us just enough time to do some road exploring before heading out. Back in Seattle at 1610.
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