I had always thought Beckler Peak was going to be a snoozer. Problem was, I was always reading the wrong reports! Mike and Martins’ recent report was inspiration enough for Randy and I to break out the ropes and cams.
We were elated to find our drive up the mountainside to be a bit more fruitful as compared to weeks past. FSR 6066 took us all the way up to the switchback at 1900’. Here, we ran into a large tree over the road with some annoying snags accompanying it. It looked like someone had been clearing the road, but they had given up at this point. I new in my gut that my truck could make the squeeze under the log itself, but the other branches (or my paint job) would have to go. So out came the handsaw and 10 minutes of work granted us clearance past the obstacle.
Usually, the drive ends shortly after this, due to snow on the road or another downed tree, but not this time. The switchback at 2500’ had a stubborn snow patch that required 4-wheel drive and the rear-diff locker. Around 2550’ all bets were off when we encountered a nasty combination of a downed tree covering a large snow patch. Time to get walking! I stashed two Gatordades in the snowbank and we were off.
We walked around the switchback at 2600’ and gained the SW ridge at 2700’. Easy traveling with open forest and consolidated snow. We even ran into an old trail that we presumed at one time led up to the lookout on Beckler’s false summit.
Things got a little interesting around 3800’ish when we ran into several boulder outcrops on the ridge. We were able to traverse and bypass on the right, and higher up, on the left. Your results may vary!
Around 4400’ things laid back a bit and we continued cruising on up. The snow was excellent for travel all day. We brought snowshoes but never had to use them. We tagged the W summit just for kicks and got a view over to the Bessemer-like formation of the true summit.
From the W summit, we stayed on top of the ridge until forced to drop onto the S face via a notch and short, downward scramble through a jumble of boulders. Once on the S face, it was an easy traverse to the E side of the summit block where we anchored up and readied ourselves for the short pitch of rock work ahead of us.
Randy led this one with a couple cams and slinging some horns. The rock is not loose, but it is crumbly and lichen covered. In a couple minutes we were anchored on top and enjoying the endless views in all directions. The summit register was soggy enough to warrant not signing it! I would guesstimate the climbing to be 5.4’ish. (?)
After about an hour on top we made a single rappel down the S face.
The return trip was uneventful, and through the slabby boulder section down low, we found some better ways via veggie belays. The Gatorades in the snowbank were a welcome reward after enduring the brutal heat all day.
Another great day in the mountains, but this was a short trip. To kill some extra time we checked out the Foss River Rd, Money Creek Rd and Sunset Falls. The rivers were ferocious!
4 miles RT, 2800’ gain, 5.5 hours travel time, 1 hour summit lounging, 8000 calories burned.
Beckler was a good summit to pick for the extreme avalanche activity out there. If I had known there was a summit register I might have done a repeat to sign in this time. Glad to see you two tucked it in.
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Consolidated snow ! Nice pics.
