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Bloated Chipmunk Cock Rock Searcher
Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 2993 | TRs | Pics Location: Margaritaville |
This wknd. MountainMan & I set out for a hike to this seldom visited peak which is almost due east of Mt. Rainier and SW of Mt. Aix, affording awesome 3-volcano views and abundant sunshine. We saw it from our trip to Aix earlier this summer & were inspired by JimK’s very helpful & informative/detailed TR. Thanks, JimK!
Given the length of the drive, the length of the trail, the possible routefinding issues, & the shortening hrs. of daylight, we opted to make this an overnighter. This was a wise choice as everything worked out just about right for the time available. We set out early Sat. morning from Kent & traveled 410 over Chinook Pass to Bumping Lk. Rd. & continued south for several mi. Shortly after passing the Mt. Aix TH we crossed a creek & the Pear Butte TH was on the other side, with zero cars parked in the lot. The parking area is smaller than that of Aix and involves parking between trees so as not to block what seemed to be a turnaround since the rd. just beyond was closed due to a washout. We found an inclined spot right next to the rd. As we got our gear ready a ranger drove by, moved the barricades for the blocked rd., & kept driving…presumably to check on the conditions farther along. A few min. later he came back & stopped by to say hi to us.
We finished lacing up & hoisting the huge packs & were on our way.
TH sign
The trail begins as a moderate uphill grade through the forest, paralleling the creek & eventually climbing the ridge & following it for a few mi. south up & down little rises.
Start of trail Cool cliffs above trail
It wasn’t long before we caught the 1st glimpse of Bismarck Pk. Soon Rainier came into view as well. The sun was out & the temperature wasn’t bad @ all, considering it’s mid-October. For this we were very thankful. Around 1pm we took lunch in a sunny spot with a view across the valley of Bismarck. We consulted our maps & took another look @ JimK’s TR. We knew the junction with the Bismarck trail would be tricky to find & hoped we wouldn’t pass it up like they did.
Bismarck w/2 meadows below Bismarck across the valley Rainier Angle of Bismarck becomes sharper as we get closer Rainier Our shadows on the ridge
We didn’t linger long @ lunch since time was a wastin’, as always seems the case on these hikes. We continued along the ridge & reached a meadowy area & shortly thereafter the east-west running ridge that would be the start of the Bismarck route. We looked carefully for the trail/junction sign but before we knew it the main trail started descending & subsequently passing up the ridge, or so it looked. We did a little back n’ forth number before deciding to just start down the ridge spine, knowing that that was the correct direction. This turned out to be fine as we picked up the Bismarck trail a few mins. later. Where the Bismarck trail hit the main trail would be something we’d have to discover on the way back; for now we just needed to be on our way.
The Bismarck trail is well-defined in some areas & a little vague in others, w/side trails here & there. Basically we just stuck to what looked the most travelled & was heading in the direction we needed to go. It stays more or less atop the ridge, turning south for awhile & then back east. @ one point, MM & I suddenly heard a tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump & stopped cold in our tracks, never seeing what made the noise. We guessed it was some sort of hoofed animal fleeing after hearing us come up the trail. Once heading east again the trail stays pretty level & Bismarck Pk. is hidden behind the ridge. There are a couple of loose dirt/scree sections of trail on the steep slope, which we were surprised to see horseshoe tracks across. We figured that in spots like that, horses would get squirrelly. We continued a little farther, consulting the GPS & finding that we were only about 1/3 of a mi. from the saddle & meadowy area just below it where JimK had camped & where we were hoping to camp as well. A few mins. later Bismarck came back into view & we were @ the saddle. The search for a flat camp spot was on. We considered the grassy meadow area but it was lumpy & a little moist, so we headed up slightly higher by some trees & found a sandy area on the other side next to some rocks that was nice & flat & sheltered enough from any wind that might come later on. Comparing this spot to the pics JimK took, it very well might’ve been the same spot.
Rainier Late afternoon sun on the lower section of Bismarck Pk.
We quickly set up camp & took some pictures in the fading light. The temp was dropping rapidly & I put on a couple more layers. We cooked dinner, hung the food bag, & talked by candlelight for awhile before turning in for the night. It was a cold night, but nothing like the ridiculous temperatures I’ve endured in the Enchantments so for that I was thankful. Not a cloud in the sky, & the stars were simply amazing. After I got warm in the sleeping bag I fell asleep, awaking a couple times later to complete silence and moonlight. Once in awhile there’d be a slight breeze but overall it was dead quiet – nice.
We awoke @ 5:50 AM, well before sunrise and not an hour that any sane person should wake up. There's just something wrong about getting up when it’s still dark, IMO. Nevertheless I forced myself since I knew we had a long day ahead – b’fast, summiting the peak, coming back down & packing up camp, hiking all the way out, then driving a few hrs. back to town. We emerged into the cold dark morning & got the food bag down & cooked b-fast. The sky gradually brightened & as we prepared our day packs & got ready to go.
Morning camp Food bag hanging above Rainier Morning light on Rainier Just enough water in the stream for filtering
By the time we got everything arranged it was full daylight but the sun was still on the other side of the mtn. We headed up a trail to the saddle, @ which point the trail faded to almost nothing so we just took the routes that looked the best/safest. We came across a couple rocky areas that took some thought to get around, but nevertheless weren’t too big of a deal. After getting above the 2nd cliffy part we left the trees behind & were on a steep slope of rock/scree/sandy dirt. As JimK noted, some parts were solid & others were not, so footing was unpredictable. Somewhere in this area we spotted 2 goats on the steep south slope of the peak; when they saw us they walked away but not before MM got a couple pics. We stuck somewhat close to the ridge & found a very vague bootpath. Near the top it gets pretty steep then lessens slightly just before the summit itself, but not before bringing you past a view down the north side of a couple thousand ft. We thought we might have more to go before the top, but soon realized there was nothing higher around us so this was it. Yay! I spotted the white pvc container of the summit register nestled inside some rocks, & found a smaller pipe inside the bigger one. The bigger one evidently had lost one of its caps, thus the use of the little one inside. We signed our names & took the obligatory summit shots.
Bismarck as seen from the saddle MountainMan on the way up Bismarck Another shot of Rainier Summit register of Bismarck; Mt. Aix in the background Rainier as seen from summit of Bismarck Pk. Mt. Adams & Mt. St. Helens as seen from summit of Bismarck Pk. Larches in the valley below Bismarck Pk. Zoomed Aix; Stuart in the distance Bismarck's shadow Nearby peaks Bumping Lk. Zoomed Rainier Bismarck Pk. summit & Mt. Rainier
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to hang out long & were up there maybe only 30 mins. We had views of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Rainier, Aix, the Goat Rocks Wilderness area, Stuart, & many others. It was perfect weather & only a slight breeze, unlike the raging wind gusts we had atop Aix a couple mos. before. After several pictures were taken we headed back down, taking more or less the same route we did up. Some of the soft dirt/scree sections allowed for plunge stepping but consequently I got some rocks & dirt in my boots & had to stop briefly to dump the crap out. The more rocky areas were loose & tippy but we managed to stay upright, eventually reaching the scrubby trees & then the saddle. We turned north down to camp, had lunch, & started packing up.
Rainier as seen from upper meadow @ the base of Bismarck Pk.
On the way out we wondered exactly which peak was Pear Butte so consulted the maps & GPS & MM took a couple photos. Perhaps that would be a future trip, as I would like to do more trails outside the popular ALW. We continued along the trail, still seeing many signs of deer/elk/goat, as well as that of horse and prints of some person wearing boots w/no tread on the soles. We had yet to come across any other human being on this trail; it seemed as though we had the whole mtn. to ourselves.
Last look @ Bismarck Last look @ Bismarck Pk., zoomed
We approached the end of the ridge with its connection to the main trail, curious to find out where the Bismarck trail hit it. Turns out it was still a couple hundred (linear) ft. lower than the lowest we came down – we hadn’t come down farther as it looked like we were passing up the ridge. In any case we saw the junction sign & then turned uphill back onto the Pear Butte trail. So for any of you looking to do Bismarck, just keep heading down the main trail a little farther than you think you need to go, keeping a careful eye on your left for the sign. MM marked the spot on his GPS so can provide the waypoints.
Hiking out
Once on the main trail we made a few brief stops for rest/water. The clock was ticking so we kept a more or less steady pace. Once we were about ¾ of mi. from the TH, we came across 2 guys w/camo & rifles slung on their shoulders coming up the trail, the 1st other humans we had seen all wknd. on the trail. I swear one of the guys was Chippster’s twin.
We reached the car before dark & were soon on our way down the dirt rd., down Bumping Lk. Rd., then back onto 410. By the time we drove over Chinook Pass it was dark so we missed any nice views of Rainier, but figured we had plenty atop Bismarck. We had some post-hike grub in Enumclaw & headed back into town.
What an awesome summit! Great views, no people. Highly recommended.
Home is where the hiking is.
"Peaks that have come and gone four times should halt a man in his steps." -- William O. Douglas
A balanced diet is a margarita in each hand.
Home is where the hiking is.
"Peaks that have come and gone four times should halt a man in his steps." -- William O. Douglas
A balanced diet is a margarita in each hand.
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JimK Member
Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 5606 | TRs | Pics Location: Ballard |
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JimK
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Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:00 pm
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Glad you folks had a good time. Pretty good route, nice summt, and a whole lot less people than across the way at Mt. Aix.
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GeoTom Member
Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 3215 | TRs | Pics Location: Earth |
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GeoTom
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Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:01 pm
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Bloated Chipmunk wrote: | Near the top it gets pretty steep then lessens slightly just before the summit itself, but not before bringing you past a view down the north side of a couple thousand ft. |
Not sure if it's that many feet but it is pretty steep off that north side, isn't it?
We (Jasper and I) didn't see anyone all day on our trip in September until a couple miles before the trailhead. That trail doesn't see many boots.
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EastKing Surfing and Hiking
Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 2082 | TRs | Pics Location: 77 miles from Seattle! |
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EastKing
Surfing and Hiking
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Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:29 pm
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Great pics and TR!
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
YouTube | SummitPost
Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
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tigermn Member
Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 9242 | TRs | Pics Location: There... |
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tigermn
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Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:39 am
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Nice report.
This one's somewhere on my to do list as a long day hike probably in the summer when the days are longer...
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MountainMan Member
Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 365 | TRs | Pics Location: San Diego |
Here are my pics from Bismark finally:
Trail Head Trail Head Fran on the trail Early view of Bismark rocky cliffs above the trail rocky cliffs above the trail Taking a break Mt Rainier Bumping Lake Views from the trail Bismark Old weathered tree from the trail Mt Rainier Fran Mt Rainier Bismark Adams Views from the trail Bismark from the trail Getting closer to Bismark. Almost to the campsite. Rainier from the ridge next to camp. Looking up at bismark from camp. Just enough room for the tent. Fran next to the tent. bearbag over Mt Rainier. Fran under the bearbag w/ Mt Rainier in the background. Mt Rainier Mt Adams from the saddle below Bismark. Fran w/ Mt Adams in the background. Looking back along the ridge leading to Bismark from just above the saddle. Mountain Goats headed away from us Zoom of one of the Mountain Goats Looking up at the summit Fran Mt Rainier from part way up Bismark. Fran w/ Rainier in the background. Looking down a gully on Bismark. Fran close to the summit. Mt Adams and St Helens from the summit. Aix w/ Stuart behind. Looking north along the ridge leading to Aix. There were two tubes for the summit register... Holding the Bismark summit register. Close up of the register. Fran on the summit! Fran and me on the summit looking west towards Rainier. Fran on the summit looking west towards Rainier. Uhmm...mooning the summit or Rainier or both? Another shot of Rainier from east side of summit. Fran and the view east from yhe summit. Looking down towards the saddle and our campsite on the way back down. Can you see our tent? Mt. Rainier from meadow just below camp. Looking back at Bismark from below and to the west of saddle. Zoom of Adams and shades of blue Pear Butte (in the middle) Another shot of Bismark from the ridge on the way out. missed the tongue shot Zoom of Rainier some larches... Another zoom of Rainier junction
Slow down, take notice, savor the moment, appreciate the world around you and everything that you have.
Slow down, take notice, savor the moment, appreciate the world around you and everything that you have.
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