[Goats Know]

Two weeks ago on my hike up Bluegrass Butte I looked over at Beaver Peak and thought that with all the snow covering the valley behind the lake it might be a good time to climb it. Then I received Dave Fish’s new book in the mail on Tuesday and armed with his drawings of the peak decided that I would have a go.

Coal Lake and Beaver Peak

(Note: The road is still blocked about half a mile before the Independence Lake Trailhead.) One of the cruxes of this outing is climbing out of the valley up to the ridge. Dave's book provides some beta for a route through the cliff bands that starts above two dead cedars. I tried this route but was not able to make it work. The route goes up a very muddy wet gully and then steps left directly above a slabby cliff. The moves out of the gully were on wet, muddy, mossy rock and were quite exposed. I was able to make it out of the gully, but when faced with a move requiring a mantle off of a muddy ledge followed by a high step with a short dyno to a wet, anemic looking blueberry bush, I lost my nerve. I wanted to climb Beaver Peak, but I also wanted to see my wife and kids again. Covered in mud and looking like a four-year-old in a Tide commercial, I turned tail and slid back down the muddy gully feeling defeated. I just about packed it in right there and headed back to my office to salvage some of the day, but instead decided to head up Valley and see if I could find another way. I went about another 150 yards and found a long sliver of snow that looked like it might work. Sure enough from the top of the snow sliver I was able to move left (with only about 15 feet of thick bushwhacking) and reconnect with a snowfield that led me to the top of the ridge. Now I was having fun!

The way

(Note: I'm guessing both routes are seasonal dependent. The one in the book would probably be better later in the year when it's dry. The route I took worked well with snow cover, but would be a brush bash of epic proportion later in the year.) The scramble to the top of Beaver Peak was really fun. The final ridge still has a lot of snow which presented some fun little obstacles and spiced things up in places. I found the secret ledge that the book mentions. Secret ledges are cool! At the summit, I climbed up the Beaver Boulder and enjoyed my lunch.

Scrambling toward Beaver

Secret Ledge

Beaver Boulder

Stilly and Pemmican

Afterwards, I made a quick trip over to Anthracite and tagged that summit. Anthracite was mostly a walk up with one little boulder move to get to the top. The view into the Falls Creek Valley from here was interesting though. Dave’s book calls this peak Cheet-Aligvas, anybody know the background for that?

Anthracite (Cheet -Aligvas?)

Beaver Peak

Blue Grass Butte and Falls Creek Valley

Another spectacular day in the Cascades!

[Justus S.]

Thanks for the report!