[SeattleJaunts]

On Monday I hiked Cashmere Mountain (8501 ft) with two friends and fellow WAC (Washington Alpine Club) members, Ira and Rob. We left Seattle around 6:15 am and were at the Eightmile Creek Trailhead at 8:55. The trip there included a stop for gas and, unfortunately, getting stuck in construction traffic where we sat for a half hour. At 9:15 we started our hike and reached Little Eightmile Lake in an hour; at 11:50 we arrived at Lake Caroline. We began seeing small patches of snow on the ground around 6000 ft, but for the most part the trail was clear. We followed the trail towards Windy Pass before going east in the direction of Cashmere. While moving east we crossed a few large areas of snow, but the snow was soft and easy to move over. Once on Cashmere Mountain we moved to the north side (following the advice in a previous trip report: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7976350). On the north side we traversed across and up towards the summit by scrambling over rock (Class 2.5) and up small sections of snow where we used our ice axe (no crampons were needed at any time on the trip) and kicked easy steps into the snow. We reached the top at 3:15 pm and stayed for about 45 minutes enjoying the view, taking photos and refueling. On top there is a small piece of PVC that contains the summit register - be sure to sign your name. For the way back we decided to try to find a route down the south side. There were a couple of gullies to chose from and we chose one that headed south, then we headed west back towards Windy Pass and the trail we took up. The gulley had a lot of loose rock so we stayed in close proximity to minimize knocking any rocks onto each other. The wild flowers were in full bloom for this trip. I didn’t count, but there had to have been at least thirty different varieties of flowers. We also ran across a Northern Rubber Boa snake who was laying across the trail trying to sun itself. There are plenty of places to get water along this hike. If you didn’t want to do this all in one day you could camp at Lake Caroline and it would be a nice two-day trip. 6 hours from the car to the top. 4½ hours from the top back to the car. Total distance was around 17 miles round-trip.

Our route

Log crossing

We took the gully with the T looking patch of snow down

Looking back up the gulley

Northern Rubber Boa Snake

[The Angry Hiker]

Nice report, but your pics aren't opening to full size.

[Dayhike Mike]

Unless 150x150 is full size. (In which case, you need to buy a new camera. )

[Slugman]

We saw you. You guys went by on your way out as we were camped at Caroline. You also passed us on the way in as we were getting up to Caroline.

[The Angry Hiker]

Were they about 3" tall?

[SeattleJaunts]

Working on the display of the photos. Technical difficulties...please stand by

[kite]

[Dayhike Mike]

[Slugman]

Yeah, they blew past me like I was standing still. I mean I was standing still. They started up the hill to Caroline about 20 minutes after I did, yet they passed me in about 5 minutes.

[SeattleJaunts]

Looked like you had a great campsite

[SeattleJaunts]

If you click on the thumbnails it should bring you to a larger photo.

[Sadie's Driver]

Gorgeous photos, Erik! AH - trust me, he ISN't 3" tall - more like 6'7"! He probably had to minimize the pics so he could fit in! Sluggo - Ira and Erik are, ahhhm, deliberate in their summit focus!

[Matt Lemke]

Very cool. Thanks for posting. Can't wait to do it too!

[ira]

[Magellan]

Great photos and great report! I certainly hope to see more trip reports from you in the future.