[Redwic]

Or this could be called "Chikamin The Hard Way" or "Chikamin: A Trip Of Perseverance and Triumph"... Paul Michelson had one peak remaining on the "Snoqualmie Peak Pin-All" list of 20 peaks in the Snoqualmie Pass area. The remaining mountain for him to visit was Chikamin Peak, which also happens to be the highest elevation peak on that list. There are two main directions from which people approach Chikamin Peak, from Mineral Creek and a longer route from Snoqualmie Pass. Joining Paul on this trip were Mike C., Chuck M., and me. Mike had located a route on the west side of Chikamin Ridge many years ago, and that idea coupled with a desire to see as many of the Snoqualmie peaks as possible led to the decision to go a longer approach from Snoqualmie Pass. I had visited relatively few peaks in the Snoqualmie Pass area, so I was looking forward to hiking the PCT and passing by many peaks. We left the car at 4:30 AM and took the Commonwealth Basin shortcut trail to the PCT. We stopped for water at Ridge Lake before continuing to Chikamin Pass for a short break. From there, we continued on the PCT, passing by Chikamin Peak and the apparent standard western approach leading up the peak from that side. As we passed the peak, imposing cliffs loomed above us as Paul and Mike looked for a place to leave the trail. I commented that we were already below Four Brothers and might have gone too far but we soon found an open slope for which to ascend up high.

Ridge Lake

Nice terrain

Huckleberry & Thomson

The steep talus and meadow slopes led to cliffs atop the ridge. None of this looked familiar to Mike but the slopes led to a brief scramble to a singular notch providing access through the cliffy ridge. Once on the other side, we were on a goat path that traversed near the ridgetop on the east side of Four Brothers. However, that path soon disappeared near a major cleft leading down to Glacier Lake. The upper east side of Four Brothers has major terraces of rock, heather, and krummholz. We climbed and hiked down several terraces looking for passage across or down the cleft gully. The cliffs were steep and no passage could be found on that side.

Ascending steep talus above PCT

Ascending steep slopes

Mostly impassable here

A fortuitous notch

Along Four Brothers ridgetop

Chikamin & Lemah

After having traveled down several hundred feet in elevation, we were faced with the decision to upclimb back to the notch and downclimb loose talus back to the PCT, or climb and hike down to Glacier Lake and ascend Chikamin Peak via the standard east approach. Although Glacier Lake was still approximately 1100' below us, we decided to try the latter option... knowing that if we bailed on the trip we could eventually rejoin the PCT via trails from Glacier Lake. However, we also knew that doing so would add a lot more mileage and elevation gain to the overall trip. Getting down to Glacier Lake was a task in itself. Despite every rocky terrace being massive in size, it seemed that each terrace only had one feasible exit downward which would not require rope rappelling. This downclimbing from the terraces took a lot of time but we eventually made it to Glacier Lake. There, we rehydrated, ate some snacks, and evaluated the options at hand: Either start heading back via trails or ascend to Chikamin Peak from the lake. I had the full route description and map for the approach from Glacier Lake, and the terrain looked straightforward enough, so we chose the latter option. We could have chosen the easy decision to end our quest but there was no quit in this team! We hiked around the right side of the lake and soon started ascending the obvious boulder slope. The infamous "Monolith Rock" loomed above the first section, a feature which Paul had wanted to see for many years. We continued ascending a dried-up rocky drainage until being able to hike up steep open grassy and talus slopes leading to Chikamin Ridge. Several hundred feet below the ridgetop, we found a nice place to take a break and where Mike could take a short well-deserved power nap.

Descending one of terraces

Glacier Lake

Looking at "Monolith Rock"

Ascending around cliff...

Nice open slopes...

Mike takes a power nap

Once near the ridgetop, we encountered a path leading to the ridgetop and towards Chikamin Peak. The route was fairly straightforward, with some steep dirt slopes and short scrambles. Fittingly, Paul was first to reach the summit... completing yet another local peakbagging list. Paul was followed by Chuck, then me, then Mike. I was happy to reach the summit but even moreso happy that the nearby smoke haze was not at the peak and compromising our breathing.

The ridge becomes a talus pile

Ascending the ridge...

Nearing the peak...

Four Brothers from Chikamin

Paul & Chuck atop Chikamin

Mike & me atop Chikamin

As we enjoyed a well-deserved summit break, we discussed our descent options. From the summit, we could not determine the best route down the west slopes. However, going back down to Glacier Lake, circling around Four Brothers, and then rejoining the PCT would add substantial mileage and ensure a pre-dawn (or post-dawn) return to the car. We decided to at least follow Chikamin Ridge towards Four Brothers, reaching the infamous "Denny Rock" (another landmark Paul had been wanting to see) along the way. We were hoping to find passage down the west slopes from the ridgetop but we had difficulty locating a viable option. I kept exploring and found a possible slope that could provide passage but unfortunately I could not see beyond the first couple hundred feet or so before trees obstructed lower views. I mentioned the possibility to the rest of the team, and we all agreed to try the route.

Chikamin Lake (right)

Paul & Chuck along ridgetop

"Denny Rock"

To say this route was gnarly would be an understatement. We started by hiking down steep meadow and semi-treed slopes, which led to terrace-like sections that were not as slabby as what we had encountered earlier during the day on the east side of Four Brother but still with steep cliffy drop-offs. Also similarly, each terrace-like area seemingly had only one exit location to points unknown below it. There was a lot of branch-holding, veggie-belaying, and butt-scooching during our descent... including several steep dirt drop-off chutes where a fall could be painful at best. The veggie belays were a blessing on this route, except we knew that if the route did not "go" down low then we would have to upclimb the route again.

Near-vertical veggie slope

Fortunately, Mike must be part mountain goat... as he did excellent finding the best (and only) way down this particular route. The final bad section involved a near-vertical drop-off where veggie belays were essential, followed by a short rock scramble along a hidden chute, and finally a nice hike down steep heather and talus slopes leading to the PCT. Once on the PCT, we each took a nice break and looked back at the cliffs above with awe. In the area we were sitting at, we somehow managed to find the only route down to that specific location from the ridgetop. We were proud of our achievement yet very glad to be off of the peak and on safer ground. We hiked along the PCT back to Ridge Lake, where we rehydrated and ate some snacks before continuing. By this time, sunset was upon us and the team was moving slower due to the large amount of single-day hiking mileage, elevation gain, and aching bodies. We hiked the last six miles or so using headlamps, arriving back to the car at 12:30 AM. Our climbs on the west side of Chikamin Ridge are not recommended, but here is an estimated route map for our day:

Chikamin-Estimated Route

STATISTICS: 20 hours total, 25 miles roundtrip, 8100' cumulative elevation gain

[Paul M]

Thanks guys for joining me on this "interesting" day trip. I must say that we covered some ground and it brought back some old memories of the area despite the round about way we ended up climbing the peak. Heck I always wanted to go in via Glacier Lake but really like the PCT between Snoqualmie and Chikamin also..... who would have figured we would see both approaches on the same day trip! Too bad we had hazy views all day from all of the smoke in the air.

Huckleberry from PCT

Craig, Mike, Paul along PCT (photo by Chuck M)

Huckleberry and Thompson above PCT

Off route

Glacier Lake

The monolith

Chuck below the Monolith

Craig, Mike, Paul on Chikamin summit photo by Chuck M

Mike, Craig, Chuck on Chikamin summit

Smokey summit views

Faded writing on Denny Rock

[Bernardo]

Wow, that was quite a trek!!! Did you drop off the ridge at the low point not far from Denny Rock? I explored a bit down that side recently, passing a large marmot den. Sound familiar? It looked like it might go, but I stopped at the first point where I could see the PCT far below. Did you find a summit register?

[RichP]

I'm headed up there tomorrow and plan on taking the "easy" route via Mineral Ck with a camp at Glacier Lake. I'm hoping for the promised clearing of the air for a Tuesday summit trek.

[Bernardo]

Lucky you RichP! Have fun and travel safe.

[Mike Collins]

[Bernardo]

No wonder you all survived that route and kept going; it was a very strong party! Mike Collins, I have to laugh a bit at the thought of this because you are one of the most professional posters on this site and I read your previous postings with lots of warnings on the difficulty and danger of routes up to Chikamin from the PCT prior to my own trip. After approaching from Glacier Lake, I was thinking about dropping down to the PCT from the low point on the ridge and circling back to my camp at Glacier Lake just so I could test that side and see some different terrain. I figured this was the route you had suggested that would traverse below the Brothers. But as I discovered the distance down to the the PCT was far and steep with no clear path, I decided to go back and enjoy the very beautiful and less stressful rocks of the other side. Anyway, sounds like the route was even harder than you were warning. Would you recommend your route down as a way up if you were to do it again? And believe it or not here is a picture of the marmot condo that I saw.

[cartman]

Good report. We had a similar, yet different experience on Chikamin two years ago coming from Mineral Creek. We came up from the PCT, climbing up to exposed low Class 5 to reach the summit. Not wanting to return that way, we downclimbed a SW-trending gully to within 30' of easy terrain. But we just could not safely solve that last 30'--the PCT was a two minute walk away! So we upclimbed back to the upper ridge and returned via the Glacier Lake route. Very frustrating and one of my longest days in the mtns ever. Take home message: Chikamin can be a complex route-finding challenge. Be on your game when going for this one. Kudos to you guys for finding those routes.

[Gimpilator]

Nice job getting the peak guys. A great display of determination. I can't speak with real authority, because I have not done both routes, but I will say that the Glacier Lake route via Mineral Creek is one of the nicest routes I have experienced in this general area. I would suggest that future trip planners consider going that way.

[wolffie]

Chikamin standard route from PCT

Corgi-friendly (with a couple of "corgi tosses"). S route up Chikamin You can loop back via Glacier Lake.

[PeakJunkie]

Thanks for the report. Brings back memories of when I did that same trip years ago with Mitch Blanton and Steve Rankin... A long but good day indeed.