[raising3hikers]

Mad Eagle Pk 8111' Goliah Pk 7742' Canuck Pk 7365' All last week I had been looking at the weather forecast trying to figure out an area to go that would be sunny. This area in/near the Chilliwacks said the smoke should clear out by Friday and have a nice sunny Saturday and part of Sunday. It was wrong, really wrong! I got a later start than I normally like, so I began hiking the Depot Creek trail after 10:30am. The trail had many blueberries ready to be eaten, so I helped myself and ate a lot of them. At around 3200' is where I would cross Depot Creek and head up slope to the rarely visited area. I found a nice log to cross on and then it was a battle of devils club and steep vegetated slopes for a while. There's a small but decent description of the Lake Fork route in the Beckey guide that helped a little. I traversed away from the creek draining from above and found some big boulder fields that were a welcome sight. They were much easier to travel on than the steep slopes. The worst part of this approach was the first 600', then things mellow out a little when I found the boulders.

the boulder field approach

I hit boulder field after boulder field and it was somewhat slow but it was a direct shot to where I needed to go. Eventually, I made it to the large lake at ~5300'. I grabbed some much needed water and traversed the East side of the lake towards the old moraine to the South. This whole time, I had been trying to eye a good spot to drop my gear on flat ground but didn't really see anything, so everything was going up the mountain with me. I aimed for the Canuck/Goliah col and had to put crampons on for the last bit. At the col, I had absolutely zero views to the South. The smoke had filled in all the valleys and peaks. I started my traverse over the side of Goliah as I wanted to make sure I made it up Mad Eagle. Some ups and downs on loose terrain had me at the Mad Eagle/Goliah col. I put crampons back on and dropped onto the glacier to cross it and make it over to the slabs and rocks on the North side of it. It was mostly easy scrambling to reach to North ridge of Mad Eagle.

Mad Eagle and Redoubt in the smoke

slabs leading to the North ridge

From the ridge, it was mostly class 3 to the summit with a couple class 4 moves thrown in for fun. I found the register that Fay had left 6 years ago and it was soaking wet. I tried to dry it out and signed in.

Mad Eagle register, doesn't get a lot of visitors

hazy view of Redoubt

Mad Eagle's 4' lower W Pk and Goliah in the distance

looking down the W Depot Creek glacier

I didn't stay too long but it was nice to grab my first snack of the day and take a seat for a minute. I headed down and knew I'd probably have plenty of time to hike up Goliah. The upper parts of Goliah were much more solid than the lower so it was nice easy travel up to it's summit. And guess what? Another Fay register with only her name in it until mine.

the sun trying to burn through the smoke with Goliah

Goliah register

From there, I headed down and decided I'd set up camp near a snowfield a little ways away from the Canuck/Goliah col. I found a nice flat spot for my bivy and a trickle of running water. I ate dinner and watched to sun disappear in the smoke way before sunset.

a little life in the barren environment

bivy site

I woke early and was moving by 530am. I knew I had time to reach the summit of Canuck at sunrise. It was more boulders and easy walking and I arrived at the summit at 6, when the sun should be showing up. No sun, just more thick smoke. No register either as I headed back down to start the drop back down into Depot Creek.

sunrise photo of Goliah?

I saw some fresh bear tracks in the snowfield and was sure I'd see it in the barren landscape but I never did. At the lake, I filled up water once again before much boulder hopping and a steep descent. I made an even more direct line to the creek and found a different log to cross and get back on the main trail once again. I ate more blueberries for breakfast on the way back to my vehicle. I reached my truck at 10:30am.

hazy view from the lake

lots of Devils club

It was a nice trip despite no views to these seldom climbed summits. At least there was lots of solitude. 19.25 miles 7600' elevation gain 2 days

[Gimpilator]

Sorry to hear about the smoke. I have never heard about these peaks!

[Brushbuffalo]

[Nancyann]

That smoke looks really awful, Eric. It’s so hard to know where to go to get away from it. I took a chance on Friday and went on the PCT south from Stevens. There was just a thin haze that pretty much dissipated by the end of the day.

Views from the PCT south of Stevens Pass, Friday 8/17/18

Views from the PCT south of Stevens Pass, Friday 8/17/18

[iron]

the rarest of the rare right there. good stuff. bummer on the views. come back for a repeat some day with me...

[geyer]

[Stefan]

what? That is a day trip!!!

[cartman]

And to think I was just considering this area for a trip...great minds think alike. Good thing you got this now, as there is a new fire on the SW flank of No Doubt Pk just north of where you were, though it is still very small. BTW, I could have given you a good TR for these three peaks if I'd known... I have never seen smoke this bad. I was just a few miles from Dome with an unobstructed view and all I could see was a wall of white. Not even an outline. Crushing.

[NorthwestWanderer]

You guys really shouldn't be physically working in this smoke

[Prosit]

Great effort in nightmarish conditions. The smaller, higher lake in lake-fork basin is one I'd like to visit. I did the traverse from monument 64, climbing Nodoubt, and then on to these peaks, Bear Lake and beyond in 1995. I climbed Canuck and bivied on Goliah, but didn't attempt Mad Eagle. Nice country, seldom seen, but well worth the effort. Hopefully you'll return for the views some day.

[iron]

[cartman]

[MangyMarmot]

Cool trip to some rarely visited peaks. I saw that you signed in at the park boundary. The smoke was really bad on the Redoubt glacier as well. The top of the haze was at about 9k. We could see the top of Baker sticking out above it from Redoubt.

[slabbyd]

How does the north buttress of Goliath look? Beautiful contours on the topo map.

[NorthwestWanderer]