[rubywrangler]

NOAA was predicting partly to mostly sunny weather in the southeastern Olympics last weekend so I recruited Said for a traverse between lakes with plans to climb Mt Stone and Mt Bretherton at either end. The forecast for Saturday was perfect and we were able to climb Stone, but we woke up to clouds and snow on Sunday, so we slept in and bailed on Bretherton. It was cloudy and drizzly when we left the car on Saturday morning but clearing when we reached Lake of the Angels. We hung out at the lake for awhile, hiding from biting wind and waiting for the sun to fully emerge, then followed the bootpath up to Mt. Stone.

looking back at swampy meadow below LotA

mt stone

lake of the angels

looking back on LotA

blue sky!

skokomish

It was dry to the saddle, but we hit a few inches of snow just above that. Snow and ice and wet rock in the Class 3 gully slowed us down but eventually we got around it and back on the bootpath that goes all the way to the base of the summit block. The "crux" 20' crack on the summit block is south-facing and was dry and easy to climb. By the time we reached the summit the wind was calm and the sun was out and the views were glorious.

climbing up to the saddle

negotiating the snowy gully

climbing up the 20' class 3 crack

summit view NE to scout lake + the brothers

washington pershing ellinor

pretty light on pretty slope

stone ponds - we camped near the upper pond

mt. hopper looks like a nice walk

lincoln, cruiser, skokomish

But, the days are getting short so we didn't stay very long. I'm also short and had trouble finding a foothold at one spot while downclimbing the crack, but was able to get down with some direction from Said. We retraced our steps to pick up our stashed overnight gear at 5600', then climbed up to St. Peter's gate and descended the solid ice "snowfield" to the northeast - was very glad to have crampons. The sun had set by this time so we slowly worked our way down the moraine to the uppermost Stone pond by headlamp to find a campsite.

looking back to stone's summit block

things are getting golden

descending

heading up to st peter's gate

sunset

stone icefield

The night was clear and starry when we went to bed but it was cloudy and snowing hard when I woke up so I went back to sleep. We decided to abandon Bretherton and took our time getting moving. It took a little while to find the bootpath after leaving the lake, but it was pretty easy to follow once we found it. The snow continued off and on all day and the clouds never cleared, but the tarns and trees and fall colors along the way were lovely anyway.

upper stone pond, and our descent route from st. peter's gate

lots of tarns and meadows along the way

tarns and meadows along the way

tarns and meadows along the way

mt. stone

about to crest the ridge

It was snowing hard again when we reached Upper Lena. We found a sheltered spot to stop for snacks and then picked up some trash to carry out (a 2lb coleman-stove type metal fuel canister, complete with fuel, for me and a soggy thermarest pillow for Said ). On the hike down I entertained myself by taking photos of fungi, and thinking about what I would eat once I got to Three Magnets in Olympia (fried chicken blt sliders, yum).

the brothers

upper lena reflection

shrooms

shrooms

shrooms

shrooms

shrooms

shrooms

shrooms

Hope we get a little more autumn before the winter weather decides to stick around! ~19 miles, 7100'

[IanB]

Exceptional photos! Spectacular this time of year!

[RAW-dad]

Nice pics!

[Brian R]

One of my favorite trips. I've done it three times over the years--always as a day trip, stashing a bike at Putvin, then hiking Lena, Upper, Stone Ponds, LOTA, and out. Unfortunately, I've never done it when the ponds were melted out. Seeing your pictures, I'll have to go back!

[cascadetraverser]

Way to persevere despite the inclement weather!

[edeezy]

Gotta add this to the list!

[rubywrangler]

Thanks, all! Brian R, that sounds like a long day! I'm going to have to go back too - I'd like to see the Stone ponds when they're all lit up in the sun and visit that beautiful meadowy ridge to Mt. Hopper. Does anyone know if there is a published map of ONP XC zone boundaries? I've been searching for one for awhile but haven't turned up anything yet.

[Jake Robinson]

Great trip and pics! And nice job getting up Stone in tricky conditions

[rubywrangler]

I was thinking of this one for North Cascades NP. I think they must have something similar for ONP that just isn't public, because they always put a specific zone on the permit (e.g. for this trip my permit was for "lake of the angels to scout lake", for a previous trip to deception basin the permit was for "x-country royal basin", etc.) It would be nice to know the boundaries of the quota areas. For this trip in particular, I was wondering if Milk lake is within the Upper Lena quota area. I asked a ranger on the phone but didn't get an answer.

[RAW-dad]

It's not clear to me that ONP has strict quota zones like NOCA and MORA (if they do, it seems to be a state secret!). I say this based on a long conversation I had with a WIC ranger this summer about some off trail camps I had planned. He seemed mostly uninterested in where I was going as long as it wasn't in Grand Valley...

[rubywrangler]