[puzzlr]

Most of the time the Duke of Kent is attempted in the winter via a steep gully just north of the summit. But a significant number of those are unsuccessful. Last October (2020) Bryan and I unsuccessfully attempted to climb it in fall conditions with no snow. At that time we attempted the usual south gully, but it got too steep for us. We backed off and made it up the next gully to the north but not without some tense moments near the top. The short story is we got to a high point but were still separated from the summit by the gap of the next gully and what looked like a steep rock scramble. Others have done the gully route without snow, but it looked too hard for us so we descended and exited via the pass at the head of the Alice Creek basin.

Oct 2020, climbing the gully

Oct 2020, view of summit from our turn around point

Having found out on our exit last time that approaching the peak from the south was a good route except for the long tedious talus crossing. So we decided to come back with spring snow conditions and try again from that side. On April 6 the weather and snow were both perfect and we tried again. We were able to drive all the way to the McClellan Butte trail crossing on FR 9020 for a shortcut start. We used snow shoes from the car to avoid punching through the crusty snow lower down and made quick work getting to the broad log landing area at 3400'. Switching to crampons there, we enjoyed an easy snow climb to the pass at the head of the Alice Creek basin. It was WAY easier than picking our way over the scree last fall.

Starting out at the upper McClellan Butte trailhead on FR 9020

At the big log landing at 3400' and near the end of FR 9020-110. We started early and used snowshoes on the hard crust almost all the way from the car and switched to crampons here.

The head of the Alice Creek basin. This bench is the end of FR 9020-110 and in the summer it's a thicket of tall alder. We happily walked right over the top of that mess today.

Approaching the ridge at the head of the Alice Creek basin. As usual it's steeper than it looks, but it went easily with the good snow conditions and crampons.

We cut the corner onto the ridge and decided to try going directly north along the ridge line toward the summit. This was mostly because the snow on the east side of the ridge had been in sunshine all morning and was getting sloppily loose. The first part over a 4600' hump was like walking in a park. We came out of the trees as the ridge narrowed and approached a snow/rock gendarme ahead. The exposure on both sides was concerning so we used a handline to pass it and drop down 15' on the other side to more easy ground.

The ridge line back to the Duke started out easy

Soon we encountered a gendarme. There was good snow leading up to it on this side, but a 15' drop on the other. We used a hand line to get past that using a convenient small tree growing on top as an anchor.

From the top of the gendarme we got a good look at the last part of the route.

From the gendarme we could see the rest of the route. We had passed lots of mountain goat poop this far and one went scampering up the summit block when we popped out. It was too far away to tell if it was an Olympics transplant. This side of the Duke looked way more do-able than the other side had last fall. We sloshed through the soft snow at the bottom and had to scramble up some 3rd class rocks to get started, but farther up it went easily the rest of the way.

The first part of the ridge was the steepest, with a short 3rd class scramble up these rocks.

Farther up it was still 3rd class but not nearly as steep and no danger of falling.

View back to the gendarme on the ridge. On the way down we used a hand line from the tree at right to get down safely.

The final 100' to the summit was on easy low angle snow

Final steps. Photo by Bryan

On top. Photo by Bryan

View back along the ridge we climbed

Rock Creek Crags to the east.

After a break on top we headed down. The only concern was the start of the summit block and we used a hand line again to safely descend about 30' of steep stuff down to the security of the snow. Getting back over the gendarme was pretty simple. We were able to slide about 600' down into the Alice Creek basin. The trip out was uneventful.

We used a hand line to descent the steep section at the start of the summit block

Bryan descending the steep start of the summit block

Climbing back up the gendarme using veggie belays

A long snow slide. Photo by Bryan

We traversed back to FR 9020. The snow here was still firm enough to walk on without snowshoes -- a good thing because we had left them at the end of the road.

Google Earth view of our route. Ignore the line descending at the summit -- that's a GE elevation model inaccuracy.

6.8 miles, 7 hours round trip. 2900' of gain.

[awilsondc]

Yeahhhh!! Nicely done!

[Now I Fly]

Wonderful TR, Monty! Looks like a neat route, and you two timed it perfectly!

[RichP]

Congratulations. I know you've been jonesing for that one for a while. I didn't know about that first attempt. That gully sure looks steep!

[Matt]

Wish I could have gone with you for this one. Thank you for the route info.

[mosey]

Great trip and nice pics. That area's pretty sweet.

[Justus S.]

Nice, One of my I90 favorites. I've done the gully twice in February. I would definitely do it again in winter. I still need to get Duchess.

[Snowdog]

Nice work boyz!

[Legionnaire]

Hey do you have a GPS route for this a buddy and I just went and attempted this today and I just used screenshots of this thread to try and guide me. I just never really knew if I was in the right part of the basin or what. Would love to see your exact route to see where we messed up. The weather at the beginning of the day was insane but once we got above 3000 ft it was blue sky's so beautiful! Thanks! Your trip looks amazing it's crazy to think we went just a few days after but my photos look like it's Feb so much more snow than in your shots.

[neek]

Well that looks cooler than I expected. Thanks for the excellent report.

[some names]

Congratulations on getting to the Duke! Great trip report and photos! The route information is really helpful. Our interest remains high. Being able to attempt has been delayed by an impending knee replacement. Thanks for the great info!

[puzzlr]

[BensonM]

Well done. That gendarme looks like it added a little spice on the ascent. Were you able to determine whether it was corniced at a glance -- or only after you secured the hand-line for a closer inspection?

[puzzlr]

On the side we approached from there was melted out rock that led to the top (~ 20'). We went up there to see what was ahead. Just beyond it's back to a normal rounded ridge in the trees. It's not that big, but the slope falls off too quickly in one spot to arrest so we used a hand line for security.

[BarbE]