The closures of the Cascade River Road and Downey Creek Trail this summer have limited access to the Ptarmigan Mountains, but I and five other determined mountaineers managed to complete the Ptarmigan Traverse and climb Dome Peak in early August. We had our hands full due to a variety of difficult conditions throughout the traverse. A full report, with photos and maps, can be found here:
https://trailcatjim.com/ptarmigan-traverse-dome-peak-2021/
Below is a trip synopsis and a dozen sample photos.
Day 0: Walk up Cascade River Road to trailhead at night.
Day 1: Hike up to Cascade Pass and over Cache Col to Kool-Aid Lake in fog and rain.
Day 2: Hunker down in the rain and fog all day.
Day 3: Climb up to Spider-Formidable Col and down to Yang Yang Lakes, sustaining a rockfall injury along the way.
Day 4: Climb up to Sentinel Pass and traverse to White Rock Lakes, encountering challenging ice along the way.
Day 5: Climb up to Dana-Dome Saddle, attempting to climb Spire Point along the way.
Day 6: Climb Dome Peak under surprisingly challenging conditions, then traverse to Cub Lake.
Day 7: Hike over Cub Lake Pass and thrash down Bachelor Creek to Downey Creek Trail.
Day 8: Hike out to Suiattle River Road, passing through 2020 forest burn along the way.
dang. dome had nearly zero seasonal snowpack remaining...
and that summit block looks dirtier than i remember. maybe it was snowcovered when we did it.
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