[Alden Ryno]

Grand Valley Ridges – Moose/McCartney/Cameron/Claywood/Sentinel/Wellesley/Pt 6759 EDIT: I guess dates would be helpful to some... August 13th to 15th, 2022.

sunset to Olympus day 1

sunset to Anderson day 1

sunrise to Olympus day 2

I’ve been struggling to find a mountain muse this year. I do very well with defined objectives, so the proverbial peak List is the obvious thing. However, to me, part of this mountain stuff is exploring new places. The Olympic Range is an area foreign to me. As such, there’s a natural appeal to go. Yet, I find trouble being inspired by something as “go forth and prosper.” What am I going to do? I need set parameters (maybe a fault, but it’s my brain and I try to do what makes it happy).

the route taken

A friend of mine that lives near Olympia has been proselytizing the Olympic Mountains 6,500+ Foot list (Dan Lauren is the only known finisher) and it slowly grew on me. Living in Issaquah, it’s about the same time to the North Cascades, along SR 20, as it is to most of the Olympic Trailheads, so that itself is a fair trade-off for me (certainly not done with the North Cascades, who could be?). Much of this year was intended to be in support of Rikki getting as many, or completing, the Bulgers List. Despite health issues, surgeries, and less-than-ideal weather at the beginning of the season, she’s been kicking ass, but she won’t be finishing this year…not for lack of putting in the effort to get things done! Washouts of the Harts Pass Road are huge hurdles there now. In supporting her, I thought of tagging the T200s in areas I had been before. Part of my support was going to be fewer solo trips. When they were to happen, they’d be closer to home. So, the Teanaway and Snoqualmie region became foci for me. Everything is day-trip-able and links up are natural, lending to some decently sized days in the mountains, though not getting too far out there. Until the trip to be spoken of here, I hadn’t been out on a solo overnight trip (eghads!) this year. I’ve had plenty of bigger solo days this year, though it just doesn’t do the same thing for my soul. With my memoir out of the way… When the opportunity for an overnight trip arose, I focused on the Olympics with the idea being as many of the 6,500’+ peaks as feasible in a new location: Grand Ridge cometh. Aside from Royal Basin (more rugged terrain) and the Olympus Massif (really deep and glaciers abound), Grand Ridge seems to have the highest density of list peaks per unit area. I quickly devised an “A” tip plan with various substitutions dependent on time, weather, fatigue, etc. The final product prior to execution was two full days with eight (8) 6,500’+ ranked summits: about 50 miles and 21,000’ of gain. There were numerous more unranked. I almost made it work. As time got closer, I was unsure of my ability to complete it in two days. Well, comfortably complete it. I love big days but I’m not too keen on going beyond 16 hours per day or moving into the night. I can but this is supposed to stay enjoyable. I moved the trip up a half day, then nearly a full day (from Sun/Mon to Sat/Sun/Mon) to account for travel time back home, preparing for the next workday, and getting plenty of sleep. A perk of Olympic National Park’s permits on recreation.gov is that you can print out the permit beforehand and not go to a station. What a novel concept! This is part of why I go out of my way to not get a permit for NCNP (longer days, camping outside park boundaries, etc.). Work hours are too restrictive but having a residence on the east side of Washington helps since you can call in and have a permit emailed. Still, it should be exclusively online. I got two nights in Upper Cameron, though I wasn’t sure if I would actually be exactly in the campsite… This was my first time at Obstruction Point. After embarking on dirt at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor’s Center, the dirt road goes well. It’s well-graded overall, though there are some steep bits, though they’re typically old asphalt to help reduce the need for traction control on rubble. The parking lot was packed, as I expected. Day 1 I was on trail a bit past 830am. The 1.5 miles of trail along Lilian Ridge are stunning. Views abound with Olympus to the south and the Sound and Cascades to the north/east. I was in and out of clouds for the entire first day. I veered left to the old Lilian Ridge Way Trail (off the Grand Valley Trail). Overall, the trail is still alive, though there’s little living matter to obstruct it. The path is easy to Low Pass where the trail itself peters out as one climbs to Grand Pass Peak, where I took my first break around 11am. This was after a summit of North Moose and Moose (practically on the trail).

turnoff from Grand Valley Trail to "defunct" Lilian Ridge Way Trail

looking to Grand Pass. Ribbon of trail winds its way through

looking down Grand Valley

The navigation was simple after Grand Pass Peak and remained easy most of the way to Pt 6728. About a half to quarter mile before Pt 6728, there are gendarmes that (reasonably) force one down off the ridge (lefthand side). In retrospect, it may be easier to drop into the Lilian Glacier Basin and traverse to McCartney. The travel looks simple and fast, but I was resistant to dropping elevation. Travel wasn’t bad, but it was steep and loose traversing with ample ups and down. It reminded me of Ragged Ridge between Katsuk and Kimtah where you weaver in and out of gullies on loose, steep terrain. But, there were fewer key ledges here.

terrain in Lilian "Glacier" Basin. Easier travel than the ridge.

ridge to Mount Cameron (left rear area). Much was spent on the ridge proper, but traversed below most points along ridge.

bountiful flowers on this trip

not uncommon terrain while traversing. so many spots for remote camps.

Once at Pt 6728, I dropped my pack and put my phone and inReach into my phanny pack and bopped over to McCartney. I was there and back in 30-40 minutes. The continued traverse to Cameron Pass(unsure of real name?) with a side trip to Pt 6733 was simple (Pass at 430pm). I moved about 100 vertical feet from the past, toward Mt. Cameron, to set up camp on the ridge… always a gamble. I gathered by small day pack and went up to Mt. Cameron. Overall Cameron isn’t technical. It took me longer than I expected with numerous false summits. Add in that both summits should be tagged (the near is certainly taller on maps and seemingly in person). I was in/out of the clouds so it was hard to gauge well.

past the first false summit of Cameron, looking back to Cameron Basin with Cameron Head on the right

looking back at the alleged proper summit of Cameron from near the second summit (farther along the ridge).

I wonder what it's like under those clouds...

clouds settling and clearing as I get nearer camp

As I neared camp (8pm), the clouds began to dissipate and the sun began to set. Wowza! This was a true treat to feast upon. As the night progressed, the clouds continued to settle in the valleys.

minute long video getting back to camp

excuse me while I flood this TR with pretty pictures that have no route details

sunset of Bogachiel/far northern Bailey range

Lost Bain and Anderson Massif beyond

Meany and Queets

Day 2 I was up at 5am with hopes to be moving around 6am. I like to have a real and relaxed breakfast before big days. This was the perfect spot for today’s “out and back boomerang” route. The bad part was that I was nearly 1,000 feet about flowing water. A snowpatch was right by camp but I knew I didn’t want to have to melt snow that coming evening so I took notice of where the first/last flowing water was and I brought all of my water vessels for the day (7 L capacity). I could’ve stowed them at the water, but it was, maybe, 8 ounces, marginal weight.

sun risin'

Lost Pass

Moving at 620am, I dropped from above Cameron Pass to Lost Basin to Lost Pass. This was on trail and beautiful. From Lost Pass, I went off trail along the ridge to just below Mt. Claywood. The route looks unsure on maps, though it’s evident as you progress and very easy going. It’s steep in spots but the traverse below a Claywood subsummit is chill. I summited at 840am and sat and ate until 9am when I began the traverse to Mt. Fromme (summit at 930am). Terrain was overall easy with some boulder hopping below Fromme. I took the ridge direct after the spires and it went easily. Others seemed to bypass this then loop back up Fromme from the far side nearer Hayden Pass. This way was less travel and less traversing. Getting to Hayden Pass was a bit less fun. I’m unsure of the best way…stay high and navigate the true ridge crest or drop laower and travel on steep traversing terrain. I did a bit of both. I was glad to have trail back at Hayden Pass (1030a). Thankfully, there’s good trail to the summit of Sentinel though the trail does a weird traverse of the peak instead of going straight up it; I just bombed down the scree on the descent. Summit at 11am.

looking at a subsummit of Claywood on the ridge. up the dirt patch to the base of the cliffs, then traverse hard right under the cliffs on obvious terrain (when you're there)

traverse where subtle lower terrain meets more vertical upper terrain, natural fold in the terrain

summit of Claywood, looking to Fromme and Sentinel

summit of Fromme, looking to claywood

not the easiest to see but I crossed the choss slopes with runnels under Sentinel here. I crossed the snow patches (and loaded up with coolant)

Hayden Pass between Fromme and Sentinel

From Sentinel, I was unsure of my next waypoint. I wanted to get to Wellesley Peak. I was feeling a bit fatigured and didn’t want to have to drop down to the trail, follow it for a bit, traverse to Thousand Acre Meadow, then go up from there. That made me drop more than 1,500 feet and add two plus miles of trail. Maps were steep below Sentinel. Sometimes the terrain looks better in person, sometimes the maps aren’t granular enough to get reality. Thankfully, this was the former. The terrain looked great to traverse the scree slopes immediately beneath Sentinel, cutting off more than a thousand feet of additional loss and gain and several miles of travel. I made it to the tiny pass east of Sentinel at noon and followed terrain to the loooong ridge above Thousand Acre Meadow that would eventually lead to Wellesley.

From Sentinel to Wellesley along the ridge, Deception et al. beyond. I wondered, and still do, if the ridge directly off of Sentinel would go. Likely more tedious than simply dropping a few hundred vert and crossing the snow and talus slopes

gentle snow and talus slopes directly beneath Sentinel. Much more shallow than they appeared head-on and on the maps

the slopes from near camp

I was grateful to find snowpatches beneath Sentinel that I shoved into my water vessels, including my backpack bladder. This was a win-win: I was cooled by the snow on my back, and I melted the water simultaneously. A life-saver as the day was hot and fatigue was building by now.

use-trail to nowhere from the pass east of Sentinel

mmhmm

aptly named Thousand Acre Meadow

Terrain to West Wellesley (Pt. 6490) was easy and I even got some cell reception on the ridge line. Oddly, I didn’t get it anywhere else, including on Wellesley. The ridge above Knerr creek is doable but tedious. I should have dropped down, like I did on the return, but something about “I like aesthetic lines” kept my hard head on the ridge proper. No seriously scrambling. The rock is loose, however. It seemed like an eternity but I was on the summit of Wellesley Peak at 230pm. Now, I had to do it all (the ridge) in reverse. Being exposed on ridges from 7am-4pm was draining. The sun rarely found cirrus clouds to hide behind and breezes were slight, if present.

ridge proper goes but just drop down to the right here and take it easy

Wellesley summit, Sentinel is far away...

easy terrain off the ridge but along the ridge to Wellesley. this can be taken to about halfway to/from West Wellesley and Wellesley main.

About halfway back on the ridge, I began to feel chaffing. Immediately I tried to find shade to stripe down and change into dry clothes. Chaff is my nemesis. With so much sweat it was only a matter of time. Knowing that, I brought an extra change of clothes. Being 25 miles out and chaffing the whole way is not my idea of fun in the sun… Once I changed and ate, I was back on the move. Now, I was deliberately slowing myself to not sweat as much. If I could abate the chaff to camp, then I had a fighting chance for tomorrow’s trail miles to the car. I dropped down into Thousand Acre Meadow and tracked 1.5 miles in the Meadow from start to tree line. It’s a strange place…. Not steep, not high, yet without trees. A beautiful place! I hugged the western side , not falling for the fall line. Once on the Dosewallips River Trail, it was smooth sailing. I made it to the Lost Pass turnoff at 530pm and climbed the 1200 feet to Lost Pass to bring my day full circle (610pm)!

flat basin is flat

pretty basin is pretty

thirty miles into this trip and I'm finally in a bonafide forest

time to leave the forest, after 2 miles (maybe)

I love the trail from Lost Pass to Cameron Pass. That basin is stunning. If I had extra time, I would have explored up the basin more and may have gone up Lost Peak. Given it’s not ranked on the 6500 list, I passed it up. On the Cameron side of Lost Basin, I crossed the last water source (7pm), which I had waypoint tagged in my GPS that morning. Only 800 vert to camp with 6+ liters of water! This is where I really ahd to watch the chaff. I moved strange so my thighs, low back, and shoulders didn’t contact the pack as much. It was more of a hobble than anything… Camp came at 730pm with plenty of time for relax time to watch the sunset.

Lost Peak with singletrack ribbon

back to pretty pictures without route significance

reward for a day of hard effort done well

Again, a light breeze greeted me all night with clear skies. The odds of two great nights on a high ridge are low but part of what makes July-September special! Day 3

top o' the mornin' to ya!

I awoke a few before 5am without my alarm (set for just after 5am) and slowly gathered by camp and ate. It was cool, not cold. Wonderful for me. I was moving at 630am. With today 95% on trail, it was going to be more of a “one foot in front of the other” day. No true route finding, just busting out the miles. I was 13 miles and almost 5,000’ of gain from the car, with two main climbs: to Grand Pass (+2200’) and to Lilian Ridge (+1600’). My feet stayed entirely dry this entire trip until this forested bit...dew on the foliage soaked my feet in no time... Interestingly, the climb to Grand Pass around 6,400’ starts at the lowest point of this entire trip, 4,200’. The trail on this entire day was pleasant, though the climb to Grand Pass was getting to be a bit warm in the mid-morning.

the trail through Cameron Basin is wonderful

big moon was bright both nights

I reached the turn off to Grand Pass before 8am and had to change clothes. Being low enough made it warm enough that I was soaked with sweat, despite moving downhill. I changed and ate (a theme on this trip) and began to trudge up some time between 8am and 815am. I stopped about 2/3 of the way up to again dry off in the shade and get my last water before the trail climbs 800’ in an open basin (i.e., sun blasted). I was at Grand Pass at 930am where I found a shaded alcove. I set some gear out to dry then wandered up to Pt. 6759. It felt close but was about 0.8 miles away from the pass. Having only brought my phanny pack with phone and inReach seemed not the smartest (not water/food with no water sources) but the terrain went quickly and I was back by 11am.

the last turnoff and the last sustained climb

at last, back to my diversion point

While beautiful, the rest was unremarkable (aside from hot until the ridge proper which had a spectacular breeze). The last climb from between Moose and Grand Lakes was rough. Hot and felt to keep going on forever, but I made it back to the car at 130pm.

this way to the car

back at the TH

I was glad to have had an extra half day on the end to get out. This allowed me the luxury of leisurely watching two sunrises and two sunsets from an awesome camp on the flank of Mount Cameron. Originally, I wanted to tag Elk Mountain, a sub 4 miles, sub-1,000’ of gain trip from the TH but I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic through Tacoma and opted to come back another time to this wonderful place. It was my first time using a bear canister (bought the week before) and my first overnight trip on the Peninsula. I’m eager to return to the Olympics, if the weather permits. The trip ended up being 49 miles and the tiniest bit above 20,000’ of gain.

[meck]

Fantastic trip, and thank you for posting the photos of some of those slopes! Aside from the heat, looks like you visited at just the right time. I almost got to Wellesley, but decided to swim in 1000 acre meadows instead (it was so hot out there when I visited a few years back). Thanks for including the photos from Sentinel over to Wellesley, I've got to go back. Also, I really appreciate the photo around the north-east edge of Claywood. I'd sat staring at that route around the edge for about 40 minutes one evening debating if I should go there (from about the same location your photo was taken), before turning around and going back along that ridge to Lost Basin (I'd visited it from Hayden Pass along the same route you exited from). Lot's of great terrain for exploring out there!

[jaysway]

It seems like you had a great trip and were able to string together some real highlights!

[silence]

Great traverse and wonderful photos ... thanks for posting!

[RAW-dad]

Nice intro to the Olympics! You'll find many more worthy routes.

[zimmertr]

Love the photos of Claywood Lake and the Lillian Glacier Basin. Lots of places I've also dreamed of going too. With respect to chafting, have you ever tried chamois buttr? I used to get it on my lower back on big days and it helps a lot. And doesn't seem to stop working when you sweat like body glide does. I normally just apply it liberally before going out on a big day, but for overnight trips you can buy small packets as well. For example: https://www.amazon.com/Chamois-Buttr-Original-9mL-Packets/dp/B00CUK5ITQ

[Alden Ryno]

I haven't tried that stuff, though I've used other products with success... I simply forgot EVERYTHING that I normally use (Squirrel's Nut Butter, Body Glide, baby wipes) other than carmex. That whole carmex tube got used to prevent below waist chaff instead of chapped lips. I should have added that I eventually made it to the car with no chaff!

[coldrain108]