[ozzy]

It's been nice having this streak of great weather lately though hot! So the boys and I decided we better get outta town and go for another walk. The target this go round would be Devil's Thumb! Hell yeah! Bryan and I had slithered our way up Devil's Peak a few years prior. We orphaned the Thumb like the lazy bastards we are! Nonetheless we had a great reason to go back! So like clockwork...Hans, Bryan, and yours truly met up in the wee hours of the AM and made our way out to the coal creek road. Awww yeaaaa, back to the mtn loop! I love that place. We started hiking the overgrown road at 5am. An hour or so later we made it to the 3rd switchback, this is where one wants to head into the woods traveling WNW. We crossed a small creek right next to the road which is not on the map. After that we stayed a little too close to the creek marked on the map that drains from devil's lk. So around 3400' we had to backtrack a little to get above a cliffband, we also hit consistent snow here. Generally anytime we came to steep terrain it was usually avoided by going climbers left. Travel to get up to devil's lk was rather enjoyable and we were all digging the vibe of this forest! Soon we found ourselves entering the basin where devil's lk lies! Oooowwwweeeee, this place is awesome, and spring melt is in its prime as well! Waterfalls galore!! It took us just 2hrs to get here so we decided to take a nice break and watch the fog burn off. We carried snowshoes up to this point and gladly dropped them here, the snow was set up nicely. Time for some whiskey, cheers.

the 3rd switchback

negotiations with the cliffs

postholing

first view of devil's peak

a nice break spot

After the break it was time to head up towards the devil's peak/thumb saddle. Travel through the basin was badass, the rising fog added to the mood! The dunite rock that comprises the Thumb sets the mood too! It's so out of place lol. We were aiming for the SW ridge and were able to ride a snowfilled gully all the way up to about 4300' where it steepened a bit and the snow ended for 60ft or so. This area was all moss covered rock and wet as hell, so needless to say we climbed this spot with crampons too lol! After that spot we were on steep snow a short bit then gained thy SW ridge proper! From here you get some sweet views to the north towards Darrington and surrounding peaks. Now we were on the red dunite, this was definitely the funnest part of the day. The first obstacle is a 30ft rock step that goes class 3 with exposure, fun! Then we just worked the ridge from there and found ourselves on the summit ridge before we knew it! There is a spicy little notch to go up and down just before the top, well worth it though. On top at last! Yewwwww! Amazing views in all directions, especially for a peak just above 5000'! The time was 10am, 5hrs from car. It was a warming up out but we decided to chill on the top for as long as we could stand, cheers!

the fog lifts

by devil's lk

nice morning

the Thumb above

lads in the mist

we took the gully to the right of the saddle

gully more visible

looking back to devil's lk

yeaaa bud

Hans, Bryan, devil's peak

towards the top of the gully

gettin it

Hans going from snow to rock

topping out the gully

Helena lk and 3 fingers

the summit proper

goodtimes

now we having some fun

B-dawg

class 3 fun

living on the edge

the summit area

out to the east

wow is an understatement

the last knife ridge to the true summit

cheers

Around 1130am the heat got the best of us and we made our way down towards shade. We were kinda worried with some of the downclimbing but it ended up being trivial, as usual. After we were off all the sketchy terrain we found a nice big tree by devil's lk to relax under! Nice...more relaxation and whiskey lol! Goddamn...one doesn't want to leave a place like this. A few hours later, like always we reluctantly left. The time was 4pm, we reached the car around 6pm. The way out was uneventful. Another most worthy endeavor into the mountains! Thanks Bryan and Hans for joining again. I forgot how quick and accessible this little area is, it's one of my favorite scrambles for sure! Let's go get another, lads! Cheers to all! 9 miles or so, 3200ft gain, 12hrs casually

the spicy notch and Hans

Bryan's turn

tight squeeze

sub summit to the south

towards Darrington

downclimbing the gully

back on easier slopes

looking back with Bryan below

chill time at the lake

a great day

bushy road out

[RichP]

Cool. I recall doing this with 60 or so classmates in Boealps back in the day.

[zephyr]

You make it look so easy. ha Another great trip with excellent photos. ~z

[mntsun]

Our April Boealps trip was almost legendarily bad, poured the entire weekend, then our fellow student doing the first pitch on Devils Peak dislocated a shoulder and we had to do a painstaking retreat...into the rain for a rainy miserable night. Poured the whole way out too. Seeing as we don't get much spring rain anymore, Devils Thumb looks like an awesome late May climb.

[El Puma]

Very cool. Inspiration for the fall! I read "Devil's Thumb" and immediately thought of SE AK as I worked out of Petersburg and Wrangell for a while! That would be quite a different challenge