Out of all the roads in Washington this one access the most terrain and the best options for ski touring in Washington yet most people don’t know about it. If it’s warm head to Leavenworth and the Eastern Side of the Cascades but if it’s colder head for the lower slopes on the West side of the Pass. When in Washington it is nice to have options.
Cannon Mountain and the Icicle Creek area right outside of Leavenworth, Washington, is in my opinion, a diamond in the rough. With peaks in every direction reaching over 8000′, and dry Eastern Washington snow, this area, though relatively unknown, is in many ways a backcountry mecca.
Kyes Peak is a prominent and picturesque mountain near the abandoned mining town of Monte Cristo. In the late 1800s, the Rockafeller family helped to develop the area by funding the exploration of the area’s mining deposits. Situated in the Mountain Loop Highway Area of the North Cascades, the town of Monte Cristo was at the turn of the century the terminus for an Everett railroad built to ferry ores from the surrounding mountains to the then-bustling town.
Along with Monte Cristo and Columbia Peaks, Kyes and its surrounding ridges contain the Columbia Glacier basin. Kyes Peak is geologically significant in that it is the highest summit in the Monte Cristo group of peaks. Knowing that Scott McAlister and I decided to check out the area with a snowboard descent of the Pride Glacier Headwall.
The Big Chiwaukum Couloir is one of those lines you can see on a clear day at Stevens Pass Ski resort. Being the high point of the Chiwaukum range the line can’t help but grab your attention. Scott McAlister and I put together a plan to in which we would make it out there via a traverse. We would go fast and light with an early morning approach so we could make the most out of the day before exiting around sunset. While the tour was going to be long it would be worth it for the views alone. Snowboarding down the Big Chiwaukum Couloir was going to be a nice bonus.
With a full moon and clear skies it was time to head out into the mountains and try something big. Jason and I kept throwing ideas back and forth until reaching a agreement that we should visit the remote Chiwaukum Mountains. It was our hope that we could find a scenic camping spot and get some turns. Since it was early January we knew it was going to be cold with short days.
The Dakobed Traverse is a high alpine route from the Boulder Pass trail in Glacier Peak Wilderness to White Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington state. The trip starts off forest road 6400 and the White River Trailhead and can be coupled with Glacier Peak. Following the Dakobed Range it is one of the more scenic areas within the Cascades.
The Dakobed traverse had been a dream of mine for years and to end it off with Glacier Peak. Compared to other volcanoes this is by far the most isolated within the Cascade Range. For instance any approach to the mountain is a minimum of 30 miles compared to the parking lot on the lower slopes of Mount Rainier. Glacier Peak Wilderness is above all what I consider to have the most stunning scenery in all of Washington.
I had always looked at the Dakobeds (translated to mean Great Parent) in a sense of mystery. Studying the contour lines of the massive peaks hosting several glaciers lingering on the edge of granite cliffs. The Dakobed Traverse to Glacier Peak were to me as Mt Olympus and the Valhalla’s was to Jason Hummel. From the tiger striped gold tinted rock to the never ending crevasse filled glaciers. Glacier Peak Wilderness is easily one of the most amazing places I have ever set my eyes upon. We decided the perfect way to climb Glacier peak would be via the Dakobed Traverse.
Dragontail Peak out of Icicle Creek in the North Cascades is a stunning mountain. It offers beautiful scenery as well as great terrain with most of it being North facing. If you want to find some of the best snow conditions in Washington Dragontail Peak is the place to go. Being the second highest peak … Read more
Glacier Peak is the most isolated volcano within the whole Cascade Range and gets little attention compared to its larger brothers. Earlier in the season I had made a goal to summit and ski all five volcanoes in Washington State realizing that the biggest challenge was going to be Glacier Peak on the Cool Glacier with an approach of at least 35 miles. Earlier in the Season I had spoken with someone knowledgeable about the area and he said that the road was closed because of flooding causing an extra few miles. Well after doing some research I found that the extra few miles was 6.5 each way making the total trip 48 miles.