Snowfield Peak is a great glacier climb in the heart of the North Cascades. I was excited for my second ascent of the mountain, this time with Katie.
Our journey started at the Pyramid Lake trailhead, which is just a pullout on the side of the North Cascades Highway before Diablo Lake. The trail up to the lake is moderately graded, and I’m always surprised by how dry the forest seems close to the highway. Our packs were heavy with glacier and overnight gear, but before long we were coasting into the Pyramid Lake basin. The lake is a glorified pond in the middle of the woods, but it has deep and relatively clear water, making for an interesting sight. I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend it as a standalone hiking destination, however.
After a good break, the real fun begins. The climber’s path beyond the lake is steep but well defined. I remember this trail was one of my first introductions to North Cascades climber’s paths several years ago. It was eye-opening how much elevation there was to gain in short distances in these mountains.
1600 vertical feet later, the trail final eases a bit as it gains a flatter part in the ridge. Here, the trees thin and views up towards the big north face of Colonial Peak open up. Anyone who has stopped at the Diablo Lake Overlook knows that Colonial is an impressive mountain, and it was cool to see it up close like this.
Here the climbers path undulates, alternating between pleasant ridge walking and steep trail that requires hauling oneself up tree trunks. Nothing is too dangerous, but that really illustrates the steep nature of the trail here. Trees start to fully disappear around 5400’ and the route up towards Snowfield becomes more apparent, essentially aiming for a big gap with a waterfall of glacial outflow between Colonial and Pyramid Peak. To get here requires a steep descent into the Colonial Creek basin to get off the ridge and then a rising traverse towards the glacial outflow point. The terrain here can be loose and is a bit blocky. We also stepped on snow for the first time, with a mellow sidehill traverse taking us up to the outflow point.
On maps, one can now see a big lake at this point that wasn’t there a few years ago. The glacier below the Neve col has been receding rapidly leading to a big collection of meltwater here. This part took me by surprise, because it was decidedly more lake-like than it had been when I was last here in 2017, with some patches of water that were a bit concerning. We picked our way across, hugging the edge for the most part and trying to stick to the obviously thicker ice. I have a feeling that this section could become more difficult as the years go by and our climate continues to warm.
Once we were off the “lake” it was a straight shot up the dying glacier to the col, where most parties camp. There were a few small hairline cracks in the snow here, but there isn’t much danger on this slope and few parties rope up for it. Speaking of parties, Katie and I somehow found ourselves in a spontaneous race to the col to set up camp. We hadn’t seen anyone all day, but at the meltwater lake we ran into two other parties, all of which were vying for tent sites at the col. Having been there before, I knew that space was a bit limited at this spot, so we set off briskly up the steep hill.
We ended up coming into the col in the middle of the pack and the best spot was taken. I was a little bummed, but we ended up finding a great, more private spot a bit further down towards the Snowfield Peak side of the col. It all worked out in the end, and we happily got to setting up camp. In talking to some of the other parties, people were very surprised that our plan was to summit that night. Despite the huge effort to get to the col with heavy packs, I still thought we had enough time to accomplish our goal.
The col has an amazing view of Snowfield and the massive Neve glacier draping the landscape in ice. There were some open crevasses, but it looked like one could navigate through them easily. So, after a short steep downclimb to reach the glacier, we put on our harnesses and flaked out the rope in preparation for our crossing.
The Neve Glacier is super impressive and a great place to get basic glacier travel experience. None of it is very steep and you can see the crevasses clearly. With Katie in the lead, we carefully picked our way through, seeing a few big cracks but we were able to easily stay a comfortable distance away from them.
Before long, we were reaching the end of the glacier at the west ridge of Snowfield Peak. Here, we dropped the rope, crampons, and any other gear and took small daypacks up towards the summit. We were beginning to feel the BIG day as we climbed the ridge, which had a pretty decent path to follow. Eventually, the summit was within striking distance and the terrain steepened considerably. We came to a big notch in the rock and made a short class 3 downclimb for 10 or 15 feet until we came to the base of the summit scramble. It was a choose-your-own-adventure from here, all on relatively solid rock. I would classify this section as class 3, but some moves might be harder depending on the route you take.
We soon topped out on Snowfield Peak! The views were magnificent, especially in the late afternoon/evening light. The Neve looked majestic, stretching all the way back to our tent at the col, and the Inspiration Traverse area was rugged as ever. One of my favorite views was back toward Baker and Shuksan with the lowering sun providing nice light. It was an amazing experience to be up in such a remote feeling place at this time of day.
Because of the late hour, and knowing we had glacier travel ahead of us, we couldn’t spend too long on the summit. So before long we reversed course and headed down, moving cautiously on the scramble. Back at the base of the ridge we roped back up and headed out across the vast expanse of ice. By now, the sun was setting in earnest, and we broke out headlamps to help guide our way across the glacier. It was a surreal experience crunching our way across the snowfield and weaving between cracks. Katie did an awesome job guiding us and before long we were at the base of the short climb back up to the col.
This short climb was almost comically difficult after such a huge day, but after a bit of a struggle, we made it back to camp. It was fully dark now and it took just about all my remaining energy to boil some water for a quick dinner before we both sacked out hard. It was a satisfying day, with over 8000’ of gain (most of which was with a full pack) and summiting a big, glaciated peak.
The next morning, I roused myself for sunrise, and was treated to a great warm glow on the three-pronged face of Pyramid, Pinnacle, and Paul Bunyan’s Stump. It was an amazing place to see the sunrise and it looked like it was going to be another amazing day in the North Cascades. It was fun to cook breakfast and look out across the Neve Glacier at Snowfield and reflect on our climb the previous day.
After a nice long time enjoying the warm morning, eventually packed up and descended back down the glacial remnant to the big meltwater area. This time, we stuck more to skiers right on a gravelly moraine, but I’m not sure which way is better. Before long we had regained the ridge and were making the steeep descent back to Pyramid Lake. By the time we reached the lake we were pretty wiped but managed to find the energy for the 2-mile walk back down to the car to complete a fun ascent of Snowfield Peak.
Final Stats: 16 miles / 8990 feet of gain
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