kidzwonthike and I went up to Mt Washington today. It was my second time doing this scramble and his first (my first was in 2019).

First off, Mount Washington is a climber’s trail, not a maintained USFS trail. If you are expecting kind knolls and grade, you will be sorely disappointed. It’s a scramble basically from start to finish, with the easiest route being class 3.

I knew the general way so I led the route. A couple deviations I made this time were going up a class 3 rock face instead of the scree funnel death gully, and I went up the SW face which involves some fun class 4/low class 5 moves 😊.

We raced the smoke up to the summit and barely won, then were met with a thunder and lightning storm as we started down — which wasn’t on the forecast! I'm definitely checking that one off my bucket list of “things not to do on a mountain”.

We were moving quickly downhill (well, as quickly as we could), and both ended up slipping and falling on the wet tread once, even though we were being careful. Ergo, it’s not a place to go when wet.

Lots of tasty mountain huckleberries along the way with some wildflowers to boot 😋. Downside was the biting flies in the morning and some of the flying summit ants, but they went away once the weather got colder.

My GPS track attached to the Peakbagger.com link provided has more ups and downs than necessary as I went up the SW face, summited, tried providing verbal directions for how to get up there, came down the gully, demoed the traverse route around the E side to kidzwonthike, then summited with him :).

Thoughts on the Descent Route

When rockfall occurs, yell "rock!" to inform other potential climbers/scramblers that they need to react appropriately.

The scree funnel death gully isn't advised when others are present, or at the very least is a chokepoint requiring one individual to be descending at a time, or a surefooted group on short rope walking in tight formation.

A better way down if one feels comfortable with class 3/4 down scrambling, would be to take the gully to skier's right of the scree funnel death gully. There's less unpredictable loose rock potential, whereas the scree funnel death gully can speed up larger (apple sized) boulders going at 10+ mph.

kidzwonthike and I went down the scree funnel death gully one at a time because he didn't feel comfortable downscrambling the class 3/4 wall. I went down first, slipping and sliding on my butt, and yelled "all clear!" when I thought I had gotten out of the trajectory of the rocks behind a larger boulder. kidzwonthike accidentally kicked down a few loose rocks and yelled "rock!". I hit the deck quickly to avoid getting hit by the boulder, then quickly moved out of the way to avoid any other careening rocks, because a smaller boulder went over my head after I hit the deck.

There are slabby steps one can use on the right side of the scree funnel death gully, as well as tree roots that can be leveraged (well, as long as the tree is still standing) on the left side of the gully down lower.

Thoughts on the Summit Block Traverse/Scramble

The bulk majority of the rock I tested appeared sound, however, there were some flakes/outcroppings I ran into that were weak/loose. Be sure to test the rock before committing!

If one is looking for less exposure, going up to the left of the W gully before the summit is advised when dry--paying attention to the loose scree on top of the rocks. Going straight up or down the gully isn't advised as the runout is poor and the potential for an uncontrolled slip over the E face of the summit block is highly probable. After you reach the top of the gully, turning right (facing NNW) and scrambling up the class 3 open book to the summit is advised when dry as the other popular route to the W involves some degree of class 2~3 loose scree with exposure. If ice/snow is present, the W traverse might be advised over the class 3 open book due to exposure/runout, depending on what tools you have at your disposal.

Going up the SW face wasn't all that bad for me, but I have some basic bouldering, intermediate alpine climbing skills, and basic rock climbing skills, and am more comfortable on solid rock than loose scree. Being able to comfortably free solo up the class 4/5 face or bring adequate protection is highly advised if you plan on committing to this route. Smaller cams or nuts would probably work along with a 30m~40m rope and slings if one isn't comfortable with the exposure, or the conditions are extra spicy.

Walking the ridge from the N as pribbs describes it, is longer and involves a large degree of classic class 3 exposed ridge walking on solid rock, similar to the upper ridge traverse on Kyes or White Chuck. I would only consider this route if the area is dry.

Gear Used

• Climbing helmet (yes! It's very needed!!)
• Merrell Trail runners
• Trekking Poles
• 3L water - it was very warm today (70°F~80°F when we arrived around 10:30), the area above the upper meadows is very exposed, and there aren't any spots where one can filter water on the route right now.

So you want to do a 4.6 mile hike with 3100 ft gain? Hey, Snoqualmie Mountain is about the same mileage and elevation gain, and I have done that multiple times. Sure, no problem. This beast of a hike makes Snoqualmie Mountain like a walk in the park. Mount Washington is not a hike, but a scramble from start to finish. There are some easy spots, but most of these have some serious exposure. So many spots  where a slip and fall would have some serious consequences. Oh, just about forgot about the loose scree, that was a pain, as every step you took, you went backwards a half step.

This climbers trail starts gaining elevation right out of the parking lot. This ain’t no PCT. The first  part is steep rocks and roots Up thru the forest gaining some serious elevation gain up to a low meadow. After this you are pretty much out in the open the whole way up, so not much shade. This was a issue for us today as we got a late start around 10:45 am. More scree and then once you get to a gully, look for a trail to the left. Don’t go up the gully. After this you get to the upper meadow. We took the middle trail which led us up to a gully/ notch which we scrambled up. I didn’t want to down scramble this when I was going up, so on the way down we took another gully to the left going down.( climbers right going up). It was loose scree, but for me it was easier going down. The scree above this was terrible, but if you hugged the rocks to the right it was easier.

On the traverse over to the saddle before heading up to the summit block is were the exposure starts. The first ramp/ledge is easier but had more loose dirt and pebbles.It is a lot wider than the ledge up by the summit, but is still less than half, maybe a third as wide as the Kendall Katalk. I just hugged the rocks and went slow, super slow on the way down.

 There are some good trip reports here on WTA, Summit Post, an NWhikers about the skinny ledge that goes around the east side of the summit block. It is what they described, pretty darn exposed. There is a trail that goes around to the left that led to a class 4-5 approach to the summit. I went to the base of this and said no way. That’s class “ I’m not going that way” for me. Ngie scampered up to the summit and I went back down to saddle. I was resigned to the fact that I was not going to summit, as my fear of heights with the exposure on this skinny ledge. Ngie came back down and offered to coach me around the ledge. I made it as I had a good coach. It was scary as heck , but I made. Just hug the rocks, which have some great holds. 

After this skinny ledge we scrambled up the gully on the east side. We thought it was easier than continuing up the ledge and scrambling up from the north side. Views were great of the Olympics , but because of smoke we could not see Puget Sound or the Cascades, just Lake Cushman and Hood Canal. We didn’t spend much time on the summit as there were some flying ants. Good thing, as storm came rolling in either thunder and lightning. We tried getting down quickly, but this is not the type of trail you just run down . Lots of down scrambling, crab walking, veggie belay., and a few butt scootches on the way down. We got rained on, but it felt good after the hot day.

It felt so good to back at the car after this little 4.6 mile trip 😆. Also good to be alive after this one!! lol 😂 . GPS track below

This route is NOT for casual hikers. Experience on steep and loose class 2-3 scramble terrain is required.

Trip report for standard route 1 of Mt. Washington in the Olympics. 9:40am start from end of the forest road.

Helmet and poles are needed for this one. The few lingering snowfields can be avoided or crossed without need of ice ax.

If you are like me and like a trail that gives you time to warm up the legs, well, too darn bad. This path begins right at the parking area and wastes no time heading steeply up, and only gets steeper with several sections of scrambling up steep sections of roots and rocks. The path has a strong resemblance to Hibox Mountain in the Cascades, for a good comparison. At 3800 feet the path levels out and reaches a meadow with a running stream.

The path soon resumes the steep climb with more steep sections of rocks and roots, and more loose rocks. You have to get up a nasty loose scree slope that leads into a brushy gully with a small stream to your left. At about 4600 feet you come to meet the stream and this is where I made the rookie mistake. As Peggy Goldman mentions in the Washington Scrambles guide book, the more ideal route is to step across the stream here and proceed up the steep side gully to the left, where you can see obvious previous use. That route will involve some pretty steep class 2-3 rock scramble sections but avoids the brush in the gully and leads directly to the upper meadow. I ignored the advice of the guide book and continued straight up on the path that stayed to the right of the stream, more in the gully. This route involved "tree scrambling" up through some very steep brush. To get out of the gully involved scrambling up a steep and exposed ledge that led to a nice open saddle near The Horn. I was able to hike some boot paths over to the left into this upper meadow to get back to where I would have been if I chose the left route down at the stream.

From this upper meadow at 5000 feet, proceed up the path up through the center of the meadow that leads to another little gully to ascend steeply up to deal with more loose rock. The path continued up open slopes until it arrives at a large nasty loose scree slope under a big lingering snowfield. You can avoid this snow by staying underneath it, but have to steeply climb up the loose scree instead. At about 5500 feet the route arrives at the start of more of a rock scramble that leads up to a ledge that ascends up to the left. I followed that up through some brush on the ledge to a switchback, then the trail ascended a slightly more exposed and loose ledge. As the trail climbs up to the ridgeline, there is a lingering patch of snow that is not too difficult to cross followed by some more nasty loose dirt and scree that leads to a big saddle on the ridge, providing views along the ridge to Mt. Ellinor and over the other side into the Olympics interior.

The path continues up the ridge toward the summit, going around a little rock outcropping to the right. This is the start of the final ledge system that leads to the top. Look for the path that wraps around to the right of the summit area. There is a narrow and very exposed section of ledge to cross that requires paying close attention, but it is a very brief section and the rest of the ledges are more manageable but still exposed and airy. After following the ledges to the right of the summit you will come to an obvious gully that looks well used that leads to the top. Do NOT take this gully, but actually keep following the path on the ledges to the right as it continues to wrap around to the back side of the summit. The path will lead to the north ridge and from here, scramble on top of the north ridge toward the summit. This ridge can be narrow and pretty exposed in places but is solid and straightforward. I arrived on top at 1pm. The many notebooks of the summit register are pretty full, so if someone can donate another couple notebooks that would be appreciated I'm sure.

Going down off the summit I opted to avoid the gully and go back along the north ridge to take the ledge path all the way back down to the ridge. Going down all the loose scree and dirt from the ridge requires paying close attention, especially going back down the lower ledges and the big scree slope below that leads back to the upper meadow. From the upper meadow, I was able to easily locate the more ideal path down that stays to the west of the stream gully and on more open, less-brushy slopes. There is still a lot of scrambling needed to get down the steep slope to the place where you step over the creek and rejoin the main path to take back down to the lower meadow and back down to the car. I returned to the trailhead at 3:10, under 2 hours from the summit, making it 5.5 hours RT.

This trail is tough. You could call it a hike or a class 3 scramble. You are using your hands 50% of the time or more. The top of the trail is loose with extremely high consequences. The trail starts at the parking lot, not down the path to the right. I used the track on Gaia GPS (free app) and it was super helpful and accurate. I didn’t track myself because I knew I wouldn’t be on the correct trail the entire time (snow) and didn’t want to mislead anyone. For the first third you are in the forest climbing up root steps. Then you hit a meadow and this is where you become exposed. Next is a short but loose scree field. After that you get into some trees again. Note when the trail is next to the stream. I refilled my water here and did not get sick. Keep going up until you get to the second spot it is next to the stream. TURN LEFT AND CROSS HERE. If you find yourself ducking through bushes you have gone too far. It is very misleading. I built a cairn and tried to place sticks across the wrong trail. Next is some more trail/scramble then you get to a level spot kind of like a basin. This is where I hit snow and put my spikes on. I tried to follow the Gaia track as best I could being carful not to step on top of streams as you could fall through. At some point you need to hook left and cross another stream. For me this was the crux as the trail was not safe because the snow pack was severely undermined. The only option was a big stretch over a waterfall where both your hand holds and foot holds are wet rock with smaller loose rock. I’m 5’9” and pulled it off. After that you are super close to the saddle, keeping following the trail up. I hit another snowfield between now and then. Once at the saddle work your way along the ridge line. There are a couple of high risk tight spots and as usual there is loose rock everywhere. It had me a little nervous. Last part is a left turn then a super loose steep climb up to the top. At the top you are treated to views of Seattle, Lake Cushman, Rainer, Olympus, Elinor, Glacier, and Baker. Mine weren’t that great because this was during the heat wave and it was upper smoggy. There is a box of summit log books, there isn’t a 2021 book yet so I found a spot in a 2020 book. Now you have to go back down all of this. Take it easy on your knees. Be careful and have fun. Good luck.

I caught the 7:35am Seattle-Bremerton ferry and reached the trailhead at 10:10am. Snow began on the road ~3 miles from the trailhead, and by the time I reached the lower Ellinor trailhead the road was fully compact snow and ice which continued until the Washington trailhead.  Because temperatures remained cool the entire day yesterday the road was just as snowy and icy on the descent.  I had no trouble in an AWD car with snow tires but saw some vehicles stuck on the way down. There were a dozen or so cars at the lower Ellinor trailhead on the way up and probably three times that at 2:45 pm on the way down. There were a half dozen cars at the Washington trailhead both when I began and finished my hike.

I've climbed Washington a few times and each time I've encountered hikers who mistakenly believed continuing past the gate down the old forest service road is the standard route to the summit. Instead, look for a Boulder hidden in the bushes southwest of the parking lot.  Once past the boulder the trail's beginning is clear.

Snow covers  95% of the route from the trailhead to the summit.  This only compounds Washington's primary two challenges: route-finding and not slipping on the many roots and rocks.  I would strongly recommend having a GPS track and poles that can be easily stowed when you need to use your hands.  I carried but did not use microspikes as the snow was still soft and the icy sections were not long enough to justify their use.

Once you reach the gully above the scree field you're better served to cut left and gain and ascend the slope south of the gully.  The trail naturally pushes you into the gully and from what I've heard it's doable but unpleasant.

You get your first view of the interior Olympics at a col south of Washington's summit. From there a trail follows the ridge towards the summit block.  Once at the block you'll want to cut right on an exposed traverse (pic #2 below) rather than cutting left on an old goat trail.  I've seen people take the game trail the last two times I've climbed Washington and while all parties summitted, there was agreement the standard route is safer and more enjoyable.

After cutting rightward you gain a ledge which leads to a broad chute below the summit. I've read some reports where people have continued on the ledge past the chute until the ledge reaches the ridge between Washington and Washington's nose.  That route works but is very exposed and would be dangerous when wet or covered in snow.  To avoid that, follow the chute up to a short hand-over-hand scramble to the top.  The scramble's rock is solid and the exposure is minimal.

There is a summit register at the top with climber's logs dating back to 2016, though the latest log has been full for over a month. On this clear day most of the major Olympic summits were visible to the naked eye, as well as Baker, Shuksan, Glacier and Rainier.  Downtown Seattle's skyline glowed in the afternoon sun. With binoculars you could see the Hood Canal Bridge, the Narrows Bridge and Downtown Tacoma.  

Climbing Washington offers great bang for your buck without the crowds that beset Ellinor. But come prepared for a challenging scramble, particularly if there's snow on the ground.