Trip Report: Attempt on Herman’s Peak
This outing was meant to be a summit bid on Herman’s Peak, but the mountain had other plans. Even in this low‑snow year, we found far more snow than expected. Carol had dug up information on this obscure destination—tucked high above Lake 22 and not shown on most maps—under the Mount Pilchuck listings.
We drove the Mountain Loop Highway to Forest Road 4020 and continued onto 4021. The lower section looked recently graded with fresh gravel, but higher up the road deteriorated into deep, water‑filled potholes. Still, Carol’s trusty Forester carried us all the way to the Bear Lake/Pinnacle Lake trailhead at 2,640 ft.
We started up the trail at 08:00. Shortly after the junction, we made the quick detour to Bear Lake, then returned and continued up the Pinnacle Lake trail. This trail is wet, muddy, and littered with downed trees and debris—long overdue for clearing. Route‑finding is tricky in several places. Continuous snow began around 3,700 ft, with mostly full coverage above 3,800 ft.
At Pinnacle Lake we paused to discuss our route, then continued around the west side of the lake, high above the shoreline. Reaching the stream on the northwest side, we began ascending its rocky path toward the basin. Later in the season a clear boot path follows the north side, but right now it was completely buried under steep, continuous snow. We rock‑hopped our way upward, avoiding the flowing water as best we could.
At the basin we evaluated our options and chose the steep gully with the safer runout—no rocks showing through the snow. The Iodine Gulch route had too many exposed rocks for current conditions; a slip there would be far less forgiving. Carol and Steve put on their snowshoes, while I left mine in the car, assuming the snow would be consolidated enough. Carol led the lower section, but as the slope steepened near the ridge, both removed their snowshoes. I kicked steps the rest of the way, and the system worked well—everyone reached the ridge at 4,640 ft.
From the ridge we could have traversed easily to the pass above Iodine Gulch and continued to the summit. But with the slow descent ahead and limited time, we made the call to turn around.
Back in the basin, we followed the stream down to the lake and retraced our tracks to the outlet. The upper trail near the ponds still holds plenty of snow, though the ponds are beginning to thaw. Patchy snow resumes around 3,700 ft, and the trail becomes fully visible below that.
Waterproof boots are essential for any mountain trip this time of year. We used poles for much of the day and carried mountain axes for the steep descent. With the sun‑softened snow, though, an axe arrest would have been difficult—another reason we chose the safer gully.
A solid outing, even without the summit.
Comments