Trip Date: July 2-4, 2004

Castle Peak Climbing Trip

Monument 78
Crow Creek Basin
Castle Peak (8306 ft)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northeastern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Upper Skagit Mountains

Areas: Manning Provincial Park & Pasayten Wilderness

Starting & Ending Point: Monument 78/83 Trailhead on Highway 3 (Elev. 3750 feet)

Way Points: Similkameen River Bridge & Chuwanten Creek Bridge & Monument 78 Camp & International Border at Monument 78 & Castle Creek Bridge & Princess Creek & Crow Creek Basin (trail hike & off-trail hike & bushwhack)

Campsites: Crow Creek Basin & Monument 78 Camp

Summit: Castle Peak (rock scramble & snow climb via East Ridge Couloir—Southeast Ridge)

Approximate Stats: 22 miles traveled; 6000 feet gained & lost.

Full Trip Report

Being the highest summit for about 15 miles in any direction, Castle Peak reigns supreme over the northwestern corner of the Pasayten Wilderness.  Its granitic north face has attracted at least four technical routes, in addition to several non-technical routes on other aspects, but the remote location probably makes for infrequent ascents.  Suzanne and Janet joined me for an Independence Day weekend foray to attempt this appealing mountain.

Day 1: Trailhead to Crow Creek Basin

We started from the Monument 78 trailhead in British Columbia’s Manning Provincial Park, just off Highway 3.  It was warm and sunny, yet ours was the only car in the large parking lot.  The Monument 78 Trail is actually an old road that follows rolling terrain along Castle Creek for 7 miles, accumulating 600 feet of elevation gain en route to the international boundary.

Despite warning signs proclaiming “bridge closed” and such, the hiking is easy.  The only impediment comes about 3 miles in, where a ½-mile-long trail segment has washed out, thus necessitating lots of skipping back and forth across streamlets.  Along the way, we passed two different families of grouse, and we paused to admire the chicks while their spunky mothers rebuked us.  We arrived at the boundary shortly before 2:00pm (3.0 hours from TH, including a lunch stop).

Beckey briefly describes several easy routes up Castle Peak, including one on the southern side and another along the east–southeast ridge.  He also mentions an “interesting” north-facing snow couloir on the peak’s east ridge but gives no details.  I was particularly intrigued by this East Ridge Couloir, which shows up distinctly on the topographic map, so I proposed it as our initial route, with a finish via the Southeast Ridge.  Suzanne and Janet eagerly accepted my proposal.  Our approach would involve a southwestward traverse from Monument 78 to Crow Creek Basin, a mere 3 miles away.  Beckey’s terse description of this approach made it seem pretty straightforward.  As things turned out, we should have spent more time reading between the lines!

Taking Beckey’s instructions literally, we tried to ascend the boundary swath directly from Monument 78, but within several minutes we realized that crossing Castle Creek is no trivial matter.  Instead, we hiked a short distance back to the border campground and crossed on the Pacific Crest Trail bridge, which tilts at 30 degrees and is officially closed (due to failure of one stringer) yet is still quite serviceable.

Once across Castle Creek, we began a long, leftward traverse through some of the mangiest woods I’ve ever encountered.  Any notions I previously held about Pasayten forests offering pleasantly open cross-country travel were quickly devoured by the endless brush, saplings, and deadfall!  Our traverse route crossed Princess Creek at 5100 feet, then ascended to 5600 feet (per Beckey’s advice) and contoured into the Crow Creek drainage before descending to 5300 feet.

It took us 4 long, hot hours of thrashing to reach the lower part of Crow Creek Basin, which turned out to be a mosquito-infested swamp.  We had no choice but to continue into the upper basin, where the only camping sites were on a lingering snowfield at 5600 feet (8.0 hours from TH).

On the positive side, an evening breeze kept our camp free of bugs during dinner, and we were now well-positioned below Castle Peak’s impressive north face for our summit attempt.

Day 2 (AM): Castle Peak Summit Climb

We arose at 5:00am to see dark clouds racing northeastward across the sky and shrouding our summit.  By 6:00am, however, blue patches were appearing intermittently.  From camp, we scrambled up a steep moraine slope just right of a large, triangular slab until reaching the foot of the East Ridge Couloir.

This was our first view of the couloir, and it looked absolutely delightful!  Gentle snow slopes transitioned into moderately steep snow at the couloir’s head, which then split into two steep snow fingers extending to the East Ridge Col.  We donned crampons and zig-zagged upward on excellent neve.

Nearing the top, I chose the left-hand snow finger for our final ascent to the col.  This turned out to be an aesthetically pleasing 40-degree slope that slices between vertical granite walls about 25 feet apart.  We topped out before 8:30am (2.0 hours from camp).

From the col, we scrambled granite boulders and sandy ledges along the Southeast Ridge.  Our route stayed mostly on the left side of the ridge but periodically intersected the crest, giving us dramatic views down the sheer north face.  The majority of scrambling was Class 2 and easy Class 3, interspersed with a few interesting Class 3+ steps.  Nearly everywhere, the rock was solid and reminiscent of the Stuart Range.

Janet was fighting a cold virus throughout the trip and was struggling on the steeper parts of the climb, but her “summit bug” was able to overcome the virus, and she gamely pushed on like a trooper.  Suzanne and I were very impressed by her gumption.  We all convened on the roomy summit by 10:30am (4.0 hours from camp).

We spent over an hour on top, where it was surprisingly windless and mild.  During this time, the distant summits gradually appeared below the rising cloud ceiling.

We could see nearly all of the major Pasayten peaks, as well as Cathedral Peak and Remmel Mountain in the Similkameen Mountains.

However, nearby Hozomeen Mountain and Jack Mountain never fully came out.  I poked around and found a pill-bottle register that had been placed by Grant Meyers, Bud Hardwick, and Sam Houston on Independence Day weekend in 2001.  There were no other entries, so we supposed that our ascent might be the first in 3 years.

Our descent to Crow Creek Basin was uneventful.  Except for a slow, careful down-climb of the 40-degree snow finger, we made rapid progress back to camp (2.6 hours from summit).

Day 2 (PM): Crow Creek Basin to Monument 78

During our lunch break in camp, we unanimously decided to spend the afternoon making headway towards Monument 78.  It was necessary to pay the “brush piper” either now or later, and none of us wanted to go to bed with that debt hanging overhead!  We were packed up and moving again by 3:00pm.

While on the summit, I had scoped out what appeared to be a brush-free route out of Crow Creek Basin.  It involved ascending northward from camp for 400 vertical feet, then contouring just above the slide alder and timber strips.  Suzanne and Janet agreed to try this alternative;  but really, anything sounded better than the unpleasant lower route we had used to enter the basin.

My strategy worked well and allowed us to traverse quickly around to the east-facing slope above Castle Creek.  However, from here to Princess Creek, I managed to select what might be the brushiest route available.  We slowly struggled through alternating bands of scraggly woods and slide alder thickets.  Sensing my partners’ growing dissatisfaction with my navigational errors, I attempted to distract them with falsely optimistic exclamations such as “Oh, there’s a clearing up ahead!” and “Hey, this looks like a goat path!” and “Whew, I think we’re finally through the worst of it!”  In actuality, Suzanne and Janet were extremely gracious throughout the entire demoralizing episode, and it was I who ended up doing the majority of cursing.

Shortly before 8:00pm, we stumbled into the border campground beside Castle Creek (4.8 hours from basin), all of us scratched, bruised, sore, and mentally weary.  The campground was deserted except for a dozen mice and a million mosquitoes.  Notwithstanding these vermin, we were relieved to reach flat terrain, wooden benches (how civilized!), and a real trail.  Dinner conversation was subdued, and we retired right after hanging our food.  Suzanne was so concerned about mice coming into our floorless tent during the night, she prayed for nylon sanctity.  Miraculously, we had no visitors nor any equipment damage all night long!  Was it her prayer, or simply our collective body odor?

Day 3: Monument 78 to Trailhead

We were on the Monument 78 Trail back to Highway 3 by 7:00am, buoyed with the knowledge that the bushwhacking was entirely behind us and only open trail lay ahead.  The morning was cool and overcast—perfect for hiking.  Surprisingly, the parking lot was still empty when we arrived (2.4 hours from campground).  We hobbled in feeling very sore but very satisfied at having succeeded on (or should I say “survived”?) a seldom-climbed major peak.

Route Comments

Our climb via the East Ridge Couloir and Southeast Ridge was probably the best non-technical route on Castle Peak.  In Beckey’s parlance, “interesting” definitely can be construed in a good way here.  However, the Crow Creek approach is not one to be relished.  Now, in all honesty, the majority of brush is merely moderate rather than dense by Cascades standards, and the truly dense thickets of slide alder can be avoided with good (or lucky) navigation.  I think it is really the overall mangy quality of the forest, with its relentless scraggly undergrowth and deadfall, that made progress so slow and aggravating for us.  On the other hand, I suspect that the alternatives are no better.

Photo Gallery

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