Trip Date: July 27-30, 2018

MID-SUMMER OUTING NO. 16:  THUNDER MOUNTAINS

Mt. Logan Climbing Trip

Lake Chelan / Stehekin Landing
Stehekin River Valley
Buckner Camp
Park Creek Pass
Fremont Glacier
Mount Logan (9087/9097 ft)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northwestern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Thunder Mountains

Area: North Cascades National Park

Starting & Ending Point: High Bridge Guard Station & Campground on Stehekin Valley Road (Elev. 1600 feet)

Way Points: Stehekin River Vehicle Bridge & Tumwater Camp & Bridge Creek Camp & Park Creek Camp & Two-Mile Camp & Park Creek & Five-Mile Camp & Buckner Camp & Park Creek Pass & Fremont Glacier Saddle (trail hike & off-trail hike & rock scramble)

Campsites: Buckner Camp & Fremont Glacier Saddle & Two-Mile Camp

Summit: Mt. Logan (snow climb & rock scramble & rock climb via Fremont Glacier—South Ridge)

Approximate Stats: 36 miles traveled; 9600 feet gained & lost.

Related Posts

>>> Mount Logan via Fremont Glacier—South Ridge – September 2000

>>> Mount Logan attempt via Easy Pass–Douglas Creek – July 2022

Full Trip Report

For our 16th Annual Mid-Summer Climbing Trip, three of our long-time team members—Eric, Jon, and Todd—chose Mt. Logan as a destination.  I was good with that choice, as it had been many years since my previous Logan climb.  We were also joined by a new member—Alex—who was game for pretty much anything.  Going into the trip, we felt that the biggest factor would be the weather; temperatures were forecasted to hit the mid-90s most days, and there was a chance of afternoon thunderstorms for the first few days.  It turned out that weather was a major issue, but not a governing factor.

Day 1: Fields Point to Stehekin to High Bridge to Buckner Camp 

We left Fields Point at 9:20am on the Lady Express boat and arrived in Stehekin at 11:55am, with just enough time to get a backcountry permit from the National Park Service lodge before boarding the 11:30am shuttle bus to High Bridge Guard Station (after a brief but mandatory stop at the Stehekin Bakery, of course!).

At 12:45pm, we began hiking up the Stehekin River Road/Trail in sweltering heat.  We stopped in the shade at Bridge Creek Camp before continuing on to Park Creek Camp/Trailhead (3.8 hours + 1000 feet from High Bridge).

As we headed up switchbacks on the Park Creek Trail, the sky clouded over and thunder claps occasionally sounded.  By the time we crossed Park Creek on a less-than-substantial footlog, the temperature had plummeted and thunder showers had thoroughly wetted the trailside vegetation.  We were now all mildly cold and soaking wet.

Around 8:00pm, we sloshed into Buckner Camp (7.2 hours + 2700 feet from High Bridge) and stopped for the night.  Reportedly, this camp had been damaged by a previous storm and has only recently been reconstructed.  We found the camp to be quite adequate, although Jon discovered that he’d inadvertently left his sleeping bag at home.  Good thing the nights were warm!

Day 2: Buckner Camp to Fremont Glacier Saddle

We awoke to clear skies and were on the trail at 8:30am.  By the time we reached Park Creek Pass (1.8 hours + 2050 feet from Buckner Camp), it was quite hot, so we sought out a shady nook for a rest stop.  Park Creek Pass is a very long, flat, rocky trough—almost a geographic coulee—that separates gorgeous bouldery meadows on each end.  Being 16 miles or more from any trailhead, it seems to entertain very few visitors.

The summit of Mt. Logan is not visible from the pass, but two prominent rock spires (Point 7760+ and Point 8546) bracket the Fremont Glacier saddle—a full 2 miles distant.

We hiked down the western side of the pass for about ½ mile before heading off to the right on a climber’s path that cuts through a flat meadow.  This path makes a gently rising traverse across heather slopes for 1½ miles before coming to a broad talus slope, which we then slogged up to gain an 8000-foot saddle at the edge of the Fremont Glacier.

Within this broad saddle, we made camp on some rock outcrops (7.1 hours + 4150 feet from Buckner Camp) with running water nearby.

It was now only mid-afternoon, giving us time for a run at the summit, but the 90-degree heat had boiled off our zeal.  Therefore, we spent the rest of the day resting, rehydrating, and preparing for a summit climb in the morning.  Views of the Boston Glacier and associated peaks across the valley provided visual entertainment despite a heavy haze in the air.  (We later learned that lightning strikes had started several forest fires in the region.)

Day 3 (AM): Mt. Logan Summit Climb

We awoke at the unusually early (for us) hour of 5:00am and were heading up the Fremont Glacier by 6:30am.

Upon reaching a snow hogback at the uppermost edge of the glacier, we roped up and climbed a Class 3-4 rock pitch to a left-slanting ramp on the western side of the summit ridge.

This ramp constitutes a weakness in the rock–possibly a geological fault or eroded dike.  It leads to a slot in the ridge crest and continues onto the eastern flank as a series of wide but exposed Class 2-3 ledges.

When the ledges terminated at a moderately inclined talus slope, we angled upward and rightward until gaining a small U-notch between the imposing summit tower and a nearby south horn.

One long Class 3-4 rock pitch ended at the tiny summit, which we all reached just after 10:00am (3.4 hours + 1200 feet from high camp).

No register was found, and the hazy air limited our views of surrounding mountains.  Compare the current photos below with those taken during my climb of Mt. Logan on a snowy day in September 2000.

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We did a belayed down-climb of the summit tower, then retraced our steps back along the east-side ledges, over the ridge crest, and down the west-side ramp.  A rappel down to the snow hogback seemed necessary, but Eric managed to tease out a reasonable scramble route instead.  By early afternoon, we were back in camp (3.1 hours from summit).

Day 3 (PM): Fremont Glacier Saddle to Two-Mile Camp

Once packed up, we began our 2-mile traverse back down to Park Creek Pass.  The combination of blazing sun, hot air, annoying gnats, and aggressive blackflies made this an unpleasant afternoon task.

It was a relief to finally plod into the late-afternoon shade of the pass (3.4 hours from high camp).  With only well-maintained trail ahead of us, our goal now was to reach Two-Mile Camp before dark.  We romped past Buckner Camp at 7:40pm and continued onward through the cool dusk.

At 9:40pm—in the waning moments of twilight—we came to the Park Creek footlog.  This crossing had been slightly uncomfortable in daylight two days before; now, in near-darkness, it was by far the most nerve-wracking aspect of our whole trip!  We each attacked the narrow footlog with our own technique and all managed to cross with white knuckles but without incident.  Once across, we strode a few more yards into Two-Mile Camp (7.5 hours from high camp) and crashed for the night.  (Actually, we stayed at the old location of Two-Mile Camp; we found out later that the camp was recently moved to the other side of Park Creek.)

Day 4: Two-Mile Camp to High Bridge to Stehekin to Fields Point 

Knowing that we needed to catch the noon shuttle bus at High Bridge, we were all up early once again and on the trail by 6:40am.  The cool morning air made for a pleasant hike down to Park Creek Camp, where we chatted with a ranger who was just heading out for another day of trail maintenance.  We thanked him for the log removal and brushing that they had just completed on the Park Creek Trail.

The next 8 miles down to High Bridge became increasingly hot, as the afternoon temperatures approached 95 degrees.  We kept a steady down-valley pace, except for a short detour to investigate the road washout that occurred in 2003.  It was our professional opinion (three of us being geotechnical engineers) that a repair of the road here would be very difficult and expensive.

We marched into High Bridge Guard Station shortly after 11:00am, giving us time for a dunk in the cold Stehekin River before heading down to Stehekin on the shuttle bus and down to Fields Point on the Lady of the Lake.  Despite the heat, the blackflies, the gnats, the thunderstorms, and the hazy air, it had been another fabulous mid-summer climbing trip!

Route Map & Profile

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Photo Gallery

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