Trip Date: August 20, 2005
Mt. Skokomish Day Climb
Putvin Basin
Whitehorse Creek Meadows
Lake of the Angels
Mount Skokomish (6434 ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: Olympic Mountains (Washington)
Sub-Region: Skokomish–Duckabush Group
Areas: Mt. Skokomish Wilderness & Olympic National Park
Starting & Ending Point: Putvin Trailhead on Hamma Hamma River Road (Elev. 1600 feet)
Way Points: Putvin Grave & Putvin Basin & Whitehorse Creek Meadows & Lake of the Angels (trail hike)
Summit: Mt. Skokomish (rock scramble via Southeast Slope—South Ridge [Route 1] )
Approximate Stats: 9 miles traveled; 5100 feet gained & lost; 3.8 hours up; 2.5 hours down.
Full Trip Report
Any climb in the Olympics strikes me as having a special adventurous quality to it, and I try to do at least two or three every year. Fortunately, Jon lives in Fauntleroy, with a great view of the Olympics from his house, so he’s usually eager to go too. This time, his friend Adam also joined us. Our objective was Mt. Skokomish, an elongated, triple-peaked mountain in the southern Olympics.
On a sunny Saturday morning, we parked alongside the Hamma Hamma River Road and headed up the historical Putvin Trail. This trail is quite steep, but it seemed even steeper due to the heat. We huffed upward through the grassy Whitehorse Creek Basin and on to Lake of the Angels, an appealing lake nestled in a park-like setting (2.3 hours from car).
- Lake Of The Angels
After skirting around the right shore, we continued westerly up pleasant alpine slopes to a 5800-foot saddle at the northeastern end of Mt. Skokomish.
From the saddle, it was hard to tell which peak was the highest, so we just started contouring across scree, grass, and rock slopes until something looked likely. Eventually, we came under a high-looking peak and started up. Steep scree slopes led us into some fun Class 3 scrambling on an exposed ridge crest.
- Scrambling Up Summit Ridge
We gleefully scrambled up the crest and popped onto the summit…almost. Actually, we had been suckered onto a lower horn; the true summit was now obvious several hundred yards to the southwest! Oh well. Down we went, until we could traverse over to the south ridge, then back up we went on nice Class 2-3 rock to the real summit (3.8 hours from car).
- Adam and Jon On Summit
The comfortable weather and particularly good visibility encouraged us to hang out on top for more than an hour. Mt. Olympus, Mt. Anderson, Mt. Constance, The Brothers, Mt. Stone, and Mt. Washington are seen clearly from this summit.
- Mt Stone and The Brothers
- West and East Peaks Of Mt Anderson
Most of Seattle can also be seen, and Jon tried to find his house, but to no avail. Perhaps a coat of fluorescent orange paint on his roof would assist matters for his next Olympics climb.
Our descent back to the lake and down the trail went quickly. We passed several parties going up or down, but there did not appear to be anyone camped at the lake. No doubt, the steep trail doesn’t entice typical backpackers. We reached the paved road at 3:00pm (2.5 hours from summit) feeling very satisfied with our peak selection on this beautiful day.
Photo Gallery
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