Trip Date: September 29 – October 1, 2005

GOLDEN LARCH OUTING:  PASAYTEN MOUNTAINS

Osceola Peak & Mt. Rolo Climbing Trip

Slate Pass
Pasayten River
Fred’s Lake
Rolo Pass
Lake Doris
Osceola Peak (8587 ft)
Mount Rolo (8096 ft)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northeastern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Pasayten Mountains

Area: Pasayten Wilderness

Starting & Ending Point: Buckskin Ridge Trailhead on Slate Peak Road #54-600  (Elev. 6900 feet)

Way Points: Slate Pass & Middle Fork Pasayten River & Fred’s Lake & Rolo Pass & Lake Doris (trail hike)

Campsites: Lake Doris & Middle Fork Pasayten River Flats

Summit: Osceola Peak (rock scramble via Southwest Slope)

Summit: Mt. Rolo (rock scramble via North Ridge)

Approximate Stats: 28 miles traveled; 7300 feet gained & lost.

Related Posts

>>> Lost Peak + Pass Butte + Shellrock Basin + Pistol Pass – September 2010

>>> Mt. Lago + Mt. Carru + Blackcap Mountain + Shellrock Basin – October 2006

Full Trip Report

October weather in the mountains can run the gamut from miserable to glorious, even within the span of a weekend.  My plans for this year’s annual Golden Larch Trip were beset by a forecast that leaned more toward the former than the latter.  Nonetheless, Kevin, Janet, and Mike eagerly joined me for a trek into the central Pasayten Wilderness on October’s opening weekend.  In fact, Janet and Mike hiked in a day ahead of Kevin and me to get some extra time for sidetrips.  This turned out to be a good strategic move, because we later decided to shorten the trip by one day on account of worsening weather.

When all was said and done, though, our occasional moments of real misery were outnumbered by our moments of glory, and conditions mostly remained in that intermediate zone perhaps best described as classic for October:  cool days, cold nights, blustery periods, and cloudy skies with sunbreaks.  We all had a fun, successful trip featuring nice camps, great views, and plenty of golden larches.

Day 1: Trailhead to Lake Doris

Kevin and I pulled into the Buckskin Ridge Trailhead near Slate Pass shortly after noon.  Mike’s vehicle was the only other one there.  The weather was cold, windy, and rainy—by most measures, bordering on miserable!  Somehow, in what proved to be our most difficult climbing move of the entire trip, we managed to get our car doors open.  After that, it was a comparatively easy matter of donning raingear, shouldering backpacks, and hiking down the Middle Fork Pasayten River Trail.  This trail is in generally good condition and, thankfully, has absolutely no brushy segments, so we didn’t have to suffer the indignity of wet brush.

At about the 9-mile point, we turned uphill and hiked several more miles past Fred’s Lake to 7100-foot Rolo Pass.  The wind was gusting strongly across the lake and up toward the barren pass, intermittently giving us welcome boosts.  We followed the main trail and then a side trail for another ½ mile to scenic Lake Doris (5.8 hours from car), where we found Mike and Janet snugged into their respective tents, which were being blasted by wind and rain.

Not surprisingly, given the horrid weather, there was nobody else around, and our advance-party comrades were actually surprised that Kevin and I hadn’t bailed out of the trip!  Both of them had recently returned from a pre-rain daytrip to Shellrock Pass, during which time Mike had managed to tuck in the summits of Mt. Lago and Mt. Carru.

Kevin and I struggled to get our tent set up in the gale, while Janet tried to keep the rest of our gear from being blown away.  It was quite a comical scene.  Eventually, we got the tent pitched and quickly dove inside for shelter.  Cooking outside seemed hopeless, so we lit our stove in the tent’s vestibule and enjoyed hot dinners and drinks indoors as the wind gusts threatened to knock our tent into the next valley.  It was impossible for us not to giggle continually at our situation;  this is truly the stuff of fond memories!

Day 2 (AM): Osceola Peak Summit Climb

The wind and rain persisted throughout the night, but by morning it was fairly quiet and dry, with sunbreaks that illuminated the golden larch trees around camp.

After breakfast, Kevin and Mike and I assembled summit packs and headed out for Osceola Peak.  The long southwest-facing talus slope leading to the summit was generally easy, although the ubiquitous wet lichen made everything quite slippery.

We topped out in mid-morning (1.2 hours from camp) and spent 30 minutes on the unexpectedly calm summit.  The high, broken cloud cover allowed views as far east as Remmel Mountain and as far west as Jack Mountain;  farther west, however, the sky was ominously dark.

We signed the summit register, which had been left by Fay Pullen last September.  It showed about six or eight parties since then, including a solo entry just one day before by Rob Cure, who had done a daytrip from the Buckskin Ridge Trailhead.  Mike recalled passing him on the trail yesterday and hearing him express concern about his dying headlamp batteries.  I recalled hearing that he frequently comes out to Washington in the autumn to climb mountains.

Day-tripping Osceola was a significant feat in my book, but somehow it led us into a debate about what constitutes a daytrip.  I soon learned that certain purists believe a true daytrip must begin and end at home; trailhead camping is not allowed.  Of course, this becomes problematic for climbing bums who don’t have a home!

Our return to camp took almost as long as our ascent, due to the slippery conditions. We arrived shortly before noon and discussed our options for the rest of the trip.

Considering the official prediction of snow and the threatening skies to the west, we agreed to abbreviate our trip by one day;  rather than staying at Lake Doris another night, we would move camp down to the Middle Fork trail tonight and finish hiking out tomorrow.  This schedule still permitted an afternoon climb of Mt. Rolo en route to our next camp.

Day 2 (PM): Lake Doris to Pasayten River Flats + Mt. Rolo Summit Climb

After lunch, we packed up and headed back to Rolo Pass.  There, we dropped our big packs and struck off with summit packs.

Mt. Rolo’s north ridge begins as a pleasant cross-country stroll through larch forests above the pass, then it transitions into a Class 2-3 scramble along a rocky crest.  This turned out to be a very fun and satisfying route, which Mike proclaimed as the best of his four recent climbs in the area.  We spent a short time on the summit (0.9 hours from pass) admiring the local peaks and valleys and beautiful larch groves.  The air seemed to portend more foul weather, so we didn’t linger.

Once back at the pass, we collected our gear and headed down past Fred’s Lake to the valley bottom.  Then, we hiked about 2 miles upstream until finding a spacious campsite beside a large meadow (4.7 hours from Lake Doris).  We were happy to have totally calm conditions, in stark contrast to the previous night’s howling wind.

Day 3: Pasayten River Flats to Trailhead

A few raindrops fell on our tent during the night, and the temperature dropped suddenly.  Sure enough, we awoke to see a skiff of snow on the ridges above camp.  This justified our decision to head out a day early.  We started up the trail at 8:30am and appreciated the brisk air during our long uphill pull to Slate Pass.  As if to put a definitive end-of-summer stamp on this first day of October, a light but steady snowfall accompanied us for the final 2 miles through the rolling alpine grasslands just below the pass.  It seemed like a fitting end to a classic fall outing!

Photo Gallery

Click to enlarge…