Trip Date: June 5, 2004
Dysprosium Peak Day Climb
Chiwawa River
Schaefer Lake
D-S Coulee
Dysprosium Peak aka D Lake Peak aka Dyslexia Peak (6764 ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: North-Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Chiwawa Range
Area: Glacier Peak Wilderness
Starting & Ending Point: Schaefer Lake Trailhead on Chiwawa River Road (Elev. 2400 feet)
Way Points: Chiwawa River & Schaefer Creek & Schaefer Lake & D-S Coulee & Dysprosium Peak summit (trail hike & snow hike & rock scramble)
Summit: Dysprosium Peak (rock scramble via Southwest Ridge)
Approximate Stats: 13 miles traveled; 4800 feet gained & lost; 6.0 hours up; 3.5 hours down.
Related Post
>>> Bandit Peak via Schaefer Lake—North Ridge—East Face – September 18, 2005
Full Trip Report
In a pattern that has become too familiar this spring, I found myself heading east of the Cascade crest to escape impending rains. Kevin, Steve and Matt joined me for an attempt on Bandit Peak, the highest and most impressive point on Chiwawa Ridge south of the Buck Mountain massif.
The weather was overcast but warm when we arrived at the Schaefer Lake Trailhead—and the mosquitoes were voracious! I don’t recall ever encountering the buggers this early in the season, but they no doubt loved the fact that we chose to wear light clothing for our approach hike. We didn’t linger at the trailhead.
I looked forward to hitting the trail in summery conditions but was apprehensive about crossing the Chiwawa River. After only several minutes of hiking, we reached the full-flowing river and found that a substantial log jam covered all of the width except for the first 20 feet. This gap was spanned by a 12-inch-diameter log with many protrusions. Matt went first and managed to walk across the log, albeit very tenuously. The rest of us decided to cross “au cheval” rather than risk a cold dunking. Our straddling method proved to be less risky but far more uncomfortable, especially for those of us wearing shorts. Afterwards, my inner thighs looked and felt as though I had shinnied across the river on a cheese grater!
We eventually put the humid, swampy valley bottom—and the mosquitoes—behind us and enjoyed the nicely graded trail to Schaefer Lake. Numerous blowdowns await some trail crew in the first few miles. Patchy snow appeared in the last half mile or so, but the lake itself (2.3 hours from TH) was completely melted out and looked quite nice. Here, we deviated from Beckey’s recommendation (per his older book, anyway) to continue due west to the ridge crest and then traverse northward. Instead, we agreed that it seemed more sensible to head northwest and cross directly over 6100-foot “D-S Coulee,” which separates Schaefer Lake from D Lake.
The climb from Schaefer Lake to D-S Coulee took longer than expected, due to minor problems negotiating a cliff band. We had to scramble up some grungy wet rock, which prompted the use of a quick hand-line at one point. Above the cliffs, firm snow slopes lead easily into the coulee. D Lake, several hundred feet below the coulee, was still frozen and inhospitable. To the north, Bandit Peak’s devilish summit horns could be seen among swirling high clouds, and they looked downright intimidating! Worse, though, were the cliffs and steep snow patches ringing the lake bowl. There was no immediately obvious route to the moderate-angle snow slope on Bandit’s eastern flank.
At this point, it seemed that Bandit Peak and the weather conspired to rob our collective enthusiasm. We huddled up in the cold breeze and discussed our options. Given the apparent difficulties getting across the D Lake bowl, as well as the threat of serious rainfall, we decided to abandon our primary goal in favor of a short romp up Point 6764 just to the east. This turned out to be an easy Class 1-2 scramble, and we were on top about an hour later.
The summit of Point 6764 is an unimpressive bouldery hump with a few scraggly trees, but the views are rewarding. We could clearly see both lakes, along with parts or all of Clark Mountain, Buck Mountain, and the Entiat crest peaks. Bandit Peak is particularly outstanding from this vantage. For future reference, we noted a very straightforward route from the outlet of D Lake to the upper slopes of Bandit.
Our summit had a small cairn, but we never found a summit register. This peak is probably visited by anglers and high-lakers as often as climbers. During our 45 minute stay, the weather took numerous swings, from still and sunny to cold and windy. The sky continually cycled between dark overcast and big blue patches. However, it never rained more than a few token drops.
We descended in a fairly direct line from the summit to Schaefer Lake. This went well until that pesky cliff band showed up again. With a bit of poking around, we managed to find a steep but reasonable dirt gully that led through the cliffs and onto a boulderfield extending down to the lakeshore. From there, a brief, light rain added a refreshing mood to our hike out to the trailhead. Oh, yes, we still had to cross the raspy log once more, then we could relax. I wore long pants for the return shinny and found it to be significantly less painful.
Nomenclature Comments
I initially called Point 6764 “D Lake Peak” due to its position overlooking that feature; this name seemed as sterile and obvious as anything else. John Roper subsequently suggested the clever moniker “Dysprosium Peak” in reference to the rare-earth element of that name, the tie-in being that the chemical symbol for dysprosium is Dy, while D Lake and Y Creek are the two closest named features to the peak. He also pointed out that “dysprosium” comes from the Greek word meaning “hard to get at,” which we found to be somewhat true.
To John’s double-wordplay, I would add that the first three letters (D-Y-S) could also be taken as the initials for the peak’s three closest features: D Lake, Y Creek, and Schaefer Lake. Coincidentally, I had previously pondered the initials D-Y-S and come up with the name “Dyslexia Peak” after noticing that my Green Trails map shows three different spellings for the same word: “Schafer” Lake, “Shaefer” Creek, and “Schaefer” Campground.
Photo Gallery
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