The Lake Pinnacle. The true summit is behind this. Photo taken from a false
summit.
Monument Peak 8,592'
Lake Mountain 8,371'
August 01/02 2003
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This long and strenuous trip begins at the Monument Creek Trailhead at 2,400’ off the Harts Pass Road near Mazama in the fabled Pasayten Wilderness. It is about 5 hours from Seattle. There was only car at the trailhead, from out of state. It is 3.6 miles along the Monument Creek Trail. The Trail gains little elevation and winds through huge old growth Ponderosa Pines. These remarkable trees are very resistant to fire and all bore blackened bark from a fire years ago. At Eureka Creek there is a nice bridge and swimming hole. Nice campsites are nearby. This is the end of the maintained trail. The trail switchbacks up the ridge with Southern exposure. There is little shade and no water for this 7 mile stretch. There are many downed trees and the trail is overgrown with brush. On this day it was 85 degrees. Eventually the trail contours around Pistol Peaks to Pistol Pass. The Pistol Peaks look like a fine destination, and probably don’t get climbed very often. Silver Star Mountain can be seen to the south.
From Pistol Pass I could look down on Lake of the Woods, 600’ below and almost a mile away. This was the first water since Eureka Creek! I was dehydrated and exhausted, having finished the last of my two liters of water long before. Only 30 minutes later I was at the lake, drinking my fill of the cold lake water. I could not wait for the chlorine to take affect. I could only hope that previous campers had followed the “Leave no Trace” guidelines. There were no established camps. At 5 am I was on my way up the talus to the south ridge of Lake Mountain at 7,400’. The traverse through gullies and scree around the side of Lake to the basin between lake and Monument was difficult and tedious. Then I had to descend 1,000’ down to the basin to 6,400’. I was happy to find a little running water. I had been very concerned after the hike in the day before. From the basin it was a straight forward scramble up to the southeast ridge of Monument. Once the ridge is gained there is little more to do other than to follow the ridge for over a mile to the summit of Monument Peak, 8,592’ and the marvelous views of the Pasayten Wilderness. Blackcap, Carru, Lago, and Lost Peak dominated the view to the North.
Only a few parties a year climb this Bugler High 100 Peak. In the summit register I found Jonathan Pryce and Norm Fox from the Washington Alpine Club were on the summit almost exactly a year earlier. To descend, I retraced my steps back down the ridge, while looking for a break in the cliff above the basin to avoid the elevation loss back down to 6,400’. I didn’t find anything that worked and retraced my route back to the basin and the water.
From the basin the route to Lake is up from the west or it’s northwest ridge. I did a variation of the southeast ridge which got me only to the false summit. The big pinnacle of Lake is yet another false summit. An additional 300’ and half a mile got me to the true summit of Lake Mountain, 8,371’. I was in awe of the views in every direction. Again, Jonathan and Norm were in the register, the only two names on both. The normal descent down the southeast ridge got me back to the Lake of the Woods and camp at 2 pm. I packed up and hiked out. Two days, 33 miles, 10,400’ elevation gain.
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