Robinson Mountain by Devils Peak is the 35th tallest peak in Washington State. It’s also the #2 high point in Central Pasayten Wilderness after Mount Lago. The southeast ridge offers the shortest and least challenging way to this one of the area’s crown jewels.
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Robinson Mountain at a Glance
Access: Robinson Creek Trail
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 2560′-8726′
Gear: helmet
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
North Cascades Highway
Robinson Mountain brought us out to Pasayten Wilderness for the first time. To top it off, the drive over Washington Pass was incredibly stunning. I even saw Early Winters Spires and Liberty Bell Mountain in person.
The farthest on the highway I’ve been was to Rainy Pass when we climbed Black Peak last June and October. This morning, it took us a while to drive to the trailhead, so we didn’t start walking until 10 AM.
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Robinson Creek Trail
The hike on Robinson Creek Trail was scenic. But it took forever to go through because I stopped one too many times for photos. Other than the two hikers we met going up the valley for the day, it was pretty quiet around here.
Beauty Creek Trail was steep, but the switchbacks had offset the altitude gain considerably. The water soon ran out on this warm day. So we stopped by the waterfall to fill up my bottle and took a break.
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A Missing Dog Fiasco
Somehow the black Lab didn’t follow us after he took a drink. But instead, he decided to go down the trail when he didn’t see us. But I knew he would’ve become anxious very quickly.
Twenty minutes went by before I started blowing on the whistle. Later the yellow Lab led us down the trail to find the missing dog. Then another ten had passed before the black pup reappeared and panted heavily. Big whew!
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6700′ Lake Basin
It took a bit of scrambling to reach the basin with a tiny lake. But going from there up to the southeast ridge took a bit of an effort. Without snow, there was a ton of scree on those slopes.
The pups did great by themselves. But I, on the other hand, took one step forward and two steps back. But the higher I went, the more I focused on the scenery. So the less I griped about this part.
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Robinson Mountain Southeast Ridge
We took a snow break on the ridge and traversed the ridgeline for a long time. At one point, I became overly joyous when I saw the false peak. But of course, I mistook it for the actual summit!
My GPS showed Robinson Mountain another half a mile away, grr. Right below the top was a small gully that was tricky for the pups. Glad we were on class 3 terrain, and they were able to continue.
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Robinson Mountain Summit Views
It was the dogs’ first big trip, so the climb had tired them out as they ate their food half asleep. There were lots to see here, including Devils Peak, Big Methow Needle, and Monument Peak.
I very much enjoyed the arid and snow-free terrain. Not sure how much daylight we still had when we left the summit. But glad we went back down to Robinson Creek right after sunset.
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Outro
At night, I saw a pair of eyes ahead on the trail. It freaked me out since I couldn’t tell what it was at first. Then it took me a second to know that it was only a curious deer. The dogs were a great company to have!
This trip took us half a day. So it was a 12-hour exhausting endeavor. But the views were worth the amount of sweat and effort. Then the four-hour drive back to Seattle soon followed. Oh, joy!
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