Many parties would climb Abiel Peak together with Silver Peak and Tinkham Peak. But that was never my plan. So I went up the peak via Annette Lake.
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Abiel Peak at a Glance
Access: Annette Lake Trailhead
Round Trip: 9 miles
Elevation Range: 2040′-5365′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes, ice ax
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
Annette Lake
I first went up to Annette Lake with a friend four years ago. Glad to revisit the area on this beautiful day. But I had long forgotten the time it took to get to the lake.
Snow appeared at 3500′. Then I started postholing right before the lake. But the view of Abiel Peak soon took my mind off the grunt work.
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The Northern Slopes
Later I put on snowshoes by the lake. Then I continued south from the west shore. My goal was to go up to Abiel Peak’s northern slopes.
Soon, I located the northwest-trending gully. Glad that the terrain there wasn’t yet too steep. The snow condition was also perfect for snowshoeing.
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Abiel Peak East Ridge
It has been full-on sunny. So snow had turned slushy by the time I reached the east saddle. Terrain also steepened drastically from that point.
Parts of the ridge were slick because of he slush. So I ended up sliding a few times. Glad I brought my ice ax for this sketchy part of the climb.
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Summit Views Plus Outro
The views around me were gorgeous as I expected. I had thought about traversing over to Silver Peak. But I ran out of time.
I followed my tracks on the way down. Later I met some people by the lake and then hiked out.
See more trip photos here.