Troublesome Mountain sits across from Toil Peak and Double Toil near Blanca Lake. Meanwhile, it straddles two wildernesses above its namesake creek. South route via Index-Galena Road is one way to this obscure high point.
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Troublesome Mountain at a Glance
Access: Index-Galena Road
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 1560′-5433′
Gear: helmet
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: no
Index-Galena Road via Jack Pass
I planned to enter from Blanca Lake Trailhead and follow the ridge through Toil Peak and Double Toil. But since it was a last-minute idea, we didn’t start until noon. Then, when we arrived and saw the blockade by the stop sign, I learned that Road 63 had been closed.
But I was happy to settle for one peak today. So we drove west on Index-Galena Road for another mile and parked. Then we left the road and went up through the northeast-trending gully with a dry stream bed.
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Taking the Gully Route to Today’s Goal
There was slide alder at 3400′, which we needed to bypass somehow. But we overcorrected our course and went too far right of the gully. That soon put us in a different swath, where things got even messier and more challenging to manage.
Eventually, we left the massive alder in one piece and continued to the tree line. Then, we followed the talus slopes onto the ridge at 5000′. From there, we could finally see the rest of the route to the summit.
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Traversing West Through the East Ridge
We moved west through the east ridge, and I even saw a faint path en route. So we followed it to the notch west of Point 4800 before dropping onto the north of the ridgeline. It was low enough to bypass the initial buttresses off the southeast ridge.
We later moved northwest and aimed at the summit. Then we went straight up the east face for the final stretch. But on the way back, we took the south ridge, which would’ve made a better approach to the top.
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Troublesome Mountain Viewing Henry M. Jackson Wilderness
The views were fantastic up here, and I even saw a sliver of Blanca Lake. Other familiar high points included Kyes Peak, Silver Tip Peak, Spire Mountain, Hubbart Peak, and Glacier Peak. There was so much more than the eyes could handle!
We left the summit an hour later and returned to the 2400′ rock field just after dark. Before long, we continued down the sandy slopes before reaching our lone car by the road.
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