Shelokum Mountain and Lamont Mountain rise above Cedar Creek by the famous North Gardner Mountain. Both are among the top 10 highest peaks in the Gardner Range as well. Plus, the proximity of the two makes them doable in one trip.
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Shelokum Mountain and Lamont Mountain at a Glance
Shelokum Slam = Shelokum Mountain + Lamont Mountain (aka Wolfhead)
雪洛庫姆滿貫 = 雪洛庫姆山+拉蒙特山 (綽號野狼頭)
Access: Wolf Creek Trailhead
Round Trip: 28 miles
Elevation Range: 2920′-8082′
Gear: helmet, crampons
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: on the trail
Wolf Creek Trail
The pup and I stayed close to home last weekend. Then this week, we tackled Shelokum Mountain and Lamont Mountain. Our late afternoon start time was precisely the same as our trip six years ago. How odd!
I vividly remembered the uneventful hike to camp. Only a couple of miles before the Gardner Meadows did views widen. There was a short, rutted trail up higher. But the path was overall decent.
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Gardner Meadows
Gardner Meadows had over a dozen tents just off the main path. There we stopped to find the owner of a snow basket I found on the trail. Then I chatted with the group for a bit.
Soon, we walked past the fields and stayed to the right of Wolf Creek. Later I found a flat area at 6400′ among down trees and set up the tent. Then we turned in shortly after dinner.
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Shelokum Mountain Climb
We started at 6 AM the following day to be in cooler temperatures. Then we moved northwest in the forest through down trees. We aimed for the 7700′ saddle between Lamont Mountain and Point 8784.
From the pass, I got the first look at the impressive Shelokum Mountain. Then we dropped onto the northern slopes on talus and snowfields. Soon, we moved west toward the 7300′ notch between our two goals.
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Through Shelokum Creek Basin
We stayed at 7200′ in the Shelokum Creek Basin. But in hindsight, we could’ve dropped lower to 7000′ on milder terrain. In turn, we’d bypass the northeast-facing buttress with ease. So we did that on the way back.
From the 7300′ saddle, I looked into South Fork Cedar Creek Basin. It’s where we turned around two weekends ago because of poor weather. Views on the pass included many of Washington’s highest peaks, like Silver Star Mountain.
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Shelokum Mountain Southeast Ridge
After stashing snow gear, we scrambled north over the long ridge. It turned out more jagged than I thought. So we stayed either on or west of the crest.
Along the way, we either climbed over or bypassed several ridge knobs from the west as well. But unfortunately, the rock quality worsened the closer we were to the top.
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Shelokum Mountain Summit Views
The final stretch involved going up a steep gully on the west. But we first needed to drop 100′ from a visible notch marked by a cairn. There were many loose rocks en route. Though, in turn, we avoided cliffs higher up on the ridgeline.
The elongated summit was pretty flat. The steep east side dropped into Shelokum Creek Basin. While on the west were the steep gullies. The views included North Gardner Mountain that towered overhead by nearly 1000′.
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Lamont Mountain East Route
We took a long break. Then we retraced our steps back into the basin. Later at 7000′, we made a rising traverse toward Lamont Mountain’s 7700′ east saddle. But at 7300′, we veered right and went up to the higher notch at 7920′.
It ended up saving us time by avoiding the high point east of the summit. Then with another 150′ climb, we were soon on top of Lamont Mountain. It was our second and final goal on this trip.
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Lamont Mountain Summit Views Plus Outro
Views up here were as excellent as Shelokum Mountain but at a slightly different angle. Since we still needed to pack up, we didn’t stay long. So we are fast and then and left the top after taking some photos.
Later we meandered down to Gardner Meadows and stopped by the campsites. There I chatted with folks who had climbed Gardner Mountain earlier. The pup and I then went on our merry way.
See more trip photos here.