Burnt Mountain by Florence Peak overlooks Carbon River. Under five miles east lies Bearhead Mountain in Clearwater Wilderness. Meanwhile, Mount Rainier stands tall to the not-so-distant southeast inside the national park.
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Burnt Mountain at a Glance
Access: NF-7810
Round Trip: 9 miles
Elevation Range: 2800′-5440′
Gear: snowshoes
Route Info: Scott Rice
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Carbon River Valley by Mount Rainier
On a good day, peaks around Mount Rainier yield decent views, if not woodsy. We first visited the area en route to Burnt Mountain three years ago. The year before, I went up Tolmie Peak above Eunice Lake in the near south.
This trip was an attempt to spend more time in the South Cascades during the off-season. The old road from the parking area to the first bend had become a trail. Beyond that, it was a tedious walk to the end at 3600′.
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Walking Road 7810 to the End
The endless valley views and the dog helped ease the boredom over the road walk. Meanwhile, Mount Rainier poked out from behind the ridgelines, making the road walk more tolerable.
From the south rib at the road’s end, we scrambled through the trees to the ridge at 4400′. Then we went east on the upper roadway before snow appeared in a few hundred feet. The path soon ended north of the ridgeline.
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Burnt Mountain Ridge Traverse
We scrambled up to the crest and found a faint trail by an opening as Mount Rainier became fully visible. Shortly, we went out onto yet another road at 4900′. There were way more roadways here than on the map.
I knew we could continue on the ridge or take the main path around the south. But we picked the first option to avoid more road walking for the rest of the approach. Soon, we reached the 5040′ saddle before going to the top.
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Burnt Mountain Summit Views
Sadly, Burnt Mountain sported a woodsy summit with absolutely zero views. But we walked around the top, hoping to find openings through branches. I mainly wanted to view the peaks east of the long ridgeline.
Since finding vistas in the dense forest was unlikely, we dropped 100′ downslope. We found a spot in the shade to eat our lunch. At least we still have the magnificent sight of Mount Rainier and the nearby peaks to enjoy.
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Exiting Carbon River Valley
The logging road below the summit continued east briefly before ending by the forest. I thought about following it to see more views, perhaps. But it had grown too warm and slushy by then, so we ditched the idea and left.
We arrived at the road’s end above the clear-cut forest. Instead of taking the road, we cut through the logging debris to the bottom at 2700′. It spared us from the initial long switchback, but we still needed to finish the rest.
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