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The Lowdown on Duchess of Kent
Access: NF-9020 end of drivable road
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 2200′-4703′
Gear: helmet
GPS Track: available
Approach to Duchess of Kent
Alas! Fall may just have bestowed upon us earlier than expected. Last September we had a good run until the very last weekend before weather conditions worsened. This weekend’s forecast meant it was our first Friday night in three months not to car camp. While still going through late summer trip photos, I played catch-up by writing up the latest trip.
Banking on the arrival of late morning rain, pup and I set off early this morning. We wanted to pay a visit to the second and last loyalty of the dukedom in the Alice Creek Basin. But our early departure was still late by the Cascades standard. I parked at the end of the drivable road, and we started walking. About 500′ past the Alice Creek washout, we took the spur road and went uphill.
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From Roadbed to West Slopes
Snow coverage would’ve benefitted approach on the rocky and brushy old roadbed. Perhaps it’s because of the lack of visitors. But the road-turned-trail conditions seemed to have worsened since our previous visit. We both became pretty damp not from the rain, but the wet vegetation. Unfortunately, we had to get through all of it before finally getting out into the open at 3080′.
The road disappeared into a large alder swatch at the base of the northwest ridge. But we were able to bypass most brush by staying on the talus field below the northwest face. Eventually, we went up onto the crest. Ascending steep and somewhat broken ridgeline, we regularly bypassed large rocks from the south. Then we finally got onto the west slopes at 4200′.
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Final Scramble on Duchess of Kent
At 4400′, the cliffs coming off of Duchess’s west face stopped us at our tracks. They, in turn, forced us to traverse south along the wall toward the main northwest-trending gully. One report indicated that the party traversed into a steep and challenging gully. From there, the party then reached the notch between the two summits of Duchess.
We must have traveled past the said gully since we first reached the south summit. From there, we then traversed over to the north high point. We reached the south ridge before getting up to the main col at 4520′. The notch separated the Duchess of Kent to the north and the series pinnacles to the south.
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Summit Views Plus Outro
The north summit had unobstructed views of the Snoqualmie River Valley compared with the south summit. The scenery was also better than viewing from Duke of Kent sitting 150′ higher to the southwest. Other visible high points included McClellan Butte, Mount Defiance, Granite Mountain, Hibox Mountain, Kaleetan Peak, Mount Roosevelt, etc. Bandera Mountain and farther peaks remained in clouds.
The pup and I enjoyed an extended and rain-free stay before heading down. Luckily, the 11 AM rain in the forecast didn’t come for a few more hours.
See more trip photos here.