Photos from this trip can be found here.
Access: Swakane Road/NF-5215 at mile 2.8
Round trip: 4.7 miles
Elevation Range: 1,460′-4,297′
Gear: none
First rain dodging outing east of the Cascade crest since before the climbing season. Located just north of the City of Weather, Swakane Peak continued to be one of my favorite rainy day and solitude seeking go-tos. Pup and I arrived in late morning to a canyon full of vibrant fall colors.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Having been in Swakane Canyon (pronounced “swah-CANE”) a few times and not see a single soul, this time we unexpectedly encountered some hunters. I briefly talked to two of them accompanied by a hunting dog before they set off toward the brushy area on the south side of the canyon.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Taking more or less the same route like the times before, pup and I scrambled up the steep northeast-trending rib and at times followed faint game trails to 4,000′. Then we headed northeast on NF-5215/130 for a short distance to Swakane Peak’s west saddle. We left the road there and scrambled talused west ridge to the top.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Expansive views into Wenatchee and Waterville Plateau as per usual. Undulating ridges plummeting into canyons continued to fascinate me every time. We spent the entire stay behind summit rocks on the north side to get away from incessant wind gusts. We got on top a few times to take quick photos before retreating right back behind rocks.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
On the descent, we scrambled down south ridge to NF-5215 and hiked through Point 3923 before making a stop to check out Wenatchee one last time. Then we exited via the southwest rib and eventually came out onto NF-5215 at the first switchback.