Poch Peak by Florence Peak sits south of Carbon River. It rests outside Mount Rainier National Park‘s northwest border above Evans Creek ORV Park. Meanwhile, the peak shares an extensive network of trails with nearby high points.
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Poch Peak at a Glance
Access: NF-7920 (Evans Creek)
Round Trip: 8.4 miles
Elevation Range: 1840′-5075′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes
Route Info: flatsqwerl
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
Taking the North Route
It’s the fourth and final day of our Thanksgiving week hiking extravaganza! Yesterday we had a day full of sunshine. So today, we continued searching for the light in the South Cascades.
The Mowich Lake Road wasn’t an option this time of year because of the snow. So we took the other viable way off Carbon River Road. But going up from the north meant gaining more elevation and not seeing the sun.
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Poch Peak North Ridge
Right after crossing Tolmie creek, I parked by the old road. Then we hiked for one mile and soon crossed the creek at 2500′. Before long, the path rounded the north ridge in half a mile.
We left the road and climbed 150′ in the open forest. Soon, we were in dense vegetation for the next 200′ through soft dirt. It was the steepest part of the climb that flattened past 3000′.
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Hiking the Old Roads
We went onto the upper Road 7920 at 3500′, where I saw an old trailhead sign. We walked the long deserted road before turning left onto Road 610 at the next fork. Soon, we bypassed Point 3881 from the east.
We turned onto Road 120 before leaving the path at 4000′ as it veered west. Then we stayed on the crest and followed what looked like a trail. I put on snowshoes in the trees, and we went up west of Point 4898.
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The North Saddle
I wasn’t sure where the trail would take us as it continued. But we left it, scrambled to Point 4898, and traversed the ridge through dense trees. Soon, I caught the view of Poch Peak with Mount Rainer behind it.
The broad saddle sat in the clearing, and there was sun! Judging by the half-buried tracks, it looked like snowmobiles were here before the recent snowfalls. Soon, we continued south on Road 591 and crossed Road 7930.
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Poch Peak Summit
We made the final stretch up the west ridge. Meanwhile, the sounds of the off-road vehicles were coming from the south. The semi-open forest soon took us to the top.
We sat on the rocks and looked northwest, where Point 4898 sat smack in the middle of the scenery. But behind us were tall trees blocking what would’ve been a great view of point Rainier.
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Outro
We got our first taste of sunshine down on the pass. But we couldn’t enjoy the heat on top because of the trees. So I wanted to return to the saddle for some needed warmth.
On the way down, we bypassed Point 4898 from the west using Road 519. But in hindsight, we could’ve taken it on the way up earlier. It’s the same trail we used west of the high point.
We retraced our steps and returned to the car as the sky began to dim.
See more trip photos here.