Lightning Peak rises above Copper Creek outside the Olympic National Park boundary. It’s two miles west of the notable Lake Cushman. The trail exists today because of copper and manganese mining in the early 1900s.
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Lightning Peak at a Glance
Access: Copper Creek Trailhead
Round Trip: 6.4 miles
Elevation Range: 800′-4654′
Gear: helmet, crampons, ice ax, microspikes
Route Info: Tom Girard
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: no
Copper Creek Trail
A friend recently suggested Lightning Peak in the Olympic Mountains. So today, we came here after yesterday’s lowkey outing in north Sound. We left the empty trailhead on what would be a sunny day ahead.
Soon, we walked through the relatively flat, lush old-growth forest in sun rays. After crossing Cooper Creek to the north side, the trail suddenly climbed steeply. Then the elevation gain stayed steady for the next mile.
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Lightning Peak North Ridge
We started seeing days-old tracks over firm snow patches at 2800′. It was continuous after going up another 200′ as we followed the boot tracks. Then we lost the trail right below the 3200′ saddle by the loop trail sign.
Soon, we scrambled south on the open crest, with fewer trees plus expansive views. Mount Ellinor was visible to the northeast as we moved along the ridge. We took a break to put on snowshoes before returning to the forest.
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North Gully
We saw more powder in the trees and postholed for quite a while. A crust layer in the open area at the bottom of the narrow gully followed. Soon, we stepped through the snowy boulders and began climbing steeply.
The snow grew firmer high up, and the trees slowly thinned out. But as soon as thin ice appeared, we stayed closer to the trees whenever possible. Meanwhile, we cut through a few places plastered with old avalanche debris.
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East Ridge
The mists took over when we reached the east ridge, where the snow changed into ice. So I put on crampons before bypassing the outcrops. Then we were without views for the rest of the way to the top.
Cornices strewing the ridgeline forced us to move to the south of the crest. It was surprising to see lots of bare ground there. After a quick traverse on rocks, we climbed a short stretch of steep snow to the east summit.
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East Summit and Beyond
“We could’ve waited until the spring and had views.” I thought. We’ve put in way more work than necessary to come this far. I signed the register, and we left the top after finding a decent spot to downclimb.
Cliffs lined the north edge, so we steered clear and bypassed from the south instead. Then we climbed some from the notch and dropped onto the next saddle. Soon, we were directly below Lightning Peak’s high point.
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Lightning Peak Main Summit
The snow complicated this climb, and the mists weakened the visibility. I had the dogs try a few places, but none was feasible for them to go up. So they waited at the bottom for me to return.
Then only crux was going through krummholz in deepening snow. The mixture of fresh powder and ice made it tough to gain solid footing. Ultimately, I did some awkward mixed climbing with the ice ax and crampons.
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Outro
Wow, what incredible views! Too bad, because I planned to see Lake Cushman and the nearby Mount Lincoln plus Mount Washington. Some other time perhaps. After a few moments of nothingness, I returned to join the pups.
The black dog magically got onto a narrow ledge while I was upstairs. Glad I could direct him down as the yellow pup watched intensely from the saddle. But I knew he secretly enjoyed the free entertainment.
It was dark when we reached the trail. Then the rest went by fast by having the dogs chase after me.
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