Twin Peaks by Boomerang and Paperboy rise above Loch Katrine and Lake Philippa. This less-visited peak is visible from the Puget Sound area despite the remoteness. Atop the narrow basin lies the rare sight of Upper Loch Katrine.
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Twin Peaks at a Glance
Access: Loch Katrine Road (access info)
Round Trip: 15 miles
Elevation Range: 1520′-5325′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes, ice ax
Route Info: Monty VanderBilt, LarryN
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
Loch Katrine Road
Loch is a Scots word for “lake.” As the name implies, the road leads to Loch Katrine. The first three miles are within the private property. Then the national forest boundary begins half a mile before the lake.
Half a mile from the gate was the side road to Lake Philippa. But we stayed on the main roadway for three more miles before taking the side trail down to the water. Meanwhile, the main path continued up to the ridge.
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Lower Loch Katrine
From the lake, the actual crux of the trip was making it over to the southeast shore. So we first followed the shoreline trail to the northeast corner. From there, the faint path continued to the northeast ridge.
I wanted to avoid the ridgeline for the pups’ sake and went along the east shore in the dense forest. We soon came to a cliff at the halfway point and went above it. Then we reached the talus on the other side by going down a steep dirt chute.
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En Route to Upper Basin
Shortly, we hopped through the rocks and then went back into the trees. Snow soon appeared before we crossed the creek from Upper Loch Katrine. Then we went up the ridge north of the upper lake.
Glad for the snow, we avoided the brush in the lower forest altogether. We could also go straight up the steep slopes. Then I put on snowshoes when we found continuous snow before the terrain flattened at 4200′.
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Upper Loch Katrine and Beyond
At last, we saw the sun as we went down to the lake’s outlet. Then we quickly walked along the edge of the frozen pond over to the east. Before long, we made it to the southern shore in the open forest.
As we went up the steep gully by the old avalanche debris, I heard the water running under the snow. So we made our way over to the northeast ridge. By doing so, we also bypassed the cliffs above the ravine.
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Twin Peaks Northeast Ridge
The snow conditions were overall decent, but we’d step into fresh powder now and then. So it made the final 1000′ a tad arduous. The pups didn’t mind it as they continued to roll and prance around in the snow.
As we went higher, I kept turning around to check the views. But as we neared the top, I saw that the valley clouds began to creep upward. “Not another whiteout like last week.” I thought.
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Twin Peaks Summit
Right below the summit, we went around to the east. So we could avoid the small cornices draping the north side. “Finally, the sun and the heat!” We found dry rocks on the south side and settled down.
Soon, clouds to the west formed an inversion, and only the Olympic Mountains stayed. I peeked at Rooster Mountain and Boomerang before the eastern view faded shortly. But I was happy not to be in the mists like last week.
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Outro
The daylight was too short. So we didn’t enjoy as much sunlight as we would’ve liked. Not to mention how much work it took to come up here! Alas, the party had to end at some point.
Later we made it down to the lower lake as the daylight slowly dwindled. Then we went around the west shore to go back up to Loch Kathrine Road. It was a shorter but brushier route.
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