Whistler Mountain shares a joining ridge with Cutthroat Peak above Rainy Pass. Meanwhile, it ranks #9 in North Washington Pass after Holliway Mountain. Plus, the quick approach offers rewarding views of the North Cascades.
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Whistler Mountain at a Glance
Access: Pacific Crest Trail North @ Rainy Pass
Round Trip: 3.7 miles
Elevation Range: 4840′-7790′
Gear: helmet
Route Info: Adam Walker
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
Whistler Mountain by Rainy Pass
Happy Seattle Pride weekend! Whistler Mountain was our day two’s goal this weekend. So we hung out near the pass after going up to Porcupine Peak. The short trip also gave me enough time to later pick up the black pup.
It was great to visit the two peaks back to back as they sat by each other. Lower temperatures over the pass were also more tolerable. So we only needed to be in one place for the weekend without much driving.
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Through the Forest
I parked at the same spot by the snow berm next to the Road 600 stop sign. Then we left the road from the get-go and dove right into the trees. The snow patches soon disappeared, but the down trees followed.
Though steep, the open forest made skirting the logs more painless. We later broke out of the trees and walked south through the meadow basin at 6100′. Overall, we gained an average of 1700′ per mile distance.
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Whistler Mountain West Ridge
Later we went east and straight up the west ridge. Though, the rocky ridgeline was steeper than down in the forest. En route, we bypassed most rocks by staying north of the gully.
We later went into the rock gully at the top of the ridge. Then we used the visible ramp by the headwall and moved up to the top. En route was lots of downsloping slabs and gravel.
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Whistler Mountain Summit Views
The stunning views here included my two other goals across the highway. The mountain’s shorter height had dramatized the taller peaks. But the best part was the 71 degrees on top–30 degrees lower than in the city.
Cutthroat Peak stole the show today. Views to Washington Pass and Rainy Lake were quite enchanting also. Then many obscure peaks, including places we visited two weeks ago, were right across the valley.
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Outro
The 3.7-mile roundtrip was short and sweet! I had thought about going up another nearby high point. But the thought of fighting for a spot on the trail on this hot day wasn’t appealing.
We retraced our steps back through the meadow. The late morning’s vibrant colors had brought the basin back to life. So it looked like a place I’d come back and camp in the future.
See more trip photos here.