Zekes Peak by Mount Stickney rises above Lake Isabel in Wild Sky Wilderness. The famous Wallace Lake sits below the northwest in the state park. Moreover, the vast Skykomish River spans the south foothills through the great plains.
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Zekes Peak at a Glance
Access: Reiter Road @ mile 2.7 gate
Round Trip: 9 miles
Elevation Range: 520′-4865′
Essential Gear: helmet
Route Info: SummitPost.org
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
Playlist: Beats
Wild Sky Wilderness by Gold Bar
I would see the mountain on my drive over the years. So, after thinking about it all summer, I decided to visit in the fall after the climbing season. However, I waited an extra day for things to dry off from the heavy rain two days earlier. But the most surprising thing was seeing mosquitos this late in the year.
One of the two direct routes to Lake Isabel started from Hogarty Creek. A short distance past the gate, a trail dipped through the creek to the upper roadway. It entered the woods before reaching another road at 800′. The nearby cut-off trail then bypassed the road bend to continue.
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May Creek Trail to Lake Isabel
Beyond the road fork at 1200′ was the hidden trail to Mary Creek. During this, the path went through the second-growth forest over some down trees. It then took us over a dry creek at 2100′ before the wilderness. Soon, we began route-finding among the windfalls.
The debris had taken out a good chunk of the path. But we would hug May Creek and find the trail before the firepit at 2400′. The great camp looked out to the impressive waterfall. From east of the falls, we soon went up steep terrain to Lake Isabel with canoes nearby.
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Traversing Zekes Peak South Ridge
We soon crossed the outlet before rounding the small knoll to the west outlet. The icy logs let us continue to the other side onto the rocks. We then went west below the cliffs into a gully. After climbing 400′, we exited below the cliff bands and slowly aimed at the south ridge.
Above 4000′ was a talus field, which we crossed below the cliffs to the south ridge at 4200′. There was a small area of annoying brush before we were in the clear. Soon, we would hug the crest to finish the rest of the climb. We started seeing snow 200′ below the top.
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Viewing Skykomish River Valley
Zekes Peak’s high point at the end of the summit ridge was in the clearing. Views were abundant on this clear day except in the south due to the trees. It’s too bad since I had looked forward to seeing Mount Index and Mount Persis. But who needed them when Mount Stickney stood right before us?!
But the best view lay west over the expansive Skykomish River Valley. We walked to the other side of the ridgetop before leaving the top. There was the incredible east view of Mount Baring over to Persis. However, Lake Isabel was only slightly visible until we returned to the rock field.
See more trip photos here.