Cascade Mountain by Malachite Peak is under half a mile south of its Middle Peak in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The mountain doesn’t see as much traffic when compared with other high points in the area. While approaching from Morpheus is feasible, most prefer to enter through Gouging Lake via the West Fork Miller River.
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Cascade Mountain at a Glance
Access: West Fork Miller River Road
Round Trip: 14.6 miles
Elevation Range: 1280′-5591′
Gear: snowshoes, ice ax, microspikes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: no
Miller River Road to Miller River Crossing
The familiar approach on Miller River Road had a new log debris pile in the first mile and a minor washout at mile two. The path to Coney Creek was occasionally rocky, but overall, smooth sailing. Finding our previous crossing over Coney Creek with the old GPS track was challenging. After a brief search upstream, Cody and I found a suitable log jam 250 feet down from the trail to cross.
Once across Coney Creek, we postholed enough snow but not enough to strap on snowshoes just yet. This less-traveled area was brushier, but the 1.75 miles to Miller River passed without incident. I was glad to have marked the log crossing on my GPS from a prior trip. Since the damp, slippery, full-body width log required careful footwork, I used microspikes to avoid plunging into the raging water below.
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Gouging Lake to Water Gully
Our third and final water crossing at 2400 feet was the least demanding. From there, we began our ascent, following the south side of the stream that drains Gouging Lake. The next 1500 feet of elevation involved navigating steep, brushy terrain until we finally reached the snow. With snowshoes back on, the terrain steepened considerably before slowly leveling off right below the lake’s outlet.
After a brief rest at the lake, we began our traverse by hugging the eastern shoreline to the southwest. The steep lower gully was our next challenge, with unstable snow forcing us to stick close to the eastern cliffs. We navigated a mix of dry rock and small trees before transitioning back to snow and continuing above the waterfall.
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Cascade Mountain Summit Push and Descent
The final push to the summit involved ascending the upper basin and gaining the west ridge at 4700 feet. From there, Cody and I traversed east across rolling terrain to the north of the summit. The last 300 feet to the jagged crest were deceptively steep, which was not noticeable from the contour lines on the map. As we reached the north shoulder, the narrow ridge seemed to be under a snow arête with prominent cornices. Then, a sudden snowstorm swooped in.
Given the treacherous conditions, I left the pack and snowshoes with the dog in the trees. I then proceeded from the west slopes, carefully guiding and testing each step with an ice axe, wearing microspikes. Careful of the underlying cornice, I quickly took a video from the top before retreating. As soon as the visibility improved, we rushed back to the upper basin in slush. Meanwhile, we got a glimpse of the ridgeline as the clouds parted.
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Back to Gouging Lake and Out
The snow continued to fall as we retraced our steps back to the lake basin. Soon, the precipitation turned to rain as we descended through wet vegetation. Following our tracks, we navigated the brush and three water crossings. Surprisingly, crossing back through Coney Creek went much quicker than this morning. Along the way, I picked up a stray plastic balloon, leaving the trail cleaner than we found it.
See more trip photos here.