The Pulpit via Rainy Lake trail
I parked at the Middle Fork trailhead and hit the Rainy Lake trail.
At around 3,600' (maybe half a mile past the biggish stream crossing
at 3,200') I left the trail and headed west up the ridge. There
wasn't too much brush while ascending the side of the ridge but the
top of the ridge was covered in dense, young hemlock trees for a
while. The hemlocks thinned out at the low point just south of point
4,400'+. I ascended point 4,400'+ and then headed west to point
4,523' (The Pulpit). On the ridge between point 4,400'+ and The
Pulpit I had to dodge gendarmes by dropping to the south and north
sides of the ridge, there were some steep, dirt slopes here, which was
a bit challenging with the thin layer of snow.
When I reached the top of The Pulpit I was disappointed to find the
only view was of the Middle Fork Valley to the west. I scouted around
and found that the sharp ridge a few hundred feet north of The Pulpit
would probably provide some nice views. The ridge was steeper than I
would to consider on exposed, wet, snowy rock so I didn't try
ascending it. From my vantage point I couldn't tell if the ridge
would be a scramble or a climb under more favorable conditions.
On the way down, after passing point 4,400'+, I started descending the
side of the ridge to the Rainy Lake trail just before the thickets of
young hemlocks started on the ridge. This was a bit steeper than my
ascent route but was quite manageable. I met with the trail at the
3,200' stream crossing.
Elevation gain:
3,665 feet
In:
Middle Fork Snoqualmie Drainage
Car-to-car:
7 hours 26 minutes
-
1 hour 4 minutes
driving
from
Lower Queen Anne
to
Middle Fork trailhead
-
2 hours 19 minutes
ascending
from
Middle Fork trailhead
to
where I left Rainy Lake trail
-
41 minutes
ascending
from
where I left Rainy Lake trail
to
top of ridge
-
36 minutes
ascending
from
top of ridge
to
point 4,400'+
-
25 minutes
ascending
from
point 4,400'+
to
The Pulpit
-
1 hour 5 minutes
descending
from
The Pulpit
to
creek crossing on Rainy Lake trail
-
1 hour 43 minutes
descending
from
creek crossing on Rainy Lake trail
to
Middle Fork trailhead
Ridge north of The Pulpit
Copyright © 2024 Gabriel Deal.