Kaleetan Peak
Carla, Ben, and I parked at the Denny Creek trailhead and headed up the
trail. We passed a couple guys on the trail who were hauling duffel
bags, a coleman stove, a gallon milk jug full of water, fishing poles,
and assorted other stuff. Later we passed a woman wearing a
mini-skirt and carrying a child. At Melakwa Lake we followed the sign
to the outhouse, then took the right fork of the path up the south
ridge of Kaleetan Peak. After passing point 5,700 we encountered some
steep, frozen snow when dropping down a bit on a NW slope into the
basin right below the peak, those of us that had ice axes were glad to
have them.
When making the final approach on the summit, one guy was above us and
another party was below us. The guy above kicked a rock down the
summit gully which only missed Carla because it deflected a few feet
in front of her, otherwise we would have had a first-aid situation. The
summit gully wasn't as intimidating as it looks from the distance.
When we returned to Melakwa Lake there were a dozen people there and
two campfires burning.
Round-trip distance:
12 miles
Elevation gain:
4,105 feet
USGS quad:
Snoqualmie Pass
Car-to-car:
9 hours 9 minutes
-
1 hour 29 minutes
ascending
from
Denny Creek trailhead
to
Melakwa Lake
-
2 hours 12 minutes
ascending
from
Melakwa Lake
to
Kaleetan Peak summit
-
1 hour 44 minutes
descending
from
Kaleetan Peak summit
to
Melakwa Lake
-
1 hour 49 minutes
descending
from
Melakwa Lake
to
Denny Creek trailhead
Ben looking at Kaleetan Peak from point 5,700'
Looking up Melakwa Pass from Melakwa Lake
NW side of Bryant Peak
Scramble route on Kaleetan Peak's south side
Copyright © 2024 Gabriel Deal.