Capturing the Art of Nature
Chehalis Peak
Extremely satisfying is how I would summarize my hike to the summit of Chehalis
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
Summits on the Air
2016
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Encouraged and exhausted would be words I say well capture the way I felt at the end of my hike to the summit of Chehalis peak. I have been planning this hike for many months and did a scouting trip earlier this year. I had originally planned to approach it from the east but after a review of Google Earth the west side looked shorter and easier. So in January I drove the area and determined it would work but the road was washed out before my exit point so extra hiking along the road would be required. Well that still looked better than the east route so it was the planned route for the day.
Our day began with a lovely sunrise and prospects of a warm day ahead. We left the house a bit after 8:30 am and made for our regular stops en-route to our trailhead. The drive seemed to go slow as traffic and events just seemed to slow down the drive. We even got stuck behind a truck carrying an ATV who seemed to slow to a crawl over the smallest of bumps and curves. It seemed so out of character with a person riding an ATV. Fortunately it was only for the last few kilometers of the paved road there he pulled off to park and we continued on up to the end of the logging road.
We drove right to the washout to confirm it was still blocking the road and then back-tracked to a wide spot where we parked and got our gear on and our minds ready for the onslaught ahead. The walk along the road was easy but it had a bad trait of doing a steep rise followed by a long descent! Going down when we should be going up was not encouraging as we had to reverse the route on the way back when we would be tired! But the road did gain the elevation eventually and we arrived at the planned point where we would leave the road for scrambling across the clear-cut area. We reviewed the slope before us and saw a wall of rock faces. There did seem to be a narrow gap to the south we felt would enable to get to the top of the face, so we started to pick our way across the slash avoiding the thorns and loose rock as we angled to the gap.
Climbing the gap was actually not too difficult and soon we were on top of the rock face looking down on the clearing. Before us was a nice moss carpeted understory that was fairly level. We marked a tree with tape and then studied our next move. We could see a second wall of rock before us on the left and a more gradual rise in front to the east, so we moved forward to the east and gained a bit more elevation. It looked like we could do this for some distance but the GPS was showing us moving away from the summit so we decided we would need to conquer the rock face somehow. After more study and planning we decided we had to cross a steep moss covered talus field and then carefully pull ourselves up a short steep slope to get to the top of the rock. It went fairly smoothly though the moss made each step a challenge and the steepness kept the rock loose and sliding down with each step. By hanging onto small trees and branches we managed to reach the top and there we had a nice rest before continuing up the slope to a ridge line ahead.
Well the next section was actually not too difficult just tiring as it was steep and the moss hid some holes that were waiting to swallow a foot and twist an ankle just for fun. I did step down into some deeper holes but fortunately by going carefully I managed to avoid twisting an ankle. Soon we reached the ridge and here we were able to walk on large rocks which formed some of the rock faces we saw from the road. Staying back from the edge we were still able to enjoy a nice view of the Harrison River valley to the west. From here we made good time the rest of the way to the summit. It was in a broad tree covered area with small ponds and multiple small rises all around. The actual summit coordinate we had was located in a depression rather than on a rise but I wandered across the highest point. After reviewing the area we decided to move a bit to the west to set up camp for lunch and operating my radio. The reason I had chosen this summit was because it was listed on our Summits-on-the-air list and no one had yet activated it. So here I was ready to make some radio calls and be the first to activate the peak. It was now 1:45 and we were late to start but it took only a few minutes to set up my small 2m yagi and I was calling out. I made a quick contact to a local ham in Abbottsford and then a second to a chap in Bellingham. Now things slowed down and switched to the 4x4 enthusiasts frequency and made a third contact. I ended up chatting with a few hams on the local repeaters but I wasn’t having success getting a fourth simplex contact. I needed four to successfully activate the summit so as 3pm came and went I was getting a bit discouraged. I switched back to the 4x4 frequency and tried calling for a while. Eventually a chap answered who was on his way to the Clear River Hot Spring. I had my fourth contact! Success! A short moment of relaxation and satisfaction and then Geoff reminded me it was time to get going!
Well packing up was fast and the way back well documented on my GPS track so we started back to the rock face where we took some time to enjoy the warm sun and the view before continuing down the harder part of the route. We decided to try what seemed a bit more gradual descent to the left (east) of our upward path and it got us down to the top of the second rock face we climbed, here we went back to the exact spot we ascended and there backtracked closely over our earlier route. We got down and off the talus without too many slips but I had managed to rip my jeans twice by this point! They needed replacement any ways. Now we were into the shallower lower forested area and we had a pleasant stroll to the gap that got us started in the forest. Going back down this was fairly easy after what we had been doing and crossing the open cut went fairly quickly. Well back on the road in the hot sun and we had all those ups and downs to walk. It was tiring but the views we were able to enjoy made it a pleasant trip.
Well the truck was eventually in view and the hike almost done. It felt good to be rounding the last corner and then able to drop the pack and sit and rest for a while. A good adventure, much harder than I had expected and the long walk on the road made it longer than I wanted but we did achieve all our goals and now the summit is initiated. I don’t know how many will try this summit but with the few markers we left I think the next group will have an easier time, though it is still a class 3 adventure.