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Kloochman Rock 4532 ft May 25, 2004

Kim was again working in Sunnyside so I joined her and made the now familiar trip up highway 12 for some unfinished business with Kloochman Rock. I had tried to climb Kloochman Rock last November but was turned back well short of the summit by slippery rock caused by rain and snow. But today it was a sunny and 74F, so I would have no excuses this trip.

I had a Green Trails map of the area with me today, so instead of driving around on FR 1202 and hiking in a mile, I took Road 570 to FR 1201 which left me 1/4 mile SW of the SW end of Kloochman Rock. (Good maps are awesome!) I parked at a wide spot in the road, just down from a wide turn around area that looked to be some sort of gravel pit/quarry.

I took a bearing of 330 to the SE end of Kloochman Rock then dropped down over the edge of the road following a game trail. It was 10:27am. The trail came out of the forest into a meadow flush with larkspur, lupine, and little yellow flower sthat I call Avalanche lillies. Soon I was at the base of the SE end of Kloochman, looking up at the crumbly rock. I was now in familiar territory. I ducked back into the woods and followed the trail trending NW until I came to the scree field that lead up to the notch in the ledges. It looked less steep without all the snow on it.

I cached my trekking poles, took a drink of water, cinched down my backpack and started up. I quickly retraced my route from last fall, and soon found myself in new terrain. It was still downward sloping slabs with loose gravel, but at least it wasn't wet with snow on it. I traversed up and left, trying not to worry about the crumbly cliffs above me. I arrived at 10' step that I carefully downclimbed which lead to easy ground. Soon I was standing under large pine trees which I knew was on the shoulder near the gully that lead up to the notch just below the summit ridge. I looked across the gravelly slope and was surprised to see an actual trail! I was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. I was relieved to know that I was on the right track and that I wouldn't be turned back this time, but disappointed that there was an actual TRAIL that eliminated any route finding problems.

I followed the trail up on the left side of the loose gully, occaisionally scrambling over small rock outcroppings. I looked back down the route and out across the forest and spied the small lake that I hiked by last November. I was excited to have the summit of this elusive peak within my grasp and I quickly scrambled up. Soon I was at the notch, just below the summit ridge. A slight wind had picked up and I figured the summit would be even windier, so I dropped my pack and drank some water to cool down. With my heart rate back to normal, I scrambled up the final 80 feet to the summit, following cairns that marked the way. More to come...