Kaleetan Peak - July 6-7, 2017
I’m currently writing up trip reports for several older trips from before I made this website. Kaleetan Peak will always always hold a special place in my heart because it was my first scramble…ever. The route features a steep climber’s trail in the forest, open traversing over talus fields, and an easy, solid class 3 scramble up to the summit. It’s very doable as a day hike but I decided to do it over two days so I could enjoy evening light on the mountain.
Before diving into the trip itself, I want to write a little bit about my journey in the outdoors thus far. The first time I had ever gone hiking in 2013 when I did an internship in Switzerland. Hiking there was extremely accessible via public transit and my running shoes and Jansport backpack were sufficient for fair weather hikes. I had never hiked or done outdoor activities as a kid and to be completely honest, I think I probably would have resented my parents or anyone who forced me to hike at that age. It’s truly something that I had to discover for myself.
Looking north from the summit of Kaleetan Peak.
After I graduated college in 2014, I did a national parks road trip with some friends to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Badlands, Glacier, and Mt. Rainier. Shortly after, I spent some time in New Zealand before starting work, and that was when I really became enamored with backpacking as well. I did the John Muir Trail and Wind River High Route in 2016 but found myself increasingly discontent with staying on the trails and skirting around the jagged peaks all around me, so after deciding to go back to school, I quit my job at the end of spring and spent a good part of summer 2017 in Washington. I’ll always fondly remember this summer as the one where I did it all – classic scrambles, some of the best backcountry camping I’ve ever done, and at the end of it all an even greater love and appreciation of the mountains.
My first hike that summer was Kaleetan Peak with a camp at Melakwa Lake. I remember being very nervous about this trip. Would I find the scrambling too exposed? It had been a winter of heavy snow. Would I be able to successfully traverse the lingering snow fields? After setting up camp at Melakwa Lake, my friend Bryce and I set off for the climber’s trail that takes you up to the broken ridge leading to Kaleetan. Here, the trail drops steeply down to the west side of the ridge where we met our first challenge: steep snow. We had microspikes and ice axes but honestly, neither of us had been very experienced with snow travel and didn’t feel confident. We did a hilarious downward crab walk until the snow narrowed and we could cut across, after which point the going was easy over open talus and heather.
In no time at all we found ourselves at the base of the scramble. Bryce had a mild fear of heights but made it up just fine after seeing me do all of the moves first. None of the rock was very loose and there were good handholds and footholds where necessary. Due to its proximity to Snoqualmie Pass, the summit of Kaleetan has excellent views of the more rugged peaks to the east and north as well as the rolling hills to the south. I’ve never hiked south of I-90 but north of Rainier, but the peaks in that area are more like forested hills that mountains (see below photo). In contrast, jagged snow-capped peaks can be seen to the north. To my knowledge, the closest glaciated peaks to Kaleetan are the peaks of the Snoqualmie Crest – Lemah Mountain, Chimney Rock, and Overcoat Peak – located just 8 miles away as the crow flies.
After soaking in the exquisite views, we began to hike back down to our camp shortly before sunset. From the ridge we had excellent views north of Melakwa Pass and could even see Glacier Peak far in the distance. It amazes me that places like this are only an hour away fro Seattle. I would definitely come back here and attempt a summit bivy one day so I can watch sunrise and sunrise from up there.
