Poet Traverse 8/25-26/2012

Our trip to Glacier Peak reminded me of the Poet Traverse which had been on our to-do list since discovering them during the Clark Mountain trip last year.  We did 3 of the Poet peaks plus 2 peaks for a loop trip.

Day 1 - Poe, Longfellow and Bryant.  Camp at Kodak Peak

trekking over to Longfellow

Started at the Little Wenatchee River trailhead.  up 3000ft elevation over 3 miles to the summit of Poe Mountain.  Poe is first of the 3 peaks named after poets on our agenda today.  we reached the summit in 1 hour and 45 min.  We had a good view of our route for the weekend, which is entirely on the ridge.  We had yogurt for breakfast and watched the bears way down in the meadows.  We read quotes from Poe.

Our way to Longfellow involved some traverses on steep slopes, we stayed entirely on the south side of the slope close to the ridge.  some class 2-3 scramble towards the top of Longfellow.  some quotes from Longfellow at the summit.  Bryant looked far away but trekking over was quick.  We went to north of the summit, gained the ridge and the summit.

We enjoyed blueberries and huckleberries the entire way.  wildflowers were in bloom, in particular Lupines and Indian paintbrushes.

We found water at a tarn after Bryant Peak.  Filled up our extra water containers.  Peter suggested camping at the summit of Kodak Peak - brilliant idea.  We found a perfect camp spot at the summit. enough room for one tent and walk around comfortably for an amazing panoramic view including Glacier Peak, Mt Rainier, Sloan, Daniel and the whole Poet range.

Ridge walk on Bryant	Theme of the day: Ridge walk on meadows
Wildflowers in bloom	Kodak Peak summit camp

Day 2 - Skykomish Peak

Day started with a brilliant sunrise, took some pictures and a video from my sleeping bag.   back to sleep until after 9a.  went down the peak by 20 steps and picked a bunch of fresh blueberries for breakfast.  definitely a highlight of the trip.

Breakfast

picking berries for breakfast

off we go on the trail, hiking the PCT for the most part, which was immaculately maintained and a welcome change from the heather traverse the day before.  We came across quite a few hikers that started 3-4 days ago from Stevens pass and trekking to Rainy Pass, which is ~ 2 week trip.  quite envious of the amount of time they get to unplug.  today's trail has water, streams everywhere.  I happily wash off as everything was dusty from the day before.  We passed the Cody Ridge junction, which we'll backtrack to later on in the day and stopped at Lake Sally Ann.  Lake Sally Ann has many well established campsite but we had the whole place to ourselves when we got there. I took a refreshing dive into the lake, there is still lingering snow but water was just warm enough to stay in.  We ditched our overnight gear and continue on the PCT for another mile or so before leaving the trail and aiming up Skykomish Peak.   There was not much of a trail up Skykomish but it is pretty much a walk up.  The trek down Cody Ridge was lovely, view on both sides the entire way, berries galore and Lupines paint the hillsides purple.  

Skykomish Peak
Lake Sally Ann	Lupine on Cody Ridge

Time

leisurely pace, time includes mandatory summit naps

Day 1

9a Little Wenatchee River TH

10:45 Poe Mountain

1:30p Longfellow

4:45p Bryant

7:30p Kodak Peak (Camp)

Day 2

10:15a leave camp Kodak Peak

Noon skinny dip at Lake Sally Ann

1p Skykomish Peak

6p TH

Gear

Ice axe was useful for the heather

extra capacity for water as the traverse on day 1 was entirely dry

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