Original plans for a peak past Pemberton got pushed aside as I gazed at maps the day before this trip. Jumbo Mountain kind of stood out based on the name and further investigation had a couple of old trip reports. My mind wasn't made up until the night before so I packed my passport, cached a topo map of the area on my phone, put the clocks forward and went to bed.

The old trip reports mentioned access from a rough trail off the Squire Creek Valley. Not much current information but heading into a new area and exploring held more appeal on this day than gazing at the same old peaks (if from a different vantage). Not mapping things out well or bothering to follow the reported route part way up the mountain would change my peak experience though.

Across the border (got asked many questions and the agent spent a lot of time looking at his computer) I head south down the I-5 to SR 530 then go east through Arlington towards Darrington. Along that road I pass near the huge landslide that came down near Oso about a year ago that killed 43 people.

At Darrington I take a couple of right turns and follow Squire Creek Road to a parking area where there are 4 other vehicles (I think these folks hiked up the road/trail towards the head of the valley). Walking up this road I soon pass through where it was obliterated by a large landslide. About 1.5km from where I parked I reach a major creek crossing and realize I missed the Jumbo route turn-off. Backtracking 200 feet I spot pink flagging (other reports mention a cairn but it's not there anymore). A faint track leads off into the bush which soon disappears but I can follow the occasional flagging.

Some hunting around for flagging, some large red cedars and lots of windfall for the first section. After a couple of large zigs and zags I discover the old trail and start steeply upwards. For the next while I'm on the trail, I've lost the trail, I'm hunting for the trail or I'm guessing where the trail might be. Plenty of deadfall and windfall to contend with but there are also many fine specimens of old growth Douglas fir to admire on the steep slopes.

Managing to keep things moving on and up I eventually traverse over to a large gully on climbers right. Good place to take a break and get a good view of some bigger mountains across the valley.


Three Fingers and Whitehorse Mountain with the impressive Squire Creek Wall in front.

From here I'm supposed to continue traversing southwards through forest (and under cliffbands) to reach a gully/bowl system west of the peak.

That didn't happen. Looking up the gully I was in, things didn't look too bad and I somehow got this idea to go that way and maybe flank an outcrop on the right side then tuck in behind it to head south. The rock looked nice up that way I said to myself as I abandoned some of my common sense and started upwards.

Leaving behind talus the rock was actually quite good but still interspaced with frozen dirt that was hard to kick any steps into. Snow started to appear as well and things were pretty steep so I ended up going left, back into the forest (away from where I wanted to go) and ascending that way to gain the northern ridge around 1470m. The ridge here is not bad for travelling but shortly after becomes rather jagged.

I cross over to the eastern side of it and find an open spot to take a break and ponder my options. Totally off-route now but with a good view of the route ahead I figure to traverse slopes on the east side of the north ridge and hopefully gain the summit from the east. Google Topo Mapping on my phone showed possible potential but with the steep terrain a route was not a certainty.


The route ahead - slopes on the NNE side of Jumbo. Mountain goat tracks visible in the snow.

First though, I checked up high to see how the continuation of the ridge was (not good), then I looked back down into the west side to see how that was (not good either) so I backtracked slightly then dropped down a bit to reach snow slopes and the goat tracks. Following them went well, there was about 8 inches of soft snow on a very hard base. My steps didn't always match up with theirs and the traverse did have some steep sections so I paused and put on the crampons.

Things got easier with spikes on my feet and I left the tracks to start a rising traverse to gain the point indicated by the arrow in the picture above. Hopes of continuing the traverse further south were dashed here (the true summit still a bit further away) but I could ascend the slope I was on to reach the col between the north and middle peaks and see how that looked.


Below the north peak with a view down to Darrington along with Mount Baker in the distance.

A steep section near the top of the short ridge looked hard (steep) but was easy to get by then I'm on a small bench where I can see that from here to the middle peak is probably not going to happen. There are 2 cols between here and it with a steep notch and as far as I could tell getting into it would be tough. Climbing out/over to the second col (the one you're supposed to reach when coming up the described route) or trying to descend from the first col down/over to the west side and traversing to the second col both looked highly suspect for a scrambler like me.

Traversing the eastern side had some cliffbands too so I chose to ascend the pleasant upper slopes of the north peak, dump my pack and be happy that I got up something and enjoy the views. Jumbo is named for supposedly resembling an elephant, not due it's size but it does rise nearly a mile upwards from the town of Darrington.


The higher middle peak and the lower south peak.


Eastern view up the White Chuck River Valley. Dome area far distant left, White Chuck centre left with Glacier Peak centre and Pugh just right of it. Sloan at far right.


Three Fingers and Whitehorse on the other side of Squire Creek Valley.


1768m summit shot. Baker and Shuksan on the horizon (I could just make out Tomyhoi too). Darrington and the Sauk River below.


Zooming in on Sloan Peak "The Matterhorn of The Cascades."


And a zoom on Whitehorse. Mount Bullon is rear left.

Happy to get a peak, if not the highest one I packed up and started the journey back grabbing a couple more shots from the shoulder of the north peak before dropping down a more direct but steeper route towards the goat tracks.


White Chuck, Glacier and Pugh. Pugh is now on my list for a day trip once the snow has gone.


The upper slopes of Jumbo Mountain North Peak.

Well shaded on the east side as I retrace my steps then ascend again to regain the northern ridge to take a last look at the views before the steep descent.


Big zoom ENE towards the Dome area (Sinister right of it) with Sentinel/Old Guard at left. Green Mountain where I was 8 days prior is visible too.


And one last look at the peak and route: traverse from low right to sun lit slopes at left then up.

Along the ridge a little more I go then it's a long sustained descent which meandered more than it should, had some really steep sections, had me guessing where I was (and where should I be) and featured lots more windfall/deadfall/veggie belays. Had a nice slip on a log and sat down on some devil's club to add some more spice but with perseverance I got back on the faint trail lower down and followed it out.


Couple of old red cedars near the start of the trail.

Glad to done with that I topped off my water and washed up at a creek crossing and was soon back at my vehicle enjoying a Red Hook ESB before starting the drive home. At least this time the hike was longer than the drive (just under 7.5 hours for the hike vs. less than 6 for the drive). 1400m or so elevation gain along with a few bumps and scratches. Getting back to the border I lucked out with the far right lane having no wait (at 7pm) and was soon home.


Map of route - blue (and an idea of proper route).

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Great trip, I drove through there about 15 years ago and wondered what might be up there. Holy crow, you weren't kidding about the big cedars.That one looks 15 plus feet wide and over 600 years old! How big were those firs you mentioned?

Some of the firs were 8-10 feet in diameter and there were some impressive mid-elevation ones too. It was a mixed bag forested slope with small spindly tree sections along with lush forest and heavy undergrowth in places.

Man, you get around. How many peaks have you bagged in 2015? I think a lot of us on CT extend our mountain adventures vicariously through you. I'm grateful, very inspiring.

That 'mother of all red cedars' looks suspiciously like a split germinant, two trees originating from two germinant seedlings right next to each other. The middle stem looks an awful lot like a hybrid mountain/western hemlock. Doesn't diminish their glory just that such a thing is very common in the wet hemlock subzones. However, not being there I could be delusional.

What elevation was that cedar at, approx?

The 2 cedars were about 450m elevation. I got in 6 trips the past 3 weeks but only a single peak per trip. 7 new peaks so far this year.

If I get that many in year it's a good year ... Your TR's are the kind everyone looks forward to reading, wishing we could all get out there!

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That is a honking big butt your sittin' on Simon. Looks like a hemlock tree is growing in the cavity. BTW, great peak.

Beautiufl photo set, like every picture.

Wonder if the mountain got its name after those jumbo trees up there.

Great find


K