Wedge Mountain

Today we woke up early in the backyard of a fellow Mountaineer who lives in Leavenworth. 7 of us piled into two vehicles and drove out to our destination: Wedge Mountain. We drove east on HWY 2 then south on HWY 97 and then we began our dirt road trek up the mountain to the beginning of the trail. This dirt road is not for the weak at heart. It begins easy enough climbing slightly with nice even gravel but as you take multiple off-shoots of road the road becomes less friendly. It is very steep in some spots with extremely deep ruts from tires spinning in the mud. Trees and shrubs are overgrown and engulf the road, there is nowhere to pull off if you encounter another car coming the opposite direction. Needless to say it was a major feat just to get to the trail. I would strongly advise a 4WD, high clearance and short wheelbase vehicle if at all possible and try going when you know the road will be dry. That will significantly increase your chances of making it to the top.

At last both our cars made it to the top (we were prepared for the poor road conditions.) The hike is a pretty steady climb the whole way as it follows a fairly defined trail. Once we reached the ridge, we took a break and took some pictures of the amazing views of the Enchantments. Snow Lakes, The Temple, Little Annapurna, MeClellan Peak are all right there just staring right at you. Beautiful vistas to say the least. Once on the ridge, the trail becomes less defined and hard to stay on, especially due to past fires and lots of downed trees. So we meandered our way through thick fog up the ridge toward what we assumed was the high point on the ridge.

Once we neared the peak we found ourselves a little nervous about our next task. The trail (or what was left of it) was completely gone and what stood before us was some pretty sketchy rock with some definite exposure that we had to scramble up if we were to reach the top. We looked for the best route up and went for it. After we got going, it seemed a lot easier than it looked, and we all made it the top with no scares or issues. Once at the peak we relaxed, took some pictures, ate lunch and all signed the summit registry at the top. We sat there for quite a while and I started to get cold and stiff. (I wasn't expecting the cold weather that we had.) Once we started moving again my knee was starting to bother me a little bit, I think we sat too long and my knee got stiff. But we all managed to get down the peak and back onto the trail safely. On our way back down the ridge the fog cleared up and the sun started to shine and we were able to get some better pictures of the peaks and lakes off in the distance. The hike back down the mountain was pretty uneventful and easy going. I think after this scramble some of the rookies in the group (myself included) gained a little bit of confidence after climbing that technical bit that looked quite scary. So far this has been one of my favorite scrambles and I would certainly do it again. (While its dry, only so I could ensure I would make it up the sketchy road.)

Region: Central Cascades, Leavenworth Area
Distance: 6 miles
Elevation Gain: 2400 ft
Peak Elevation: 6900 ft
Difficulty: S2 T3
Pass Requirement: Likely none, too far out on a terrible road?

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.