Malcolm Mountain Loop
6-15-03
I have done the Johnson
Creek to
Medra Pass and Malcolm Mountain loop trip twice before. When I found
out the
Mountaineers were doing Malcolm Mountain I suggested doing the loop.
Thanks to a hearty group of hikers we pulled it off and I think we all
had a good time. This route goes on good trail, poor trail, and at
times no trail.
The old sheep driveway along the ridge is in poor shape. This means the
route requires a little route finding and a taste for traveling on a
sometimes
sketchy trail. The payoff is a lot of ridge walking with very nice
views.
This early in the year there were also a nice variety of flowers.
We met at Twenty Nine Pines campgrounds and
continued to the Johnson Creek trailhead located near Beverly
campgrounds. We were on the trail by about 9:40. It was sunny but
thankfully not a blistering east side day. The trail starts out fairly
level as it follows Johnson Creek. At 3/4 mile we reached the Jungle
Creek intersection. This would be our return route. The trail crosses
the creek 6 or 8 times. The creek is now low
enough to make it possible to accomplish all the crossings with dry
feet.
There is a little rock hopping needed but it's not bad. This is a
motorcycle
trail and is in quite good shape. We met one cycle at the ridge top and
that was all. The lower valley was covered with a variety of flowers
including,
Vanilla Leaf, False Solomon's Seal, Yellow Violets, Indian Paintbrush,
Strawberries, and many more. The trail finally leaves the creek and
begins to ascend.
The thick forest gives way to more open slopes. It was a bit dusty
thanks
to the motorcycles tearing up the soil. One tree was down and
motorcycles
have gone up the hillside to get around it. They have badly churned up
the
slope. Hikers can easily step over the log. Higher up we began to get
glimpses
of Mt. Stuart and Ingalls Peak. We traversed over to Medra Pass and
took
a break. There was a small snow patch just below the pass that was just
off
the trail. Otherwise, the north facing slope is completely snow free.
Be
the time we reached the pass it was nearly 11:30 and time for a food
break.
From the pass a trail heads north along the ridge towards Koppen
Mountain.
We turned left and headed south. In a short distance there is a spit.
The
right path heads down Medra Creek. We went left and stayed on the ridge
top.
The trail has a number of ups and downs. Sometimes
it is directly on the ridge and sometimes below to the right. We could
see Malcolm Mountain from much of the way along the ridge. In some
places the trail is very sketchy as it crosses loose scree. It is not a
difficult scramble but some trail hikers will not like it. I lost the
trail several times but it always remains near the ridge top. The only
trick is to make sure you leave the ridge and drop down on a ridge
connecting to Malcolm Mountain. It became very overgrown here and
dropping down sooner would have
been easier. We slogged through some thick bushes and then worked our
way
down. On the connector ridge we again picked up the route. After
dropping
about 300' we started up the ridge towards Malcolm. This is more nice
ridge
climbing with a good view over to Johnson Mountain. Part way up the
ridge
the old sheep driveway we were following traverses across the open
slope
on a really sketchy route. There is not much traction on that section
of
trail. We continued straight up. The way eases soon and multiple trails
continue
in forest towards Malcolm. By now some of the group must have been
wondering
just what they had gotten themselves into. There is a hunters camp in
the
forest and soon after the way breaks out into the open. We climbed a
short
distance up to the ridge crest and stopped for lunch. The summit of
Malcolm
is visible a short distance away. The views very very good here.
Ingalls,
Stuart, and Earl Peaks were to the north.
After eating we took a vote and 5 of us decided to
continue to the summit while the others relaxed in the sun. The trail
dropped down a bit then began to contour around Malcolm. The trail does
go around the peak then up to the summit on the back side. It is in
such bad shape that it is more difficult than just scrambling straight
up the
ridge. That is exactly what we did. It is a little steep but not long.
There
is forest almost all the way and no exposure. The view from the top is
really quite good. Malcolm is only about 5460' but sits a good distance
from any other Teanaway peak. Most of the Stuart Range is visible form
the summit. We didn't stay long. It only took about 12 minutes to go up
and less than 10 minutes to get back to the group. We soon were packed
up and heading
on. While there are a number of trails that go up Malcolm I always come
down the same way. The obvious trail goes to the right side of the
ridge
running from Malcolm to Johnson Mountain. The sheep driveway goes to
the
left of the ridge. The trail we took down does not show on any maps but
is in much better shape than the one that does. After switchbacking
down
the trail traverses across an open slope to meet the top of the
descending
ridge. It is not as sketchy as the driveway on the other side of the
ridge
but it will scare some hikers. Every one in our group made it across in
good shape. Once on the ridge it is more sketchy trail with several
steep
ups and downs. After about a mile of this we reached the other end of
the
ridge at the base of Johnson Mountain. The Way Creek Trail descends to
the
Jungle Creek Road from here. I was here a few weeks ago climbing
Johnson.
There was snow then but it is all gone now. From this point on back the
way
is on real honest to goodness trail. I'm sure the group was very happy
to
see it. The rest of the way down is also in cool forest. The day was
warm
and the shade was nice. In one mile we reached the intersection on the
ridge
top. Right is down to the Jungle Creek Road on the Jungle Creek Trail.
Left
is down and back to our starting place. At first the trail switchbacks
down
to the valley floor. From there out the way is very flat. There are 3
more
creek crossings and all were very easy. At long last we reached Johnson
Creek
and completed our loop. We retraced the last 3/4 mile and were back at
the trailhead. Some of our party may have had a bit more of a scramble
than
they expected. All of the group members handled it well. It was a day
full
of flowers, views, and ridge walking. I hope everyone else had as good
a
time as I had. We saw one motorcycler and three hikers for the day. The
totals
on the day were about 12 miles and 3100' gained.
Out Of The Valley
|
Paintbrush
|
Mt. Stuart
|
Mt. Rainier
|
Balsamroot
|
Volcanic Neck
|
Esmerelda Peaks
|
Middle Fork Peak
|
Ridge Route
|
Penstemon
|
Click on thumbnails to get larger pictures.
Photo Page 2
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