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| The southern Picket Range from Mount Fury. |
Approaches to any of the mountains in the Picket Range are extremely difficult, requiring extreme off-trail travel and often technical mountaineering skills (especially the northern group) and considerable elevation gain due to their relief. But the rewards they offer are...did I say spectacular?
The southern Picket Range's most beautiful and dramatic side is its northern slopes and faces above a wild and trail-less McMillan Cirque. This cirque must be seen from above to be truly appreciated. Sheer ruggedness is what usually comes to mind. To see this side requires a long lakeside hike or boat ride and then a backpack up the Big Beaver trail. From there one needs to know where to leave the trail (unsigned) and travel cross-country to find the creek (often river) crossing, which can be raging in typical climbing season and log crossings can be difficult to find. Once across, jungle-like bushwacking climbing awaits the climber in order to attain higher sub-alpine slopes where travel finally eases, but the difficulties are not over. Patches of thick slide alder must be crossed to approach Access Cirque - a common camp area. Above this cirque are steep gullies that are often ice-filled until late in the season and require extreme care and technical gear.
The best views are on the ridges below Luna Peak, Luna Peak, or in this case the summit of Mount Fury. It's a tough 2-3 day approach, but rewards those determined to accept the challenge. And the photography opportunities are endless!
This image was recently licensed for worldwide us in a recreational publication, I am proud to say.
You can see this image and more from this area in my North Cascades Gallery.
Hope to see you on the trail!
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