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There is a storied subrange of mountains nestled in the heart of the North Cascades with an almost mythical reputation: the Pickets. They are known for fickle weather and brutal approaches, but the reward for perseverance is an alpine wonderland of jagged peaks, serrated ridges, and spires. I have seen the range from a distance, but never have I had the privilege of seeing it up close. This summer, my friend Jess and I set out to summit West McMillan Spire, one of the southern Pickets that is considered a gateway to the range due to its relatively short approach (the word “relatively” does some heavy lifting here). We planned the trip for the middle of July, trying to thread the needle between the snow melting out and the wildfires starting. We decided to make it a three day trip, allowing us a full day for the rugged hike to basecamp, one full day for our summit attempt, and a third day for the long trek out.
This spring in the PNW has been a sneakily good season. A warm winter with too much rain and not enough snow had my expectations set low for spring, but I ended up getting out on a few lovely tours. In mid-May, a cold front swept in and deposited a refresh of snow in the mountains, resetting the corn cycle in the process. By the time Memorial Day weekend arrived, most of the best snow was on the slopes of volcanos and other high elevation areas, and I set my sights on Mt Daniel as a spring ski objective for the long weekend.
I had the third weekend of July set aside for a climbing trip with my friend Kara and her friend, Sam, since the beginning of the year. Initially we had planned to climb Snowfield Peak over the weekend but between the oppressive heat and wildfires near Highway 20 we decide to change our plans. Kara suggested Sloan Peak since it was a climb that had been on her radar for years and it would still give us a Snowfield-esque experience, though in a much smaller package—Sloan has the steep, forested approach, it crosses a glacier, and it has a fun scramble to top it all off. The main difference is that Sloan can be done in a day and we wanted to avoid hiking with overnight packs in the heat so it seemed to fit our bill perfectly.