Western Alpine Lakes Rock Climbing

This is the high-country region between Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes, mostly within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It includes all climbing between the two highways except that directly accessed from I-90 and Highway 2, and is bordered on the east by the vertical line of the North Fork Teanaway River and Jack Creek, thus excluding the Enchantments and the Stuart Range. (See the Central-East Cascades for details.)

The Alpine Lakes region is unique in Washington for the enormous amount of lakes concentrated in an alpine region. Glacier-carved lake basins surrounded by scrub fir, heather, and beautiful peaks abound. The 'official' Alpine Lakes district is the confluence of the Foss and Miller River branches, where dozens of lakes including Chain Lakes, Big Heart, Dorothy, Chetwoot and Bear feed into those streams. Other popular areas include the Snow-Gem Lake valley and the Rampart-Rachel area.

The converse side of this wealth of lakes is that with so many flatter water-bearing spots, the presence of steep rock walls is somewhat diminished. Thus the area is more popular with the hiker and scrambler than the climber. The rock is not always quality, especially compared with the Enchantments or Washington Pass. There is less granite and more prominent rhyolite, metamorphics, volcanic andesite, and granodiorite. Even despite all this, the accessibility and beauty of the region still draw climbers from all over Washington. Hundreds of 3rd class to easy 5th routes exist or can be found that lead to positions of prominence that would be difficult to find in the North Cascades without much technical climbing. And the Cascade Crest north of Snoqualmie offers the spires of Chimney Rock and Summit Chief, plus the glaciated gentleness of Daniel and Hinman.